Damien turned to look at Antefalken. “You were going back to the Courts to see if you could dig up some more information anyway, perhaps you could fly by this Ramses estate? Note anything suspicious, like a demonic horde waiting to invade Astlan?” Antefalken smiled and nodded.
“You’re going back to the Abyss soon?” Edwyrd asked Antefalken. The demon nodded. “How do you return here? To the same place?”
“Damien summons me after a fixed time interval. Why?” Antefalken asked.
“I need to find Rupert; hopefully he was transported to my cave. I have no guarantee of that though, no guarantee that he’s even alive. If he’s in my cave, I can just keep a gate open and pull him through. If I have to search for him though, I’ll need an easy way back. Last time I came blind, I got stuck with the Rod. I’d prefer to have a surer way back. If Damien creates a link to you, and I’m with you, then I can use that link to bring Rupert and myself back.”
Antefalken nodded, “Makes sense. Actually, while my visit to the Courts, I kind of need to handle on my own, if I’m flying near Ramses’ place it might not be bad to have some protection. You could help be of assistance there. Just in case there is a demonic horde and they don’t like my spying.”
Edwyrd wasn’t sure how much help he’d be against a demonic horde, but if there was trouble, the more demons the better Antefalken’s chances. “That’s fine with me then. When are you planning on leaving?”
“As soon as we’re done here?” Antefalken suggested.
Rupert groaned. Groaning hurt, so he stopped.
Rupert reached a hand up to rub at his throat. “Ouch!” he winced. His neck seemed a bit tender. That was, however, better than he remembered it. The last he remembered was his head bouncing off the cot. He blinked, carefully turning his head to view his surroundings.
Somehow or the other, he appeared to have wound up in Tom’s cave. He had no idea how, but he wasn’t complaining. He was very happy to be alive. He rubbed his head, catching his claws on his horns. Apparently, he was in his demonic form. That made sense; he’d ended up that way last time after he’d nearly died.
Well, now he had an inkling of how that little demon he’d dismembered yesterday must have felt afterwards. At least only Rupert’s head had been chopped off this time. That little fellow had a lot worse to overcome. Rupert felt tired. Not sleepy, but rather a restless sort of exhaustion. He had no idea how long he’d been out. How long it had been since his head had been chopped off.
He hoped no one was overly worried about him. Actually, maybe he did hope they worried. He had no way of letting them know where he was. He wasn’t at all sure how he’d get back. Eventually, Tom would return to his cave, but that could take a long time. A real long time if Tom didn’t figure out what happened to him. That wasn’t good. He’d probably get real hungry in the meantime. Not that he was hungry now, but... it could be a long time.
Rupert sat up slowly, being careful not to move his neck too much. He explored it gently, apparently his head was fairly firmly attached, just a big tender scar ring around his neck. Actually, if his whole body had regenerated here in the Abyss, after being destroyed in Astlan, then why was his neck like this? This regeneration thing really wasn’t too clear. He climbed to his feet and went over to sit in Tom’s chair.
The chair was a bit big for him, but the hole in the back was just right for his tail. It was also a lot better than crouching on the floor. Rupert still hadn’t had enough time in this form to figure out the most comfortable positions, but it was looking like he’d have time now.
Rupert just sort of relaxed in the chair for some time, resting. He didn’t feel like sleeping, but he was tired. After quite some time, however, he began to get restless. Eventually he got up to pace the room. When this got boring, he tried moving his head around to see if his neck was any better. A few twinges here and there, but overall, serviceable.
This might be a good time to practice flying, Rupert decided. He’d certainly have enough time to get good. Maybe he could get good enough to dodge those light beams. Having nothing better to do, Rupert proceeded up the mouth of the tunnel. Time to stretch his wings.
“So, that’s everything for now?” Edwyrd asked the others. The others nodded. Damien stood. Gastropé was also nodding. He seemed more sure of himself now; while they’d talked, he’d had more time to get used to the idea of Edwyrd being a demon. Tom hoped he’d gotten enough used to it to not freak out when he changed.
“Ready to go?” Antefalken asked.
“I think so.” Edwyrd told him.
