With Brian at his side, AJ took a seat on the stone bench outside of Cursha’s house. He looked at the King, who had taken the high stone seat there. Dwarves were not known for being in their homes unless eating or sleeping, and even then it was common to find them eating on the job or sleeping near their work. There was nothing a dwarf loved more than working, unless it was fighting. Ranked equally, yet in a completely different way, was family. Their family values were one of the strongest that AJ had ever come across in all his travels.
“Our honor is lessened for having doubted you in such a way, Alyck Redblade. Name your price, and we will meet it.” Cursha’s voice was as hard as the mountain around them, and just as deep. To AJ it had always sounded like a boulder tumbling downhill.
“No price is needed. Ones stronger than you or I have been fooled by his magic.” AJ lowered his brows down into a glare. “But I trust the Steelhammer clan will not be so easily tricked again.” That wasn’t a question. It was a statement of fact.
Cursha bowed his head in agreement and moved on. “Like you said, there’s much to be discussed, Redblade. We will, of course, stand by your side, by the side of all races. There is no doubt in that one. No one can afford to have Twyla resurrected. That this man would do this says much about his honor.”
“He has no honor.” AJ spat out. Only Brian’s hand on his arm kept his anger under control. He sent a small pulse of thanks to his lovers. It seemed like lately he was having issues with his temper staying in check. Without Brian’s presence, he didn’t know how well he’d be handling things at the moment. That thought on its own was an amazing one.
Who would have thought that after thousands upon thousands of years he would finally find someone who was so much a part of him that it was as if they were made for one another. Like they were two halves to a whole. He couldn’t imagine his life without Brian in it. Mentally he gave himself a shake. Now wasn’t the time to be sentimental. He should be paying attention to business.
“No, with what you say he has done, this one has no honor. We should never have doubted you.” Cursha sighed and looked out among his people. “When he told us that you would be here on this day, we-”
AJ spun, cutting Cursha off with a loud “What?”
Cursha eyed him from under those thick eyebrows. “Rothalo told us that you would arrive on this day to deal with us yourself, since he had failed. He shouted it as he flew away. My warriors were under orders to kill you if you set foot on our mountain, but Durga was always the strongest advocate you had. He wanted to at least give you a chance to explain your actions.”
AJ and Brian both stopped listening. They looked at one another as the implications of this ran rampant in their mind. Roth had known they’d be there? How the hell had he managed that? But over it all was one thought that screamed in both their minds. ‘Trap!’
Rising to his feet, AJ scanned the area around him. He ignored Cursha; ignored everyone that was suddenly rushing to them to see what the ruckus was about. Instead he focused his attention on the cavern around them, opening his magic senses to try to see if there was anything coming at them that he could sense. At the same time, he opened his bond with Brian wide so that they could share thoughts and impressions easier.
‘If he knew we were going to be here today the how doesn’t matter’ Brian thought, also rising to his feet. His eyes were scanning the area as well. ‘The point is that this is a trap. What the hell are we going to do? I don’t have fighting experience like you.’
‘God, if he comes in this place can be a death trap. Jesus, I’m such an idiot.’ Mentally cursing himself, AJ finally directed his attention at Cursha, who was now surrounded by warriors. “Something is come. I don’t know what, but something. This is a trap. He wouldn’t trust that you would kill us. Just in case, he’d send something to finish the job, and if you had killed me, they would have been sent to wipe you out.”
“But what could he..?” Cursha cut off again when AJ and Brian both spun toward the south, and cries started to echo from the southern tunnels. Even before the words reached the ears of all standing there, AJ and Brian were moving as a unit toward Zee. AJ mounted, pulling Brian up behind him. That was when the call reached their ears. “Krutas!”
Warriors were scrambling, racing down toward where the fighting was. The clang of steel on steel and the battle cries from both sides filled the large cavern, echoing off the walls. AJ didn’t worry about the dwarves gathering their troops. No one inside the city would be unaware of what was happening. He put heels to Zee’s flanks and used his body to gesture the Pegasus up. The great wings unfurled and they shot into the air.
