"Unh!" In his current state of mind pain was of no concern to Eld, but when the thief kneed him in the wound in his stomach his body momentarily froze, refusing input from him.

A blow to his face followed, and despite the emaciated appearance he discovered that the thief could put some force behind his punches. The reaper stumbled back a few steps as he tried to regain his balance, and force his body to obey him again.

But despite having a surprising strength, the thief was still well within the range of normal humans, and even in his current state it would take far more than a punch to do more than stall him momentarily.

As Eld recovered he fired a Qi blast once more, but this time rather than the midsection he aimed for his opponent's feet. His intention was to make him stumble, preferably right into Eld's fist as he stepped forward with an uppercut.

It was a successful shot at his legs, a blast of Qi strong enough to force the thief to stumble forward to keep himself from falling. Initially, he reached over for the wall of the alleyway to catch his balance, while about ready to throw his right hand out for a much stronger use of the gauntlet--but he hadn't the chance. It was stolen from him in a swift moment, when Eld's fist imprinted into the underside of the thief's jaw.

He felt a couple of his teeth chip as his head reared back and his legs began to stumble in the opposite direction. Pain enveloped his entire skull--pain that wasn't going to just go numb anytime in the near future . . .

The moment his left foot stumbled back first, though, the thief regained his balance--well, not quite, but his composure enough to swipe at Eld, and grab at his arm, collar, or throat, whichever was closest to his left hand--which was previously holding onto the wall--which would, inevitably, be followed by a quick and momentous headbutt, as the thief would rear his head back down and towards Eld's face. This wouldn't bode well for either of them, but the only thing at risk for the thief was his forehead, while Eld's nose could easily be broken by this . . .

The thief would find his purchase at the collar on Eld's coat, and the headbutt would connect as planned--the reaper was clearly not as concerned about defense as assaulting his opponent, even if it resulted in a broken nose.

Even as he took the blow, he held his ground, and in response he reached out and grabbed the thief by his own collar, intending to pick him up and toss him with all his might.

But Eld had been focusing on offense for a good reason: with a wound like that, it wouldn't be long at all before blood loss weakened the body immensely, no matter how much willpower or rage he had.

The thief would feel the pressure, and for a second or two might even be lifted off the ground, but that was all. Eld had lost too much blood, and the proof was stained on his clothing and all around the ground near the alley's entrance; he could not lift the man.

This left him open for whatever counter the the thief had...

By this point, Lelan had seen enough. Had he not been so badly injured, he would have been able to knock Eld and Kageko out of the way when the fateful attack of the thief's struck the both of them. While he didn't bear the full weight of guilt, he did feel entirely useless simply laying there in a slowly collecting pool of his own blood. He had bled worse than this before. He was perfectly capable of getting himself to a hospital in this state.

Which meant he could still fight.

He just needed to get to his feet.

Lelan struggled to throw his right hand forward, clutching the ground with it, pulling up, dragging himself forward, and throwing forth his left hand--to drag himself forward again, and again, and again, to leave a trail slowly leading out of the shallow scarlet pool.

When he was lifted, the thief expected another set of blows. He was ready in an instant to throw his hands up in front of his chest and face, but Eld hesitated--and then the remnants of energy he had left began to fry out. The thief stared at him for a second, watching how he practically sulked in weakness. He wasn't going to let this go without a counterattack. The hook already lodged in the thief's shoulder ripped itself out, the thief himself grunting loudly (as that region could barely even be felt, now), before smacking the hook at Eld's face.

It wouldn't strike him hook first, but with the back of the hook, a non-cutting side, specifically aimed to smack across his face--though, it did boast enough force to break his cheekbone, as well as throw him into the side of the alley, if absolutely successful.

That hook needed to be dislodged, anyways. It wasn't the brunt of the thief's counterattack, though; just a small sliver of it, actually. Whether or not the thief tossed Eld into the alleyway wall with a broken cheekbone or not, the thief would reach for Eld's shoulder with his right hand--the arm on which the gauntlet Sarrevous was equipped.

--something which could in no way end well. If successful, Eld would be propelled out of the alleyway in an instant, this time with an inescapable problem: a hook dug into and under his shoulder, clasped to the bone, a literal means of controlling Eld's every movements if need be--so long as it was embedded so intricately within his body, and even in a healthy state, it would take a good couple of moments to dislodge it, moments the thief had no intention of sparing.

In the position he was in, Eld had no defenses to offer--both blows hit dead on, the first one sending him bouncing off the side of the alleyway, and the hook in his shoulder not only sent him flying back out into the street, but also caused enough pain to register even in his current state; he let out a cry as he sailed through the air.

He landed hard and skidded several feet. For all intents and purposes, it was over; he lost too much blood, was in too much pain, and his body was at its limit. But he refused to acknowledge it, and with a single minded stubbornness tried to struggle to his feet, shaking and panting in effort.

