Sweet Jesus. Pain was a white hot branding iron pushing its way through every inch of Brian. It pulled him up out of the safety of the darkness; forcing him back toward his body, toward the fire that seemed to burn his skin. What was going on? Something was wrong. So terribly wrong.
He couldn’t open his eyes. It took too much effort. It was taking everything he had not to let out the scream that he was keeping locked in his throat. Oh sweet God what was this? Shouldn’t his body have healed by now? But even those thoughts started to splinter underneath the pain. Where was he? What the hell was going on? God, was he with Roth? That thought took root and had the panic increasing with the pain. That had to be it. He had to be with Roth. There was no other explanation for why he would be hurting like this in his immortal body.
Magic slid into him. He felt it, starting at the center of the fire in his leg. Without conscious thought, Brian let his magic rage free. He would not be a prisoner again!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fire leapt from Brian’s skin, coating over AJ’s hands and up his arms. He gritted his teeth and, with supreme will, kept his hands on Brian’s skin. He spared a thread of magic for water, coating it down his arms, putting out the flames as he went. No one moved forward. Every dwarf there knew better than to step between someone wielding magic and what they were working on. Especially magic that had the strongest mage they knew burned from fingertip to elbow
Panic was slick in AJ’s throat. He had to do this. He had to see what the hell Roth had done. God, if only he’d taken the time to question the mage further! To find out what the hell Roth had done to the spear that it was hurting him like this! The stupid thing was out, Brian should be healing. But instead he was still here, semi-conscious, and obviously in pain. The wound in his leg hadn’t healed yet!
AJ prayed harder than he ever had before. He called upon Apollo as he sent the tendrils of magic into his lover. “Please, hear me, God of healing. Do not let him die. Ἀπόλλων, watch over him. Help him. Please.”
Through the bond he tried to reassure Brian that it was him, that he was safe. On Brian’s side of the bond all AJ could feel was pain, and that darkness that crept into them both. He knew why Brian had sent the fire at him. Could feel the fear, the thoughts of being trapped with Roth again. He didn’t begrudge his lover that fear at all.
What he found as he looked inside of Brian almost had him screaming. Everywhere there were little traces of spirit. Almost like little burrs, they were sticking inside of him, infecting him everywhere they touched. It was almost like the weave Roth had used against them to control their bodies. But instead, this was controlling Brian’s magic, his center, and preventing it from healing, while at the same time, causing little blasts of pain everywhere they latched on.
Without a qualm AJ brought his hands up and yanked his tunic off. He tore part of it, using it as a tourniquet on Brian’s thigh, just above the wound. He tied it tight, wanting to cry at the sound of pain that Brian made deep in his throat. But he couldn’t be gentle. Until he fixed this, he had to treat Brian as if he was mortal, which meant not letting him bleed to death. With the rest of his shirt he wrapped it over the wound like a bandage.
Someone stepped up quietly, asking AJ if there was anything they could get for his hands. He ignored them. His flesh was already tingling, which meant it was starting to heal. The pain intensified as each part of the burn healed. He ignored it.
So gently that he almost didn’t notice he felt Brian start to slip out of consciousness and sink down into the darkness again. AJ knew he couldn’t let that happen. With the magic inside of him, AJ was afraid that Brian wouldn’t be able to come back up; that the shield he held over his center would drop. If it did, AJ was terrified that the magic would go and latch on there, and all would be lost.
He slapped Brian’s cheek; not rough, but not gentle either. “Don’t you dare give up on me now, Littrell.” AJ swore at him. “I will not let you die. Do you hear me? I will not let you die on me!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I will not let you die on me!”
Those words echoed through Brian’s mind, giving him something to latch on to. Something to hold himself together with. Even in this pain there was no mistaking AJ’s voice in his ear. Or that commanding tone that he used when he thought he was being the boss. Which meant that the magic he felt was AJ’s, not Roth’s. Oh God, he hoped he hadn’t hurt AJ.
Knowing now that it was AJ he let his loves light fill him. I love you, he thought. Over and over he let that thought float in his mind, his heart and his soul. He felt AJ’s response, a strong feeling of love, wrapping around him, keeping him there. He felt a warning from AJ’s mind, a warning for more pain, and then suddenly it was like needles were being pulled out of his insides.
