AJ coughed, spitting blood on the floor. He ran his tongue over his feet to check that they were all still there. Above him, Roth was laughing. “You have become pathetic, young Alyck.” He sneered. “Look at how you crawl across the floor? This took no time at all to reduce you to a nothing. Where is the great Alyck now? Where is the most powerful magician to ever become immortal? Your reputation far outweighed the man.”
A new found sense of pride had been kindled inside of AJ. His knowledge burned in him, keeping him sane as he waited. Night had darkened the sky for hours now. If he was judging right by the shadows outside the window, the sun was due to rise soon. Not long after that, Brian would be here. That meant that AJ had to be at the ready. He only had, at the far side, a few hours left. If he just kept his head down until then, he would be able to do this.
“Do you have nothing to say for yourself?” Roth inquired. He squatted down by AJ, cupping his face in his hand and turning him to look up so that they were eye to eye. “For a tongue that used to be so glib it has gone so still. Where are your quick retorts, young Alyck? Where are your ready answers and denials now?” His lips curved into a sneer. “Has it really been so easy to break you, Alyck? Are you truly this weak? I had hoped for so much more.” There was a disappointment in his voice that had AJ reevaluating his situation. If Roth lost interest in him, he would kill him, there was no doubt about that.
It was written on Roth’s face, what he intended to do. AJ knew he had to do something, or else he was going to die. So he did the only thing he could think of; the one thing he had wanted to do since Roth had first taken control of him. AJ reared his head back, and spat a blob of spit and blood right on Roth’s face.
Roth grabbed a handkerchief from his pocket, cleaning the mess off of his face. A light was burning in his eyes that had AJ’s stomach curling. He didn’t let it show, though. Instead, he let all the contempt that he was feeling show on his face. “You’re nothing, Roth.” He hissed, purposely calling him Roth. The whole time he’d been captive, Roth had forced him to call him by his proper name. “A bug, a speck. You think you’ve won? You’ll never win. I’ll happily die before I break for you.”
“That’s quite a challenge.” The light was back in Roth’s face. Inside, AJ trembled. He recognized that light, and knew what it meant. He was going to pay severely for his moment of rebellion. The weave squeezed around AJ, forcing him to do its will. As it made him move, he knew what was going to happen. With a wave of panic, AJ realized that he couldn’t hide inside of himself, at least not all the way. If he did, he could miss the sunrise, miss Brian coming.
You can do this, he thought to himself. You’ve been through hell before. You’re stronger than he is. You’ve survived all the man-made wars. You’ve survived leaving your homeland behind, moving on. You made it through the life and death of people you had considered friends. Inch by inch he forced his body to relax, to detach from the pain. It kept trying to creep back in on him, trying to tense his muscles back up.
No! You will not let him win this. He wants to hurt you. He wants to make you suffer. Ignore him, don’t think about what he’s doing. Don’t think about how he’s moving you. How he’s making your body hurt. Don’t focus on that. Focus on Brian. On the love you feel for him. He’s coming for you, and together, you’ll make sure this man will never ever do anything like this again.
But, under the strain, a part of him felt as if it was going crazy.
…..
The sun was just starting to peek over the edge of the horizon as Brian glided to the ground outside of Roth’s castle. The early morning air was fresh and crisp, almost as if it would crackle around them. It kept the mind clear, and his body feeling energized. To his left, Isleen landed lightly. To his left he heard Howie’s slightly heavier footsteps. Brian used his other senses, and found Marzio and Sofia in position on the North side of the home, while Geoff and Richard were at the top, prepared to drop down in. They each had their jobs to do, and all of it depended on timing. Perfect timing.
Marzio and Sofia went in first, surprisingly agile as they tossed a grapple up the side of a tower, locking it to a window. They shimmied up, climbing inside. From there they moved stealthily to locate AJ and Roth.
As they did this, Brian, Howie, and Isleen circled the grounds, staying in the shadows as they waited for the signal. The group was linked to one another, their minds connected by invisible strings. Though they couldn’t speak to one another that way, they shared sensations, sights and sounds. Emotions. If necessary, people in the circle could use their own magic, or pool their magic together in the strongest of the circle. Marzio had done the best he could masking their magic. He was very talented with spirit, and had made tiny weaves, but they muddled your weaving so that you either went unnoticed, or your distance couldn’t be accurately guessed.