He'd already failed to save Kageko...he couldn't stand the thought of failing to avenge her as well...

Eld was leashed, essentially. He had no means as of yet to remove the hook from his shoulder, not the strength nor the opportunity. At that moment, he became absolutely harmless, regardless of how much ill intent he had for the thief.

So, the thief left the alleyway. He walked forward, placing his attention entirely upon Eld, not Lelan or any other surroundings; just the man who had managed to land enough blows to semi-permanently damage him; the one that would become a threat if given absolutely no attention whatsoever. The thief had deduced that Eld needed to go, first and foremost; he needed to be killed or permanently incapacitated for the rest of his life--preferably the former.

Thus, the thief became even more aggressive than before, despite the fact that Eld was harmless while "leashed." He wasn't going to risk it; he was going to try and kill him flat out, and since stabbing him didn't seem to work before, a new tactic had to be considered.

Eld would feel himself removed from his feet as the chain arched back and flung itself hook first to the left, to run down the left side of the street close to the ground, away from the wall of chains splitting the street in half--and close to the ground, he may very well have wound up dragging Eld by the shoulder across the earth, dirtying and aggravating the wound even more, and end the end, the hook--ideally bringing Eld with it--would quickly lift into the air, a good sixteen feet up, before dropping down like a hammer . . .

The thief was not making the mistake of getting close enough for Eld to grab him, nor was he able to focus enough to let loose Qi in his current state. He could hardly even stand on his own, and he was only getting worse.

He couldn't remove the hook in his shoulder, either...it required more force than he could muster on his own, and he even if he thought he could use it, he wasn't about to use his strength burst in regards to his own body--he'd just hurt himself further.

And then he was yanked, pulled, but not with quite enough force to lift him off the ground; instead he was being dragged by a hook embedded in his shoulder, an experience which was far more painful than he could have imagined. Such that he was only dimly aware of when it stopped, and for several moments there was nothing for him to be dragged against, just the still air.

He would have screamed if he had the breath; otherwise, all he could do was curl up, protect his head, and hope for the best. He slammed down on his left side with enough force to crack the pavement, not to mention crack (or break) who knows how many ribs on that side.

Death (the state, not the person) could come any minute now; he'd been close to death before, but the last time it had been a single wound. Now he had numerous serious injuries and uncountable minor ones; even if, by some miracle, he managed to kill the thief, there was no chance that he'd make it to a hospital in his state.

I guess this is it, he thought numbly, muscles futilely flexing in an attempt to rise one more time...

The thief looked down the road at Eld. He was a good distance away now; too far for a Qi blast to have done him any good in the first place. He regarded this with a stern leer. He couldn't smile or grin to show his appreciation for impending victory. If he could, then he had taken too much damage right now to see it as that much of a victory. Besides--one of the Gaiasouls had been lost. Though, it could still be recov--

"GnnHH--!" the thief lurched forward.

The chain loosened. The thief took one step forward.

Where Eld stood, once he had the strength to focus, he'd be able to see exactly what had happened. A blade had sunk into the thief's left shoulder, piercing just under his shoulder, starting from the back, with the tip clearing past his ribcage. Vital organs had been missed, but a great extent of damage had been done. The thief wasn't going to be brushing that one off.

He fell to one knee, the force of this ripping the blade out of his body.

Lelan stood behind the thief, a long farming scythe held within his hands, the blade of which remained still where the thief once stood tall. He breathed in and out with long draws. He could barely see Eld down there, and Eld could probably barely see him, too. But still; the details, even if blurry, all matched Lelan's.

"GhGhhh! YoU . . . aGGh . . .!" the thief shouted as he stumbled forward.

Lelan breathed deeply as he, too, stumbled back. In actuality, he wasn't quite in the condition to fight with the amount of blood he had lost; he was extremely weak on his feet, and it essentially took all he had to attack the thief like he did. As he stumbled, he nearly fell over, inevitably requiring the use of the length of the scythe to keep from falling back to the ground. A walking stick could not function as a weapon for that long.

But, fortunately, the thief was down for the moment . . .

The next blow--which could very well have been the final one--never came. Having managed somehow to get up on his hands and knees, Eld forced his gaze to follow the length of chain from his shoulder down the street, to where the thief was.

He was there, but something was happening to him...he couldn't clearly see what, but then the thief fell, and behind him stood...no..it was impossible, but...

Lelan was there, apparently having more fight left in him than Eld had thought, but his eyes were drawn to what was in his hands. Even with his vision blurring, he recognized it instantly--his scythe, the old farming scythe, the scythe that he'd used in the battle against the bandits and countless since. The one that had pierced his very soul on that fateful night that now seemed so long ago...

The scythe in which Kageko was sealed.

