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Caduceus was usually more attuned to their surroundings, but they’d been here for a few days now, sucked into the pace of the quiet market town, and he’d been distracted, listening to Caleb as he rambled on about the books, they’d found in a little out of the way shop. He liked seeing the wizard like this, the shadows banished briefly from his eyes and replaced by a spark that was beautiful to behold, especially paired with the small smile playing around his lips. He looked his age for once, and not for the first time the Firbolg wished that he could look like this all the time, but he knew that they were a long way from that, and for now it was enough to see these glimpses of the man Caleb could become in time.
That was why he paid no mind to the two men who’d passed them a few minutes before. Missing the lingering glances, and the way their eyes had focused on Caleb before they’d moved out of sight, and it was why he was caught by surprise when a bottle rocket flew over their heads and exploded in front of them a few minutes later. For a wild moment, he thought it must be Beau, glancing around for a glimpse of blue, wondering whether Jester had roped the monk into another prank, and that moment cost them as there was movement behind Caleb. Too late he saw the men, their faces twisted with anger and hate, and then they were on the wizard, giving him no chance to finish reaching for his component pouch as he realised the danger.
“CALEB!” He was moving, staff raised, but he knew it was too late even before alarmed blue eyes met his before Caleb was wrenched violently to the side. At first, he’d thought they were trying to capture the wizard, but they didn’t stop, the man on the left twisting and slamming Caleb face-first into the side of the building they’d been passing. The sound of it, the nauseating thunk of bone and flesh meeting rock had him flinching, but not as much as the sight of them pulling back and repeating the action, the sound this time, accompanied by a worryingly wet sound. Caleb had started to cry out at the first blow, but at the second one his voice cut off, and to Caduceus it felt as though all air had been sucked out of the world around him as they released Caleb and stepped back.
The wizard was wavering, barely upright at this point, as he staggered backwards and Caduceus must’ve made some kind of sound, because Caleb was turning, sluggishly drawn towards him. And it felt to Caduceus as though a red haze had been drawn across the world, drowning out all other colours. He didn’t like it. Red had always suited Caleb, glinting in his hair in the sunlight, reflected in his eyes whenever he used his flames, but not like this. Not when it was blood that he was seeing. Blood dripping down the wizard’s face from multiple places, trickling past blank blue eyes, and down to lips that quivered as Caleb tried to speak. “Ca…” It was nothing more than a soft sound, but Caduceus knew what he was trying to say, and his heart twisted as he realised that even now Caleb was trying to get to him.
Unfortunately, Caleb’s body had other ideas, his legs buckling beneath him as he tried to take a step towards Caduceus, and he slumped to his knees, seemingly unable to move beyond that point. As Caduceus watched, he lifted trembling hands towards his head, but halted just short of actually touching it, sitting there with his head bowed, hair dangling down and preventing the Firbolg from getting a good look at his face. In the end, it was laughter. Cruel, ugly laughter that broke him out of his shock as he lifted his head to stare incredulously at Caleb’s assailant. They were staring at the wizard, triumph written across their faces as the wizard sat their immobile, silent, broken… and while there was something more to their mirth, Caduceus’ eyes narrowed, and he brought his staff down hard against the pavement, driving the bugs out it in waves.
He didn’t need to command them, his will feeding the spell, and he followed in the wake of the bugs as they clustered around the men. It wouldn’t do much damage or hold them for long, but it didn’t need to. He just needed to get to Caleb, to see for himself that the wizard was still with him, to take stock of the damage. The men’s laughter had given way to shouts of pain and alarm now, but he felt little sympathy for them as he reached Caleb’s side and crouched beside him, reaching out with gentle hands to shake his shoulder.
“Caleb?” He murmured, keeping his voice soft and soothing, not wanting to startle someone who had just been ambushed, and trying to avoid doing any more damage. There was no reply from the wizard, no sound at all beyond ragged breathing, and as he watched blood dripped from behind the screen of messy hair, landing on the ground. The wrong kind of red. “Caleb, can you look at me?” He asked, adopting the hint of steel he heard Nott use when her boy was being particularly stubborn, knowing that patience wasn’t the answer this time.
Behind him, he heard movement, and he tensed, bracing himself to protect Caleb. However, as he lifted his head to see what the threat was, it was to find the bugs swirling lost for a moment as their prey turned and bolted away. There was a pause as he stared incredulously at their vanishing backs, not comprehending what was happening or what had happened. They’re running away? They did this to Caleb, and they’re running away? He didn’t understand. He had learned a lot about the cruelty that people could inflict on each other since leaving the grove, but there was usually a reason, something that he could understand even if he didn’t agree with it. But this time there was nothing, they had just been walking and talking, and now… he was unaware of the growl that rose in the back of his throat, but his bugs heard it, their angry buzzing rising in volume until it reached a crescendo before they rose in a cloud and shot off in pursuit of the men.
He wanted to follow them, but before he could even think about giving in to the temptation, there was a soft noise from the crumpled wizard, and at once he turned his attention back to Caleb, just in time to watch as he slowly, so slowly, lifted his head. It seemed to take forever for him to lift his head, and for his gaze to drift towards Caduceus. His eyes were blank, the shadows and sparks that usually gave them life nowhere to be seen, and he looked lost, as though the current situation was beyond comprehension. Now he could see the full extent of the damage, his eyes slowly tracking the thick, trickle of blood from a nasty gash on Caleb’s forehead to the scattering of smaller, bloody cuts from where his face had scraped against the rough surface of the wall. “Ca…d…” Caleb was trying to speak again, the same soft, broken sounds as before.
