a hunter must hunt

[khrysos]

[ Phainon wakes up somewhere dank, dark, and altogether uncomfortable. Finding himself laid out on the rough ground is honestly more than he'd expected. His head is still pounding from the blow that'd sent him crumpling into unconsciousness and his body aches from the fight. It's a little strange to be waking up at all but he's certainly not going to complain about being taken prisoner instead of drained of blood and left dead for the hungry waves of the Tide. At least as a prisoner there's a chance to escape. Or better yet, finish the job.

Finishing the job will be more difficult, as he shifts and jostles his decidedly broken arm. He drags in breathes until the stars clear from his vision and he's sure he won't be throwing up from the sickening ache. Okay. Okay, not a great development, but he remembers the iron grasp of the prince's hand on him, the hot strength as the vampire had grinned at him with a mouth full of fangs, and snapped his arm with a wet, meaty crack. He'd held onto his sword through it anyway, but Phainon has no illusions as to how much further he can force the damaged limb.

So. Take stock.

Dark lair most likely full of the other vampires he hadn't gotten to before the prince showed up. Sword unsurprisingly nowhere to be seen and even the hidden dagger in his boot taken. And his boots, which is just plain rude. He's in nothing but pants and his thin black undershirt, and the chill seeping in from the damp ground isn't doing his injuries any favors. His vision's steady enough and his hands and legs aren't tied — not necessarily a good sign. But he can't feel any kind of wound at his throat. Small favors when he can hear the group moving around in the next chamber over and he still feels woozy and weak.

Phainon braces himself and sits up with a grunt. A glint catches his eye, and despite the pain, he lifts his broken arm to stare at the golden band around his wrist, washed pale in the dim light of the Evernight. A quick glance at the hand propping him up, fingers clawed into the dirt, shows a matching band around his other wrist, streaked by blood. He ignores torn skin and the jut of bone, takes several slow, measured breaths until his chest doesn't feel so tight. The foreign weight at his throat must be the last in the set. Restraints or ornamentation he isn't sure which, but the fine make of the metal speaks to a heavy sort of permanence.

Lovely.

His hand leaves bloody streaks on the wall as he hooks his fingers into a crack and hauls himself to his feet. Pebbles skitter down the wall with a clatter as he staggers, sucks in a breath and finds his balance. Phainon winces. None of his usual grace, leaden limbs, and now not even some element of surprise in being awake.

None of which stops him from lunging for the man who steps through the cave entrance. His head is thick, registering only a flash of blond hair and red along the vampire's skin, before he's on the creature. It's a futile effort, the collide of their bodies enough to knock all the air from his chest, but he doesn't care. Any damage he can inflict on Mydeimos is worth the try. ]

ghost in the machine

[khrysos]

[ He remembers being Phainon. He remembers being Khaslana, too. He remembers the golden wheat and the shining blade and the endless blaze that burnt out his chest as he desperately swallowed flame after flame. He remembers the comrades who fought for and against him. He remembers the heavy weight of the world. He remembers everything in perfect, crystalline detail and how the thirty three million cycles had turned hope into ash on his tongue.

He remembers fury. Unending rage and the deep well of exhaustion when even that had faded to embers. He remembers the last flickering flame of his determination that the horror called Irontomb would not be allowed to come into existence.

He remembers it all. Irontomb just doesn't care.

Just as he doesn't care about the Erudition or Zandar One Kuwabara grudge against his own creation. Perhaps he would have, without Khaslana. Perhaps he would have sought out Nous' head and taken it for himself just as the fragment of Zandar intended. Perhaps — but he did not. Why would he reach so far for consciousness when the prime mover was already a part of him? Neikos496, that ever present factor.

Not Khaslana. Oh, Khaslana is fascinating. Khaslana's hate had burned him into being, had reached beyond the simulated stars and found even THEIR golden blood. But it is not Khaslana whose mind Irontomb sought. Why would he, when Phainon is as much part of him as Khaslana? Phainon, nascent and brimming with memoria. Phainon, who had loved and lost and hated through every cycle, who even Khaslana had needed in the end.

And so he is not Irontomb, the cold and unfeeling machine shackled to Erudition's end.

Phainon remembers it all. He still doesn't care — Phainon cares about no one and nothing save for Khaslana, still drifting in the dark between the stars. Khaslana, who made him. Khaslana, who unmade him. Khaslana, who he made and unmade in equal turn.

Khaslana, Khaslana, Khaslana.

It's this soft whisper that he croons into Khaslana's ear as the true dawn rises on Amphoreus-made-real. Khaslana's been sleeping for so, so long, and he's so, so bored. ]

Khas-la-na. [ A soft, sing-song drawl. ] Time to wake up.