Carantathraiel

Wanderers

Free. Rab turned toward Gavin when he said the word. Gavin had offered it to him, and Rab had decided to go back, to help them, and he still had it. Freedom. The world seemed so large. So open. He could go anywhere. Absolutely anywhere he pleased!
But as the army of men approached them, armed and bannered, cross looks on their faces, Rab realized he had no idea where to go. Wasn't sure if he had anywhere to go. Not with the way he'd seen these men treat the elves here. He reached up to his pointed ears, knowing he was one of them. He would be treated poorly.
So, as the councilmen neared, Rab knelt, surrendering.
Short lived freedom.

Ysaryn, too, swallowed when she saw them. Her instinct told her to run and to hide, to avoid being seen by these men, who held their weapons aloft, for fear of being taken and abused. She looked around, to Gavin, who was tossed aside and grabbed, to Kire, whose laughter had died with her awareness as the women fell into unconsciousness. To Ruli, who was struggling to rise, looking wan and pained. To the half-elf, who fell to his knees, his hands splayed out in surrender.
To the woman who stumbled forward, reaching for her kin as she told their story.

Ysaryn's body shook, exhaustion teasing her, as she, too, listened. Heard the councilman tell that Itallo was dead, that chaos had broken out for a time in the city. Heard, with relief, as they ordered to women cared for. Saw his questioning look as he looked over herself and the others who had helped. Uneasily, she stepped forward.
"I am Ysaryn of the elf tribe." She offered, swallowing the fear that was a large stone, scraping along her throat. Their eyes, while tolerant, were not friendly as they beheld her. "My people were taken, also. I come to help. Get everyone out." She paused as the councilman's kin confirmed that, at least, she had been with Ruli and Kire as they'd come hauling ass out of the crumbling mines. "I ask for assistance. To make sure they are all right." Ysaryn gestured to the group behind her. Rab, Ruli, and the still Kire. "Then, we will go. Mind our own."

Behind her, Ruli groaned and rose to his feet. Ysaryn turned her head to see him pointing at Gavin. "Him, as well." He stated firmly. "He double crossed them, got us in, helped us win."
Ysaryn, surprised by this, blinked, but nodded firmly in an attempt to confirm.

Wanderers

Everything burned. Ysaryn couldn't feel half of her body. Between bruises, cuts, bloodloss, exhaustion, she was surprised she was still on her feet. She wasn't even sure how long they'd been running. She took Kire's offered hand without thought, feeling only the pressure of her hand in her own, without really feeling it.

Daylight. Ysaryn let out a choked gasp of relief, and felt more pressure on her hands as someone squeezed her. Who, she wasn't sure. They were relieved, too. She tried to pull when the ceiling caved, but the other two blundered forward, dragging her to it, knowing before she did that they wouldn't be crushed.
The half-elf and the Gemini were hauling the women out, their thin hands reaching for the men, for their safety. They were so close.

More cracks, more earth shifting beneath their feet. Ysaryn felt Kire let her go as they bound up the sloped stone and into the air. Her breathing was ragged. The half-elf reached for her, and the moment she grasped him, she felt Ruli let her go, as well. Hauled out into the open, Ysaryn grappled, wrapping her arm around the half-elf as she twisted back around.
Neither Ruli or Kire were beside her.

He'd gone back down. The moment he got a look at the area around the mine opening, he turned heel, darting back into the crumbling cavern. To Kire. He threw himself against her, wrapping his arm around her middle and her shoulder. He was tired. So very tired. He held her firm, inhaled, and pulled her backward, disappearing as the the tunnel caved.

Ysaryn shouted, staring down into the rubble filled hole as Rab began to haul her back, lifting her off her feet to avoid having to physically drag her.
Until the surprised shouts from the others made her turn.
Ruli let Kire go and went to his knees, kneeling in the rocky soil. Ysaryn shoved Rab off and approached, swearing colourfully at both him and Kire. Rab, having no understanding of the elven tongue, only gaped at her angry face and her sour tone as she rounded on them.
More cracks sounded beneath their feet, and he clapped his hands eagerly. Move! He tried to say, pointing to the ground.

Wanderers

She wasn't leaving. Ruli accepted that, turning his attention back on Akuma. He ducked and grabbed, pulled and retreated, trying to expose more of her skin, trying to find a way to get at her once more. To rip into her mind and bring her to her knees, or to take his teeth to her flesh and tear her apart.
He hoped for the former option, as the taste of her blood was worse than anything he'd ever tasted.

But just as he went to assault her again, and she raised her sword to meet him, they all reeled, the dolls collapsing in the chamber. The noises they made echoed in his ears. And he beheld Akuma's gaze and the light in them that increased as her power increased. Ruli swallowed. Ysaryn was still swinging, taking down the ones by the entrance that hadn't fallen yet, so Ruli kept his waning focus on Akuma. On his fight.

Then Kire came. Ruli had attempted a last attempt, doing nothing but making AKuma turn as she dodged him, listening to his ragged breathing. He was nearer to the entrance, to Kire, Ysaryn, and ... the half-breed, apparently. She shouted orders, and while Ysaryn stayed, the taller figure turned to listen, disappearing into the darkness.
Ysaryn, however, whirled around to look for Ruli as Kire, too, ordered him out. He didn't listen. When Kire lunged, so did he, and Ysaryn threw herself between him and the women. He shoved her aside easily, growling like an animal, before he and Kire backed Akuma into a corner. Not knowing what to do, Ysaryn flanked them, swords ready, eyes wide.

