Chapter Text
“Is the bait in place?”
“Our man is in position, sir.”
“Good. We make our move as soon as the Amalj'aa appear.”
Rodney shifted impatiently in the shadows near the Immortal Flame soldiers. He wasn’t really sure that he and Seth needed to be part of this; surely Ul’dah’s trained soldiers could handle a few beastmen, especially from an ambush position provided by Ungust, out by some old ruins on a cliff. Better safe than sorry though, he supposed, and he was still sort of training. Seth just seemed to be happy to be part of anything and everything, sometimes helping randoms on the street with any little thing they needed done. And then he shared the rewards with Rodney where divisible, even though Rodney usually didn’t even do anything.
Seth had his sword and shield this time, ready to defend against any fight back from the beastmen. Rodney had his knives out, shifting them in his hands anxiously, but had his bow on his back in case. You could only get in so many surprise hits.
Finally, some Amalj’aa emerged from the ruins ahead, making for Ungust stood out in the open. Rodney tightened his grip on his knives in preparation and moved around to the sides as the Immortal Flames rushed forward to the fight.
Just as he was about to strike an Amalj’aa from behind, he saw a rush of further movement from behind the Flames – greater numbers of Amalj’aa, ready and armed. “Behind!” he found himself shouting, giving himself away.
One of the Flames was laughing maniacally, “I’m afraid your little ambush ends here!”
Ungust was laughing too, “I eluded the Immortal Flames' clutches for moons before finally being caught. Did you not wonder how I managed it?”
“'Twas almost as if someone was feedin' him information from the inside!” the traitorous Flame guffawed.
“Aye, your every movement was known to me ahead of time!” Ungust cackled, “Now, as much as I'd love to chat awhile, I have appointments to keep. Our Amalj'aa friends will keep you company!”
Rodney swore. He was revealed and trapped on the wrong side of about 50 Amalj’aa, Seth and the loyal Flames surrounded. Despite what Ungust had said, he and his co-conspirator had stuck around to watch the show with glee. Rodney was tempted to throw a knife at each of their bastard heads out of principle, but he didn’t want to lose what melee capability he still had.
“Put up your weapons or they start killing,” the traitorous Flame called to them.
They were far too outnumbered and underequipped to stand a chance, Rodney saw the Flames recognise it, Seth following suit.
“Now march.”
They were escorted underground, a long way until finally into a dark cavern with only one entrance, heavily guarded. Oddly, the Amalj’aa had not confiscated their weapons. “Why did they let us keep our gear?” Rodney muttered.
“I fear the Amalj'aa mean to give us to their god as an offering,” the Flame Sargeant replied, teeth gritted. “They would have us use them once we are tempered for their god.”
Rodney shifted closer to Seth, “That can’t happen to us, right?”
“We should be protected, yeah.”
So, they’d just have to figure out escaping from all the Amalj’aa. “How long do you think it will take Thancred to realise things went wrong? To get reinforcements?”
“Hopefully not very long,” Seth considered. “He’s been pretty diligent lately. But I don’t know if he’ll find us before the Amalj’aa have time to summon Ifrit; they already have a lot of crystals from all the robberies…”
“Have you seen a primal before?”
“Sort of... I did have a vision of facing Ifrit before.”
Rodney stared at him. “You knew?!”
Seth looked defensive, “Yeah, but y’know: I’m never sure how long it’ll be before these things happen. I didn’t know we’d be captive beforehand or that it might be today.”
“Shit. We need to get ready, we need to get ready.”
“Yeah. Be ready to fight. I think… based on what I saw, you should go bow.”
“What, down in these caves?”
“I’ll keep the focus on me; you just stay safe and manoeuvre around as you need to.”
As long as nobody focused on Rodney, distance would be preferable he supposed. “Alright. I don’t suppose you have any visions that guarantee we get out of this alright, do you?”
“I don’t get them that frequently.”
“Fuck. But we’ll be ok, won’t we?”
Seth looked him in the eye, “I’ve told you: we’re Hydaelyn’s chosen. This is what we’re for. She’s looking out for us.”
Rodney tried but failed to find that fully reassuring.
