"How long can you hold out Riaku?" Syryn asked the prince.

"As long as it takes," came his cold reply. "Their attacks are chipping away at my defence but it'll take them much longer to get through."

The scarecrows operated by a code that called for their deaths if they abandoned a mission. It was a favourable situation for the avian party since they were fighting a war of attrition.

"A man of stamina. Good! Let's go, Lucien."

The redhead lingered just a bit longer, sights fixed on the prince and his outstretched wings.

"Red, stare later."

Crimson eyes turned away and Lucien followed the teen whose teasing eyes were crinkled in an ambiguous smile.

"Liked what you saw?" The alchemist asked after they had put some distance between them and the prince.

"He's attractive," Red answered. "And I'm still a fucking child. I'm tempted to raise a freshly deceased body and put my consciousness inside it."

"You think Riaku would be interested in necrophilia?" Syryn levelled the redhead with an expression that made him look like he'd just ingested something disgusting.

"I didn't say that," Red shot back. "It was just a spur of the moment declaration. I'm not dumb enough to do something so messed up."

"It hasn't even been three days and you've already forgotten Magnus." Syryn thought it was a good thing too. Dwelling on the fire mage was just poking at unhealed wounds.

"Did you forget Rowan when you were making out with everyone else?"

"That's different! I wasn't expecting anything more than a physical dalliance with him."

"Regardless, I dont intend to not fuck around if he takes forever to come back. He's not my anything yet."

"Luci is still a child," Syryn reminded him. "I doubt you'd have a chance before Magnus returns. But will you still be hung over him after the passage of a few years?"

Red made a frustrated sound at the line of questioning they'd reached. "I can't predict how my feelings might change," he replied. "You're turning 17 soon, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"Did you get laid?"

"Yes. It was nice."

Red snorted. "Good for you. Where are you taking us anyway?"

"I'm not sure," Syryn replied. "How do we even begin searching in this enormous forest?"

"Your dumbass self decided to do something about it so figure it out," Red replied. Tall trees surrounded their visions in a neverending line of similarly shaped silhouettes.

"You're right," Syryn slowly turned to Red with a gleam in his eyes. "I have to use all the resources that are available to me."

"Why are you looking at me like that?" The redhead warily took a step back.

"Tell me, Red, would the assassins' bodies be considered as deceased when they're in scarecrow form?"

Lucien understood where Syryn's thoughts were heading. "The bodies are in a state that is halfway between dead and alive."

"You're either dead or alive. What the hell do you mean halfway?"

"I'm not privy to their secret techniques so all I can do is guess. The scarecrows are tethered to their bodies through a magical link and that is why they are unable to move too far from the body. The physical body doesn't have a soul but it stays alive and dormant."

"Sort of like a coma patient?"

"Sort of."

"But can you reanimate the body?"

Red shook his head. "I cant. The most I can do is disturb the bodies by trying to animate them."

"Don't you have any other necromancy skills we could use to find them?"

"I'm not like your precious Rowan," Red grouched. "But I may have a way to scare the spirits back into their bodies. It's either that or just outright murder them."

"Yes?"

"By killing every living thing inside the forest."

"Splendid. What's the plan?"

Red allowed his wings to emerge but they weren't as developed as Syryn's. Some demons just bloomed a little late and Lucien was one of them.

"The plan is simple. I act as a conduit for the absorption of vitality from the forest. Anything touching the ground or the trees will lose its life to my spell. Ugh, these stupid wings. I need a lift." Red stretched his arms out to Syryn. It reminded the older boy of how Luci used to do that when he wanted to be carried by Syryn. Now that the redhead was taller, his cuteness remained but the alchemist no longer wanted to squeeze him.

Obliging the boy, he carried him to the treetops. They hovered just above the canopy as Red surveyed the area.

"You said you'll act as a conduit. Where will all that life energy go to?" Syryn asked the sullen boy in his arms.

"You."

"Nowhere did I agree to be killed by excessive absorption of energy."

"You'll have to release it back out by casting spells. Dont worry, I'll go slow enough that you'll have time to discharge the energy. I'm done here, lets go back down."

Syryn retreated to the forest floor and it couldn't have been at a better time. He spotted an avian approaching them.