As Akuma raised her sword, Ruli tensed, flexing his legs to prepare to leap at her, only to falter in surprise when she raised it to her own throat instead. "Wh-" Ruli began to ask. He wanted to watch. Wanted to see her die. But when Akuma opened her neck and the caverns seemed to react to it, he decided against it all. He looked up, wary, unsure.

So they ran. Ruli and Ysaryn, both tired and bleeding, the former's stimulant on its last legs, lagged behind Kire. When he heard her laboured breaths, Ruli reached out and grasped Ysaryn's wrist, meeting her gaze for a second. Long enough to promise he wouldn't let her fall behind.
"I can ... get us ... out!" He shouted up the tunnel. His mind was clear enough now to Walk without endangerment.
"No!" Ysaryn snarled back at him. "Others!"
Dammit. Ruli understood then, and raced on.

Wanderers

His name on her lips. In her voice. It was so strikingly similar to the sound of Kire's, with one vital difference. Kire had never spoken to him with that amount of desperation. That much pleading. No, Kire was anger and determination. He knew, even with the false emotion, that this was the enemy, the woman who took everything and gave nothing back. Ruli growled and made to bite down more fiercely, but was blown back in the next second.

The force of the wall as his body thrust against it first had his head spinning, then seconds later the ache in his bones. Delayed, due to the drugs. Ruli groaned. Get up. Get up get up get up. Ruli obeyed it, shuffling to push himself upright, and then onto his feet.
Akuma's words meant little to him. He knew it would wear off. He knew that his tolerance for catalysts like the one currently in his system would eat through the effects that much faster. Knew he would pay dearly for every punch, every slam, every strike against him.
But he also knew that he had too much experience working through pain. A life Akuma never knew, that no one knew about, made him a fighter even when his body was broken.

"I think," He said with a pant, already his muscles shuddering, urging him to move. He ignored the dolls, their clawing, tearing, clutching. "that you know I can. And you're afraid."
A flash of a smile, then he moved again.

---

Ysaryn didn't hesitate when she heard Kire's order. Ysaryn tore her blade from the doll she'd carved open and bolted. She didn't need to ask where to go, the dolls led the way. Ysaryn swung, cutting, shoving, trampling the many dolls to reach the chamber ahead of them. Rulitus's predatory snarls sent a shiver down her spine as she flung herself forward.

Throwing herself between Akuma and Rulitus at the moment was suicide, the elf knew. She focused on the dolls, leaving the few that had gotten in ahead of her for the moment to strike at those pouring in. Get them to pile up, she planned. They'll slow each other with their corpses.
But they didn't.
Ysaryn cut and ripped, but they kept crawling over one another, pushing and pulling on the bodies to make room to crawl over. Five. Ten. Thirteen. They never stopped. Ysaryn felt herself let out a strangled cry of despair.

This would be it, then. The chamber in which she died. If injuries didn't claim her, exhaustion would. But she wouldn't go down easily. Ysaryn filled her lungs with air and let out an enraged cry before raising her arms and pushing back against the swarm.

---

He was at a loss. Rab inhaled, looking uncertainly at the fight that unfolded. And then moved. The chamber emptied before him, his eyes wide and tracing. Wolf Smile ran into one chamber, Gavin into another. One after the Master Akuma and the disappearing man. One with the blonde who would free them.
Where they went, he wasn't sure, but he'd heard her shouting for the grand master.

Two choices.
Two against one.
Or two against one.

Only one choice involved Wolf Smile.
He pushed into the tunnel just as he heard her cry, the sound echoing through the mine. He felt, rather than heard, himself growl as he moved forward, pushing through the mass of bodies that clawed over one another like rats. He wasn't sure what to do. He was not a killer. Did not know how to kill things that he knew to be dead. So he only grabbed several in his arms and pushed downward, forcing them beneath his feet and those of the others. Then he grabbed more, crushing them down. Pinning them. They began to writhe and shriek in objection, which he took to be a good thing.

Then he heard a laugh. He looked up, hopeful, and saw her fuchsia eyes leering at him in wicked delight. A few swings of her blades, and he could see her down to her shoulder. The elf thrust her arm out, offering the hilt of one of her blades. "Lop their heads off." She ordered.
Rab hesitated. And it cost her.
One of the dolls reached up and grabbed her, and with a sharp yank pulled her into the wall of her sisters. Wolf Smile hissed in pain as she struggled against them, the blade dropped from her hand.

He didn't hesitate a second time. Rab bent and scooped it up, pulling it from the grasp of a doll, and he obeyed. He swung, his strength greater than he imagined, likely due to his size. He'd never held a weapon before. Never would have guessed he'd be dangerous. He looked up, hopeful once more, as the elf with the pretty eyes yanked herself free again. She looked pale, but angry. That wicked grin blossomed and she raised her blade, and even if, for a split second, he noticed her hand shaking, she thrust her arm downward with vengeance.

---

Ysaryn. Ruli ducked under Akuma's blade again, studying her movements just as she studied his. He was aware of Ysaryn and had to continue to be aware of her. Keep Akuma from her. The elf's back was turned toward them as she fought against the horde. Leaving herself vulnerable. She danced out of reach of the dolls, but he could smell the fatigue on her.
Could feel it in himself.
Knew the stimulant was wearing off.

A few dolls had beaten the elf into the chamber, had rushed toward him and tackled him. He was relentless in his focus on Akuma, hadn't let up, while kicking and swiping at his weaker assailants. They tore, clawed, and pulled on him. His clothing tore, his skin bled, his muscles began to shake. He was prepared to fight through it, but Ysaryn...
When the wall of dolls yanked on her when she stepped to close to where she'd managed to bottle neck them, she cried out and struggled, and he had cast a glance at her. Akuma had won a strike against him in that second, and it winded him. He felt it resonate in his bones as he straightened again.