Eventually the heavy footsteps of more Amalj’aa came to escort them elsewhere, back through tunnels in a different direction. Rodney wondered if they’d walked far enough to be in the centre of the big Amalj’aa camp in southern Thanalan. It would be difficult to escape them all if they were.
Finally, they were brought out into an open area, still arid and rocky, it had turned to night in the meantime, and… was that the moon eclipsed?
Suddenly the orb flared with an animalistic roar, something leaped from its heart into the sky and exploded down to the ground, fire following it. A hunched, scaled, spiky lizard creature taller than any man landed on the dirt some yalms in front of them.
“Lord of the Inferno,” the Amalj’aa guards chanted, “hearken to our plea! Lord of the Inferno, deliver us from our misery!”
Their leader stepped forward. “O mighty Ifrit, Lord of the Inferno! Your humble servants beseech You! Grace us with Your divine presence!” It gestured towards the captives, “O mighty Ifrit! We bring before You ignorant savages who know not Your godhead! If it please You, Lord, scorch their heathen souls with Your cleansing flame, and mark them as Your own!”
There was various muttering and swearing amongst the Flames. Rodney didn’t know how to pray that the Echo would do its job, he was just desperately hoping very hard.
“Bring those two as well!” called one of the other Amalj’aa, and Rodney turned to see Ungust and the traitorous Flame with their arms bound, thrown to the floor.
“Wh-What's going on!?” the traitorous Flame wailed. “Th-This ain't what we agreed!”
“None but servants of Lord Ifrit may behold the rite of summoning. The souls of unbelievers are forfeit!”
“Nooo! Spare me, I beg you!” Ungust cried. The Amalj’aa ignored them both. Rodney hoped Ifrit would eat them, or whatever it did.
Rodney hadn’t expected Ifrit to be able to speak, its voice was deep and gravelly, “Pitiful children of man! By my breath I claim you!” Blue flames spewed out from its mouth in a great blowing wave – hot but not enough to scorch the skin – all over everyone present. “Arise once more as my loyal minions! Feed my flames with your faith, and all who stand against us shall burn!”
Rodney felt over himself to check his clothes and hair weren’t set alight, but… it hadn’t seemed to do anything to him.
Not so the others. “O mighty Ifrit...” the Flame Sargeant moaned.
“My one true god...” called another Flame.
“Your words are my bread...” the traitorous Flame too.
Rodney quickly looked to Seth, who had the same concerned look to him that blessedly meant the Echo had done it. They were safe. He could almost cry with relief. They just had to escape.
The Amalj’aa leader had noticed too. “Impossible! By what sorcery do you resist my master's will!? Could it be...? Your souls already belong to another!? Yes, that is the only explanation!”
Ifrit interjected, “Forsooth, thy frail mortal frame can serve as vessel to the blessing of but One. Yet I smell not the taint of another upon thee... The truth of thine allegiance waxeth clear ─ thou art of the godless blessed's number. The Paragons warned of thine abhorrent kind. Thine existence is not to be suffered.”
Rodney had missed most of that, that weird old language like when he had to speak to Urianger, but he caught the last part – they had to fight this thing?! Just him and Seth?! Ifrit slammed its hand down and they were encircled by a ring of fire with the beast. The Amalj’aa and the tempered had already retreated to the entrance.
Seth drew his sword and shield, apparently unsurprised – of course, his vision. “Get behind me.”
Rodney drew his bow as Seth had instructed before. This thing could breathe fire, its long horns and claws… He retreated back as far as he could go, while Seth ran to meet it with his blade.
Seth pulled it around and away from Rodney’s direction, its fire burning at Seth’s heels, then right claws hitting his shield as he slashed at its face. Rodney didn’t know how well his arrows would pierce its scaley hide, hoping the internal fire visible through it meant that it wasn’t so hard as it looked, but he had to try regardless. He could not see a weak point to take advantage of from the sides or behind, he simply had to try everything, particularly the poison. And to definitely not hit Seth, who was somewhat mercifully dwarfed by the hunched primal.
