"..........." Ryker was silent, before holding Eke close.

"You're not going to." he said.

"You're not underwater, there's no water around." he assured him.

"You're on dry land, and you're safe." he went on.

"Just try and focus on breathing. Focus on the breaths entering your lungs and exhaling from them. You'll calm down naturally."

Ryker didn't say anything, and merely rubbed Eke's back gently.

"Yes. You are." he said.

'Kinda.' he thought.

'The kid's mentally scarred from that. S'gonna take a while for this to go away.' he thought further.

"Various things." Ryker replied.

"Some small breads, some fruit, plenty of jerked meat..." he listed off.

"And some bottles of drink, too." he added.

"Whatcha want?" he asked him.

"Craving anything?"

Ryker raised an eyebrow for a moment.

"Allllll righty then." he said.

"Come on, then." he told him, as they stepped out from the small cave, and started to walk again.

"This weather really IS strange." he commented.

'By the way, were you serious about that ice dragon comment earlier?" he asked him.

".....hm." Ryker muttered.

"Because there's something high up in the sky." he said, looking straight up.

"Can't tell WHAT it is... but the silhouette looks... strange." he told him.

"Can't tell how high or low it is, either... could be something huge, though." he went on.

"But whatever it is, it seems like it's got a biiiiiiig wingspan."

Ryker kept up with Eke easily, keeping his eyes on the shadow in the sky. He followed Eke into the forest, and continued to scan the sky.

"Hmmm." he mumbled.

"Well, if that IS an ice dragon, it explains the sudden winter around." he said.

"You all right?" he asked Eke.

"You looked like you suddenly realized your very life was in danger." he commented, before pausing a moment.

"....is it?" he asked.

Ryker held Eke close in response, and made sure he knew he was there. If nothing else, he wanted to be something solid, something Eke KNEW was there, and could count on.

"Woah, woah, kid." he said.

"Easy, there." he told him.

"You don't need to answer me, I was just asking." he assured him further.

"Just focus on breathing, and keeping it regulated."

"An elder ice dragon?" Ryker asked.

"What... is there a difference?" he asked him, looking skyward once more.

"And how do you know it might be an elder?" he asked further.

He was wondering what was going on... why was Eke as scared as he was?

And why was the shard embedded in his chest starting to pulse lightly?

Ryker suddenly felt some thoughts in his head.

Thoughts that were... simplistic, to say the least.

"Hm." he mumbled.

"I see." he said.

"So what you're saying is that the presence of this dragon endangers you." he commented.

"If the dragon weren't here... then you'd be fine, yeah?" he then asked.

As he grabbed Ryker's hands, and looked into his eyes, Eke could actually SEE the curse trying to take hold of his friend.

He could see the edges of his eyes... a strange dark energy-like substance was starting to crawl and ink its way towards the centre of them, towards the pupils... but then then stopped, as Ryker's expression became strained.

He then collapsed to his knees, grasping tightly at his chest.

"Ngh." he grunted.

"No... stay... back..." he muttered, but he wasn't talking to Eke. Eke could tell he was talking to... the shard, really.