A burst of satisfaction came through the circle. Isleen was the first to spot the signal. From a window up high, two rocks came flying out. That meant the window they wanted was the one to the left of that one. Next came Howie’s job. Here was where things were going to get dangerous, and dicey. They had no guarantee that Roth wouldn’t kill AJ once all of this started. For that, Brian was relying on his partner to try and do his part in things. Without that, this whole plan could come unhinged.
Howie took a deep breath and signaled the two on the roof. Years of battle experience had made Richard their strategist. He had planned everything down to the last little detail.
The signal was seen, and they watched Geoff get into position. After one last look at all of his friends, Howie wove air and used it to start battering at the windows very lightly, trying to simulate a steady breeze. This would have been easier for Brian to do, but his control wasn’t good enough yet to keep the breeze blowing so lightly. Their hope was that Roth would pay no attention to it.
For five minutes they all sat, watching as Howie slowly upped the breeze. Finally, at exactly seven minutes after he had started, he let a gust push, opening the window. Now came the crucial moments. Howie kept up the breeze, his body tight with concentration. All of them watched, holding their breath. Then, there he was. Roth came to the window, hands grasping either pane to shut them.
In that instant, hell broke loose. Geoff had been tensed and waiting, and at the first signal that he was coming, Geoff had gathered al the water he could manage to hold, so that when Roth got to the window, it slammed in to him, knocking him backwards.
This was Brian’s cue. They had all agreed that it would be better if Roth thought that Brian had come alone. He needed to convince him that he was by himself, that no one else was willing to help him, so that Roth would be more relaxed. After hearing Marzio talk about what AJ was going to need to do, they had worked their whole plan on a way to distract Roth long enough for AJ to do what needed to be done. If he could do it.
Howie and Isleen were already soaring, carried by Howie’s magic to join Geoff and Richard on the roof. Brian could dimly see Sofia and Marzio climbing out the window to join them. Together they would circle the roof of the room AJ and Roth were in. Their job was to form a circle, meditate, and offer up their assistance to Brian in any way that they could, hence why they were linked.
Taking a deep breath, Brian leapt into the air, timing it so that he reached the window right as Geoff stopped throwing water. While Roth was still getting to his feet, Brian landed nimbly on the floor. “Hello, Roth.”
“You!” Cursing, Roth hurried to his feet, hands loose and at the ready. “What are you doing in my home? You were told to leave! Do you value his life so little?”
A sneer curled Brian’s lips. He avoided looking to the side of the room, where he could feel AJ lying. To see him now would be too big of a distraction. “You know how much I value his life, you idiot. Why do you think I’m here? You can’t have him anymore. He’s mine.”
Laughter bubbled from Roth, turning to loud, rolling guffaws. “You and what army, child?” he asked, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes.
“None. Just me and you here, Roth. Aren’t afraid of me, are you?”
“Afraid of you? Child, I can destroy you with but a thought!”
“Funny. Haven’t seen that yet. All I’ve seen is an old man trying to prove to himself he’s a man, but who doesn’t have the balls to back it.” Brian said, antagonizing him. That knot of sensations in his mind that was AJ was so much stronger now that they were in the same room. He could feel AJ’s concentration, and knew that his lover was trying his best to do what was needed. It was Brian’s job to give him time, and distract Roth from what was happening.
Brian dodged sideways, chuckling, as Roth threw a fireball. They had warned him that it might come to blows, and that Roth was a huge fan of fire. Neither were things that Brian hadn’t already figured out. “What, Roth, can’t stand hearing the truth?” Brian asked, dodging another flame of fire. “Gotta resort to trying to burn me to a crisp? No real defense for you, then? Too bad.”“How dare you?” Roth bellowed out. “I am a man, and your pathetic accusations mean nothing to me. You are awfully sure now that you’re not on your hands and knees underneath me.”
“Was that you? Huh. Such an effect you leave on a person, when I’ve already forgotten all about it. I forgot two minutes after I left the room.”
This infuriated Roth even more, but he didn’t throw any more weaves at Brian. Instead he stood there, his body almost vibrating with the effort to control himself. “I wonder if your lover would say the same thing, young Brian. I found him very, talented.”
Shit, shit! The last thing he wanted to do was draw attention to AJ. Brian’s mind scrambled frantically. “I imagine it would take me thirty seconds with him to erase any memory of your touch, Roth. As for his talent, you have no idea.” Here Brian leered, praying that AJ would understand why he was saying what he was. “You think you have any idea about his talent? Any bully can force someone to do what they want. But when he’s in the mood, and he wants to play…when he’s got that light in his eyes and that tone to his voice, he can do things to your body that you never thought were possible. Because he loves me. An that, you will never have, no matter what you do to either one of us.”
