Dreadlords Blood Lost

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair whipped around to face the tunnel he heard the voice from. He reached down and yanked his dagger from his belt. Unfortunately, he never got to use it.

The appearance of the beautiful redhead was enough to make him pause. He had to admit, she was striking, it was a shame that she was on the wrong team.

It was strange, he had not stepped through a door or even watched the world change around him. As he turned down the corridor, he was just in a vast green field, like it had always been that way. His mind scrambled to keep up with this new information, careful not to show his confusion. Had he been teleported, or were these mind games...It was more like a mental attack. Spacial movement magics were largely limited to portal stones.

Alistair took a moment to center himself as he focused his gaze back on the woman, again. He pushed a calm smile to his face.

"Whose to say I'm not just really difficult to kill?"

Edric

 

[Lumen]

She frowned and understood why Edric had the reputation he did. And she couldn't decide if his snake eyes were attractive or something else. And where was Alistair?

Had he found them, the others that came with Edric?

Alone??

She took a step forward. Her power close and bubbling at the surface. Sword still gripped in one hand. Circular shield in the other.

"Show us. And tell us as we walk together." She was tempted to try to knock him out herself. Even if it would only buy them...however long it took for him to regenerate. But the problem was? They needed him to get to the others. Unless she picked up on the heat their bodies gave off again.

"What are they here for?" Another question directed to the wanted man, Edric, as she motioned him forward. A flickered gaze to Aelita to stay alert. Be ready for anything.

 

[Henk]

Before Henk could say anything to Edric's offer, Lumen took the initiative and did it for him, causing Henk's head to turn slightly in her direction. Technically, she'd been put in charge, and Henk would have been acting out against the temporary truce he'd secured if he overruled her.

His hands twitched, the pupil in his one working eye dilating as looked back towards Edric. He could feel teeth against teeth in his mouth.

Henk wanted to trust him so badly.

But there was also a part of him, much bigger than it had been before their so called 'graduation', that wanted to fight him. To prove to himself that he could. An ego had grown where before there had been nothing but self-loathing.

And for a moment, even at the decision Lumen had made, Henk did not stand down. When finally, the lights from his arms began to dim and his stance began to relax slightly, it was not because Edric had surrendered.

"Let's go, then. One wrong move though..."

He didn't need to finish his warning.

Keeping himself trained on Edric as he was allowed to continue his approach, the blades on his wrists remained extended. Vigilance was key now; not only did he need to be wary of physical attacks, but any sign that he was draining one of them as well.

Somebody was waiting for him in Vel Anir, and striking out against the wishes of Dreadlord orders would only make his return to Noel take longer.

"Is he here?"

It went without saying who exactly Henk referred to. The one who'd taken Edric and several others from the forest that morning, the Archon, Gilram.

If somehow, they could stop Gilram here and now... It was a long shot, but even helping with such a feat would go well in earning him amnesty from any punishment Vel Anir might wish to enact on Henk. Plus, the look on her face would be something to die for.

 

[Aelita]

Aelita kept her stance as the conversation before her continued. The light on her staff continued to shine. It became more obvious as Henk dimmed his own lights.

With a slight smile, Aelita’s eyes shifted between two spots. First, to Edric’s head. Then, to the left side of his chest.

Henk and Lumen demanded Edric to show them how the rogue Dreadlords planned to move. If Edric began leading them, Aelita would retake her spot in the rear of the formation. She would keep line of sight with Edric – ready to cast a spell upon him should something occur.

 

[Edric]

"Henk, if he was here, we would all be having a very different conversation right now." It had taken him a while to understand, to really know just how powerful the Archon was.

Not just his magic, but the way that the people around the man looked to him. Edric could practically see the fanaticism in their eyes, the love, the trust. It was like nothing he had ever seen before. There were Dreadlords Loyal to Vel Anir of course, those who believed whole hearted in their home, but what he saw in some of Gilram's followers?

It was true devotion. Faith in his cause, his word, and the man himself.

Edric turned on his heel, letting his hands drop to his side as he began to walk in the same direction he had been going when running from them. As he neared his fallen things he gave them a wide berth, glancing only for a brief moment down at the daggers, though making no move to pick them up.

Then, slowly as they passed from the Crypt and into the halls of the Undercroft once more he reached out with his senses. The small pinpricks of life all around him illuminating, showing where the others he had come here with were.

