The Princess and the Blade

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi stared through Laurius's eyes at the macabre scene, and alarm bells sounded in his mind. *The last time I saw anything like this... was when I first arrived in this world. Try to get closer.*

___________

Ren stared at the dying men. He'd seen Kishva slay Ivie who displeased her, but it was different knowing that he had planned their demise himself. He glanced at Tenara, remembering what she'd said about wanting to return to this world. He hoped he had added enough souls to give her the option. Just enough power to send three people in and, he hoped, one person back, if that was really what she wanted.

There was no time to delay further. He watched as their blood filled the trenched line surrounding the sigils. It needed to be opened now, before the souls departed. He went to the center of the circle and read the spell, pronouncing the foreign words as well as he could. His voice and hands began to shake the further he read. He could feel the souls traveling through the circle, channeling up into him as the anchor of the ritual. It felt like a nest of angry creatures swarming for freedom inside him. If he couldn't handle anchoring the souls, he'd be the epicenter of a very colorful explosion.

Three people in, one person back, he told himself, wincing as the energy continued to build. A swirl of red plasma had begun forming around the edge of the circle, rising up like a column.

Power screamed through his mind, making it hard to see what he was reading. He faltered on a word, and his legs gave out under him. Fine, he could do it on his knees. Easier to split his focus between the ritual and the screaming inside him.

[Emora Deen]

Tenara's heart skipped when Ren hit his knees. She struggled in the man's arms. She'd been beaten, starved, and drugged... and she was so angry that she barely had the focus to see, much less fight him off. "Easy," Elias told her. "Save your energy, Princess. You'll need it when we get there." She wanted her power so badly. She wanted to burn him. She thrashed, but noticed something as she did... a weight around her neck. The sensation of something heavy pulling on the fabric near her breast. Something in a pocket.

---

Laurius saw Ren hit his knees, and panic clawed through him so fiercely, he lost his focus on being stealthy. He broke from the tents and began heading towards the group.

[Soran Nightblade]

*Laurius! Shit...* Havi said as the man went straight out in the open.

If the few men who had been left alive hadn't been staring in astonishment at the swirling column of red plasma, they would have been discovered immediately. Instead, they had to literally walk past one of the guards before the man shouted "Intruder!" Laurius's changed appearance stopped the man from recognizing him, but not from drawing his sword immediately to strike him down. Two others who had been staring at the spell nearby turned at the unexpected alert and ran toward him with weapons drawn.

Ren couldn't hear a thing. His vision was a blur of red sparks, and he was starting to wonder if he'd miscalculated. He was no sorcerer. Maybe he didn't have the strength to contain this spell. That would make perfect sense. And that was assuming he'd interpreted the procedure correctly in the first place. He cut off in a groan and curled over on himself. Unable to see, he forced himself through the rest of the incantation from memory.

The souls anchored inside him all seemed to propel upward at once, slamming him down into the ground as they left him. The boundaries of the column stiffened into a glowing shaft of light.

[Emora Deen]

"Ren!" Tenara said as he curled in on himself, but then the air shook and something burst out of him. He was down, and the portal was up.

"Intruder!!"

Tenara's gaze swept dizzily toward the sound. Men were rushing off, but the portal's light had grown almost blinding and her vision was still blurred in the distance. She saw a hooded figure drawing a sword clumsily. While she couldn't make out who they were, Elias must have. A ripple of emotions swept across his face before he curled his hand around her arm and snatched here from the guard. "Come," he said, moving toward the light. He pointed the dagger at where Ren lay on the ground. "Get. Up. Come. Now!"

Tenara twisted, trying to see who he'd seen. Was it her father? Had he come? Her heart pounded, hope springing up fierce and hot. She tried to keep from going into the portal, digging her feet into the earth, but he shoved her into it.

Pressure squeezed around her, the blinding light turning suddenly dark. She felt every bruise and cracked bone strain against the portals power...

---

Laurius panicked when he was found. He struggled with the sword in his belt, ripping it free and holding it with both hands. "Fuck," he said to himself, narrowly managing to block the attack. "Now. Help. Help!"

[Soran Nightblade]

Ren's blown-out senses were momentarily muted by Laurius's voice. It was nearly deafening inside his mind as the dagger conveyed its master's will. They were going through. He had to be with them. It would be dangerous without a guide.

Well, it would be dangerous even with a guide.

He heaved to his feet and staggered through after them, into darkness.