‘Whatever you do, don’t hit the dwarves!’ AJ kept his hands free, trusting his life to Zee. The first sight of the Krutas coming from the tunnel was a sobering one. Though the dwarves fought with hammers and picks, the Krutas were pushing forward.
Cross breeds of goblins and dwarves, Krutas were ugly creatures. They were slightly taller than dwarves, with faces that looked to be boulders with eyes, long fan like ears that came to a point, and skin a sickly green. Their limbs seemed longer than they should be, and looked weak at first glance for they were skinny. But AJ knew intimately that they were strong; as strong as any dwarf or goblin.
“Sweet Jesus.” Brian whispered behind him. There looked to be hundreds of Krutas swarming in from the tunnel, a long column of them that was never ending. For each one a dwarf smashed down, another reappeared.
“We need to get close enough to blast a ball of fire down the tunnel. There can’t be any dwarfs left alive in there. That would burn these fuckers right out of the way.” AJ called back to Brian as they got closer and closer. But the dwarfs were in the thick of things, hammers swinging here and there, battle cries echoing in the air.
He threw up a wall of air, trying to wall off the tunnel and trap the ones who hadn’t come through. But something counteracted it, breaking through. Only one thing was capable of doing that. Another mage. But he didn’t recognize the feel of the magic. It definitely wasn’t Roth. It almost felt…mortal. Gods above. A mortal mage?
With a quick glance under him AJ realized that anything they did was going to get people on their side killed. Someone needed to clear them back, and to distract the mage. If the mage was distracted then there would be time to fling the fireball down the tunnel and burn out the Krutas. That was their only hope, before they were overwhelmed by the sheer amount of them all.
Their bond opened wide, Brian realized what AJ intended instantly. He gripped AJ’s arm. For a second it looked like he was going to protest, and then he was pulling AJ in for a quick kiss, hard and fierce. “Keep safe.” He growled when they broke away.
AJ just gave him a wide grin as he swung one leg over and dropped off of Zee’s back. He used air to cushion him, though the elf in his blood would have probably allowed him to land safely. His drop landed him right in the center of the band of Krutas. Before he hit the ground, his scimitar was clear of its scabbard so that as he landed he was already swinging it in a wide arc, taking off the heads of those closest to him.
In his anger and rage, the color of his eyes and his very skin started to glow. It made him a target, which was exactly what he wanted. His lips curved in a wide grin as Krutas turned and rushed to him. “Let’s dance.” He called out as he started to thrust and slash and parry.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It took everything Brian had to stay in his seat when he watched AJ land in the sea of monsters. No matter that they were immortal, or had powers to call upon. That was the song of his heart, and he had just let him drop down there.
Anger raced through Brian’s veins. He pressed his knees to Zee’s sides and bent low over his neck. He knew that AJ wanted him to throw the fireball when the time came, but there was no saying that he couldn’t do anything else. Close like this, he could make them all out easier. So he concentrated toward the back of the group as Zee soared around, and he tried to make his magic as fine as possible. In small groups Brian called fire, not from his fingertips, but from the heat in the air around the ones he was attacking.
Soon there were burning Krutas dropping to the ground. But some were being put out by something else. Remembering what AJ had thought about another mage, and what he’d said to him during the training session, Brian looked around him at what he had available.
Finally he spied what he wanted. Boulders of all sizes had been cleared from the tunnel as it was being worked on, and were piled outside the cavern entrance, barely visible under the press of the Krutas. Brian nudged Zee down and suddenly they were plummeting toward the pile. At the last second Zee pulled up, keeping them safely out of reach.
It was close enough for what Brian wanted. He gathered up as much tendrils of air that he could hold and used them like hands to grab boulders and fling them to parts of the army that he could see were only Krutas. His stomach rolled when he saw them being crushed underneath the boulders. Blood flew, splattering the other Krutas, but still they kept coming, as if they had no choice.
His assistance seemed to bolster the Dwarves. They cheered even louder and suddenly started to press harder, gaining back some of the ground they lost. Each time a dwarf swung his hammer, a Krutas went down in a pile of blood.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw AJ leap up onto an outcropping and knock down a human. The human jumped back up, and a wave of fire flew from his hands.
