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Justice hated magic. While it was useful at times, particularly in putting people back together any time one of their crusades went a little bit sideways, but most of the time it was just used to mess with their heads. The paladin spread his wings and tried to force words past his lips but it was as if his vocal cords were frozen in time, unable to utter more than an angry grunt. In response to his intent to scream and swear and tell the other two that it was an illusion, he saw the flick of the tiefling’s hand. Despite knowing what was coming he couldn’t brace himself and so he just stood in place, trying not to bite off his own tongue as a boom of thunder erupted right in front of him and the force knocked through his body like a tidal wave.
The force threw him to the ground but this time he didn’t bother trying to stand. Whatever spell that had been cast over him that was freezing him in place was clearly affecting his friends as well. They seemed to see him as the enemy, although what kind of enemy he wasn’t sure. They both looked a little unsure so he was probably being disguised as something they hadn’t fought before, or his paralytic lack of movement was making them uneasy.
Previously he had tried to flap his black wings, to free feathers or try to speak whatever spell was causing them to hallucinate. For some reason, his wings weren’t locked in place by any sort of restraint or spell. Shackles held his arms tight behind his back and a spell kept him silent and stood in place. If they made it out of this alive, they both owed him, big time.
With a sore huff, Justice managed to stand up, just long enough to see the other two readying another attack. This time, the pint-sized monk was eyeing him, or more-so the hallucination that existed in the same spot. She was saying something, probably some sort of taunt, but her words became disjointed by the time they reached him. She almost seemed to vanish before she was in front of him, her eyes narrowed into deadly slits. She threw her right arm into his chest so hard he heard at least one rib snap. Before his body could even finish absorbing the force of the fist another connected with the same spot, and then another, the three punches pushed him back into the wall of the cave. One of his wings snapped from the pressure of his body slamming into the wall with enough force to shatter bone.
He tried to suck in a breath now that his lungs had been forced into his throat. Instead of breathing, though, he ended up coughing, spitting up blood onto the cave floor in front of him. Great. Normally he appreciated Sumi’s no-holds-barred fighting style but normally he wasn’t on the other end of it. Before he could even try to recover from the attack he felt a familiar crackle in the air. All the aasimar could do was shut his eyes before two bolts of energy slammed into his body like magical spears.
Slowly he slumped down the wall, his body crumbling under the damage. His armor had been taken off when he’d been unconscious so now there was nothing protecting him from their assault. Sumi was on him again, fists flying. Luckily the hallucination didn’t seem to move exactly with him. Since he’d slumped down out of pain, her fists crushed into the wall, splintering rock like it was nothing and showering them both with rubble. The half-elf was yelling something that came across his ears as garbled nothing but the tiefling seemed to understand. They both moved back, undaunted by their strange enemy.
Since staying still was probably going to get him killed, flashbacks of the tiefling Fenrir summoning a wave of acid were at the forefront of his mind, Justice slowly rolled onto his knees. There had to be a way to break the spell. Or at least get them to back off for now. There was only so much abuse his body could take. His right wing was already sagging at his side, the bone clearly shattered. The cave was too small for him to try and fly, anyway, there was barely room over his head.
With a deep-seated determination, he tried to yell again, feeling the painful paralysis of his chest that had gone from annoying to painful. Nothing. He couldn’t even make noises of pain. Fenrir was starting to cast another spell which meant that his life was probably hanging in the balance. He would just have to apologize later. No, no apologies, they hit him first.
Pulling from the well of anger that, half the time, was the only thing keeping him alive, Justice lunged forward. With his arms shackled behind his back, he was rather limited in what he could do; however, he was pissed. His sudden movement seemed to catch both of them off guard. Sumi dodged to the side, her honed instincts keeping her out of harm’s way. Fenrir wasn’t so lucky. His spell smashed into the wall that he had once been in front of as his shoulder hit the tiefling right in the neck. It wouldn’t be a deadly wound, he wasn’t even bleeding, but hopefully, it would keep him from speaking for a few minutes. That would negate most of his spells.
Before Justice could spin around and try to figure out how to down a monk with literally just his body, he felt a sharp pain in his gut. It was only then, Fenrir on the ground below him, that he remembered. While he was a sorcerer first, his friend was never without his dagger close at hand. The blade ripped through his gut, magical ice digging even deeper as the spell bounced off the weapon. At first, Justice didn’t think the wound was that deep. Then he heard a sickening wet plop and the entire world seemed to tilt right.
The aasimar tumbled to the ground in an uncoordinated pile of wings, limbs, and Fenrir, blood pooling between them. As he did the spells faded. Sumi and Fenrir no longer saw an enraged Mind Flayer, hurling spells at them but a bloody mess of a paladin, broken and twisted between them. His words finally freed, Justice let out a muffled cry, twisting both anger and regret.
“Justice!” Sumi rushed over to her friends, doing her best to turn the angel-winged boy onto his side. His stomach was bleeding pretty badly and it looked like his insides were coming outside. With a loud, piercing “eww” she shoved her hands over the wound despite the disgusting feeling of blood seeping through her fingers. His breathing seemed shallow and he wasn’t yelling at them which was a pretty bad sign.
“Fenrir, what do we do?!” The sorcerer had pulled himself out from under the bleeding paladin just in time to take in the damage. It was clear that their ‘enemy’ had been their friend all along but he didn’t have time to let guilt settle in his stomach. Instead, he reached into a bag, forcing himself to be calm. All they needed was a healing potion. If they could get him from death’s door then Justice could heal himself. To his side Fenrir heard the other gasp in for air, his breathing becoming slow and uneven. Finally, he grasped a potion, pulling the small vial from his bag. Justice's face was pale and his blue eyes looked entirely unfocused. Sumi was still pressing on the bloody gash across his stomach but it was much larger than her small hands could cover.
“Tip his head up, he needs to swallow the potion.” Sumi nodded at the instructions, letting go of the bleeding gut long enough to continue turning the aasimar on his back. It was an awkward position since his wings were bunched under his back and his arms were still shackled but at least he was on his back. The monk gently touched his face, tilting his head and opening his mouth. His eyes wandered to the side, meeting hers for a moment before slowly slipping closed.
“Fenrir! Now!” She shrieked, a sudden panic pooling in her chest. He was dying, like really dying. Right here between them. Fenrir forced the bitter liquid into his mouth and lifted his head enough to make him swallow through gravity alone. There was a beat of total silence, both Sumi and Fenrir holding their breath. Then the silence was broken but a shuddering breath that sounded like the rattling of a bag of bones.
“He’s alive!” Sumi let out a heavy breath as she started to pull at fabric on Justice’s clothes to wrap up the wound. Fenrir dropped his head, equally as thankful but significantly more muted in his display. Carefully they treated the wounds, making camp in place until their friend was recovered enough to use his own magic to heal. None of them discussed the incident in detail but Justice didn’t let either of them forget why he had a scar all the way across his gut. Neither did he forget that they saved his life.