When his consciousness returned, they were in a small, frigidly cold room. A small hearth glowed in the corner, burning something that smelled nothing like firewood and casting a small amount of heat into the room. The walls were made of stone. A bed with a wrought metal frame and a large trunk were the only furniture.

Ren stared across the stone floor and slowly took in their location. "Fuck-" he started to say, and immediately twisted onto his side, coughing. His insides felt scrambled, but his senses were slowly but surely coming back online. "Princess," he wheezed, turning his head to look for her.

___________

Havi threw his instincts up alongside Laurius's, carefully co-piloting the man's body. It wasn't enough to simply feed him his senses this time; he needed to make his body move faster and stronger than it should be able to in its damaged condition. *Just try not to resist me,* he pleaded as he threw off one of the men and ran him through with the sword. *Bad things happen when I try this on someone who's still conscious.*

More men were running toward them, and he had no more time to talk. He parried a lunge from one and used him as leverage to side-kick another in the chest. Laurius's leg shook dangerously beneath him, but Havi forced it to deliver strength. He strained through several more attacks, and finally there were four men dead in the snow surrounding them. Havi looked up with Laurius's eyes at the strange column up ahead. *They're gone,* he said, urging the man's legs to bring them up to the imposing structure.

He wanted to scream. She had been right here. Where had he taken her? What was this thing?

[Emora Deen]

Tenara groaned, feeling her hands out along rough stone beneath her. The air was colder than before, which was saying a lot considering it was dead of winter in Arken. It felt like needles pricking her skin at first. She blinked her eyes open, sweeping the area as she pushed up onto her hands and knees. Her breath fogged out of her. She saw the fire, saw Ren, saw Elias...

Elias collected himself much faster than her. He moved as if in a panic, taking in the room with wild eyes. He grabbed her by her broken wrist to pull her close, and a painful cry ripped out of her. The dagger pressed into her neck. "Where are we?" he snarled at Ren. "Is this some sort of trick? A trap?"

Tenara redirected the hand trying to hold the knife at bay to the weight in the pocket of the dress, rummaging frantically inside for something helpful—something she could cut him with or… anything. Her hand found something small, thin, and pointed.

---

Laurius looked the portal over. His knees quivered beneath him, but he took a step forward, easing closer and reaching out a gloved hand to touch it. He stopped short of doing so. Laurius looked the space over, noting the markings, and the blood. A spell.

A... portal?

If they went in there...

"Laurius?" Milandra's voice mused. "How curious. You... survived? But no pet, I see? Did he not make it out of the fire?" Milandra emerged from the tents, feigning a pout. "Pitty. I bet he was a great deal more fun than your limp dick toy."

Laurius growled, choking up on the sword, but he knew he couldn't take her in a fight. He barely took the humans with Havitharon's help, and if the portal behind him closed before he went in...

"Fuck you, Milandra," he said, and stepped back into the light.

[Soran Nightblade]

Artisuren eyes flashed bright with fear. "Stop! You fool, we'll be heard," he hissed. His heart was pounding in his ears, and he didn't feel very well at all. He hadn't expected to come here, even if it made some sense that they had. After all, this was where he'd been when he was summoned away from the world, so it made sense that his soul anchored back to the same spot. He held out his hand frantically at Elias, as if discouraging a wolf from attacking. "Please, don't hurt her. We're in my quarters. The portal worked, but we mustn't be discovered here."

As if on cue, a hard knock pounded at the door. The door swung open and an Ivis almost as tall as Thvoros looked in, his gold horns arching like ram's horns around his ears. "Who the hell is-" He broke off as he took in the scene in the room. An expression of absolute disgust crossed his face. "What the hell are you doing to a Yurivis," he snarled at Elias. The man stormed toward the Prince, hands clenching into fists.

__________

The portal accepted Laurius, its power just sufficient for one more soul to pass through. Havi winced at the sensation of being pulled along with the sword, effectively hitchhiking through the portal. As soon as they disappeared, the column of light fizzled out, the pathway gone.

Milandra was left alone on the other side, surrounded by dead bodies and missing her prince. "Well. Fuck."

[Emora Deen]

Elias panicked as the viscous looking Ivis approached. "Fight him! Kill him!" he ordered Ren.

Tenara pulled the key from the pocket. At first, her mind didn't register it as a key. She knew it was small and sharp, and she jabbed it into the hand clenched around Ren's dagger. Elias growled, and the blade dug into her skin and she thought, for a moment, she was dead.

But, then he was crushing her down, positioning himself to bolt for the door if he needed to. She raised her hand to jab the object into his eye, when she noticed what it was.