Now and then it would explode out gusts of searing wind, pushing them back towards the burning ring. Rodney had to dare to come closer, aiming for its back around its long waving tail. Patches of ground lit up with fissures before exploding, making them run to safety each time they were close. Seth had to shield against the flame breath and claws again and again. Rodney didn’t know what he would do if it took Seth down. Die probably. He fired faster.
A fiery spike appeared in the ground, looking very much like bad news. Rodney fired at it, and it seemed like it was damaged. “Seth!” he called, and Seth seemed to notice it, moving around to be able to slash it and the primal at the same time. Rodney was terrified it was too much for him, one bad swipe at Seth’s exposed head and he could be unconscious or dead, followed shortly by Rodney.
Finally the spike broke to pieces, Ifrit roared, jumping up into the air again, sending a blast of searing fire across the whole arena again, Rodney’s hair whipping around his face, his leather clothes singeing. Seth still stood, his metal armour surely hot, and slashed again hard at Ifrit’s head as it landed. More fiery patches of ground lit up in response to the primal, sending Rodney running across the area before they could explode. This was so much, so much, so much. He didn’t want to die here, not like this, not to this, he was firing as fast as he could.
Seth landed a hit with his shield into the primal’s face, sending it reeling, then dashed in, stabbing his sword deep into its scaley chest. Ifrit roared in pain and fury, “The blessing of Light… defies me?!”, before collapsing over Seth as it began scattering away into fiery aether.
Seth pushed the decomposing remains off of him and his sword, still pointing it at Ifrit in case of last movements. Rodney’s own hands had an arrow drawn at it. It did not move beyond the aether floating away and flickering out.
Seth backed over to him, “Are you alright?”
Rodney could hear his pulse in his ears still. “I don’t think so.”
“Are you hurt?” Seth specified.
“No. I don’t think so. Are you?”
“Not sure. I don’t think so.”
“I think I might collapse.”
“We need to get out of here first.”
Fuck, the Amalj’aa, Rodney had almost forgotten.
“Grab your knives, go stealth, just get to safety. Tell the other scions if you have to go ahead of me.”
Some part of Rodney that knew chivalry felt that he should protest, but self-preservation was still very much in charge after that. “Sure.” He put his bow on his back and grabbed the knives out, comforting in his fists. “Thank you,” he added on behalf of his manners.
Just as Rodney began to jog towards the way out - the ring of fire having disappeared together with Ifrit - someone running in almost made him jump out of his skin.
It was Thancred, thank fuck. “Pray forgive my lateness! I was delayed by a congregation of Amalj'aa zealots. I swear, each seemed more evangelical than the last.” An Amalj’aa ran in after him, but Thancred downed it with a swift stab to the chest. “Hmph! Persistent lot! Come, let’s get you out of this place before any more show up.”
Rodney and Seth looked at each other and followed, wearily.
“I see the Bloodsworn wasted no time extracting the captives,” Thancred observed as they left. “No less than I'd expect from the Flame General's handpicked men. As for Ungust and the traitor... it is fair to say their hardships have only just begun. They have much to answer for.” He sighed. “I feel I owe you both an apology. Had I known this mission would prove so dangerous, I would never have left you to face it alone. You have been given a veritable baptism of fire. But let us continue this conversation in more agreeable surrounds. Camp Drybone, shall we say?”
They reached the centre of Drybone before Rodney’s body finally gave in and he collapsed to the ground. Seth slumped down next to him, letting him rest his head on his lap rather than the ground, Rodney was too tired to consider protesting. A kindly junior Flame came out to provide them with some potions.
“Well,” Thancred said brightly, “after witnessing their god's ignominious defeat, the Amalj'aa will be less inclined to risk our wrath ─ for a time, at least. Now, where were we? Ah yes, I was in the process of apologizing. I do hope you can forgive me. I arrived too late to be of any use... to you or the abductees. They may be whole of body, but the same cannot be said of their minds. For once a man is tempered...”
They’re killed, Rodney knew. Fewer Ul’dahn soldiers to deal with the Amalj’aa later. He hoped that the Amalj’aa losses were proportionally higher.
