Eke made no progress getting up the hole, and each time he failed, his hope sank deeper and deeper.

Until he heard a whisper.

The faintest whisper he'd ever heard, but the cavernous nature of the cave made it echo just that little bit, to make it barely audible to him.

"...Eeeeeke." Ryker's voice whispered out.

"Heeey.... helloooooo?" it said further.

"Eeeeeke, you in here...?"

The voice and steps stopped for a moment, before the hastened.

"Eke!?" Ryker's voice called again, as the steps got more frantic, and closer.

"Eke, c'mon, throw me a bone here." he went on.

"...come on, bro." he then added.

"Gimme another sonar ping."

At the top of the incline, Eke saw a faint figure poke their head out and look down.

And the figure had glowing red eyes.

"Ah, there you are, dragonling." he heard Ryker's demon say.

"Looks like you're in a pickle." he commented, as he started to float down on the wings he'd manifested earlier.

"And it seems like you've learned quite a bit on your little adventure." he added as he got closer.

"You got it, kid." was the reply.

Eke then felt arms underneath his armpits, as the two of them slowly ascended upwards, towards where he could see the light.

"You're gonna need medical treatment again." he was told.

"I can see that leg's not in good shape." he went on.

"Also noticed your jacket's missing."

"......" he was silent, before sighing.

"Great." he muttered.

If Eke had expected to wake up in a hospital again, he was wrong. His wounds had been properly tended to, and his leg was in a proper cast, but he was in his own bedroom, in his own bed.

Aly was asleep in the chair beside the bed, her cheeks stained from the tears she'd shed, and he saw a note on the endtable there as well.

Figured you were tired of waking up in hospitals. Paid extra to have a team show up here and get everything done. If you need me, gimme a call.
-Your bro, Ryker. it read.

"Mmn." Aly stirred slightly when he whispered to her. She looked ready to just go back to sleep, but her eyes slowly opened, and when they came into focus, seeing Eke, she almost started crying again.

"...Eke..." she said quietly.

"I was so worried about you." she told him in a whisper.

"I'm glad Ryker found you." she went on.

"....what happened?"

Aly just nodded.

"Okay." she replied.

She then grabbed her phone and sent a text. About 2 minutes later, Ryker stepped into the room, stretching his arms above his head slightly.

"Ahhh." he exhaled.

"Right then." he said.

"I hear you have news." he said to Eke, looking at him intently.

Aly raised her hands up to her mouth, cupping them over it.

"Oh, goodness...!" she exclaimed quietly.

"Well.... crap." Ryker said.

"That explains a lot." he growled.

"And it's also unforgivable." he went on, cracking his knuckles.

"Tell me, if we destroy the necromancer that did this, will your Dad be allowed to rest in peace again?" he asked Eke.

"Well, then whether or not it solves the current problem, destroying that necromancer seems like it'd be a good idea." Ryker replied, before the demon suddenly took over.

"Necromancers violate the sanctity of death. Whether one is in heaven or hell is irrelevant, necromancers mess with the dead, and deserve worse than that." he said, before giving control back to Ryker.

".....yeah." he muttered.

"He has some strong opinions on that." he mumbled further.

"But we'll do all we can to try and help. Even if it's nothing more than comforting you." he assured his brother.

"Then we need to take control of it." Ryker replied.

"If no-one is safe, we need to change that." he reasoned.

"That necromancer has to go." he said.

"And I know you said that sometimes we need to let things happen, but not THIS time." he reasoned further.

"We need to be proactive."