It... couldn't be? Not for the collar? Right? It was too perfect. Too much of a coincidence. But, as Elias crushed her down, and kept his attention on the fight breaking out, Tenara turned the key on the collar around her neck and sought the lock with quivering hands.

[Soran Nightblade]

Ren's mind seemed full of muddy water as he turned for the other Ivis. He couldn't take Korvis in a fight. No chance. He didn't have a choice right now. He launched himself at the man, hoping to land a quick hit somehow before he was beaten to death.

Korvis dodged his punch and collared him, swinging him up against the wall. "You... Artisuren? You have balls for coming back here," he growled. "Who are these people?"

"Korvis, wait, we're not here to attack the compound-" Ren choked, then groaned as the man's knee drove up into his belly. He sagged in his grip, wheezing to get his breath back.

"You left this court like an idiot. Your ties have been cut." He sneered as he noticed the black rings at the base of his horns. "That looks like it hurt. It serves you right for betraying her. I think I'll start what Kishva will want to finish," he said, and slugged him again in the stomach.

[Emora Deen]

Tenara's gaze shot to Ren as he hit his knees, the sound of the punch thumping through the room. He was going to die. This brute was going to kill him and Elias was going to let it happen. She knew he would likely not stay dead, that his soul would probably return to the blade as it had when he drowned, but she couldn't let it happen, and she had had enough of the prince of Arken. She found the lock with her fingers, fumbled on slipping the key inside...

A snow-covered shape stumbled out of thin air, collapsing onto the ground. Elias whipped his head towards it, and she followed his gaze.

---

Laurius wanted to vomit. He might have, if he had eaten anything of substance in the last few days. He groaned as he pressed his cheek into the cold stone, listening to dull thumps fill his ears. His vision swam, and he blinked his eyes to focus on the two tangled together in the center of the room, and then two by the door. The larger one by the door was pummeling a crumpled form. Laurius's vision cleared, focusing a second to see Ren in full.

He snarled and shoved upward, somehow managing to get to his feet, and he dragged the sword with him. "Get the fuck off him!" Laurius lifted the blade up above his head, but his vision wasn't focused and his arms shook, and he knew without Havitharon's help the Ivis—who was easily two heads taller than himself—would pummel him into the earth too.

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi wasn't all there after the sudden teleport. He had only a vague sense of their surroundings, and only enough focus to lend Laurius the instincts for a proper strike technique.

Meanwhile, Korvis was startled enough by Laurius's sudden appearance that he took too long to register what the man was doing. He released Artisuren in order to catch the sword bearing down on him. It bit into his palms, but Laurius's swing offered little resistance when he threw it to the side. Korvis stared at his hands, and then at the alien-looking stranger. "What are you?" he demanded. He took a step back, giving Ren a clear view of Laurius for the first time.

Ren froze, staring. It wasn't real. It couldn't be real. He wasn't alive. He certainly wasn't here, of all places.

But then his gaze dropped down to the familiar sword in the man's hands, the snow stuck on his boots. His singed hair. Could he really just imagine such a thing?"

He barely had the sense to realize Korvis had regained his focus and was pressing in again, this time to attack Laurius's ghost.

He didn't care if it was a ghost. He didn't care if he'd gone insane. He struck his foot out into Korvis's ankles, blowing his feet out from under him. The man slipped sideways and slammed his head at an unfortunate angle on the foot of the bed as he fell. He hit the floor, unconscious.

Ren heaved panicked breaths and stared at Korvis on the floor next to him. He couldn't look back at it. When he looked back, and found the apparition gone, he might truly lose his mind. He pressed his hands slowly to his head. He should figure out what really stood in front of him. He should try to help the princess.

He couldn't look up.

[Emora Deen]

Laurius sank down onto his knees in front of Ren and grabbed the man's face in his hands and pulled him close. He curled his arms around him, heaving relieved and exhausted air into his lungs. "I found you," he said, and the words seemed silly. They didn't feel important enough for the complex emotions swirling inside him, making him dizzy. Why did he feel like this? What did it mean?

"Laurius?" Elias murmured, confusion creasing his brow.

Laurius shifted his head, gaze sliding to where the prince had pinned Tenara down with Ren's dagger cutting into her skin.

Laurius's hand slipped out and touched the sword hilt, curling tight. He hadn't the strength to make Havitharon whole, but the blade was soaked in blood—a sacrifice of others’ making. He willed that Havitharon were here, that it was enough to bring him forth into physical being, and felt the strangest push of his soul, as if he were trying to force the Ivis out of his mind.