There wasn’t enough time to focus on both tasks at once. Brian knew he needed to wait till the mage was totally distracted before he made his move. For now, he was going to help thin the ranks out. AJ was going to have to survive on his own. He prayed his lover wouldn’t do anything foolish.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“So here you are!” AJ called out teasingly, dancing to one side as the flames burst past him. “I was wondering where you were hiding.”
The mage straightened his robes and raised his hands again. Before he could even finish whatever he was calling, AJ used air to fling the man backwards. This close there was no doubt that the man was mortal. Human. What on earth was a human mage doing in charge of a band of Krutas?
The earth under AJ’s feet started to rise, to try and suck him down into the stone. He laughed and leapt lightly forward, out of its reach, using his own magic to calm it. “Is that all you have?”
Suddenly there was a pressure against his internal shields. AJ startled, having to rapidly strengthen them. Gods, but he hadn’t even noticed the weave of spirit coming at him. He saw it now, and saw what it was trying to do. All signs of humor left him. There was no time left to dance around this mage. Human or not, he was the enemy, and he was here to kill. AJ could show him no less.
In that moment he committed himself. No more testing. No more games. With a strong mental willpower he took his rage and honed it, channeling it to his magic. Nothing else was said as he started forward. With one hand he flung a whip of fire to try to wrap around the mage. While he was distracted with that, AJ used air to slam the man down towards the ground.
The mage was strong, he’d give him that much. Even as he countered it he was flinging back magic of his own. Fire, and more fire, and air as well. AJ danced around it all, weaving this way and that, sending back his own counters when he could get them through. One tongue of fire snaked across his arm, the heat of it burning him almost down to his bone.
Pain was nothing. AJ was locked into the moment, his mind an arrow heading for the target. Nothing would deter him from that. The mage flung up earth from under AJ’s feet, sending the rocks for AJ’s hands. In one swift move AJ swirled his hands and took the rocks, sending them flying at the mage.
As those flew at him, AJ called up fire from behind the mage, so that he was trapped between the two. The instant that he stopped to counter them, AJ grabbed the stone underneath the mage and yanked it up, pinning him in a cocoon of stone. Around that he wrapped spirit to shield anything the mage could do.
By the time he got close, AJ’s scimitar was out again, pointing at the man’s head, the only thing sticking out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another band of Krutas went down underneath Brian’s rocks. He took a moment to look over at AJ’s battle. He was looking right as AJ wrapped the mage tightly in earth. Moments before Brian had felt the shaft of pain as fire had burned AJ’s arm, but he’d been terrified to try to find out what was going on for fear that he was going to destroy AJ’s concentration.
Now was his moment, though. He pulled Zee down low and rode over the heads of the dwarves, calling to them to fall back just for a minute. Then Zee circled back forward, hovering for a moment so that Brian was free to turn to the entrance. He wasted no time in calling up all the fire that he could and sending it pouring down the tunnel. The ball of flames filled the entire tunnel and shot down it like an arrow released from the bow.
Just as he released it, a spear came flying through the air and straight through his thigh and into Zee’s side, pinning them together. The Pegasus let out a shrill cry and spun, soaring shakily toward the dwarves. Diziness and pain filled Brian. Just past the front lines Zee couldn’t be upright anymore and landed down on the street, and they were both falling as pain tore through them both.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Who sent you?” AJ demanded, holding his scimitar tight.
The mage laughed. His eyes were crazy, full of a fanatical light, and something else that made AJ shudder inside. This mage had tapped into blood magic, one of the worst forms of magic out there. None who practiced blood magic were good. “You know who sent me. He’s going to kill you, you know.”
“A brave man, to laugh in the face of death.”
His calm words didn’t seem to faze the mage. He laughed again. “He told me about you. You’re too weak to kill a mortal. It goes against everything you believe in, Alyck Tuian. But it wouldn’t matter. We’ve already done what we came for.”
Even as he spoke, a shrill scream hit the air, and AJ felt pain explode through the bond. Everything in him tightened down. His eyes flashed to where Zee and Brian flew, heading back toward safety. Blood dripped from them into the air as they moved.