"What are you two doing here?" Kai, the red masked guard asked them. Broken twigs and leaves clung to the avian as if he had been rushing through the forest without care for clearing his path.

"Helping Riaku. He knows we're here. What are you doing?" Syryn responded to the avian.

"Fei and I have been combing the forest. We're looking for scarecrow bodies."

"Any luck?" Red asked. He had needed blood for his spell, lots of blood. There was no longer any need to worry about who would donate it.

"No." The reply was bitter. "They've used spells to deflect visual and magical detection of their bodies."

It wasn't a problem for Red. Unless they specifically set up protection against an attack like his, the bodies would get hit by Red's spell even if a single hair on their head was grounded or touching a tree.

"I have a solution to your problems," Red began. "I can kill the scarecrows but I need cooperation from you and Fei. I want your blood so I can use it to draw my boundaries."

Kai was silent. 

"Think fast. Your prince is in danger even as we speak."

"What do you intend to do?" He asked Lucien with some amount of suspicion.

"I'm going to pull off a big spell. Stop asking questions and decide already."

The avian hesitated to answer. Kai had no idea what the brother's intentions were. Could he trust them?

"I'll get Fei." Kai knew there was no time to waste. Grappling with indecision, the avian left in a whirlwind of leaves.

Syryn, on the other hand, was left thinking about the risks involved with pulling off Red's spell. Such a huge undertaking could potentially hurt the child and he was not willing to risk it.

"What is the price you pay?" He asked Red.

"Blood is the price. I'm merely acting as a conduit so there's no need to worry about my well being. You should worry about yourself," he smiled at Syryn. "I could kill you easily if I wanted to. Do you trust me, brother?"

"No," Syryn trusted Red but he had to pretend otherwise. Saying yes could potentially irritate the redhead and invite retaliation. Syryn had realised that Red liked to act hardcore but he was soft to Luci's will.

"How much blood are we talking about?" Syryn asked the redhead.

"The more, the better. Think of it as bribing an official. You can pay just enough and get what you want, or, you can empty your life savings and make him happy. And when he's happy, everything goes smoothly."

"And who is this official you're bribing?"

"Your sister."

Red received a flick on his forehead from Syryn. "So you're going to bleed them dry."

"If they're willing to die for the cause then yes. It's a big forest, Syryn. I initially planned to do a smaller section by narrowing down the circumference from a point where the scarecrows are fighting Riaku. I know for a fact that the priests of Luisha do not recommend soul separation of more than 300 hundred metres. Any more and the tethering would break, thus separating the soul from the physical body. And when that happens, the soul turns into a spectre."

"Then we'll do 300 metres instead of the whole forest. I would prefer not to kill off the guards."

Red hunched down and began scratching some calculations on the ground with a stick. "Let's do four hundred metres just to be on the safe side. I need two litres of blood."

"What are you going to do with so much blood?"

"Draw a big fucking circle using Riaku as the centre."

"I only have enough anticoagulant for less than two litres of blood," Syryn told him.

"Why so little?"

"Little? That's enough to last me through a year. Who knew we'd be attempting to kill off an entire forest?"

"Tch. Fine. Thinner lines then."

"How dangerous is this spell, Red? I'm starting to get worried."

"I've done it before. Believe me, if I was at risk, I wouldn't have suggested it."

The avian guards had returned. They landed next to Syryn. Fei had taken off his mask and replaced it with a cloth over the nose. It felt strange seeing one of them maskless.

"What do we have to do?" He asked the alchemist.

"Donate blood." Syryn dug into his satchel for a saucepan and a knife.

"How much blood?" Kai asked.

"Not much."

The alchemist gave Lucien a wooden ladle. "Stir the saucepan gently every ten seconds when I start pouring in their blood."

"You-you're going to cook our blood?" Fei asked.

"Is that a problem?" Syryn raised his head and asked the guard. His fingers were busy uncorking a finger-sized vial of an anti coagulating agent.

"I'm not sure how it helps his highness but I'm on board with it." Fei looked at Kai and the other guard also nodded.

"Someone needs to tell Riaku to fly," Lucien said to the avians. "While I'm casting the spell, you two need to be outside the blood boundary or you'll die."

"Fei," Syryn pointed to him with a sharp knife. "It's time to earn your pay."