The talk went about the way that Jelin suspected.  There was a lot of blubbering nonsense, a little piss, and some "don't kill me"s.  He confessed to everything that Jelin had told Ainselth about and more.  Soon enough, she looked even more sick about his confessions than about what Jelin had done.  In only about three minutes she gave up and asked him to just make it quick, which he did with lightning straight to the brain.

Afterwards he led the way out where the least people would see them with her carrying one of the sheet-bags.  Before long they reached the spot where he had left the children playing tic tac toe to keep them entertained.  The children spotted them soon enough and ran to ask Ainselth if everything was okay and if Jelin had saved her like he said.

She seemed apprehensive about answering but eventually answered while keeping it short and without explaining any of it.  Jelin let the reunion go for a little bit but after getting a message from Wings that they were done and heading to the wall, he let them know it was about time to leave.

He led the way, occasionally stopping to let people or guard pass by so that they wouldn't be spotted, and soon they reached the sight of the wall.  Jelin stopped briefly and asked the children if they would be willing to help carry some things since he and Ainselth were already carrying bags.  Then he pulled out the smaller bags of stuff and handed them over before continuing towards the part of the wall he had messed with.

Shortly after he had started to remove the bricks, much to the delight and awe of the children, Wings and the fox appeared.  Ainselth seemed a little frightened but the children seemed excited.  The fox seemed mildly amused but Jelin warned the children not to mess with either of the two monsters too much.

The bricks were soon removed and he told everyone to go ahead and head out while sticking close to the wall until he was finished replacing the bricks.  It was actually faster to put the bricks back, partly because he started using his spotty telekinesis to help.  Once he was done, he sat down and waited.

He got a few odd looks, but ignored them and continued focusing while he waited.  Soon he heard the shouts hollers.  It wasn't until he heard a scream that he finally decided that they could move.  The sky was darkening slightly but it was still bright enough that they might be spotted so he tried to take a route that left them in view of the town the least.  By the time they had reached the hills, the sky was darkening, and he had Wings lead them to where she hid the rest of the loot.

As he sat down and started to add the loot to the bags, he sensed the fox coming up behind him.

<Is it time already?>

<You don't sound particularly worried.>

<I still have hope that you would at least reconsider or allow me to appeal to your reason before you start.>

<Me reason, huh?>

<I assume you plan to dive into my mind and find out whether I've been speaking the truth and such.  If you wait until we reach safety and let me set the humans up, then I'd offer the chance with no resistance.  Right now I would have to fight it, though, and if you were to injure me then there would be dire consequences.  Surely you noticed my family surrounding us?>

<They aren't strong enough to beat me.>

<Maybe.  But if you're wrong and you learn it only after killing or permanently injuring me, it would be too late.>

<That does sound reasonable.  But no!>

Time almost seemed to slow as the mental battle began.  Jelin knew he would be no match even before it began but he chose to fight anyways.  In the slowed time, he could see his family jumping at the fox and then could only focus on his own fight.  She wasn't being gentle, either.  She tried to bulldoze her way into his mind while he tried to throw her attempts in certain directions.

He left only one place open for her to look at, but she seemed to overestimate his abilities and ignored it like it was a trap.  Annoyed with how much he struggled and fought, she started actually doing damage and producing the equivalent of mental punches to break his meager defenses further.  At the same time she started getting parts of the information she wanted as it broke loose and damaged his mind further.

As she burrowed deeper and deeper, she started doing less damage.  He could feel some of the horror from her realization that he had been right and not only had he had no intention of going against her but had a safe place for her and her sisters that she had just potentially destroyed the pillar of.  With an almost soft touch, she finally accepted his direction to the only unguarded part of his mind.

With a cry, she pulled out of his mind as quickly as she could at the realization of what information his unguarded part showed.  It was his insurance policy and the way he had to make her pay if she permanently injured or killed him.  He collapsed as time returned to normal and the girls tackled and tied her to the ground with her providing no resistance other than screaming and crying.

He had found a clue about her sisters by walking around the Slayers and just saying "fox".  Claw was now watching them until the fox proved whether she could be trusted or not.  Should Claw feel anything wrong with the link or the other girls claim he was beyond help, she would kill them.  Even though the fox was strong enough to fight the girls off, her sisters were not and Claw was specialized in hunting and the fox knew it since his mind couldn't lie.

<I give up!  Please!  Don't hurt them!  I'm sorry!  I'll do anything!  You win!  Please!>

The fox screamed out with her telepathy to all nearby, startling their human charges as well although nobody paid them any mind.  Jelin tried to use his telepathy and realized he couldn't use his psi anymore.  Even his magic was garbled.  He could feel the link still, but doing anything with it was similarly not possible.  He tried to speak or move, and yet it seemed she had done so much indiscriminate damage that he could no longer do more than think.

<Please tell them to stop!  Please!  You were right!  I shouldn't have attacked you!  No, no, please don't be dead...

Huh?  He's still alive?  So why hasn't he said...oh no!  Wait!  I can fix it!  Just...just let me try...please...>

She was crying both physically and mentally at that point.  Legs walked up to her, lifted her face to meet eye to eye and then did something.  Soon, the fox screamed out in incredible pain...thrice.  Legs let go of the fox so that her face fell to the ground again.  She pointed at Jelin while saying something that Jelin couldn't hear.

The fox slowly stood up on shaky legs and walked to him.  Soon, he could feel her in his mind again.  This time she was trying to bring some of the scattered pieces back together and undo the damage she had done.  After almost ten minutes, she collapsed while panting heavily.

<Just...give me a few moments...I used too much to overpower him.  If I push too hard right now, he might die.  No, I can't fix specific parts like that.  I'm not the best at healing and I did a lot of damage.  It takes a lot of concentration and at least twice as much stamina to even start to undo what's been done.

This...this could take a while.  Umm...like a month?  No, no, wait!  I'm trying...okay?  I know I was warned...just...give me some time.  I'll fix it even if it takes the rest of my life...just...please.>

After a little longer, Jelin was still not healed.  Since they couldn't wait too long while still this close to the human town, the girls finished the packing Jelin had started and used the fox to tell the humans what was going on.  The fox admitted her mistake to the humans and promised them safety for following along as she had been in Jelin's mind and was now the main expert allowed to make such a promise on his behalf.

Ainselth ushered the children forward with a small frown every time she glanced at the girls' undressed states.  The girls took the luggage from the humans so they could move faster and easier.  Shortly before dawn they managed to make it barely into the forest with the fox walking alongside Legs, who was carrying him, and diving into his mind in an attempt to make repairs every time she caught her breath.

Since almost everyone was exhausted, the fox pointed the humans to where some of the food Jelin had brought specifically for them was before going for a quick hunt before bedtime.  The girls, remembering some of what Jelin had told them about the strange human customs, took turns leaving to eat out of sight.

Once everyone had eaten, they got comfortable and soon fell asleep, except Legs who decided to be a lookout and the fox who stayed away and wallowed in the misery of her mistake.  Since he couldn't really do anything, Jelin just let himself fall asleep.