A frown touched his lips for a brief moment as he noticed something, but he simply continued to walk. "I don't know what they want."

He said honestly.

He hadn't wanted to know. Step by step he was building faith, trust in him, and he knew the more he questioned and dug the less those bonds would form.

"Something old, if it's down here." Edric offered as he took a corner, walking not towards the pin-pricks of light in the distance, but instead towards the outer reaches of the Undercroft. The direction they were moving towards. "Where's Alistair?"

He questioned, already knowing the answer.

Leilwin let out a laugh, a sound that in any other situation would have sounded like a song. Pleasant and almost alluring, like a siren's call. "You very well might be."

She said with a smile.

"But I've seen what that boy can do." As she spoke, Alistair would feel something at his feet. On his first take he would see dozens upon dozens of snakes, writhing and shifting. Slithering and slowly drawing themselves up his body. Their forms turning into chains of steel that wrapped around him. "And I don't think that face of yours would still be so pretty after going toe to toe with him."

Her fingers formed into a fist, and Alistair would feel the chains tighten around him, attempting to drag him down onto his knees as Leilwin began to step towards him. "Would you tell me something?"

She asked calmly. "Something I've been wondering about many of you."

"Why did you stay?" Leilwin asked. "Loyalty? Fear? Opportunity?"

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Wherever he was, things here happened near instance. The snakes appeared around his legs without warning, something that usually would not happen to him, but they weren't normal snakes now were they? Their turning into chains proved that.

He struggled against the pull but knew he was getting pulled down unless he activated some magic, which he was hesitant to do for the moment.

"Looks aren't everything...Although, you have probably never had that problem. Everyone always talks about Edric's amazing abilities, but is it too hard to believe that some of us are just better at hiding our skills?" That's right, he needed to keep talking, and seem confident.

His next words were cut off as the chains squeezed tighter and he finally fell to his knees. Alistair's hands touched the ground, bowing over. He could feel the grass of the area, but...he also felt the beneath, like they were both there.

Alistair straightened his back and looked back up at her with a pained smile.

"Stay? It was a complicated reason...I just don't like opportunistic assholes, even when they are pretty."

In truth, it was probably a little bit of everything. Loyalty to his family and the city. Fear of death and being chased down. Most importantly, opportunity to finally prove himself in this Republic and make something for his family.

Edric

 

[Lumen]

Lumen allowed Henk to go first. She followed, still gripping her sword in one hand. Shield up in the other. The tip of her sword did point slightly toward the ground. Like Aelita, she kept Edric in her line of sight. She didni't answer Edric's question, instead asking.

"How many did you come with? And what can they do?"

What was their magic? A quick glance over her shoulder to Aelita with a silent look. Are you ready for this? This was what they'd trained for. To protect the Anirians. To stop rebels and criminals like these. Only, she'd never imagined that the 'senior' dreadlord with them would be a runaway-criminal. And the prisoner as Edric.

Where was Alistair?

Was he in trouble?

A frown drew on her pressed lips. Her magic ready and waiting.

 

[Henk]

Edric's words, the bluntness and truth of them finally began to bring Henk's adrenaline to a waning point. He was right. If Gilram was here, there would be none of this foolish cat and mouse idiocy. If that Archon had been here, then things would have been far more dire.

Henk had gotten stronger. Exponentially so since he'd left Vel Anir. He didn't quite understand it, but the surge of power he'd experienced during Graduation had changed him. Ever since that complete overload of light, he'd been able to harness and tap into his magic in ways he'd never even considered before. In terms of combat, Henk was an entirely different beast than he had been only months earlier, and the progress was staggering to him.

But he was still no match for something like Gilram. This new power he yielded was clumsy, untested in true battle. Even should he master it, he doubted he would stand much of a chance.

"I'm sorry, Edric."

Henk suddenly mumbled from behind his former classmate as he followed close behind him. "For what I did in the forest, and for my eagerness to attack you tonight. I should never feel a desire to harm a friend, and yet my emotions have bested me lately." It wasn't Edric that Henk held his rage towards, but Gilram and those who served him, the proctors who had harmed those he cared for and taken the vision in his right eye from him, leaving him even more scarred than before, and the leadership that had allowed it to happen.

"Whatever they want down here, it's important. He's been looking for it ever since he took you and the others, and I have the most awful feeling that if we don't find it first, and ensure it doesn't reach his hands, things will become far worse very quickly."