Getting one foot flat on the ground, he practically lunged, surging forward, with no control and hardly any balance, swaying frequently but continually moving, though it seemed like at any moment he might fall over.

He opened his mouth to try and vocalize something, but all that came out was blood. The only part of his body that seemed steady was his arm...his right arm, which he held palm out, fingers spread.

Seeing Eld approach as fast as his body would allow him, Lelan felt a little relieved. He didn't want to have to take a Gaiasoul from someone just because they died, after all!

Lelan grinned. "Looks like he missed you, too."

Though, admittedly, Eld having more fight in him than Lelan did, while having taken much more of a beating, was a little disconcerting to him. Annoying, even. Well, it couldn't be helped. Eld was a Reaper; Lelan was just a Collector. His power had little to nothing to do with his body, and didn't serve to make him any weaker or stronger at all. He was just a normal guy.

What--

Lelan thought as he let go of the scythe with his left hand. He was a righty, tried and true.

--ev--

He winded it back.

--er.

And threw.

Unfortunately, Lelan couldn't throw worth a damn in this state, and the recoil of the toss sent him stumbling back, hitting the ground bum first, where he actually had to struggle to remain standing. He hadn't thrown it far enough to reach Eld where he was, but far enough that the scythe was out of the thief's vicinity, and Eld could get to it sooner. It landed upon the ground just a dozen feet from Eld.

Lelan threw the scythe, which was what Eld wanted him to do, but he couldn't throw it quite far enough. He lowered his arm, but otherwise made no reaction to it--it was probably for the best, as in his condition any attempt to catch it would have only resulted in him hurting himself further.

He kept stumbling forward, but only halfway there he tilted a little too far, falling onto his stomach. For a moment he didn't move...

One arm reached out, clawing at the ground, pulling himself forward in a desperate attempt to cover the remaining half-dozen feet. Slowly, he inched himself towards it, leaving a large crimson trail behind him as he did, until finally one hand lay over the handle of it.

Ka...ge...ko...? he thought dimly. It was almost too much to hope for a response...but his life, and possibly Lelan's as well depended on him hearing one...

Master!!

If she were there, she'd have tackled into him, hugged him tighter than she ever had before, and placed a firm kiss on his lips--and then keep holding onto him as if she were afraid that he might go away again. She could not--but she would have in a heartbeat if she could. Maybe Eld would have, too? It wasn't something she really considered at the time, but . . .

In spirit, she was holding onto him. In spirit, she wasn't letting him go. She couldn't safely draw him into her world--but she could be there with him, just like that, in spirit.

I was . . . I was so worried, Master . . .

. . . just as worried about Eld as Eld had been worried about her, in fact . . .

You...you're...alive....

The blood on the his cheeks would be cut into two, separated by the streams that began to flow from his eyes. Even though his consciousness was fading, he felt a swelling of joy...maybe he was just so far gone he was hallucinating, but even if he was, he didn't care anymore.

You...stopped breathing...your heart was...thought you were...

It would be obvious to her, with his disjointed thoughts, that he wasn't in good shape. There was no getting around it at this point--he was dying, and without her help he wouldn't survive another ten minutes...

Oh . . . Master . . .

She felt horrible for that--and this, for everything Eld was going through. She felt like she was to blame for all of it; if she could have actually rebelled against the thief, or if she knew that Lelan was going to try and steal her away, then she could have warned him. It was all illogical, but that's how it worked when blaming oneself for something that was clearly not remotely one's own fault.

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. But--but I am okay! And . . . and I am with you again, Master . . . and-- and you won't leave me alone again . . . you-- you said you would not, so . . .

Eld was a mess. She could see it, now . . .

So . . . please, Master. Please let me help you-- so . . . so you don't have to leave me again . . .

Okay...

Yes, Kageko's help was going to be the only way to get through this. He felt kind of pathetic...all his talk about saving her, but in the end he couldn't even beat the guy without her help. Some rescue...

Sorry...you've already been through so much...and this is probably going to hurt a lot...

For several long moments, to both the thief and Lelan, there was silence and stillness. Eld seemed to have collapsed with one hand on the scythe, but there was no more movement.

But then...darkness gathered, covering the weapon for about a foot around his grip, until rather than a large farming scythe it was a double ended weapon, two curved blades at either end that seemed to be comprised of only void.

Eld climbed calmly to his feet, feeling the familiar--and now somewhat comforting--emptiness inside that accompanied drawing on Kageko's power. It quelled his joy a bit, it was true, but it also calmed his rage, and for possibly the first time since Lelan had taken her from his grasp back in Emain Macha his thinking was completely rational.

"Shall I show you how a Gaiasoul is meant to be wielded?" he asked.

Deciding it was best not to push his body if he didn't need to, he began to just walk towards the thief; rage no longer filled his eyes, only determination.