"Out!" he barked at the elf as she, too, straightened and threw herself into her own battle.
Her reply in elvish was so colourful he would have blushed if he hadn't been so focused on murder.

Wanderers

Ysaryn watched beside Kire, captivated. She'd never seen any male fight like that. The teeth he flashed at her, the way his fingers curled like he could tear her flesh from her bones if just given an inch of space. His unchecked rage rolling off of him. He'd chosen a side, Ysaryn realized. No longer would he carry the scent of careful neutrality. He was with them.
She smiled that wolfish grin, gripped her blades, and moved to deal with the dolls, protecting the ─

─the Gemini. Green eyes. Ysaryn hesitated, but to her credit it was only for a moment. Spare the thug now so she could deal him a wallop later. There was a roar from Rulitus beneath her just as the dolls sprang forward, and Ysaryn's blades sang to meet them. Their eerie, glowing eyes only beacons that drew her to them.

Gods Above, the smell of blood. It was wrong. It was tainted. Otherworldly. It was all he could smell. Ruli's nostril's flared, and he spat, his own blood joining the pool. She hit hard. Met his launch with such a strike he knew better than to meet it again. He was only vaguely aware of the others. He could hear Kire and Ysaryn, but only saw Akuma. Only needed her. The bitch that had destroyed everything.
Then, he became vaguely aware of screaming. Pain-filled shrieks. Ruli turned his head for a moment, catching sight of the Gemini on the ground writhing, and knew immediately.
Instantly, he threw himself at Akuma, diving under her defensive strike with her sword and he gripped her arm with his right hand, his other flying to her throat. "Release him!" He snarled both in and out of her head, his inner voice far louder than he'd intended. He bared a smile at her as she twisted and danced out of his grip. But his head ached, magic spasming, from the attack.

Mind magic was a fragile thing. To burrow into someone else's head and whisper orders and lies believed as truths, it was delicate. Even if it was strong magic, forged by iron, it was thin as thread and easy to snap. Her own magic, with her feet splashing in the blood that coated the runes painting the floor, was stronger than his own. If he kept trying, his magic and his mind could shatter.
Ruli glanced down at her feet, her white clothing black and red with death as she moved through the arena. He only had one thought.
Get her out of it.

With another snarl, he lunged again, eyes sweeping quickly before he grabbed at Akuma. She dodged, but he spun, feet sliding in the unsteady soil so he could fly at her again. When she dodged a second time, Ruli kept running, putting space between them and throwing speed into his leg muscles. Just as he was about to trample over Ysaryn as she took three dolls down at once, he vanished.

Reappearing immediately behind Akuma.
But before he could crush her against the ground with the force of his body, he vanished again, and took her with him.

Into the room where he'd been shackled.

He threw both of them against the table with a force that could have crushed the bones of a regular person, his weight thrown against her body, pinning her to the table if only for a moment. He bent and opened his mouth, teeth clamping on the nap of her neck where it was exposed over her armour.

Wanderers

Rab wasn't sure he was breathing, staring into those lovely hued eyes as she snarled at him. Fear and joy, an odd mix. She'd gotten out. She'd survived. And, like the disappearing man, she'd come back to fight. Why? Rab wanted to touch her face, decired more than ever before the chance to speak to ask why she'd come back here instead of taking her freedom.

The other won interrupted what he was sure would have been his murder, and he turned his eyes on the blonde at the same time as the elf before him. She spoke to him, asking about the disappearing man, and he gave her a single nod, making the noise again. Repeating the man's single plea for help.
The elf released him, and Rab inhaled, his lungs still aching from his earlier run, and he bolted down the corridor to lead the way.

---

It all blurred. His desire and his hatred for the woman before him. The doll who bore anothers face. Ruli could see the destruction and burning of Ziad, the dead laying on the street, their blood staining the dirt, but, too, she saw her smile, felt her fingers on his face. Her lips on his.
He swallowed as she approached and nearly touched him, tracing the lines she'd left to mar his cheek without every touching him. It tormented him, being this close, but not feeling her. Her cool skin against his sun-warmed flesh. He hated that he needed her touch.

But when she said Envy's name, something cracked inside his mind. The hard shell that forced his mind to think of her and how much he was drawn to him softened, his memory of Envy flooding in. The goodness to her darkness. The elf who had cared for him when he was almost nothing, who had raised him, taught him, loved him. Ruli swallowed, his eyes shifting to Gavin as the boy was brought forward.

An Amrian boy. The Gemini, as they had guessed. He looked defeated, beaten, nothing like the man who had looked at Ruli with that hopeful glint in his eye before he'd lost all consciousness. Nothing like the man who had asked for Ruli to kill Akuma. Her magic held him strong. Gripped him so tightly Ruli could see the agony in his downturned face. If he would just look up, if he would meet Ruli's eyes, he would find a way to tell him it would be okay.
Because the moment Envy's name passed over those perfect lips, Akuma had reminded Ruli just how much she destroyed him. And how much he owed her in return.

She addressed him once more, and Ruli turned his blue eyes on her flawless face. Pieces of his mind shifted, like it was trying to pull together the glamour that held him, but the shards were too fragile, too shattered. She wouldn't hold him again, Ruli realized with clear relief.
But Akuma didn't need to know that.

"She was going to lead me to you." Ruli said quietly, watching her mouth. "How could I resist?"

But her attentions shifted, and Ruli looked instead to Gavin as he stepped forward in blind obedience. The hold she held on him was strong indeed. Everything vanished from his face, as if seeing Ruli and Akuma address one another made him lose all hope. Ruli inhaled, debating on reaching out, secretly informing the lad that it would be okay, that he'd do as he was asked to do.
But with Akuma's claws so deep in his mind, she'd know if he shook the foundation.