The amount of strength it took to protect his center sucked all the control that Brian had. He kept his center shielded, but he couldn’t control his body anymore. His back arched up off the ground and he screamed, loud and long. Still the needles pulled out of him, one right after another. With each one was intense pain, yet was followed by relief in that one area.
Time seemed to stretch on for eternity. An ocean of pain that looked like it would never end. Just when he thought it would end, another would start and he would be screaming again. Tears poured from his eyes, pooling down in his ears, on the ground beneath him.
Then suddenly the pain shifted. It was gone from his body, but centered on his leg. One last flare, one last scream, and suddenly it was gone.
Brian lay there for a minute, his chest heaving. Very carefully he opened his eyes, waiting to see if the pain would return. Waiting to see if it was gone. All he saw when he opened his eyes was AJ’s tear streaked face over top of his. One eye brown and green, the other brown and blue, and both glowing. It was the most beautiful thing in the entire world. He brought one shaky hand up and used his knuckles to brush at the tears on AJ’s cheek.
A small cry broke past AJ’s lips and he dropped his head down to Brian’s chest, sobbing into the skin there. Brian put one hand down to brace on, the other one coming up to cup AJ’s head as he sat up. The pain was totally gone now. Whatever he’d done, his lover had healed him.
Once he was sitting up, Brian pulled AJ to him and wrapped him tight in his arms. Right then they both needed to be able to hold on to one another. More than anything else in the world.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unashamed of his tears, AJ let them flow freely as he buried his face in Brian’s neck. “I thought I l was going to lose you.” He gasped out. Using the bond he quickly showed Brian what had been inside him. What he’d had to do to pull them all out, exactly how he’d cleaned out the inside of the Great Tree. If anything, Brian’s arms tightened around him. Both verbally and mentally Brian told him “Thank you. I love you. Thank you.”
Without thinking he brought his arms around to curl his hands against Brian’s back. The burns still on his skin protested to the contact, making him drop his arms. Because of his magic they were healing fast. But because it was caused by magic as strong as Brian’s, and by magic that had been touched by those burrs of spirit, his burns weren’t healing quickly. AJ had already looked inside himself to make sure that Brian hadn’t transferred any burrs of spirit to him .He was safe. It was just a side effect of what happened when magic and that combination and type of spirit joined together. Something that he hadn’t known was possible.
Brian felt the flinch and pulled back, his eyes going curious. For a second AJ contemplated shaking his head, letting Brian think it was nothing. But he was going to have to deal with it in a second. Most of the burns were gone. His hands were clear. It was just his arms really.
The decision was taken from him when Brian pulled back even further and looked down at AJ’s arms. His gasp echoed in the silence around them. AJ was quick to reassure him. ‘You thought I was Roth. It’s ok, baby, it’s healing. Please, please, don’t worry. Don’t.’ he thought to Brian quickly.
‘I am so sorry, Alex. Oh, I didn’t want to hurt you. Why are they healing so slowly? Is that normal, or is that my fault?’
‘It’s just cause of the stuff that was in you. Think about what I showed you. See how it rode on your magic, giving it an edge that wasn’t there before?’
‘Jesus, Alex. How long is it going to take to heal then?’
‘Who knows. Right now we’ve got more important shit, lover.’
Brian’s eyes grew wide suddenly and darted around. ‘Zee?’
‘Fine, love. He’s too much a magical beast for something like that to harm him. Pegasus are extraordinary at healing. Better than the elves are. He’s off lying down on hay the dwarves gave him, resting his muscles. They took care of him while I took care of you. Now, you feel up to standing? We need to talk with them.’
In response Brian started to move. He was surprised by how unsteady his feet felt at first. AJ had thought that might be the case and so was prepared. On the pretense of holding his lover close, he slid an arm around his waist to support him. As they made to rise, AJ picked up the scimitar from the ground. He’d almost forgotten about it. Forgotten what he had done with it. In the face of his crisis, he had focused only on one thing.