"Kill—" Elias began.

The key slipped into the lock, and Tenara twisted. The snake's mouth unclenched from around its tail and the collar fell away, clanging against the stone. Elias's gaze swept back to her, then down past her to the black, broken ring. Tenara opened her hand, showing him the bronze key in her palm, and watched the color drain from his face.

"Shit," he said, and bared down to slice her throat as red light flashed in her eyes.

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi felt Laurius's attempt to push him out into the world. He thought it wouldn't possibly be enough, but his body seemed to want to be here. It belonged in this world, after all. With barely a thought, he flew free of the sword and took shape beside it. Fury lit in his eyes. His feet had barely touched the ground before he dove for Elias, tackling him sideways with the strength of a panther. He and Elias rolled across the floor and wrestled for control of the dagger. "You.... piece of garbage," he strained, clenching Elias's wrist since he couldn't touch the knife directly.

_________

Ren had lost focus on the rest of the room. When Thvoros appeared, that somehow made it all real. He stared at Laurius with tears welling up in his eyes. "You found me," he said it like a question. He didn't know if he could trust the feeling swelling up inside him. The hands on his cheeks were so warm. "You're real." The tears spilled over, and he plunked his head onto the man's shoulder. "Shit. Oh, god." His shaking hands fisted in Laurius's sleeves and gripped him for dear life.

[Emora Deen]

The force of the tackle tore Elias off and rolled her onto her belly. She hadn’t seen Havi, only the shadow of something large.

She rolled her eyes up to find Elias wrestling with an Ivis with black horns, and at first she knew it was him. She would know him under any light, but she thought she had to be dead or dying because how could he be here?

But Laurius was here, somehow, and so was Havitharon. He’d survived… Her relief warred with the tangle of fear and rage her power fed on—power that had been suppressed for days with no outlet, no means for vengeance.

It became a sudden tormenting force beneath her skin, burning hot and painful. She sat back on her heels, and clutched her chest, as if that would hold it back. The pressure built in the room, the stone beneath her cracking under its weight. Shadows leaked into the world, writhing black fingers sweeping and clawing at any light left around them.

Elias knew he couldn’t escape Havitharon’s weight or strength. Though he possessed all the fight in the world, it did little to earn him freedom. He settled into the floor, and decided negotiating was his best chance. “Let’s talk this through. Would you really want to start a war?”

“No one knows you’re here,” Tenara said, mimicking his words while red gleamed like hellfire in her eyes. “No one is coming to look for you. No one to save you.”

She took a step forward, and the cold stone hissed beneath her shoes. She knelt and grabbed her pendant and pulled it from around his neck, clutching it tight to her chest before slipping it over her head. Then, she reached for the dagger and tried to wrench it from his pinned hand.

—-

Laurius cradled Ren against him, hugging as tight as his tired arms allowed. “We’re real. We’re here…” An apology bubbled on the back of Laurious tongue, but there would be time for groveling, for begging for forgiveness. “I’m not letting you out of my hands again, I swear.”

It was then that Laurius noticed what little light was left in the cold room had turned dark. He could barely see Ren, and he was inches from him.

“Kill him,” Laurius told Havitharon, thinking if they did away with the prince, Tenara’s magic would be quelled.

Elias snarled. “You can kill me, but you can’t get rid of me. I’m in you. You can’t scrub me off.”

Tenara jolted at the words, as if they were a physical strike against her, and she doubled over. If she didn’t get her magic under control, it would kill not just Elias, but Laurius and Ren and Havitharon.

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi couldn't listen to another word. He snared the man's neck down into the floor, cutting off his air. "Ren, is it true Kishva has you all keep toothsbane in your quarters?" he growled.

Ren, securely held in Laurius's arms, raised his gaze just enough to show Thvoros a spiteful glare. "The mantle," he said darkly, as if sensing exactly what the Ivis wanted.

Havi stood, dragging Elias by the neck one-handed like an abused toy. He reached above the stove and located a jar full of small metallic pearls. He turned to Tenara, working hard to stay calm in the face of her obvious struggle to contain her power.

"My Moon," he whispered gently, kneeling before his struggling Yurivis. He could feel the power rolling off her, and part of him wanted her to use it, to blow this whole awful place apart.
But the thought of her regret soured the idea. He brushed his fingers softly against hers. "I would encourage this, but it will be too quick." He held out the the jar as if presenting a kill after a hunt. Malice glowed in his eyes as he pressed the cool glass into her hand. "How many shall I feed him?"