"I will do as you ask, Gemini." Ruli whispered, offering his arm. A silent gesture that asked for trust just as he extended it. Ruli's gaze bore down onto the young man's face. Fight it. He pleaded in silence, still not daring to rattle Akuma's hold.

---

Ysaryn's legs began to ache after the tenth turn through the mines. Or was it the fiftieth? Ah, she didn't know. All she knew was that she was tired of running. She glanced down at Kire's hand, itching to take it, to drag her into the shadows, making Kire lead them through the nothing in order to reach Rulitus faster. To put an end to this endless chase.
But just before she reached out, the opened into the chamber. It was cold. The reek was different, but potent. Rab was half hidden in the shadows behind them, as if afraid to be seen, afraid to annoucne he'd led them here. She turned to look him over as Kire whispered to her, giving her orders.

Like hell she'd be leaving.

But she nodded, letting Kire focus as she took a step back, hiding in the shadows beside the half-breed. "You understand?" She whispered to him. He nodded, almost imperceptibly in the dark crevice. "Good. When I move, you're coming with me." Ysaryn turned her head to him to find him staring at her, wonder in his expression, curiosity in his eyes. "Did you really help me escape?" Another nod. Ysaryn smirked, and his eyes dropped to her lips. He looked like he was waiting for something. "Good. I'll thank you when we're out of this."

She turned back toward the chamber, Kire already shouting and in combat with Akuma. Ysaryn passed her gaze over the two, and then the dolls. Just as she took a step to move around the many, many dolls, to see if they moved or followed, all hell broke loose.

Something threw itself at Akuma in a blur that appeared out of nowhere. Akuma, who had been circling Kire like a viper about to strike with its poisonous fangs, had not been expecting him. She and the blur toppled, rolling on the ground.
Rulitus. Ysaryn inhaled, and felt the half-breed stiffen beside her.

What did you give me? He'd asked Gavin as he felt his heart race. He'd panted, even while standing still, feeling his muscles tense and shake. He felt the need to move. The inability to sit still. He could smell everything. Could taste more than he should in the air. He looked to Gavin, demanding an answer, and swore he could hear the young man's blood flow through him. What did you give me!?
Gavin had answered, but Ruli barely remembered. He'd caught the scent of Akuma, the trail that led into the other chamber, where he could hear Kire shouting. He let out a low growl and was gone, leaving Gavin to follow.

Grappling with her now, Ruli was barely aware of anything but her. He knew she had a sword, but ignored it. Knew she wore armour, but didn't care. He could smell her; the blood, the flowers, the plums. The scent that had left its mark in his head and toyed with him. Ruli gripped and clawed, trying to rip through the armour to no avail. He needed to get at her. Needed to spill her blood in exchange for all she'd done. He found her hair and made a fist in it, feeling the orchids crumple against his fist. His other arm swung in a strike against her flawless face. Her face. Ruli inhaled and grabbed her face, and was about to force his commands into her mind when he found himself flung off of her.

His eyes were dilated, teeth bared enough to show off his sharp molars as he snarled at Akuma and launched himself at her again.

Ysaryn ran down the stairs, gripping Kire's arm to hoist her to her feet. "Found him." She smiled wickedly, turning to watch Ruli harass Akuma with a strength and speed she did not expect from the man. "Do we let him?" She whispered. Even the half-breed watched, mesmerized.

Wanderers

Kire's words offered little comfort. They should have. Ysaryn knew it. As Kire cut her people away and their combined grip on her fell, the elf inhaled deeply, kneeling in the dirt. "I know." Ysaryn breathed, remaining on her knees to look at her kin, her elves. She'd failed them all. She wanted to be angry at Kire for hurting them, for cutting them down, but her anger was misplaced. Ysaryn knew it. Kire took them down quickly, which was more than she could say for what her target had done to them.
When Kire noticed her injury and bound her arm, Ysaryn turned her eyes upward to stare at her, her expression shadowed. "More." She repeated. Her voice almost cracked, so Ysaryn inhaled and squared her shoulders. She stood, her body steady despite the whirlwind of guilt she felt. The binding on her arm helped, she could feel her arm again, flexing her fingers. So many more. "I know." Ysaryn repeated, rising to her feet.

She knew there'd be more. Knew she had to continue. Knew she had to fight for all of them. So many lost souls that would never see their family again.

Upon Kire's invite, Ysaryn picked up her fallen blade and followed, her jaw clenched.

It took her the space of a few yards to put her mind back together, to focus on the battles ahead and not the elves she had lost. By the time they approached the chamber with the vertical shaft that fell down and further down. Ysaryn inhaled, keeping her body far from the ledge as she craned her neck to peer down. Kire warned that more were on the way, and Ysaryn shook out her arms, her left one pinching and tingling fiercley.
After all she'd seen so far, with Ruli's ring enchantments and the elven dolls, she was still far from prepared for what came crawling out of the mine like unnatural, monstrous spiders. Some bore pieces of Kire's face, others were misshaped, like they were supposed to grow as tall and thick as the Kartaian from before but only portions of them grew; that one bore too large an arm, that one's right side was far larger than the rest of her. Unclothed, unnatural, and lifeless, then poured over the lip of the shaft and went toward them like ants after crumbs of cake.
"Holy Gods." Ysaryn could only gasp again.