Once they were on their feet, they looked around at everyone. All eyes were on them. AJ knew there was a chance that there’d be dwarves who would be thinking he’d brought this trouble to them. Or feeling the pain of loss, for there had been losses. Right at that moment he didn’t have the energy needed to reassure them. Instead he looked at them, and then turned to look at the battle field.
Healers were trudging among the bodies, looking for corpses or wounded. The Krutas corpses were being piled in the tunnel entrance. Once they had them all, a fire would be built and they would be burnt to ashes.
Brian pulled away from AJ’s arm. He leaned down and kissed him briefly. “Talk war with the King like I know you have to.” He whispered against AJ’s lips. “I’m going to go heal. I know some. Tadhg taught me some before we left. He said it’s an elf thing, to always want to be healing, and he felt I should know how when the need arose.”
“I’ll be there in two shakes, love. The urge is strong for me too. I can’t sit by while they die, knowing I could help. Tell the healers to get the most easily fixed out of the way for them to handle. To keep someone by each one who’s in serious need. That way we can focus on who needs us most.”
Another kiss, and then Brian was striding off as if nothing had ever happened. The wound on his leg was gone, leaving not even a trace of a limp. AJ watched him walk away for a second and marveled at the change in him. Splattered in his own blood, as well as Pegasus blood, with his clothes dirty and torn and his face covered in soot, Brian looked every inch a regal prince. How far he had come in such a short time. The old Brian wouldn’t have known what to do here. The old Brian would never have raised his hand to kill another. Yet hundreds had died today at Brian’s hand. AJ sensed no regret in Brian’s mind. Only a resolve as firm as his own.
Keeping that resolve firm, AJ turned to look at the dwarves standing before him. The King was there, with his honor guard around him. But lining the streets and houses were plenty of other dwarves. As many as could fit.
AJ knew the image he presented to them all. He knew that the blood of the mage as well as of the Krutas was dried over his skin. It had dried onto his sword as well, showing honor to the name they had given him such a long time ago. Redblade.
Looking over them all, AJ felt the rightness of his cause. It was for people like these that he and Brian were working to save. The right of these people to live a life as they chose. To live free.
“Today, Rothalo sent the Krutas to this home in the effort to destroy the Steelhammer clan.” AJ spoke loudly, letting his voice echo through the cavern. “He sought to weaken our resolve. To weaken the resistance against him. The thought of Dwarves fighting on the side of good has filled him with fear, and so he worked to destroy the threat before it could get to him.
“He sent a human mage, drenched in blood magic. Magic of one of the darkest practices. He thought it was going to be easy. He thought we would be destroyed. But Rothalo does not know the Steelhammer clan! He has underestimated us. He has underestimated you! We have rose to the challenge, and put down these Krutas! We showed them the strength and might of the clan Steelhammer!”
Cries echoed up throughout the cavern. Every dwarf who could draw breath cheered for their victory. AJ waited patiently for them to quiet. When he had silence, he again spoke.
“There are dark times ahead of us. Rothalo seeks to destroy the world and remake it in darkness. To join himself with Twyla and so rule our world. We will not let him do this. I go to fight him, as goes my heart song. Today Brian was wounded in your defense. In defense of the Steelhammer clan. Though immortal, and elven, the spears that Rothalo sent were tipped with magic made to destroy him. Yet he walks. Even now he is out there healing your wounded. Tending to them. So shall I be shortly.
“I ask you, here and now, as I stand in the blood I spilled to defend your home. I ask you, as the one I love, who almost died, walks among your wounded and does what he can, even though without his fire into the tunnel we would still be fighting. I ask you, Clan Steelhammer! Will you stay in your caves and wait for the war to end? Or will you ride with us, and fight!” He raised his scimitar in the air to force his point home.
Cursha stepped toward him, raising his hands up to keep the silence. In the true way of dwarves, his response was simple, and strong. “We go to war.”
The response was deafening. Roars and cheers echoed from every mouth. AJ smiled at the King and took his hand firmly, shaking it in the dwarven fashion. “We go to war.” He repeated softly. Another ally gained, though at a cost. They had lost good dwarves that day. But their cause now had a strong ally on its side.
Yes, AJ thought to himself. We go to war. So shall it be.
And so ends book two of the Immortality Trilogy.