“Ah, but it ill suits me to dwell on the negatives,” Thancred continued, “amidst all our misfortunes, there is still reason to rejoice. Ifrit is slain, and by your hands, no less! That is the deed of no ordinary individuals.” Honestly, Rodney was starting to wish maybe he was an ordinary individual, one who did not have to do that sort of thing. “Not that I ever thought you were ordinary. On the contrary, I have long suspected that you have the potential to shape the fate of this realm.” Rodney didn’t want to shape fates; he wanted to zone out in a bath. “What can I say? My fine eye for talent remains undimmed. Minfilia will be proud beyond all reckoning when she hears of your deeds. I trust you shan't object to my bearing the tidings to her. That way I can claim to have contributed something to this mission.
“You, meanwhile, have earned yourself a rest. Take some time to relax, and return to the Waking Sands when you are good and ready. We can discuss matters in more detail then. Just don't take too long, will you? The realm's problems won't solve themselves.” And then Thancred headed off without a word in edgewise, even if Rodney did have the brainpower to say something.
Seth and Rodney just breathed together, sipping at their potions as their strength returned. “Is Minfilia his sister?” he finally remembered to ask.
“No, no. They’re not actually related, just sort of like adopted siblings. He’s looked out for her since she was a kid, she was orphaned. He grew up a street urchin himself.”
“All the scions are blonde, if most of them weren’t different races I’d take them all to be family.”
Seth laughed, “Not like us, eh. The real talent.” One of Seth’s hands played loosely with a lock of Rodney’s brown hair, it felt oddly intimate.
He cleared his throat and pushed himself up to a sitting position. “So, we killed Ifrit, but they can bring it back, can’t they?”
“Yeah. Unfortunately.”
“So, like. We could have to do that again tomorrow.”
“Only if they had the crystals for it, which they don’t. And our contacts keep an eye out for the possibility of them collecting crystals again so we can hopefully stop them before the summoning can happen.”
“But sooner or later…”
Seth put a hand on his shoulder. “We got taken by surprise this time, normally there’d be more of us. And it could be years yet. We did it, Rodney. We’ve helped the land; we’ve helped the people-”
“But that’s- that’s just Ifrit. There are others. Eorzea is teeming with beastmen and they all have gods and there’s crystals all over the place, there’s a fucking wall of them just to the East and they’ll summon them and then-”
“Rodney – Rodney Rodney Rodney-” Seth grabbed his hands, “look at me Rodney.”
His breath was coming fast, his body trembling, his eyes welling. He could see it; it would happen again. They had only been lucky, one bad blow to Seth, one lethal blow to Rodney, he couldn’t do it, he couldn’t do it-
“Rodney look at me,” Seth shifted so their eyes met, “Breathe, slower. Breathe in, hold it.”
“I can’t Seth, I can’t-”
“You can do it, I believe in you. We’re just sat here for now, breathe with me. Breathe in…”
Rodney closed his eyes and tried to hold it.
“And out… And in… And out… And in… And out.”
Rodney pulled a hand away to wipe away the tears, he hoped other people couldn’t see him well in the dark of the night. He didn’t quite have a handle on the trembling.
Seth squeezed his other hand. “You did so well today. Like Thancred said: a baptism of fire, but we’re both still hale and whole. We’ve been chosen because we can do these things. You’re actually so capable, and as we train and get more experience we’ll be even better. I will not let you die on my watch.”
“How can you be so certain you won’t die though?”
“I just… I’m in the moment, you know? Focus on the fight in front of you, when it happens. Don’t get hung up on stuff that might never happen. And normally the fights we do have would be even better because we’d have a healer with us to patch us up on the go. We did amazingly today, taken by surprise and we still killed a primal with no back up. Like… you hear all the stories about glorious heroes, right? They fought just the same as we did, and probably some of them felt afraid that maybe one day they’d fail like you do, but those heroes are us. We are going to have a grand story of accomplishments and people saved, there’ll be songs for us.”
“What if you’re wrong,” Rodney couldn’t do more than whisper. “I don’t want you to die. I don’t want to die.”
“Well I’m right, but that’s where we train and train until you have the confidence that we deserve. But tomorrow, I think. Let’s rent chocobo porters, get back to Ul’dah, have baths and nice warm beds.” Seth gave him a small but warm smile, his eyes bright in the dark, “And if you start panicking again, just come to me.”