For the good of his 'informant', he chose not to elaborate further. The group drew deeper into the darkness of the undercroft, and Henk once again opened the slits of his arm guards, illuminating the space around them as they walked. "Alistair didn't say where he was going. Wasn't too keen to talk to a fugitive, but I'm sure you have a guess?"

 

[Aelita]

The light on Aelita’s staff continued to shine. She actually frowned as Henk began to reminisce.

Lumen glanced over to Aelita. As if instinctively, Aelita looked over to Lumen as well. She smiled once again and gave Lumen a nod.

Again, she continued to listen and remain prepped to cast a spell. She merely shook her head in response to Henk – eyes not deviating far from Edric.

 

[Edric]

"I'm not the one you have to apologize to." Edric said in simple answer to Henk, though didn't elaborate any further.

He could hardly blame the other Dreadlord for walking away, or even being aggressive. Who the fuck was he to judge when someone went a little off the rails? That was mostly what he seemed to do, a fact that Edric was coming to terms with more and more lately.

"There are five of them" Edric said as they stepped out from a narrow corridor and into a large chamber once again. This time it seemed an underground river of sorts. There was a single bridge leading over it to yet another tunnel, though odd devices with buckets decorated both sides of the rushing rapids. Likely used to gathering water. "I only know what one does."

Edric stopped for a moment, inspecting the small bridge. The river would be next to impossible for even him to jump over, and the bridge looked an ancient and ratty thing. It's wooden boards loosely tied together by rope which appeared well worn and old. "And if Alistair is keeping company with her, it's a cause for concern."

He said, frowning for a brief moment before he looked at the bridge. "How do you want to handle this?"

The Rogue Dreadlord asked, presuming they wouldn't want him going over first.

Leilwin let out a laugh slowly walking towards Alistair as she shook her head. "Of course not, dear."

As she spoke the surrounding environment began to change. The green grass turned brown, the bright sun darkened, and the light around them turned a pale read. From the brightest day, it turned to blackest night, a hue crimson seeming to hang within the very air.

Within the span of seconds the whole world around them changed. Becoming an uncomfortable and dark place, where Alistair would find it even hard to breath. The chains around him tightening. "They thought I was a fourth level."

She smiled.

"More often than not, it's better to be underestimated." Leilwin agreed, reaching out and touching Alistair's face. "But, I don't think anyone is going to be underestimating you any more."

Her fingers opened up, and a pike of steel materialized within her palm. A silvery spear that formed from a haze of nothing. "It's a shame. I would have liked to talk a little while longer, but you've made your position quite clear and I'm never one to deny someone their choice."

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Wow, fourth level? The Academy really did have shitty proctors. He would have said that out loud, but the changing of the environment came with the tightening of those chains. It was making it harder and harder to breathe.

"Yeah, I was underestimated too," Alistair said nervously as his eyes began to panic, before like a switch being flipped his eyes went calm and cold. No matter how much he smiled and tried to come across as kind, he would still never completely hide the eyes of a killer.

"They should have given me Archon right of the jump."

The ground beneath Alistair's feet began to glow. The thing that Alistair had originally rushed from the group to inspect was that these catacombs were layered with ancient defensive ruins that had been turned off for centuries due to a lack of maintenance...It only took a little bit of understanding to turn it back on.

And no matter how badly this woman wanted him to think that she controlled this world, it was still just an illusion. While he could not see the runes, he had felt them beneath his feet.

All it took was an activation, and Alistair's body faded away into mist.

Edric

 

[Lumen]

There are five of them.

Lumen frowned. If Henk and Edric switched sides when they came. Even if they didn't, it was clear she and Aelita were far outnumbered. She just had to hope that Alistair would find them soon. That he was okay.

Even then.

Jaw clenched. Taking a breath, she released her magic again. Sensing for clusters of warm bodies and what direction they might be moving from and toward. There. One headed toward them with one not moving. Four others close behind.

Neck craned as she looked at the river of the undercroft. It was violent and foaming. If one of them fell in, they would be swept away quickly and disappear beneath the cave system.

There were two entrances that dumped into where they were all standing that ran parallel to the river. A quick glance to Henk, then Edric, and finally to Aelita.

"They're coming and will end up on this side with us. Aelita, destroy the bridge. Aelita and Henk, hide in that tunnel. Edric," she swallowed. "You're with me in that one." She pointed to the one on the right. If Edric betrayed them, she deserved the consequences of her decision over Aelita. And she couldn't just leave Henk and Edric together.

