Scarlet jumped back in shock, "What? You created death magic? Why would I even try to free you now?"
Des transformed back to a human and shook his head, "This is how people treat death magic nowadays?" He transformed back into a raven and said, "I already gave you my promise to not harm you and serve you for a decade. I'm even throwing in a bonus of getting us out of this place! Besides, don't you think I would have killed you by now if I really wanted to?"
Scarlet sighed, "Alright, teach me death magic. I have to get back in time."
Des' head tilted in curiosity, "What's the hurry?"
Scarlet sat down on the warm floor and said, "My kingdom, Girid, and another kingdom, Zoria, are at war and magic had just reemerged on Trumoris on the side of Zoria."
Des asked, "Don't you have magic too? How else did you get here?"
Scarlet shook her head, "I don't know either! One of the enemies' magic artifacts broke! All the magic I have used was for physical enhancement from a magic artifact that had been slowly leaking magic. It shouldn't have been possible for the magic from my artifact to bring me here!"
Des hopped towards the edge of his cell and said, "Show me."
Scarlet took off her dragon earring and showed it to him. Des sniffed it a bit and said, "Oh? Well, I have good news and bad news now. Which to hear first?"
Scarlet put her earring back on and said, "Good news first."
Des continued, "I know where we are now. Specifically, inside that earring of yours. It is half the corpse of Binglong shrunk down into earring size and made into a magical artifact."
Scarlet asked, "And the bad news?"
Des sighed and said, "Getting us out of this prison of bones will be tricky. Very tricky."
Scarlet fidgeted her earring and said, "What do you mean?"
Des continued, "Well, I'll tell you once you get me out of this cell."
Scarlet threw her hands up in exasperation, "Just teach me the death magic already!"
Des transformed back into his human form and thoughtfully looked at Scarlet, "Show me your palm."
Scarlet raised an eyebrow, "Really? Palmreading? The only thing your so-called 'death magic' is killing is my hopes in getting out of here."
Des growled, "Just give me your palm. What do you have to lose anyway? At most you'll lose an arm if I have any malicious intentions."
Scarlet extended her arm into her cage and Des transformed into a Feraros, a palm-sized and fast bird with a razor sharp beak like a small dagger. Des hovered over Scarlet's left palm and suddenly did a rapid series of cuts into it, creating a bloody palm.
The pain hadn't even registered in Scarlet's mind before the cuts stopped. By the time it registered, Scarlet felt an incredibly painful pulsing sensation throughout her arm and making its way through her body.
Scarlet was gasping for air and her legs gave way. She felt her eyes grow foggy and she bit her lip to try not to scream. Finally, after a while, Scarlet felt the pain slowly fade away. She glared at the small Des, "What the hell did you do?"
Des transformed back into a black raven and remarked, "Shortened your lifespan a tiny bit to help you become stronger."