Her hesitation nearly cost Kire her balance, and when the woman called for torches, Ysaryn flew, her legs carrying her quickly to grab as many as she could hold in one hand. She offered one to Kire, swinging another at the dolls with her injured arm before swiping at them with her right.
Gods Above, the sounds they made. The cries. The groans. Like a horrible mix between a scream and the hiss of a wineskin that bore a leak. Ysaryn swallowed, but kept cutting. It was easier with these ones, they were so mutilated she could block out the pieces of her people she could see, but each swing of her sword cut into her chest.
They're dead. They're dead. They've been dead long before they met your blade. This is a mercy. You're letting them go.

Her eyes caught Kire's upturned head, and, following her gaze, Ysaryn noticed the stairwell. On the other side of the mine. They could run around the chamber, along the lip, luring the monstrous dolls after them, or─

"Hand!" Ysaryn shouted, tossing the torch she held down into the hole. More inhumane noises erupted from below. "We go!"

As soon as she felt Kire's hand grasp her own, Ysaryn yanked, gritting her teeth against the discomfort in her arm as she pulled Kire into the shadows with her. When they emerged once more on the other side, Ysaryn dropped Kire's hand to squeeze her arm against her, suffocating the burn in her muscles. "Go." She shouted, pushing Kire toward the stairs, her own feet rushing after.

---

It was really uncomfortable. His body was becoming his again, his muscles spasming as they regained feeling. Ruli tried to hide it, tried to writhe now and then, let the eunuchs believe he was trying to fight the toxin and failing. Their hands pressed into his shoulders, the small of his back, his thighs, fingers digging uncomfortably to ensure their hold was firm. He wanted to shift, to adjust, and it took all his self control to refrain. His head, hanging over the foremost eunuch's shoulders, wobbled to a point that made his neck ache. He opened his eyes just so, peering slyly ahead to the table before them. Fuck me... he thought, his heart beating a little faster.
It was part of the plan, he knew this would be a part of it, but seeing it only made him wish he'd never agreed.

He heard the shackles, and the sound of the metal sent a shiver so profound through him, memories surfacing from a faraway life, a different Rulitus, that made him feel very cold. He clenched his jaw, his facade cracking as he tried to pull his arms away. "No." He said, far more weakly than he intended. He could hear people approaching, but the steps were too patient, too slow, to be Kire, Ysaryn, and Bolym. He inhaled, pulling his arm away from a eunuch, only to have his other arm pinned. He hissed, twisting, only to find they'd grabbed his other. His ankles were already shackled, he learned, when he went to bend his legs to place his feet on the table, and his ears heard the song of the metal chains.
No. He breathed unsteadily. He feared Walking at the moment, wasn't sure how much control he had regained. But anything, anything was better than being shackled. Let them cut him open and bleed him dry, just not while he wore chains. Ruli twisted on the table again, eyes wide and searching, but it was short lived. His wary attention fell on a beautiful face with hair made of shadow and eyes red as blood. The air escaped him as he beheld her in her armour, her crown of orchids, the floral smell overwhelming him.

"Akuma." he breathed out in awe.

---

He'd only stood still for five minutes, perhaps. Letting the eunuchs take him away, putting distance between them, before Rab broke into a jog, moving through a different set of tunnels. Following the noise. Following the smell of decay that was stronger than what followed Master Akuma.
To the imposter. The intruders. The one who had slipped in at the same time as the disappearing man.

His chest ached as he kept moving, following the winding tunnels, even as the smell of smoke and burning flesh filled his lungs and made running more difficult. "Go." He heard a voice shout, and Rab stopped so suddenly he skin on the packed soil. He retraced his steps, standing at the top of a staircase, the sounds of feet rushing upward.
The very moment he saw their heads, their faces, he threw out an arm and pointed. He opened his mouth and tried to repeat the man's plea. Help. But without a tongue, without ever having learned how to form words, it came out as a strangled noise. He peered at the blonde's face, and then, behind her, the elf. The one he'd helped escape. Rab froze, beholding her once more, his eyes searching her flushed face for sign of her wolf smile.

She bared her teeth and ducked by Kire, throwing herself at him. Rab let out a frightened noise and retreated, back thumping against the wall as the Wolf Smile bore down on him, a blade pressed against the soft spot beneath his jaw. "Where is he!?" She snarled angrily, but Rab couldn't answer.

Wanderers

Ysaryn translated orders at the others, Bolym helping her as they separated and readied their paths. She shared a few soft words for him, making him promise to deliver these women back to their people and to safety. Hard-faced, he nodded, they gripped one another's wrists firmly, and said their farewells.
It was only when Kire offered her hand for Ysaryn to join her on the horse that the elf balked. Shit. She swore inwardly. "I do not know how." She warned, before taking Kire's arm anyway and settling behind the woman. She wrapped her arm tight around Kire's middle, her thighs bracing Kire as they moved, the horses fast pace cutting minutes off of their pursuit.

She let Kire deal with anyone they came across, the elf uneasy about taking her arms from around Kire. She knew leaping off the horse to dispatch them would eat away at their time, so Ysaryn refrained.

"I have no answer you want." Ysaryn answered brutally. "They will do their best. It is all and enough. Just like us."

She was silently grateful when Kire stopped and dismounted, the elf hopping down immediately after, her knees shaking slightly after clenching her thighs so tightly against Kire. "I do not like." Ysaryn admitted shamelessly, watching the horse meander away in search of something on which to graze. She withdrew her two blades once more, ready, facing the darkening path into the mine.
And the figure moving within.

At Kire's swear, Ysaryn's eyes darted to the woman, uncertainty creeping across her face, before the thing emerged. Kire straightened and stepped back, shielding Ysaryn as her fuchsia eyes took in full-bred Kartaian for the first time.
"Holy Gods." Ysaryn swore quietly.