"When they exit here, we'll take them by surprise."

 

[Henk]

There was... a lot of questionable planning on Lumen's part there. Henk didn't like the idea of splitting up when they were already severely outmatched, but not knowing for sure if Edric was truly on their side, despite Henk's desire to believe in him... It seemed to ask for problems to arise.

Even so, Alistair had put Lumen in command. To act against her wishes would only serve to sever their already uneasy truce. That was something he couldn't afford to do. Looking towards Edric, and then towards the blonde initiate Lumen had directed him to accompany, Henk appeared to bite his tongue before nodding.

"Fine, but if it looks like they're wise to us, I'm taking the shot."

Even if he couldn't kill them, a surprise attack from behind could be enough to throw them over the edge and into the violent eddy that run underneath the bridge. Wasn't a sure thing, but it was certainly something to keep in mind. Turning his attention to Aelita, Henk smiles just a bit. "Sorry, looks like she's stealing the glory. Guess you're stuck with me for a minute. Let's go."

Aelita had been rather quiet since they'd taken Edric, and Henk had to wonder what was running through her mind. She seemed quite different than Lumen, but he couldn't quite place how. Well, he'd never met the two of them personally until tonight, so that was understandable. As she went to destroy the bridge as ordered, Henk shined a light into the tunnels, ensuring they were safe and empty before they hid away in them.

With a final glance towards Lumen and Edric, Henk nodded to the pair and vanished inside.

Hopefully Alistair could hold out a bit longer.

 

[Aelita]

The light on Aelita’s staff craved violence.

Aelita listened to Edric explain more about the situation before coming upon a rickety old bridge above a stream of water. Aelita leaned an ear toward Lumen while keeping her eyes on Edric. Aelita did not return the glance she gave this time.

Lumen gave commands. Aelita responded with a sigh and, “Yep, yep.”

One last look at Edric followed before Aelita’s eyes finally turned to the bridge. She shook her staff and extinguished the light from it.

Holding the staff with one hand, Aelita used the other to draw a knife. Nothing exotic, just a blade to be wielded as a tool. Aelita chose to quickly cut the ropes. Once freed from their side of the river, the bridge fell into the water. The current swept away the recently cut end of the bridge to the other side of the river since the bridge remained tethered at the far side.

Aelita’s knife returned to its holster. She looked toward the illuminated side tunnel that Henk and her were to hide in.

Ducking into the tunnel, Aelita again grasped her weapon with both arms. They would not wait long until a quiet whisper from Aelita asked Henk, “Why does he follow Gilram?”

If Henk turned back to answer Aelita, he would see her with her usual faint smile.

 

[Edric]

Edric nodded his head and acquiesced to Lumen's orders.

He glanced back towards Aelita as she cut the ropes on the bridge, his face remaining impassive as he continued to step over towards the alcove the other Initiate has indicated. He spared one last look for Henk, glancing at his former peer before disappearing into the shadows of the cavern entrance.

I'm not sure if you can hear me. A part of him wanted to just quiet his mind, to let all of this go down and be done with, but he knew it wouldn't work out that way. Gilram would still be out there, still working to achieve his ends. But I'm not alone. The-

Before he could even finished a response flickered through his thoughts. I know.

The voice resounded, and Edric felt almost bad as he leaned back against the stone wall. His chest slowly rising and falling as he looked at Lumen in front of him.

Though she would not know why, a sudden lethargy would tug at her. Tiredness that plagued her body like a sweeping wave.

The world built all around them would fade away, shatter in an instant.

For a second it was almost as though a scream reverberated through the undercroft. As though someone had scalded themselves and letting free the anguish of such a moment. Yet when Alistair blinked he would only find Leilwin standing before him in the darkness of the hall.

She looked no less beautiful than she had before, though now her expression was one of utter annoyance. "Clever boy."

The words slipped from her lips, but more an afterthought as suddenly she darted forward.

Within an instant the Dreadlord closed the distance between herself and Alistair. A small flicker of her hand jabbed forward, a knife cradled within her fingers that aimed directly towards the other Dreadlord's ribs.

 

[Alistair Krixus]

A smile spread across Alistair's face as he watched the world crumble around him. He could still feel some of the pain from the crushing weight that had been on him earlier, but even that begin to fade.

