Jason found them faster than he expected.

Ylva had made sure to leave subtle clues—a torn piece of cloth tied to a railing, a scratch mark on a wall that looked accidental but wasn’t, a specific smell of wolf fur that lingered in doorways. Jason had no idea how he knew it was her. He just did. His feet seemed to move on their own, following a trail his conscious mind couldn’t quite see.

It became harder to spot the clues later on—the scratch marks faded into the general damage of the district, the torn cloth could have been anyone’s, the smell was drowned out by fish and garbage. But Jason kept walking, kept trusting his gut, and eventually found himself standing in front of a rundown boarding house on the eastern edge of the adventurer’s district.

He climbed the creaking stairs to the second floor, found the room at the end of the hall, and knocked twice.

No answer.

He knocked again. "Thalion. It’s me."

A moment of silence. Then the door cracked open. Thalion’s pale face appeared in the gap, his silver hair disheveled, his eyes red-rimmed. He looked like he had been crying.

"Jason," the elf whispered, pulling the door open wider.

Jason stepped inside. The room was small and dim, with a single narrow bed, a rickety wooden chair, and a window that overlooked a back alley. Ylva was nowhere to be seen.

"Where’s Ylva?" Jason asked.

Thalion closed the door and leaned against it. "She went to get meat. She said you would be hungry when you returned." He paused. "She left about an hour ago."

Jason nodded. He pulled up the wooden chair and sat down across from the bed. Thalion remained standing, his back against the door, his pale eyes fixed on the floor.

"Thalion," Jason said. "Sit down."

The elf hesitated, then moved to the edge of the bed. His hands were folded in his lap, fingers twisting together. He couldn’t hold Jason’s gaze.

He looked ashamed.

Jason sighed.

"So," Jason said. "I got the waiver. Permission to join the crawl."

Thalion’s head lifted slightly. "That’s... good."

"It’s something." Jason paused. "I don’t know if you two can come with me. Thalion, you belonged to a guild once. The Velveteen Watch. That means there’s a good chance you have a license somewhere. Maybe inactive, but still valid." He rubbed his temples. "Ylva doesn’t have one. And there’s no way she’s staying here alone while I go into a dungeon."

"She won’t," Thalion said quietly. "She made that clear."

"So we figure it out." Jason leaned back. "One problem at a time."

Thalion was quiet. His pale fingers stopped twisting.

Jason turned to him. His voice shifted—softer, but firmer.

"Thalion. In as much as I want to comfort you, what you did was wrong. And terrible. And it cannot happen again."

Thalion’s jaw tightened. He nodded once, his eyes still on the floor.

Jason continued. "That orc wasn’t a guard. Wasn’t a threat. Wasn’t even armed. He was a laborer. A father and you killed him. You blew his hand off and then his head."

Thalion’s breathing quickened. "I didn’t mean—"

"I know you didn’t mean to." Jason’s voice was calm, but there was steel underneath. "But that doesn’t bring him back. And it doesn’t bring his daughter back to her father."

Thalion’s head snapped up. "Daughter?"

"She was there. After. Crying over the spot where he died." Jason held the elf’s pale eyes. "She’s probably still crying."

Thalion’s face crumpled. His hands started trembling again. "I... I didn’t know..."

"Now you do." Jason leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "Another innocent life lost will be on me. Because I let you out. Because I chose to keep you with us instead of handing you over to someone who could control you." He paused. "I’m not going to let that happen again. Do you understand?"

Thalion swallowed hard. "I understand."

"If you lose control again—if someone else dies because of your magic—I will have to put you down. Not because I want to. Because I won’t be able to live with myself otherwise."

The room was silent. Thalion’s lower lip trembled.

"I’m sorry," he whispered. "I’m so sorry."

Jason shook his head. "It’s not me you need to apologize to. It’s that little girl. And her father. But you can’t. So instead, you’re going to carry this. You’re going to remember it. And you’re going to make sure it never happens again."

Thalion nodded slowly. Tears welled in his pale eyes, but he didn’t wipe them away. He just sat there, trembling, broken, but listening.

The door creaked open.

Ylva stepped inside, a cloth sack in her hand. Her eyes swept the room, taking in Thalion’s tear-streaked face and Jason’s hard expression. She didn’t comment.

"Got meat," she said, tossing the sack onto the bed. "Eat."

Jason looked at her. "Thanks."

She grunted and leaned against the wall, her arms crossed.

Jason turned back to Thalion. "You need to figure out why Tauriel let you go. Because it wasn’t out of kindness. That mark on your neck—it’s not just a death mark, is it?"

Thalion’s face paled further. "Death mark? How do you know about this?"

"Because I do, and I saw it on you," Jason said. "And still decided to save you. I’m not going to undo that just because it’s hard." He stood up. "Now eat. Rest. We still need to figure out how to get both of you on that dungeon crawl with me."

Thalion nodded weakly.

Jason walked to the door, then paused. He looked back at the elf.

"We’re not giving up on you," he said. "But you have to meet us halfway."

Then he stepped out into the hallway, Ylva close behind him.

The door closed, leaving Thalion alone with his guilt and the sack of meat.

Thalion was left with the worst thing right now, it was his guilt but this was a necessity as it allowed him to use this feeling to ground himself.

However, the tears and shaking suddenly stopped, Thalion’s eyes lost the light in them as a disgusting smirk took its place.

"Fascinating..."