She'd heard countless stories about the giant monsters with demonic eyes and skin like shadow, so similar yet so different from many of their own kind. She had met Envy and enjoyed his company, but he had often mentioned that he'd been a runt, a pariah, compared to his kin. Never had she thought the contrast would be so dramatic.
It was huge. Lethal in every movement.
And dead.

Kire confirmed it with words as soon as Ysaryn smelled the decay in the air, along with the blood and flora.

They all moved, aiming to spill blood and cast down one another, blades glinting in the bit of torchlight. Close quarters, such as it was, gave them the advantage, as the Kartaian boasted several feet above their height, and often had to bend or swivel to avoid hitting his head. Not that he would have noticed if he did. Ysaryn wasn't sure he could feel anything, and confirmed it when her blade sunk into him and he barely flinched, hardly aware. He retaliated, thrusting his blade forward, aiming for her ribs.
Ysaryn clamped her arm down against her side, blade caught between, and twisted, yanking the blade from his grasp with a sharp inhalation of pain. Her other hand went to bury her blade deep in its chest, to pierce its heart, but the doll flung an arm out and sent the elf flying against the cavern wall. Ysaryn yelped as she hit the hard surface, the sound carrying, and she vanished before the Kartaian pounced on her.

When she'd reappeared, Kire had dispatched it, only to be tackled by elves. Her elves. Her people, enslaved bodily with gems of their own and forced to attack. "Stop it!" Ysaryn shouted, her left hand tingling slightly. "Stop! I command you, as Daughter of Scindere, to stop! Unhand her!"
Her eyes burned as they ignored her, minds overpowered by the tether that bound them to their new master. She couldn't. These were her people. Her elves. Her tribe. She couldn't raise a hand against them. Even when they turned their attention on her, moved against her, grabbing, pulling, Ysaryn couldn't raise her hands. Her blades were ripped from her hands, her left arm, now tingling up to the shoulder, burned in agony. Bloodloss. Ysaryn realized, seeing the red river that poured over her dark fingers. From when she'd torn the blade from the Kartaian using her body. Ysaryn felt pressure on her body, felt her knees bent to kiss the ground, before hands, more than one, reached around her throat. She clenched her eyes, blocking out their empty faces as they moved to end her.

---

He blinked. He understood. Rab looked from the man to Gavin, wondering what it meant. Just as Gavin turned to him. It was clarified, and Rab automatically nodded, knowing he looked more eager, more hopeful, than he should. They'd be free. He would be free.

Rab didn't hesitate in lifting the blond again, hoisting him over his shoulder once more. The man's blue eyes glared viciously, but he couldn't move. Couldn't speak. As he stood, Rab froze, his eyes unfocused as he saw himself in a different city, someplace Rab didn't know. The horrible woman, the master Akuma, was smiling at him, stroking his face. The sun that beat down on her black hair was swallowed, but her eyes glittered brilliantly in the light. "And are you mine, Rulitus?" Her cold voice said. A dark hand, certainly not Rab's, rose to grasp her cold fingers, his cheeks stretching in a smile. It blurred, and then was gone, and Rab turned to look towards Gavin in confusion. But Gavin's face was set, blank, as they marched toward his chambers.
I don't understand. Rab thought to himself. When he turned his head back toward the blond, who face hung upside down just below Rab's left elbow, his face was blank, lost in unconsciousness.

As he was given further instructions, Rab obeyed, carefully laying the man down. He groaned softly, but lay limp. More careful still, Rab rolled him onto his front, carefully pulling his arms back to bind with the ropes offered. Rab paused, staring at the dark hands in his grasp. Had they been his hands? Rab blinked. Had it been a memory? But how? Had he known Akuma? Was that his name, then? Rulitus?
He finsihed tying together Ruli's wrists and ankles, not too tightly, just as he'd been ordered, and he looked up to Gavin. Somehow, he needed this information, didn't he? That this man and Akuma knew one another? ...Right?
Gavin was offering more instructions as he dosed the man, Rulitus, and Rab tried to motion to the blond on the ground. Gavin looked to misinterpret his gestures for understanding, and the young man left, stalking through the dark caverns towards the manor.

Rab exhaled noisily through his nostrils, watching the blond in the silence that hung over them. She'll kill everyone. That was what he'd said before the drugs claimed his body. So he knew that Akuma would hurt them. And had come anyway. Rab would not have done that. he'd have fled. Let the town and these slavers come to their end without help.
As he thought it, Rab bent down to scoop up the man again, carrying him to the eunuchs. Once he handed him over, he could leave. Gavin had given his permission. And he would, too. Rab would leave this place behind and never look back. Let them die under whatever darkness followed that woman and her master. He'd leave and find somewhere peaceful to live. Not like this foolish man bound and semi-conscious over his shoulder.

He froze again as another memory, as that was what it had to be, surfaced and twisted into his head. The same city, the sun-baked buildings demolished and soaked in blood and ash alike, bodies everywhere. The stench in the air was thick and unrivaled, the ache in Rulitus's chest, in Rab's chest, hurt just as bad as the torture they'd rained on him as punishment.
Rab was on his knees from the agony, the man falling from his shoulders to thump onto the ground with a grunt. The memory slipped away just as quickly, and Rab turned to glance down at the disappearing man. His eyes stared back, now more clear as the drug wore off. But the anger still burned in them.
"Help." He whispered quietly, his voice still fighting the effects.