Her face was decided as soon as she moved in. She was still a Dreadlord, but Alistair was quicker. His entire life, he had been perfecting close combat...Without her illusions, he was the one in control.

Runes lit up across his skin once more, increasing his reaction time as he shifted to the left and reached out with one to grab her own, while his other snaked out his own hand and swiftly brought it toward her throat.

That was the difference between them in this instance, that knife might kill him if it even managed to get past his defenses, but his knife would certainly kill her.

In the end, it played out as expected, Alistair managed to grasp her wrist and move her off balance. With a complete lack of ceremony, Alistair slammed his dagger into her throat all the way to her spine, severing the connection with the brain.

"In the end, it doesn't really matter what level you are if you just keep winning."

Edric

 

[Lumen]

Lumen pressed against the opposite wall of the tunnel she shared with Edric as she saw Aelita and Henk disappear into another. She didn't like that he was behind her. She angled her body so she could keep an eye on him and an eye on the opening they’d just been in. Her magic sensed the moving blips of heat. They would exit into the opening from those other tunnels soon.

“Why?” A question whispered into the darkness to Edric. “Why did you betray and leave your classmates?”

Grip shifted on her sword and suddenly she felt as if things were heavier. Harder to hold. Harder to stand.

Strange.

There was something that Henk said back in the crypt. What was it again? Head shook and her full attention was on Edric.

 

[Henk]

Henk shook his head at Aelita's question. It was the only thing she'd really asked him since they'd met, and unfortunately, he didn't have a good answer. There were guesses; Gods know he'd had time to think about it, but nothing with enough substance to consider fact.

"Edric is... a complicated person. I've always felt as if he isn't entirely sure what he wants out of life. Maybe in Gilram, he saw a chance to search for answers outside the confines of Vel Anir. I'm not really sure..."

He kept his eyes trained on the swaying remains of the bridge, splintered wood still occasionally falling down into the rushing eddy of water beneath, running out to who knows where. It was hard to see far outisde the confines of the cave with the blizzard raging outside.

"I want to believe him, but I can't help feeling like he isn't telling me--"

Quickly, one of Henk's hands drew to his chest, and his entire body seemed to flinch. It almost looked as though the young man was suffering a heart attack, but it was actually what lie within a secret pocket in the front of his cloak that had stolen his attention.

Edric was draining Lumen, exactly what he'd been afraid of.

Turning to Aelita, he meets her gaze with a dire expression. "Change of plans. I need you to believe me when I tell you he's draining Lumen as we speak. If we don't act, she could die." Henk wanted to believe that Edric wouldn't go so far as to kill the Initiate, but right now it was a chance he wasn't willing to take. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and ran over things in his head.

"Alright. I have a plan."

"I'm not sure I can kill him right now, but I think I have a way to remove him from the equation temporarily. You need to take Lumen and get back across the bridge; I'll make it so you can cross. If the three of us try to match up to Edric and whoever else is coming our way, we're all going to die. Understand?"

He didn't wait for a reply. Pulling the cloak back up over his head and extending the blades from his wrists, Henk left the cave and quickly made for the one on the opposite side with a growing fire in his eyes.

Edric had the nerve to exploit his trust and attack an innocent Initiate, the callousness to betray them for a second time while lying to his face. The seething rage he'd just finished replacing same soaring back as the scales on one arm guard slid open, and he waved a hand towards the gap where the bridge had once been.

A wave of light, like beams of sun through a thick window shot forward from his palm and arm, cascading across the ledge and arcing dramatically to the other side of the gap to form a bridge of warm, yellow energy. It would hold, but not long. Aelita and Lumen needed to get the hell out of here.

"Edric! Leave her be and come be the Warrior you're supposed to be!"

Making sure to keep one eye on the open doorway they expected to have company through any minute, he readies his blades.

"Or has Gilram turned you into that much of a conniving bitch that you'd rather prey on the weak than fight me?"

 

[Aelita]

As Henk first began to give his own answer to Aelita’s question, she simply stared back with her same old faint smile. She interspersed a few nods of her head among his words.

But when Henk suddenly stopped talking, Aelita tilted her head.

“Isn’t telling y-“

And Henk made the claim that Edric began draining energy from Lumen. Aelita raised an eyebrow. She heard of Henk’s plan, but he offered no chance for her to say anything else before he stepped forth.

As soon as the light bridge formed and Henk began his taunt, Aelita rushed out of her tunnel with staff at hand. Her eyes were wide as can be. She pointed the glowing tip of her staff toward Edric.

