Michael B]

The man actually looked surprised at Devlin's words, "Well that's surprising, you're actually reasonable. I am Orpheus and yes, it isn't really your business, but if I can convince you at least not interfere then that will be better for me. This...friend of yours definitely deserves to meet justice, he might seem good to you, but he is not. He is dark as I am. For he is a killer. A murderer." Orpheus murmured something then and suddenly the black sword was at his side, just hovering there, posing no immediate threat and then he spoke aloud gain, "He deserves to meet justice and be killed himself because he murdered my-" Before he could finish his sentence Orpheus was pulled into the air, because while he was focused on Devlin, Kakatios had kept up his spell work and had made the chain of the scythe long enough to move about Orpehus' legs. Kakatios use the chain of the scythe to lift Orpheus into the air and away from Devlin.

After the sword went to his side the ice on devlin's hands dissapated and he listened intently. Looking slightly annoyed when Kakatios had attacked him. He raised an eyebrow and looked around, paranoid again now that he was going to be attacked again, but slowly be moved around in the mist searching for atleast the faintest sight of a figure. He was holding his fists up as if he were about to be in a boxing match, but they weren't held like that to fight, instead to cast his powers easier.

The mist quickly faded away for the most part, only a small cloud of it remained surrounding Orpheus. Kakatios could be seen just standing still as a stone, the blade of the scythe still deflecting the holy sword which was only a yard away now. The chain of his weapon was extremely long now, long enough that the beginning of it was in his hands and extend to Orpheus who was twenty feet in the air. The chain was coiling tightly around his legs and had reached his waist, the length of the chain continued back down to the blade of the scythe. In total, the chain's length was nearly fifty feet and growing. For his part, Orpheus was only muttering out something, some sort of spell, otherwise he did not seem terribly alarmed about his situation. Kakatios remained still, not even sparing to glance at Devlin.

Devlin assessed the situation and devised something in his mind, smiling. Flying towards him, Devlin leaned in to whispered in Kakatios' ear. "If I can win his trust and act like I'm working against you, it'd be about 20 times easier to kill him." He said, "You just have to cooperate and put up a good show."

Unfortunately, the whispering in his ear proved a distraction for Kakatios. He shifted his gaze off Orpheus and to Devlin for only a moment. But in that moment his concentration was broken and his guard down just long enough for the holy sword to dart past the blade of the scythe and impale itself into the same wound that the unholy sword had caused. The wound was grievous and Kakatios collapsed to his knees, the coils of the chain around Orpheus' legs loosened and he fell to the ground, but landed on his feet safely. He grinned wickedly as he eyed Kakatios, "So it looks like the end is near for the murderer." Orpheus looked over at Devlin then, "You see, this bastard murdered my parents and my brother. Isn't this the justice he deserves?"

Devlin looked down at Kaktios, his expression unchanging. "Hm, it would seem so." He flew up in the air to hover infront of Orpheus, the wound caused by the sword earlier began to burn again, this time visably burning his flesh and fur, a faint sizzling sound could be heard, but he ignored it the best that he could. "Yet, I have a question." He reached up and grabbed his Halo, twirling it around on his fingers as he spoke, "What truely is justice? Surely it cannot be murdering even more, because by your terms, you need murdered too." He flashed a wicked grin and in the blink of an eye, his halo was a sword once again, and headed on a straight course for Orpheus' heart, Devlin praying the whole time that some form of contact could be made.

Kakatios' wound began to seep blood and he remained upon his knees, seemingly without the strength to move. Orpehus gazed at Devlin and grinned as he saw the wound caused by the unholy sword was burning Devlin. "Excellent" he muttered under his breath, he then considered Devlin's question and eyed the halo as it turned into a sword. As he saw the sword hurtling to him Orpheus uttered out a spell quickly and in the next instant three things happened simultaneously. Orpheus was impaled in the heart and let out a gasp, the unholy sword darted away from the scene, and with a loud shattering sound the holy sword exploded sending shards of the blade deep into Kakatios' body and widening the wound.

