Salem watched, curiously, as Rathien walked towards him. It wasn't until the blades were already swinging towards his neck that he realized it; Rathien was going to kill him, here and now. It didn't matter whether he believed Salem about the nanites or not. It didn't matter that his cloak was failing- he was dimly aware of the pool of blood that had formed around his right leg, soaking the cloak clean through and dulling its properties to the point of uselessness.
No, all that mattered now was that this was the end. Salem pressed his eyes shut and waited. He waited for what felt like a long time, until Rathien spoke, asking him why he hadn't run away or died.
"Couldn't die," he choked out, his voice sounding raspier than he remembered. "Too much else to do."
Rathien collapsed at his side. Either it was far more sudden than Salem had expected, or he hadn't been paying attention. The hunter was almost close enough to reach out and touch. For a moment, Salem considered doing exactly that. Why was Rathien lying down too? Nanites? Oh, right! Nanites!
The nanites weren't acclimated to Ildari physiology- they would use Rathien as their base-point, but the road to their eventual knowledge of his body might be a little rough. It was one of the things Salem liked least about these nanites- they could be particularly invasive in pursuit of a baseline of knowledge. It happened differently every time, but it was never much fun.
These were all things Salem thought, but the only thoughts that he managed to verbalize came out as an honest, if not entirely clear, "Don't know how long that'll last." In his current state, Salem couldn't really remember what he'd said and what he'd only thought, or if there was a difference between them. He followed up with another "Don't know how long that'll last," which proved equally insightful the second time around.
He looked at the hunter... he didn't want to be here when Rathien got up, did he? He tried to sit up, only to be reminded sharply of his broken leg. If only he could get better... didn't Terenia get better somehow? Morphing, right? Salem remembered telling himself that Morphing was good for healing. That might work.
After a few tries, he was able to hold the image of a Kafit bird in his mind. While he wondered how one bird could remember to flap so many wings, he found himself shrinking.