“Prism!” she yelled mid stride.

A luminescent dome would attempt to envelop Edric. A barrier of light, essentially, meant to shield allies. If it swallowed him, the glowing aegis would obscure his vision. The bubble was to act as a shield from anything entering or leaving. Aelita put just enough magic power in the spell for the shield to last maybe a second or two.

In a quick dash, Aelita stretched out a hand to grab Lumen’s own. She would attempt to pull Lumen with her across the light bridge.

“Run!”

 

[Edric]

"I didn't betray them." Edric's voice was remarkably calm as he spoke. Cold. Already hearing the steps echoing in the distance, the shuffling of feet as Henk darted from his tunnel. His eyes flickered to the chasm within the central hall, then darted back to Lumen.

With lightning speed he closed the distance between the two of them. One hand grasped at her wrist, the other for the nape of her neck. "I'm trying to keep them alive."

He told her, his body shifting as he practically threw Lumen towards the exit of the tunnel. Both of his hands rising to shield his eyes as a burst of light suddenly launched itself through the tunnel, Henk's bridge appearing and Aelita's shield bursting to life in front of his eyes.

Blinking rapidly, Edric took a half staggered step back. Half expecting to find a sword planted in his stomach but instead only hearing Henk's challenge.

He let his hands fall as his eyes adjusted once more to the dim light.

"I'm not going to fight you, Henk." Edric said as he let his eyes fall on his old peer. "But you have less than a minute to get over that bridge before they get here."

He pointed to the other tunnel. "Because they'll have no qualms killing you."

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair watched the woman's body fall to the ground with a bland thump before he took a moment to regain his breath. His body still felt the phantom aches from the previous illusions...He had been away from the group longer than he had expected. His original plan had involved simply turning on the internal defenses of the crypt to harass the invaders if his own group were to fail...He could still do that, but if he stayed away too long from the others, then "if" would turn into a "when".

He closed his eyes and the eye runes on Lumen and Aelita's armor would begin to glow. Yes, it was just as he worried. Alistair began to run but still watched the scene from his runes. He might be cutting it close if he was going to make it in time...

Should he tell them to run? To retreat? With the runes in the crypt, Alistair could still harass and follow the invaders, but it would not be too complicated to remove them if that side caught on...No, they had to fight now when they had the chance.

But that was going to be a death sentence if Alistair did not make it there in time. Henk and two initiates were not going to be able to fight off Edric and his remaining squad members.

Please make it in time.

Edric Lumen Aelita Henk

 

[Lumen]

Lumen remembered as Edric turned his full attention on her.

Regenerator... He whispered back. Long as he has something to draw life from, he could survive the whole place coming down.

Edric! Leave her be and come be the Warrior youre supposed to be!

And then Henk confirmed it just as quickly even as she struggled to keep her focus. Keep her magic from slipping through her fingers like water. Golden brows furrowed on Edric's next statement, trying to understand even as the monster of a man was in front of her.

No. He didn't get to do this.

And her magic and body reacted, though half-drained as they were.

He would find where he gripped her suddenly burning hot to the touch. Enough to cause blisters. But that's all she could do as she was flung outward. She stumbled once, twice before hitting the ground. But Aelita was there and her own hand reached forward to grip what was offered. She leaned more heavily than she'd admit against the support that her fellow blonde-initiate offered.

After what Edric had done, it felt as though she'd run extra laps around the school - ten times more than usual.

Henk looked like an avenging God and was that...a bridge made of light?

Lu blinked, looking at Aelita's armor as she stumbled with her toward the bridge. "The rune," she whispered, "it's glowing. We can't leave Alistair," she finished but found herself at the mercy of Aelita's choices.

For now.

 

[Aelita]

Aelita displayed no hesitation in stepping upon Henk’s bridge of light and dragging Lumen with her. She did not stop, did not look back, nor did she say anything to Lumen until she got to the other side. With a bit of force, Aelita pulled Lumen forth to essentially “throw” off the light and onto the cobblestone tunnel floor.

Looking to Lumen, Aelita’s eye caught the sight of a glowing rune as well.

“And he told us to run if we saw enemies,” Aelita attempted to remind Lumen of what Alistair said a bit ago.

Once on the stone herself, Aelita turned back toward Henk and Edric. She lifted her staff – which was once again glowing. She would wait like that at least until the bridge of light dissipated.