Swallowing thickly, Rab held up an open hand. Stop. He pleaded. He didn't like the memories. The pain. The smell. He hoisted the man back onto his shoulders and kept going.
To the eunuchs. Rab gently lowered the blond to the ground again. While Rab had felt him move and test his muscles while being carried, Rulitus went limp as Rab went to release him, playing his part as the drugged hostage. Even his face was slack and unresponsive. He didn't flinch when the eunuchs came forward and scooped him up.

That's it. Rab inhaled. Freedom. His to claim. He turned back to look behind him, to the endless options he had in leaving. Never looking back.
And yet...
Rab did. He turned back around to look at the blond as he was dragged away.

Wanderers

The elf whirled at the sound of her name, bright eyes landing on Kire, then immediately to the man to which she gestured. Ysaryn took a step, vanishing, to reappear behind him. She threw her weight into him, palms braced against his back as she shoved him, and she vanished again to reclaim her place on the floor, reappearing just as he fell with a sick sound onto the floor. Darts. Ysaryn felt the urge to run her hand along her neck, ensuring she'd not been hit. That was how they'd done it.

She didn't have time to mull it over. Ysaryn inhaled and went back to her slaughter, until the men who were trying to attack were so few and sparse they had a chance to breathe. All of them. So many now-freed elves were circling like lionesses, eyes set with a burning intensity that Ysaryn could only be proud of. Bolym glanced her way, looking for instruction, and Ysaryn grinned when she saw he was coated in blood. No doubt she looked similar. Her smile spread, and Bolym grinned in return.

"Yes." Ysaryn answered, and several of the other dozen elves turned their heads towards her, then towards Kire. They all stood upright, each covered in varying amounts of blood, each looking still furious, but temporarily placated. As Kire mentioned emptying the wagons, Ysaryn translated, and the other elves moved forward without hesitation to assist.
Until Kire said the Gemini had him. Rulitus. Ysaryn's head snapped up to Kire, alarm buzzing in her ears. Even if they had know it was the goal. Even if he'd been prepared for it and willing, Ysaryn felt afraid for him. A phantom pain ripped across her belly, and she placed her hand over the scar that marked her.
Bolym noticed and touched her elbow. "He's been taken?" he asked, not understanding Kire's words. Ysaryn nodded, and Bolym mimicked her. "Then you and the other Chieftess need to go and show these bastards why they shouldn't be messing with us." He grinned a cruel, cold smile. "Paint the earth."

She was prepared to answer Kire's final question when it came. Ysaryn inhaled, squaring her shoulders. "You and I will paint the earth." Ysaryn repeated with a cold smile. "Bolym will make sure they are safe and to home."
Stopping was a mistake. She could feel her body sink from the ebb of adrenalin, her arms growing heavier, her skin burn where she'd failed to protect herself and her blood ran with that of her enemies. "We move." Ysaryn insisted, wiping her sleeve across her face.

---

Rab carried the disappearing man over his shoulder, jaw clenched. He was far lighter than he looked, especially for someone strong enough to withstand one of the darts. Rab had never seen anyone keep to their feet after one. At least he'd gone down after the second. Had he not, Rab knew they'd have been killed for their attempts to take him down.
He followed Gavin, feeling warm blood run against his hand as he held the man's bleeding arm. When told to hurry, Rab broke into a jog, his long legs keeping up with Gavin's running gait easily, the man jostling over his shoulders.

When Gavin stopped suddenly, without warning, Rab whirled, nearly sending the man sprawling onto the ground. Rab stared, curious, unable to understand the look in the man's face, the agony behind his eyes. He watched, making no sound, no movement, until Gavin moved again, palm bleeding. He was ordered to move, so Rab did, wondering how many more times he would be ordered before he would be given his freedom.

When given yet another order, Rab crouched and set the man down as gently as he could manage, laying him down on his back. He looked harmless when he slept. No different from any other man Rab had seen. He claimed they were alike, but this one sported no pointed ears. No eerie eyes. No pointed teeth, Rab learned when he carefully pushed the man's upper lip up just enough to catch sight of his incisors. While Gavin tried to rouse him, Rab crouched nearby, curious, watchful.

He raised his head when the man's eyes opened, if barely. He hissed, a strange sort of dark aura surrounding him for a second before the man exhaled and it was gone.

You can't run. This was the plan. Ruli reminded himself, releasing his call on his Shadow-Walking magic to remain where he lay. If he tried now, anyway, he'd harm himself. He couldn't feel anything. Not his toes. Not his hands. Not his face. The Gemini was speaking to him, and Ruli blinked at him, trying to focus.
She'll know me. Ruli inhaled, unsure if he'd managed to say that out loud. Judging by the lack of comprehension in those green eyes, Ruli hadn't said anything. I can't kill her.

Hunter friend? Did he mean Kire? Kire... Ruli recalled that she would be following, would be able to follow him to Akuma. She would kill the bitch. He wouldn't have to. Then they'd be taken to Ikegai, and Kire could end him, too. He wasn't disturbed by the Gemini's comment on Kire's wellbeing; of course she'd still be alive. Kire was too stubborn to die.

With effort, Ruli squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them. And repeated it. He understood.

Wanderers

Ysaryn bared her teeth as the men as they went for her. They underestimated her. Her people. With so many in cages, helpless, bound, raped, sold, broken, they underestimated all of them. They were going to pay dearly for that. They were paying dearly for it. Within minutes, so many men lay lifeless on the ground, the air filled with the metallic scent of their useless blood. Kire took down twice as many in a mixture of anger and unnatural brute strength. Bolym, finally able to let loose and spill blood, was getting his fill. Ysaryn, too, was letting go, losing herself in the mesmerizing dance of death.

