[FIN] A toast to victory [Faolan + Sarain + Ebony]

Ebony managed to shift to the side, leaning on a brick wall, sighing in relief. His back was killing him but other than that he felt alright. Exhausted sure but alright. He slightly turned to the general direction where he guessed Faolan was by the distinct smell that he produced. He was afraid to speak to him, knowing now that whatever he would say would just result with more scolding or worse...nothing and perhaps the boy wanted to know more about Faolan. He tried to say a few words but every time his voice would fail him. So he closed his mouth, shifted his knees up against his chest and held them tightly while burrowing his head in shame. He felt like crying. Nothing went right today, everything went wrong. And it hurt. 

Maybe because Sarain was still hungover, but she felt about at the end of her patience - especially when demons were involved. When the healer skittishly ignored her first attempts to flag him down - probably because of the giant warg lying so close to them - she marched up to him and all but dragged him over to Ebony, explaining what he needed on the way. The healer babbled incoherently about other patients who needed his attention but she shut him up with a withering glare. This shouldn't take too long to do anyway.

The healer got to work on the side furthest away from the warg, so Sarain settled down next to Ebony on the other side. He was curled up in a ball hiding his face in his knees and her earlier ire seemed to dissipate slightly. She'd never seen him look so dejected before, even though the healer was restoring his energy. She reached out to squeeze his hand in reassurance. She said nothing, trying to dig through her own knowledge to find something that would help him. She had another conjurer contact that may help, but had no idea where he was at the moment. And then there was the problem of Ophelia...

Sarain grit her teeth. She felt like the little harpy set a time limit on everything and she didn't like it at all. There had to be some way to get rid of her, but if Faolan couldn't help then what would? A sage could, she supposed, but where would she find one competent enough with the war going on? Ebony would never go for the idea either. How could she lock away a specific familiar? Her eyes narrowed in sudden revelation. Lock away a familiar... why did that ring a bell? And then she remembered.

Ioprix's book. She still had it in her lab, and although he never finished his research because he vanished, she was sure she could experiment based on what knowledge he HAD left behind and recreate his final findings. She would be risking taking on the mage's fate for herself, but as she glanced over at Ebony, she determined that she would do exactly that if the situation demanded it.

But Ebony absolutely could not know what she was planning until she was ready. She squeezed his hand again, smiling gently and feeling better now that she had formulated a plan. "We'll find a way," she said. "I promise you'll be able to get stronger by your own means." Her words carried her heavy, veiled meaning but she rested her head on his shoulder like they meant nothing.

At last the healer finished up and scurried away from the odd trio and she nudged Ebony. "How do you feel?"

When Ebony was finally healed, and allowed Faolan to get his payment, the warg turned into a shadow that waved over to Cellius, and when it took a solid form again, he had returned to his light elf form. He had a syringe-esque instrument in his hand, and as he took the lion’s paw he looked determined into his eyes.

The draining of the promised amounts of blood went relatively smooth, as Faolan had done it a billion times before. It might not be a particularly nice feeling for Cellius, but as long as he remained calm, it would not be truly painful.

Ebony kept quiet, afraid that he might somehow interrupt his concentration. Cellius didn't twitch in the slightest letting Faolan do what he does best. The blood that came out seemed very red and very hot, almost as if it was at it's boiling point. Steam came out a few times from where Faolan had inserted the needle, probably regenerating slowly by exerting heat. Either way, it went rather smoothly and there was little to no pain and the lion assured Ebony that it all went okay. 

Ebony pursed his lips nervously playing with his fingers. "So....what will you do with his blood? " he asked wincing a little as if he knew something bad would come his way for even attempting to ask. Then something clicked and thought about it for a moment before adding another phrase." D-do you need..uhm...the other lion's blood too?" 

Sarain stood, feeling as though their meeting was at an end. "Thank you for your help," she said respectfully, meeting the eyes of the conjurer briefly before he turned to leave. She watched him with a slight twinge of admiration; he had dashed her expectations of him in many ways and she always found people like that refreshing. She had a feeling they'd meet again in the future, and so she offered no goodbyes.

She glanced back at Ebony and Cellius. Her task now was to help him find a new teacher - the demon king had been an eye opener and as he walked away behind her, she was already looking ahead and grasping at straws to solve the problem at hand. Because she had made a promise, and she intended to keep it.

As an afterthought, she turned her head slightly to the side and called back to Faolan with a sideways smile. "If you're ever in Miras and in need of magical supplies, I would be more than happy to be of service."

She did have a business to run, after all.