…..
The instant that AJ had felt Brian suddenly appear in the room, he had dove deep inside of himself. There was no time to waste; he had to do what he was asked. None of the words they said registered in his mind. Their games were nothing to him. He was there at his center, going to that flaw that he had found. He’d spent the whole night thinking of what he was going to do, and he was pretty sure it would work.
With a touch more delicate than anything he had ever done before, AJ brushed against that flaw. Nothing happened. He brushed against it again, trying to get a feel for it. It was almost as if a stitch in a lace pattern had broken. Two small, miniscule thread ends were sticking up. What AJ had to figure out, was which one to pull, and how hard to pull it.
He touched at one, but there was nothing happening. Panic stirred at the edges of his mind, forced away. He had no room for panic. So, since that one was nothing, he turned his attention to the other one. As he brushed against it, the weave seemed to quiver slightly. AJ froze, terrified that Roth would have felt it. He opened his senses, letting his ears hear the room around him. There was Brian’s voice, and oh God, it was so sweet to hear.
A cry sounded in the room, and Brian yelling “You think trying to burn my hair off will work, Roth? Pathetic!”
On a shuddering breath, AJ sunk back in to himself. Roth was still busy, but time was more important by the second. They weren’t just talking. Roth was trying to hurt Brian. That shortened AJ’s time drastically. He studied that thread, panic growing by the second. There was no time for this, there was no time to play this game safely.
AJ’s thoughts were tinged by a madness that came from captivity. No matter how strong a person is, hold them long enough and you will gradually drive them mad. Especially when you deny them from the fresh nature that their body and soul thrives upon. Even recognizing it, there was nothing AJ could do to chase it away. It turned his thoughts frantic, full of fear for himself and his lover.
With no other choice available in his mind, AJ steeled himself and grasped hold of that piece of the flaw and pulled as hard as he could. He felt the whole weave quiver as it started to unravel, faster and faster. Roth was there suddenly, wrestling control of that thread from AJ, trying to spin it back fast. But the hole was there now, and it was wide enough. With a great mental and magical push, AJ launched up out of it, and back into his own mind. He opened his eyes, staring at Roth. That trace of magic was gone from inside of him, which left his body free to do with as he wished.
The madness still lurked at the edges of AJ’s mind, creating a fire in his eyes that had Roth back up and Brian froze to the spot.
AJ embraced his magic, letting it fill him. He raised his hands out on either side of him, fire that was bluer than the ocean in one hand, and greener than any tree in the other. Roth couldn’t look away from them. For the first time, they saw true terror on his face. One flame, AJ sent to the bedding pile, letting it burn the liquids that had stained there. With the way he had created that weave, that blue fire, it burned only liquid. The green flame he held in front of him, a smile on his face.
“How many times did you tell me that I was lucky to be alive?” AJ asked, his voice as cold as death. “How many times did you say that I should be grateful you were letting me live. That you wanted me to be with you.” That smile grew, chilling Roth to his soul. Brian stood to the sidelines, a feeling of dread in his stomach, but no idea what to do.
Roth was backed fully against the wall now, eyes darting frantically around for a way to escape.
“After this,” AJ paused, twirling that green flame along his fingers. “Well, I imagine that you’ll understand when I say to you that now, you’re the one who’s lucky to be alive.” With that said, AJ blew at the flame in his palm. It roared to life, engulfing Roth in a quick second, blasting him backwards through the wall and down to his grounds.
AJ would have went after him, but Brian took hold of his arm. “Alex, we need to get out of here.” He said, pulling him toward the other window. AJ’s eyes were still locked on that hole in the wall. “Come on, Alex. The others are on the roof, we’ve got to get them out of here before he finds them.”
“I want to kill him.” AJ said. It wasn’t heated, wasn’t full of the rage that anyone would have expected. Aj said it calmly, just a simple stating of facts. That chilled Brian worse than anything else.
“We will, Alex. I swear it.” Brian wrapped his arms around AJ, lifting the two of them out the window. The others caught sight of them and were soon flying as well, carried by Howie. “I swear to you, Alex, we will kill him. But not today.”
AJ’s eyes stung from the air rushing past them, but they never stopped staring at the castle. “Yes, I will.” He said softly. The battle was won today, but they would be back. There was still a war.