Laughter brought AJ’s attention back to the mortal mage. “Roth made those spears himself. They’re made just for you and your kind. If your lover survives the hour I’ll be surprised.”
Rage quivered through AJ. He had no time for games. No time for this. He drew his body up straight, raising the scimitar in front of his face for a moment. He sought the calm. In this, he was not Alyck, lover of Brian, grandson of Flreu. In this he was Alyck, trulion, executor of evil, protector of all that is good. This man had been part of a plot to commit murder. Staring into the man’s eyes, AJ saw the knowledge of what he had done, and the sick joy the man got out of it. He also saw the realization of what was about to happen.
Magic railed form the mage, trying to find a way out to save him. Without a qualm, AJ stared straight into his eyes as he brought the sword around and down, and sliced the traitors head off, blood flying through the air, over his skin.
He didn’t stick around. With a roar of rage he launched off of the plateau and straight into the crowd. Rage and fear carried him. He had to get to Brian. But to do that, he had to get through the army of Krutas. In that moment, he earned the name Redblade all over again. Later, they would call him Alyck Redblade, Swiftfeet, the wind of death. He flew through the army like a fury, cutting down any Krutas that got in his path, or blasting them with his magic. He had one goal, to destroy the Krutas so he could get to Brian.
AJ didn’t realize that the dwarves had backed him. He sucked in a deep breath as he flowed through the sword forms and sought to knock down any in his path. Durga was suddenly there, his face covered in blood and wreathed with a smile. “Back them to the tunnel, you flea bitten mongrels!” he shouted to his army.
The dwarves pushed every last remaining Krutas to the tunnel. Once they were in, AJ slammed a wall of air down, shoving the dwarves back. He let the Krutas run for a second, and then made fire, hotter than lava, and poured it in a stream down the tunnel. He could hear the shrieks of the dying echoing back to him and grinned in satisfaction.
Satisfied that if there were any left, Dwarves would deal with it, AJ spun and shot toward where he had seen Brian and Zee go down. Now that battle wasn’t calling to him, the need to go to them was. It was stronger than anything else. He practically flew toward the street where he felt him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Brian lay against the ground, his mind seeming blurry. What was going on? Everything seemed so fuzzy right then. Yet even in that moment he kept his shields tight around his center. AJ had taught him that no matter what happened around you, never let go of that shield, or it could be the death of you. Anything else could be healed from. Your center was the most vital.
Thoughts of AJ filled his mind. He wondered how his lover was faring with the mage. As if thinking of him summoned him, Brian felt AJ’s love and concern explode through his mind even as his presence became closer. Someone was there, and their hands touched the spear. Brian arched, unable to stop the scream that built and flew past his lips.
Everything turned to fire as the spear was yanked out of his leg. Not a moment too late Brian felt shields snap down over him. AJ’s shields. Then he heard the most beautiful thing. The sound of AJ’s voice. Even if it was cursing up a storm.
“You fucking idiots! He’s a God damn elf with mage mixed in and you pull that shit out of him when he’s delirious with pain? You’re fucking lucky I was here to shield him before he burned you all to ashes!”
Then AJ’s hands were on him, running over his face. They felt so cool against his warm skin. “Oh, baby, I’m right here. I’m going to bring us together so I can see the damage, ok? It’s just me, and I’m here.”
There was panic in AJ’s voice. That stuck with Brian. AJ was not the type to panic. Plus, like he’d said, nothing that was done to them could kill them if it didn’t get their center. So why was AJ panicking over a spear in the leg? Better yet, why hadn’t the pain faded?
Hands were moving him away from Zee, laying him out on hard stone. Brian didn’t bother protesting, though it hurt so much. AJ was with him now, and he knew AJ would keep him safe. He felt that familiar presence in his mind, and didn’t resist when AJ opened the bond wide, when he joined their centers to one another for a moment.
But magic touched the wound in his thigh, and suddenly the world seemed to be coated in pain. It pushed at Brian’s mind, and sucked him under into the darkness.