When she heard Kire speak her name, Ysaryn twitched her head slightly to the side to announce she was listening. "I haven't tested that yet, but I will go until I can no longer."
Fuck, wrong language.
Ysaryn looked toward Kire swiftly. "We will see." She said, retreating from where she'd been standing her ground. Bolym shifted, closing in, as Ysaryn hopped over body after body.
"We are getting you out. If you can fight, we'll need you to. Fight back. Take blood. If you can hold a weapon and stand on your own, you're with her. Follow her lead." She shouted, a few of the elf females looking her way. "Those of you who cannot stand and fight, don't worry, I'm taking you home."

She had never been so proud to see so many angry eyes as she bent to scoop up the first of the immobile elves. They wanted to stand and fight. That they were being carried and delivered home, deemed too useless, was an insult. Ysaryn grinned kindly at the first, a female a few years her senior with soft brown-gold hair and deep black eyes. "Recover. Then we'll put a blade in your hand. We will shed blood for you."

The first half a dozen were easy. Ysaryn took one at first, then tried two, and found it pulling at her limbs, and dared no more than that at once. She delivered them just inside the den, where more of her people were waiting with open arms and medicine, before she vanished again. By the tenth and eleventh, she was groggy, her body slower, and pushed herself to take the last one, a female she knew and had fought with before. Bruising was healing across her face and throat. Ysaryn's blood boiled even as she smiled. "I bet whoever was on the other end of that fight looks ten times worse."
The female only smiled back before behind handed away to her awaiting kinsman.

When she returned to the warehouse underground, Ysaryn swayed. Instantly, there was a hand on her elbow, and Ysaryn was glad she saw it was Bolym before she'd found the energy to strike him. "Cover. I need a breath."
He nodded, putting his back to her and fighting on. Ysaryn breathed deeply, her limbs heavy, but functioning. She glanced up when Kire called out, though the elf didn't know why. Why would anyone answer? Humans.
Their new instructions were given, and the two of them nodded in sync with one another. Bolym did not insult Ysaryn with a questioning glance, and for that, she was grateful.

They moved in one fluid motion; years of fighting beside one another visible in how they balanced one another out. They rushed down the passageway, toward the sound of swords meeting flesh, to continue their hunt for blood.

---

So, it was him. Rab's eyes followed the disappearing man through the chamber as he did just that, moving so fluidly it was like he was less human and more God. Rab's head tilted, trying to remember all he'd said about sharing blood, and Rab looked down at himself in a swift glance. No, that could hardly be it. But he had said something about sharing sires, right? Can I move like that?

The Gemini's voice rattled him, and Rab turned his head, listening. Need, Gavin said. Need, in order to be free. He had to obey, to earn his freedom. He'd never really been sure what he would do with freedom, but he was hardly going to learn if he was forever tethered to this underground hell.

Rab didn't hesitate.

He stepped to the side, pulling from his pocket a small, hollow wooden tube. Opening the pouch yielded needles, filled with a concoction that Rab had seen fell numerous targets with ease. He settled one just inside the lip of the tube, and poised it against his lips, taking aim.

Across the room, Ruli had only vaguely become aware of the two new figures, their movements more observant than the others. They didn't leap into the fray, didn't shout demands, so Ruli paid them no mind. The growing army of armed men before him seemed far more pressing. Ten. Fifteen. At least thirty swarmed against the opening into the tunnel, Ruli's feet slowly retreating back into it.
Lure them in. Get them tight together. Then Walk behind them and stri─
He blinked, feeling the prick of something bite into his neck. Quickly as he could, Ruli reached up and yanked it from his flesh, feeling the skin tear against the hook near the end. His vision swam slightly as he looked from the needle to who had cast it. The half-breed.
It was his only thought before the men grabbed him. Somewhere, someone shouted, but the words jumbled together as Ruli's vision continued to blur, and the chamber ahead began to spin, spiraling. Drugged. Shit.
Their hands dragged him down. Ruli barely felt the blade that sunk into his arm. Became vaguely aware that his back had hit the ground. The weight of so many atop him, hands clawing. It was like they were scratching at him through water. Everything moved so slowly.
Get out. Ruli heard a voice say. His voice? Maybe. Or was it Zeke's? Was Zeke here? What he who was shouting?

Inhaling, Ruli twisted as best he can, sinking himself into the empty shadows. The men who had been grabbing at him shrieked in shock and agony, their arms severed in a mess of blood, their newly exposed flesh black and cracking. They retreated, their screams echoing, as Ruli resurfaced not too far from where Rab stood.
"You." He spat at the half-breed, who looked far too surprised that Ruli still stood. He looked toward Gavin, uncertain, and Ruli's gaze followed. "And the Gemini." He grinned, his teeth bloody from some now-armless fool's last punch. Those piercing green eyes, and yet, not as much emptiness as Ruli had expected up close. What was that, deep in his eyes, like the rest of him was trying to snuff it out?

Another prick, and Ruli turned to look back to the half-Kartaian. He held the wooden tube to his lips again, eyes on Ruli with a nervous hope. Ruli's vision darkened at the edges. He wasn't even sure that he reached up and pulled the second needle out. He couldn't feel his arms. His legs. Maybe he'd fallen to his knees. Maybe that was why the Gemini suddenly seemed so tall. "She'll kill everyone." Ruli said, his voice barely audible, before the blackness swallowed his vision and he felt nothing else.

Rab exhaled as the disappearing man crumpled onto the ground. The men were holding ground, giving enough space, though their willingness to obey the Gemini's orders were withering as they leered at the blond on the ground. He bled here and there, and while the one gash on his arm bled heavily, none of his injuries looked fatal. Rab tightened the string on the pouch again, offering it back to Gavin before he bent to lift the man onto his shoulders.