Work Text:
Liaras was panting as they ran away from the creature. He hadn't gotten a good look at its physical features, but it had been massive. And that was saying something. He was only 13, but was almost five and a half feet tall, but that thing had dwarfed even him. He glanced over, making sure Shade was alright. He seemed so, though he was also panting as they ran. He reflected on the events that brought them to this predicament.
2 Hours Ago
Liaras was complaining about being bored. And with the parade next week, he was even more on edge. Shade only sighed, watching his friend. He had been getting increasingly erratic over the years, and now... he was mildly scared of what Liaras would do. The Prince had never been the most stable person, with societal pressure and what not, but he'd been getting worse these last few years, getting violent even. He was not a person who needed to be cooped up for a while. Shade got an idea then. An idea Belos would surely hate, but who said he needed to know about it? "... and damn that bastard, he won't let me do anything fun! I hate it!" Shade only sighed, before placing a hand on his friends shoulder. "Look L, I know you hate it, but I don't have a choice. We have to stay together at all times." Liaras nodded, a sinister look on his face. He was angrier than Shade had seen him in almost five years. That was... not a comforting thought. "Look, I can sneak us out today. Belos doesn't need me. You can work off some steam in the forest if you want." Liaras's eyes were up at the Shades in a moment. There was a pleading in them he couldn't say no too. "Alright then. Come on, we need to hurry." Liaras practically ran after him. He chuckled under his breath. His friend was definitely odd, but he probably would be too, given the situation. It was one of the things he loved about him. Wait. Where did that come from? Shade was confused at the thought. He waved it off in his mind though. No reason to think to hard about it. Probably just a slip of tongue. In his mind. Yeah, that was all. An hour later, he and Liaras were walking through the woods, heading for a clearing Shade knew about. Hopefully, they wouldn't run into any wild animals. He really didn't want to fight anything today. And Liaras... well, he wasn't sure what would happen if he started fighting something. He was already mildly unstable. He didn't want anything kicking it into overdrive. Those monthly visits to the Blights were keeping him mildly alright, surprisingly. Probably because of Liaras's crush on Edric. He never did understand that. But that was for another time. They needed to get to the clearing without angering something.
They angered something. Not only that, but it was a big something. That proceeded to chase them around and try to kill them. Liaras refused to use magic, saying something about 'losing control' or some other thing like that. It was nice, but not very helpful at this moment, considering Shade had extremely limited magical ability outside of healing and shadow-stepping. Needless to say, they were screwed right now. As they ran away from whatever the hell that thing behind them was, Shade noticed Liaras was busy using his magic to do something other than fight. He was writing something down. Shade really hoped it wasn't a last will and testament. That would not be a good sign. When they managed to hide behind some cover as the thing barreled past them, Shade looked at what Liaras had written. It wasn't a last will and testament. It was a to do list for what to do after today. At the top, circled in red, was what surprised him. Train More, Get Stronger. Liaras was already stronger than any other witch he'd ever met. Why would he need to be stronger? Liaras meanwhile was busy casting a shield spell around them. Shade decided this was as good a time as any to ask him. "L, why do you need to get stronger?"
Liaras froze, eyes widened. He looked slowly at the Shade, and there was a small pain there. A pain he'd seen to many times. "I don't know what you're talking about." The Shade was looking at him worriedly. "L, you can talk to me, you know that, right?" Liaras nodded, looking away. He knew the answer, but Shade didn't. He didn't know the mental breaks he was having everyday at night, alone in his room. He'd burned everything to ash more times than he could count. But he always fixed it. He couldn't let anyone know. No one could know of his shame, his weakness. So he simply sat in silence, watching the tree line. And hoped that monster didn't bust out of it at any moment.
The monster crashed through the tree line a second later, and Liaras quickly reinforced the shield. The monster slammed into it, and yelped when he hit it, being thrown backward at leas t 30 feet. It climbed up, growling in annoyance. It walked around them, eyes filled with an anger that promised death. Liaras felt that stare, and something snapped in his mind. Not like the mental breaks at night, but this was similar. Same wall, but for different reasons. He raised his hand, the shield lowered, and a blast of pure energy was released, causing the creature to be thrown 100 feet in the air. When it hit the ground, the Isles shook with a force like an earthquake. The easily 20 foot tall beast raised itself from the ground, before falling over again. It definitely was hurt, but he could already see the damage knitting itself together again. Whatever this thing was, it was strong. They took off running, and about 10 minutes later, they heard it roar. They headed for the coast, hoping it would lose the trail. It didn't it followed them towards the cost, gaining on them. When they got to the cliffs over looking the sea, Liaras paused. He thought about how he hadn't been able to tell any features about the creature. He and the Shade stood there, panting. Well, might as well go down fighting. They backed up to the cliff side, stopping just short of it. And Liaras got an idea. "Shade, when I say run, run. Don't worry about me, just move. I think I know how to get this thing off our backs." Shade gave him a confused look, before nodding.
When the beast broke through the trees, Shade realized Liaras's plan. You clever man. I hope it works. As the creature ran towards them, Shade waited for Liaras to give the signal. When the creature was but a few feet, Liaras yelled one word; "RUN!" Shade darted off as fast as possible, and watched in horror as the creature charged straight at Liaras. Who simply teleported aside, and the creature fell off the cliff, directly into the Boiling Sea. The Prince was smirking slightly. "Ah, tactics. Something that these monsters will hopefully never learn." And then the Prince promptly passed out, and went over the cliff edge.
He felt himself falling. But he couldn't do anything. He was so tired. But he couldn't stop himself from falling. So this is it. Well, goodbye cruel world. I'll miss you dearly. He landed on a small spit of land, head hitting a rock, and he thought no more. He woke up 3 hours later according to Shade. His head had healed, so that was nice. But he still felt incredibly tired. Shade dragged him over his shoulders, and brought him to the castle, eventually to his room. Laying the Prince on the bed, Shade checked him over again, making sure he was alright. Upon seeing he was fine, he left the Prince, sighing as he closed the door. Hopefully he would get better. He thought about that little snap at the beginning of their fight with creature. His friend had changed, in that moment. He didn't seem witch-like anymore. Oh well. Just another thing for him to worry about. Probably nothing to bad. Shade sighed to himself, heading for his quarters. After next weeks parade, he'd bring Liaras out again. Hopefully without the monsters.