The grey dawn bloomed over the horizon long before Muse forced consciousness back into his body. Usually unaffected, and incapable, of such things as sleep and rest, he was overcome with a great feeling of unease. It wormed its way under his pelt like maggots. He shivered, rolling to his belly and spreading his malformed fingers out in front of him. Light, another commodity he was unaccustomed to, trickled tentatively forward, like little fingers of gold, caressing his pale, emaciated form. Muse chomped his teeth, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth. An image of darkness and a deep feeling of need blossomed clearly in his mind.

The picture was soon accompanied by that of a far more familiar one...that of Esix. Muse could not feel the familiar presence of his spider, and swinging his fluffed tail before his eyes, bare of any traces of his constant companion, made his body wrack and shiver.

~Don't worry~ the voice was like glass, like china. Muse lifted his head, ears perked. A gentle paw, or perhaps claw, stroked the soft, if mangy, fur along the unicorn's neck. Muse craned his head toward the touch. The bright, black eyes of Inasnath peered back at him, smiling.

~Don't worry~ she said again, extracting her satin-white body the comforting warmth of her bond. She tottered towards him, steps delicate and joyful. ~You have me, now.~

Her? Yes, yes he had her. The thought brought feelings of warmth to his mind, and he saw himself and the hatchling together in his head. Always together. Resentment came to him then, and the image of Esix was banished from his thoughts.

~See?~ said Inasnath. She giggled girlishly and lay her head on Muse's outstretched 'hands', ~I won't ever leave you~.

Muse's wretched, reptilian mouth stretched into a smile, and he rested his chin atop her head.

But, resentment for Esix and love for Inasnath aside, the feeling of utter dread that overwrought Muse's mind, his heart, his very core, was not so quick to be forgotten. How could be speak? How could he be heard properly by others? Who would protect him? Inasnath was so small, so innocent...She couldn't do it.

Esix formed himself in his mind's eye, a slow process like a spider weaving its web, and Muse inched it gently into Inasnath's thoughts.

~It's okay~ she said, snuggling closer.

She didn't understand! Muse pulled back his lips and clattered his teeth a little.

~We'll find him~ Inasnath continued, ~Before we go home, but I'm tired now. Can't we sleep a little longer? Please?~

Before they went home. Esix would be back with Muse before they went home. His muscles quivered with his nervousness, but he nodded anyway and let his head fall against her warmth. His eyes lay open, incapable of sleep, but he would not disturb her. He could wait.

Eight spindly legs skittered over the abandoned sands of Avangaea Nidus' hatching area. The last remnants of the previous night's excitement were scattered chaotically about. Most of it, the unusual fog, the animated skulls, and even the mansion that had encompassed most of the area, were gone. Left was a long expanse of empty terrain that seemed to stretch on for miles. A mile could be a mighty long journey when you are no larger than a copper coin. Fortunately, Esix had no intention of going far, or anywhere at all for that matter. He simply wanted to get away.

After all, he wasn't needed anymore, was he? Oh, how bitter the words rang in his mind.

How dare Muse bond a dragon? How dare that mist take his Muse away. And how dare that...that creature grin at him, as if he were nothing to spare a thought for, as it drew that disgusting little dragon from its horrid little bowl. Esix's eight eyes glittered darkly and he clacked his fangs together. He'd just see how well Muse did without him, see how well that...that...Inasnath kept him company, treated him. She wasn't good enough for his Muse. None of them were. None of them ever would be. And even if they were, they dare not take his Muse away from him.

Oh how his blood (or whatever inner-substance he might have) boiled.

His Muse. The bond of some noxious dragon hatchling. He didn't need her. He only needed Esix. His Esix, His Muse.

But now, he had her, or she had him, rather, and Esix was no longer the closest person to Muse's mind. A bond could not be broken nearly so easily as the fragile thread of...of...needing, Esix and Muse shared. If it was that. Esix could not wrap his mind around the concept, of the purpose for his and Muse's...bond. Esix wanted Muse, wanted him for himself. Wanted to govern, to own, to control. And Muse...Muse needed someone, to watch after him, take care of him, speak for him.

And now Esix was no longer that someone. After all, how could a teensy, tiny spider contend with the force of a dragon? She may be small now, but that would not last for long.

She. Inasnath. She would rip Muse from him. She could poison his mind with lies (or truths, by the silk of his own web, Esix has told Muse more lies than even the slimiest of character's would deign to speak).

Perhaps Esix could not take care of Muse or protect him as well as Inasnath could, but he could protect him from her, and from anything she might do or say to ruin him for Esix.

Yes. That would be his task now. His challenge. To keep Muse child-like and innocent. To keep Inasnath from letting him realize Esix was governing him (purely for the purpose of protecting him, of course...from keeping him stable, unchanging, and as innocent of one such as his caliber could be).

Esix paused in his meanderings and opened his mind to the unicorn.

Loneliness, anguish, confusion. A hoard of black emotion tore into the spider's thoughts. He stumbled backward, legs moving intricately like a marionette's tangled strings. Oh, how Muse was hurting without him. It comforted Esix, that he needed him still. If Esix had lips to smile he would have, but as he did not, he merely send a small shiver of...contentness, back to his Muse.

The black emotions dissipated, and the image of himself, Esix, tangled comfortably in the silky threads of his host's tail slid invitingly into his mind. Happiness bloomed between them.

Esix's legs danced across the grains of sands. He would return to Muse, and then, perhaps, they could leave this strange place. The sooty streets of home were calling to them both.