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He caught the piece of paper too late. Grian had always made fun of it, how simple-minded the concept was. There were other ways to get people on your side besides a piece of paper that ultimately amounted to nothing at the end of the day. Loyalty and alliances couldn’t be bought that way.
Guess Scar sure showed him, huh?
Grian let out a shuddering breath, stifling the scream that threatened to erupt from his throat from the phantom pain of his second life taken. The feeling of a fire aspect enchanted blade cutting through armour, burning his skin, feathers, and all still tingled all over his skin, and he rubbed his arms to assure himself that he wasn’t on fire any longer.
Ultimately, he knew it was Bdubs that delivered the final shot to take his second life, but there was a part of him that felt hurt, felt betrayed by Scar turning his weapon at him to cut him down.
“After all we’ve been through!”
Like it didn’t mean anything at all. Like the paper meant more to Scar than anything Grian ever did.
There was a taste of bile at the back of his throat, then a tang of something acidic on his tongue as his thoughts turned to revenge.
(He knew it would come to this. He knew it wouldn’t last. But in between all of the tenuous alliances and battles and failures, he thought…at least he let himself think that it wouldn’t come to this, maybe.
An idealistic part of him, surely, but he thought…he thought…
…
He thought wrong.)
He grabbed the backup gear in the chest and headed down the tunnel to thei—the desert.
He was a red name now. On his third life, and he knew better than anyone what that meant. Especially with only three of them left on this world now in the same situation. Bonds? History? None of that mattered anymore.
(Scar had made that clear.)
Two versus one. Neither Scar or Bdubs had turned on each other during the time Grian made his way back through their cactus and lava defences. None of their names appeared on the server chat.
So that was the likely scenario: him against them.
He barely had any food left. His equipment was a step behind his previous one, but it was better than nothing. Fortunately, neither Bdubs or Scar knew where he set his bed spawn, which mean he still had an advantage over them. And by his final life, he was going to make them regret it.
It didn’t take long to find them. He followed their voices through the trees. The lingering darkness of twilight wrapped around him, as he stalked after them, keeping himself and his player tag out of their sight. He tucked his wings close against his back, and he climbed across the canopy.
He jumped from one tree to the next, before he misjudged his jump, landing roughly on the branch of a birch tree as he hissed quietly from the pain.
Did they hear him?
Their conversation had hit a lull as they headed back towards the direction of the desert. They should have heard him.
Grian held his breath and waited.
He blew his only advantage, he wasn’t going to—
“Where’s Pizza?” Bdubs asked, finally breaking the silence.
There was a pause. Grian climbed over the next branch to see where his targets were standing on.
“Um…I don’t know,” Scar said quietly.
A part of Grian, immediately noticed the way the man seemed to be subdued, his voice didn’t quite sound like it usually did. Lacking that kind of merry tone on his voice. It almost sounded unhappy, but Grian pushed that particular observation at the back of his mind.
Instead, he focused on the way that Scar lagged behind his new lackey. How Bdubs would be too far to do anything to protect him. Scar was distracted, with his chat up as he was busy typing something in the air.
Grian stood on his two feet, diamond sword in hand.
Scar’s back was wide open.
Blood was roaring in his ears.
He only had one chance. No more holding back.
(Maybe it was fitting that he would return the favour this way.
A sword in the back.)
“Betrayer!” Grian screamed, his short, pure red wings flaring out as he launched himself down at Scar. “Betrayer! You traitor!”
Scar was taken off guard, eyes wide as he fumbled for his weapon, but Grian didn’t give him a chance to fight back. The server chat appeared at edge of Grian's vision, but he paid it no attention.
Their blades clashed, the diamond swords singing as they crossed. Grian’s hits were lethal, aimed to kill, and Scar barely put up a fight as he struggled against the blows, his feet finally meeting open air as Grian delivered a deep arc across Scar’s chest plate, the last push he needed to make him tumble down the cliff’s edge.
Scar didn’t fall too far, catching himself on the overhangs below, and the two of them locked eyes for brief moment.
Grian caught sight of the chat, a whisper from Scar.
GoodTimeWithScar whispers to you: I have plan
Bdub’s squeal dragged back Grian’s attention to the other person left on the cliff. Grian tore his eyes away from Scar.
Bdubs seemed unsure on who to direct his crossbow to, as he aimed it at Scar, who had jumped down into the pool below to break his fall, and didn’t account for Grian having quickly closed the distance between the two of them. By the time, he realised his mistake, Grian was already hacking away at him and Bdubs desperately jumped to the bottom of the cliff, following Scar into the water.
It was still two against one, even with the elevated advantage Grian had over them, as he shot crossbow bolts from above.
But instead of focusing on him, Grian watched as Scar turned his direction at Bdub’s back.
“Okay, he got the high ground—!” But before he could say anymore, Bdubs’ voice warped into screams, as Scar cut into his back.
Grian leapt from the edge, ignoring the jolt of pain the shot through his body as he landed on the cliff’s pool’s edge, watching just in time as Scar cut down Bdubs’ final life, and they both watched as his body dissipated in the dawn light.
It was only the two of them left. And Scar gave him his trademark grin as he turned to him.
Grian gritted his teeth.
“Traitor!” He yelled, leaping into the water and cutting at him. “Traitor, Scar!”
But Scar kept his sword and shield on his sides. He didn’t fight or defend himself, still grinning in the waist deep water as he took every hit like he deserved it.
Grian immediately stopped. He blinked, his body sinking into the biting ice cold water, but he didn’t feel the chill at all.
“Wa—wait,” Grian started, not quite trusting what he was seeing.
“It’s okay,” Scar told him, a warm expression on his face. Gratefulness dancing in his eyes. “You can kill me.”
“What…No!”
“For—for everything—” Scar dropped his weapons on the shore of the pool and waded towards him, presenting him the back of his neck as he dropped his chin to his chest, “—that you did for me…to keep me alive for this long. You may slay me, and take the Enchanter.”
Was this…was this his plan?
Suddenly, his blood lust sputtered to a hiss as it quietened, and Grian stepped back, grip loosening on his weapon.
This wasn’t…this wasn’t how he saw it all going down.
He thought that maybe it would be a climactic final stand. A fitting end for an alliance made from reluctant duty to make up for a prank going wrong, but Scar was smiling at him, soft and thankful and warm, waiting for him to make the final blow to end all of this.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. It was supposed to be a triumphant albeit bittersweet kind of victory. Now it was just all wrong.
Grian was never supposed to be attached either. It was supposed to be a one time sort of partnership, but maybe that was just Scar’s effect on people. Grian always thought he knew better, he knew what the other man was like, but he guesses that he wasn’t quite immune to it either.
In the end, it started with the two of them, and it will end with the two of them.
As it was, and always would be.
And Grian couldn’t find it in himself to complain at all as he cast his sword into the water and gave him a hug.
“N—no, I can’t. I can’t do it.”
And he felt Scar hug him back.
(But only one person can survive. Only one person can live after all of this. But the part of him that whispered to believe in Scar, coaxed him too relax, to savour this moment at least.
For now, it was only the two of them.
And for now, that was enough.)