As one after another contributed to the discussion of Nemean's punishment, what remained of Fahl's composure boiled away to leave behind seething, tail-lashing rage. Although he dispelled all the heat gathered in his mouth with a single incredulous sigh, the words spat out from a tensed jaw managed to retain a scalding temperature. Brusque and disgusted, politeness was reserved for friends and betters. All others could be damned if they expected otherwise.

"Ego," he scoffed. "Is the least to be taught. Telling her to wallow in the deepest cesspool means... Nothing! If that muck-guzzling. Piss-furred. Waste of breath! Can still find a way to fling shit at you. Bind her... and all you give is a challenge."

Lower than Gembounds? A fine sentiment, but she was already there in everyway but status. Might as well give her a slap on the wrist for all the good that would do everyone; it'd have the same effect, the shame from servitude temporary at best.

"Harm for harm! Let her boil, burn! Shove her off the highest cliff! Tear her eyes out... and let her stumble blind and rid... ridi... fucking mocked! If we keep her alive... it should be with every wrong revisited on her. Life on the brink of death. Always. Too pained to act any more against us."

Fahl paused, wheezing, and let the hot haze of anger fully rob him of speech for a moment. Once it receded, replaced by the giddiness of uncensored thought, he continued.

"I agree that Aquarian should have a say too, if you're willing to listen. Else that is what I think should be done."

Fahl didn't know how long it'd been that he'd waited for this moment, whether the desire to see Nemean laid low had begun from when he'd first suspected her involvement in Imp's unhappy tale or if it'd only started once he became fully aware of her sadism's wide and powerful reach. Whichever the length of time had been, though, watching as Nemean struggled futilely to escape her vine bindings—listening to her shrieks of suffering fading away within the thick mists of the swamp—caused his scales to darken to a sedate midnight blue hue. Throat rendered dry and hoarse by heated words and magic, success tasted metallic on his tongue, a savage and bloody sense of satisfaction.

Soon, as Farina's snap of a command surely meant, his teacher would have sight again. The blind but forever bold batgator would no longer have to rely upon magical sense or sound or the body heat of a companion to wander the caves. A self-declared artist, he could at last demonstrate exactly what he was best at, the joy of the act no longer cruelly robbed from him. Despite concern on Fahl's part, mainly because he would not be able to ensure the Master upholding her side of the deal, as her fierce tone allowed no room for negotiation, relief was the predominant emotion that swept over him, a wave crashing over and cooling simmering thoughts.

"With whose? Yours or Nemean's?" was his teasing response to the promise of return. He chuckled with a slow shake of his head. "Yeah, you go get them," he said, encouraging Imp. "And when you come back..."

Although none too graceful, Imp had been plenty speedy; distance too great for Fahl to bother straining his voice further, he let the rest of the sentence trail off, possibilities unspoken. Shoulders would've sagged if not for the sudden jolt to attention that Dragon's reminder caused. Whereas the elder reptile's nod was calm and full of gravity, he adopted a show of respect as one might give to a superior, crouching forward and directing eyes to the ground. Besides the formality, a warmth kindled in his chest.

"Then I'll be here, si—er, Dragon," he said as the other took to the air. "To see what more may happen and be done, for your son and the Children."

Just as he could not forget the welcome he'd been offered, so too could the oath he had sworn in Farina's midst not be easily discarded. If Imp came back, bright-eyed and bolder than ever, then at last he'd consider himself more than an acquaintance to this family of survivors and readily become an initiate to the dual path of strength and knowledge. It'd be foolish not to when their values so aligned with his.