“Caleb.” Now that he’d finally had a reply, Caduceus released the wizard’s shoulder in favour of reaching out to gently, oh so gently cup Caleb’s chin. Blood smeared beneath his fingers, and his stomach rolled because there was so much red. The wrong kind of red, and this close he could smell it too, the coppery scent so thick he could almost taste it. This is bad, he thought, almost laughing at his own understatement. Almost. Because Caleb blinked sluggishly, gaze drifting but not really seeing anything in front of him, before his eyes began to droop, as though he’d lost all ability to keep them open, and panic jolted through him. “Caleb! Keep your eyes open for me, okay?” He could heal the damage, but head wounds were tricky even for Clerics, and fear bloomed as Caleb visibly struggled to obey him.
“…t…rying.” Caleb finally said, but even though he had got a full word out this time, it was wrong, his voice flat. Empty. Not in the same way as it could be when he was letting them glimpse a little bit of his past. That was deliberate, measured. A blankness that concealed a storm, whereas right now he was just blank. Empty, as though some part of him had trickled away with the flow of blood down his face, and it was wrong, oh so wrong, and it felt to Caduceus as though a shadow had passed in front of the sun.
“I know,” he soothed, already letting his magic pool around his fingertips. However, before he could let the spell form, Caleb had frowned, pain flickering across his face as he blinked again, gaze slowly weaving a path back to Caduceus and for a second, he seemed to focus.
“Ca... duceus? Did we…did we finish the job?” Any relief he might have felt at hearing the wizard using his full name disappeared at the question that followed, and all he could do was shake his head, even as his concern ratcheted up another notch. Caleb’s expression seemed to fall at his response, the brief spark of comprehension disappearing. “I-I don’t understand. I don’t…I don’t know what’s going on…”
“It’s going to be okay,” Caduceus soothed. He didn’t understand either. How had they got from walking back to the inn, smiling and chatting, to sitting in this alley, their shopping laying forgotten beside them and Caleb bleeding and starting to list to the side. “Let’s get you healed up, and then we’ll go and find the others, all right?” Caleb was staring at him, but he didn’t seem to be fully grasping what was happening, and he forced a smile. “Hold still for me,” he ordered, voice soft and Caleb went to nod, only to realise that was a bad idea, what little colour he’d had left draining out of his face.
Caduceus let his magic flow, feeling it seep into Caleb’s skin and branch out, searching for the injury and he grimaced in sympathy as it gave him an echo of the pain that the wizard was in. For a moment, even that echo was too much, leaving him feeling sick and disorientated, and he had to fight to stop his hand from falling away. Wildmother, he pleaded, and strength seemed to flow into him, steadying him and allowing him to rally, as he chased the sensations, watching as the colour slowly seeped back into Caleb’s face. He breathed deeply, focusing as he felt skin knitting itself back together, his magic soothing away the lingering pain, the trauma from the blow, and yet the blue eyes were still hazy. It wasn’t enough, and as he felt his magic releasing its hold on Caleb, the wounds gone, leaving bloodied skin in their wake and still blank eyes, he sighed, head falling forward for a moment.
“Caduceus…?”
“It’s okay,” he immediately lifted his head, meeting Caleb’s confused gaze. Concussion, he thought, fighting back a scowl. Magic could heal so much, but even it had its limits, and the mind was difficult to deal with, it was why spells like Feeblemind were so terrifying, and he sighed, realising that there would be no quick fix to this. However, he couldn’t let himself show his anger at that thought, his desire to go after the men who had caused all this and ask them ‘why?’ Maybe later when Caleb was safe, and on the mend, although he had a feeling that by that point their friends would have taken care of the issue, and he almost felt sympathy for the men. Almost, because Caleb was blinking again, and beginning to look agitated, no doubt aware that his mind wasn’t quite working as it should be, and not for the first time Caduceus couldn’t help but wonder if his keen mind was more of a curse than a blessing. “All right,” he soothed, running a thumb over the freshly healed chin, trying to wipe away some of the blood. “Let’s get you back to the inn, okay?”
“I don’t…”
“Come on.” Quietly insistent, Caduceus moved so that he could support the wizard as he carefully tried to ease him up onto shaky legs. However, he quickly realised that wasn’t going to work as Caleb ducked and weaved, as unsteady as a new-born fawn. He eyed their scattered belongings before dismissing them, he knew that Caleb would worry about the books, but hopefully one of the others could retrieve them before they were taken and if not, Caduceus would buy him every book, he wanted to make up for being unable to prevent this. That decided, he turned his attention back to Caleb who was looking a little green from the moving, which ruled out his original thought of giving him a piggy-back like Jester had when the wizard had broken his leg a few months before, and they’d both been out of healing spells after a hard fight. “I’m going to lift you, okay?” He asked instead, waiting for Caleb to make a noise that might have been agreement, or might have been confusion, before moving to scoop up the wizard, glad for his size and Caleb’s lightness as he gathered him up in his arms.
Caleb shifted restlessly in his arms, not comprehending what was going on and Caduceus tightened his grip as much as he could without hurting him, not wanting him to fall, but wary of scaring the wizard who ever around him could be flighty when it came to touch. He wasn’t sure whether it was the lingering pain, exhaustion or that some part of Caleb had recognised that he was safe with Caduceus, but eventually, he settled with a soft noise, head slumping against the Firbolg’s shoulder and fingers curling into the tufts of fur caught between the ties of his shirt. “Let’s go home,” Caduceus murmured, smiling slightly as the fingers tightened in agreement, before sparing half a glance behind them, his gaze darkening for a moment.
I won’t forget.