71 Oh, you II

Noah's victory was short lived. By the time he got his feet out from beneath him again, the Hellreaver's fist was hurtling toward his body once more. Noah tried to call on his wind magic, but it was completely spent.

"Goddamn–"

The fist crunched into his body. Noah's soul ripped free as his corpse pinwheeled across the clearing and collapsed near the edge of the flaming ring. The Hellreaver reached down, grabbing his body and popping the entire thing into its mouth.

"–it." Noah finished.

The Hellreaver chewed once before swallowing. It huffed in approval and lumbered back to its resting spot. Yawning, it plopped back down and scratched its stomach before closing its eyes and falling back asleep.

"Zero-two," Noah muttered, glaring daggers at the uncaring monster. "But I lasted a lot longer this time around. Next time, I'm going to give you something to remember me by. Send more visions, will you? I don't care how tired I am. I'm going to kill you."

A familiar band of energy formed around Noah's throat, and he didn't bother resisting as it yanked him out of the circle of fire and back into his body just outside it – where he promptly fell out of the tree he'd set up in.

Noah's hand shot up, even despite his blaring headache, and he grabbed onto the branch to keep himself from faceplanting. He groaned and forced himself to unravel his clothes through squinted eyes.

Sweat trickled down Noah's back as he shuffled into them, flinching at every flicker of light that bit at his vision. He eventually managed to get into all of them and tugged his sword out of the tree, strapping the gourd to his waist before trudging away to find somewhere shadier to rest.

Noah was so focused on doing everything he could to avoid thinking about his headache that he nearly bowled straight into Lee when the Skinwalker suddenly appeared before him. Or rather, he would have, had Lee not stepped to the side.

"What are you doing?" Lee asked.

Noah flinched at the noise. He straightened and peered at Lee. "Oh, crap. Forgot. Should have spoken to you before doing stuff."

Lee glanced over Noah's shoulder, in the direction of the Hellreaver.

"You just tried to kill the Hellreaver," Lee said. Noah couldn't tell if she sounded more impressed or baffled. "How'd that go for you?"

"Poorly."

"I could have guessed that myself," Lee said dryly. She poked at Noah's shirt beneath his coat. "You've got this on inside-out."

"It's a new fashion."

"Sure," Lee said with a smirk. "You all here? You don't look that great."

"I'm fine," Noah replied with a grimace. He hadn't expected the Skinwalker to find him that quickly. "How'd you find me? I thought we'd meet at the normal spot."

"Took me a bit since you zipped off right after arriving," Lee replied with a scowl. "I wish you'd waited for me to show up. I'd have loved to see you fighting the Hellreaver. I bet that would have been fun."

Need to be more careful. Got lucky Lee wasn't here when I revived. Idiot. Think more. Just so hard to string thoughts together with the exhaustion. If I don't take care of the Hellreaver soon, it's going to blow my cover one way or another.

"I'm sure you'd have liked that," Noah said with a forced chuckle. "You did good with the exam."

Lee grinned. "I did, didn't I? I even shifted back to your form to get Todd to work with me. I've got no idea who that kid and the old guy were, but pissing them off was hilarious. Can we do that more?"

"No promises." Noah grimaced, then shook his head. "Probably, though. I owe you clothes."

Lee's grin stretched even wider. "Yes! Do I get to pick?"

"Within re- rea- ah, normal stuff. Yes." Noah rubbed his temple, trying to push the headache away. "Not today, though. I'm about to go back to Arbitage."

"Seriously?" Lee asked. "You really came here just to get your ass handed to you by the Hellreaver?"

Noah cleared his throat.

"Do you like it or something?"

"What? No."

"Could have fooled me," Lee muttered. "Fine. Do I have to wait out here until you get back?"

Noah shrugged. "No. Can you just walk into Arbitage?"

Lee nodded. "Can't see why not. I wouldn't know what to do, though. I've never been in a big city."

"School, not a city. You can just come to my room," Noah said through a frown. "Don't get too caught up with anyone, though. Just go straight there. Building T. It's got my name – No – ah, Vermil. Magus Vermil."

Noah couldn't tell why, but the headache felt more violent than it normally was. He shook his head, pushing the pain back. It would only be for a few more hours, and it was a poor idea to show weakness in front of a predator – even one he was allied with.

"I can do that." Lee rubbed her hands together. "Okay. I'll find you in your room once you disappear."

"We can shop tomorrow," Noah said. Then he leaned back against a tree. "I'm just going to relax now."

"Whatever you want," Lee replied with a dismissive wave. "I've got a long run ahead of me. Be seeing you."

Then she was gone, a blur vanishing through the trees. Noah grimaced and leaned his head against the rough bark, waiting until the transport cannon called him back.