 

[Henk]

Henk was done listening to Edric. He just kept saying the same things, playing the same intentionally vague, frustratingly mysterious cards as he always did. Why the hell couldn't he just be honest with him? Henk stared daggers at his friend, not budging an inch even as Edric tossed Lumen to Aelita's waiting rescue.

"Is this a game to you? Are you going to keep acting like a child until you wind up dead?" The scales of his armor opened wider, more light pouring from the openings of the thick padding that ran from wrist to shoulder. "If you wanted to save us, you wouldn't be playing double agent. You wouldn't be slinking around, playing out some little plan you've cooked up without telling the only person who wants nothing more than to trust you."

Did he even realize how infuriating he was being? How badly Henk wanted to get through to him? He slowly took a step forward towards Edric, and away from the waiting bridge. He'd never had any intention of going with the two of them.

"No, you're selfish. You're trying to be a gods-be-damned hero, and I don't even know for what side, because you're in over your head and your ego doesn't know how to handle it. I need you on my side. Your friends, your real friends, need you. If you're too stubborn to pull your head out of your ass and own up to your mistakes, then I'm going to do it for you."

There wasn't time for a fight here, though. Edric was right about that. His backup was on the way, and then both him and the Initiates would die. Henk couldn't beat them all.

But he could stop Edric from interfering again. He could help Aelita and Lumen escape, and he could buy both them and Alistair time, all at once...

With a snap of his fingers, the light bridge across the chasm dissipates into thin air.

And with a burst of light that had been steadily building as he spoke, Henk launched himself at Edric with the force and brightness of a ball of fire. The stored energy was massive, and it would almost seem the man had ignited and been thrown by some invisible beast towards his former comrade.

From behind the veil of light, Henk retracted his blades and opened his arms. He only had one shot at this, but if he succeeded, he would collide with Edric's abdomen, launching them both off of the cobble and into the abyss below together.

 

[Edric]

–

Edric simply stood still as Henk began to lambast him, calling him, telling him that he was in over his head. A tirade that struck the rogue Dreadlord to his core. His chest tightening, his lips pressing into a thin line, and his fingers slowly forming into fists as Henk dispelled the bridge with a snap of his fingers.

Most of his peers back home probably would have expected Edric to fall into a rage.

To lash out and meet Henk's coming charge with the same furor he had met nearly everything else in his time at the Academy.

But that anger never came.

For once in his life, Edric didn't want to fight. He hadn't wanted to fight the whole time, not with Henk, not with Alistair.

So he simply stood there, watching his former companion as light erupted all around him and he charged forward. The distance between the two of them closing in a near instance, Edric waiting only for the familiar feeling of steel stabbing through his chest.

Then suddenly Henk shifted. The blades disappeared, and the rogue Dreadlord felt the wind rushing from his lungs as he was tackled. Both of them falling over the small ravine and down towards the water below.

Almost instantly Edric's eyes' opened wide. His arms wrapped almost protectively around Henk. Hands grasping him not to wrestle or rip at him, but to drag him firmly into an embrace. Ensuring that he would hit the water first and softening the blow for Henk as they plunged into the depths.

A few brief seconds passed before Edric’s earlier words came to fruition, at least in part.

Four figures, stepped out from the very tunnel that Lumen had earlier pointed out. One of them wore heavy armor while the other three wore leathers. Each of them had a weapon of some sort, though not yet drawn. None held anything that could be seen, no artifact or cate that was obvious, though it did not mean nothing was hidden within their cloaks.

None of them looked particularly surprised as they stepped out into the canal room, though the man at the front of the pack seemed more than a little annoyed. His gaze flickered around, catching the bridge, and finally the two girls standing opposite the ravine.

“Where’s Edric?”​

One of them asked their seeming leader, apparently entirely unconcerned with the Initiate’s standing across the way.

“Down below, I think. Fell.” The answer came with a surprising amount of glibness, though anyone who understood Edric’s magic would know why.

“Shit. Leilwin and now Edric too? He’s going to be mad.”​

The first one said with a shake of his head, though he was quickly refuted. “Nah, kid’ll find his way back.”

A dubious look crossed the other man’s face, but he only shook his head and didn’t ask anything more. Instead the group of four Dreadlords turned, and then seemed to look towards Aelita and Lumen. Though, it soon became apparent it was not them who they cared about.

“Erodin!” The telepath shouted. “You back there?”