Devlin drew in a sharp breath, the sword began to glow and become frozen in an attempt to stop the man's heart. He watched as the unholy sword left the scene, and raced down to Kakatios, wrapping his arms around him. "Keep breathing," he said in a quiet voice. "Donkt give up." Devlin's ears went back, "You can't now." He thought about the sword again, figuring it would be back. "I don't care if I die and you stay alive, because I've lived my life, and you haven't. I give my life to you, in the event it is needed." He said, and as the words were spoken, he pulled a feather from his wing and placed it in Kakatios' hand, standing up afterwads to look up at Orpheus

Kakatios was completely unawares of Devlin's action, he did not feel Devlin's arms or hear his words. But the feather placed in his began to glow. AS Devlin look, Orpheus fell lifelessly to the ground and then in the next instant his body turned into the grey mist which was quickly blown away by the wind. Kakatios, on the other hand, began to literally crack. Much like glass, long jagged lines appeared on his body and in the nest instant his body disintegrated into tiny black shards on the ground with the lone feather on top of the. Immediately those shards gathered into a shadow upon the ground, with the feather still floating upon it, and then with great speed the black shadowy mass sped away in the direction of Devlin's home.

As Orpheus's body changed, the sword quickly transformed back into his halo and took place on Devlin's head again. He changed into a feral wolf and began to fly back home, the pain and burning sensation on his arm was beginning to get to him, he couldn't understand why it was still hurting him like this. It took a few minutes of careful flying to even get into view of the house, and when he was finally on the porch he simply laid down and began to lick his wound gently.

Inside the house the house was Kakatios, but just a black shapeless mass shifting across the floor and making things inside the house vibrate some. All the while that solitary feather moved with the mass.

underneath his paws Devlin could feel the vibrations. Standing as best he could, he phased through the door and into the house, tilting his head as the sight before him. "What is... going on?" He asked, jumping up on the couchn although rather clumsily, to stay out of the way.

Slowly Kakatios' black mass took shape and condensed into a recognizable form. Standing there in all the menacing glory he could muster was Kakatios the mouse, with the feather in his teeny paws. He looked up at Devlin, who seemed to be a giant to him and let out a sigh and then spoke in a high, squeaky voice that barely traveled, "That almost ended me, thank you for the feather...it...you...saved me. Even if..."

Wide-eyed, Devlin slid off the couch and approached the mouse, laying down on the floor so he was between his paws. He laid his head down so he could hear him better. "I am so glad," he smiled softly, "even if, what?" He then asked, stretching his wings out to the side.

Kakatios twitched his tiny tail around and smiled as Devlin smiled, but it was probably hard to see. "I am glad too, but yes...even if...I'm not sure if he's dead. But maybe he'll think twice before attacking again." Kakatios then sniffed at the air, "That sword of his got you, I can smell it." And without a second thought he jumped on Devlin's nose and scurried over to the wound to examine it.

"I'll just stake him with my halo again." He said, going crosseyed when he jumped on his nose. "Yeah, burning flash. It smells great, right?" He said sarcastically, "It doesn't hurt as much as it did before."

Kakatios laughed, "Well yes, you could do that..." He gazed at the wound, "Better than other parts of your body burning." He kept his focus on the wound and then absentmindedly licked it a few times. He realized what he was doing and stopped abruptly. "Well...if I can get my strength back soon enough I might be able to stop and heal it."

"Sounds good." Devlin nodded, raising his head to poke the little mouse with his nose. "Why donkt you take a nap or something?" He suggested, "I might go take a shower or something, see if it'll do anything about this burning. The smell is..." Instead of saying anything, he made a face.

Kakatios turned to gaze into one of Devlin's eyes, "Me...sleep? I don't know, but you were right about the coffee." He nodded and then scurried off of Devlin. "I hope the shower helps somewhat, try not to squish me when you get back out." He then ran to one of the couch's legs, climbed up and laid down on one of the cushions. His eyes focused on Devlin.

"I'll try not to." Devlin chuckled and stood on his paws, making his way to the bathroom, his usual happy prance absent in his step. "Have a nice nap." He said before the door shut behind him.

He watched worried as Devlin disappeared behind the door and then sighed to himself. He curled up into a tiny ball, with the feather still and promptly drifted off to sleep for the first time in centuries.

Sometime later Devlin quietly emerged from the bathroom in his anthro form, a towel around his neck and fur still lightly damp. All he had on was a pair of shorts, his bandages and shirt not present and his hair a mess. He tip toed to the kitchen to get a glass of water and sat down in a chair, careful not to wake Kakatios as he did.

Kakatios was not aware of Devlin emerging from the shower or any of his other movements. He just quietly slept on, clutching onto the feather like a child would a teddy bear. He spoke softly in his sleep as he twitched some restlessly.

Devlin smiled as he saw he was still asleep and walked over, sitting down on the floor infront of the other cushion of the couch. He leaned against it and took a drink of the water, closing his eyes to relax.

Kakatios murmured softly in his sleep again, as he slept and Devlin relaxed Kakatios' form changed slowly from a mouse to a small mini raven. He woke up then, realizing his changed and bobbed his head, looking at Devlin.