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Essek wasn’t sure where else to go. Nicodranas seemed like the safest place, though once he arrived, he realized just how foolish he had been. Why had he chosen here?
Truly though, there wasn’t really a better option. Unless he wanted to risk teleporting to Rexxentrum .
That was where Caleb was, along with Veth, Beau, and Yasha. Caleb, who he desperately wished to see. At least he knew the other wizard would try to help him. This man would likely slam the door in his face- if he answered the door at all.
Essek couldn’t fault him for this. He’d been tortured by Essek himself. Taken from his home and dragged through a dark tunnel into enemy territory under Essek’s orders. Why would Yeza Brenatto help him?
He could have gone to The Lavish Chateau, but that was far too public. Teleporting there would have been dangerous as well. Not as dangerous as teleporting into the heart of the Empire, but still royally stupid.
Fjord, Jester, and Kingsley were currently at sea, according to the Sending message he had received from Jester yesterday afternoon. She had seen a cool jellyfish that had made her think of Essek due to its violet coloration.
The Blooming Grove was an option, but Essek couldn’t be certain as to whether or not Caduceus would be there. The cleric had been traveling a bit since the Nein had officially retired from adventuring in the wake of their success in Cognouza. Yes, there was likely to be at least one member of the Clay family there, but Essek didn’t know them..
He’d only had two options when he teleported from the hellscape that was the ruins of Aeor and he had chosen Nicodranas. Why? Because it had seemed safest at the time. Now that he was here though, he felt very foolish indeed.
He should have chosen the Grove. He may not be overly familiar with the Clay family, but at least they would have been able to help him. But it was rather close to the heart of a country that wanted him dead. Nicodranas was further away from danger in his mind. Perhaps this was why he chose to teleport here.
If all else failed, perhaps he could try to convince Yussa to help him? He would begin with Yeza though, as it was unlikely he would be able to make it to Yussa’s tower in his present condition.
This whole situation was Essek’s own fault. He had been the one stupid enough to return to Rosohna.
He had gone back in hopes of retrieving more proof of the Beacon transfer, which would hopefully aid in Ikithon’s trial. He had found what he’d been looking for, in the end, but so had someone else.
There had been an assassin waiting for him in his home. A Volstrucker. Not one of Caleb’s old friends, thankfully, though they were just as deadly. He had managed to get the upper hand though, leaving the other mage as little more than a pile of dust on the floor. Which Essek had quickly cleaned up, of course.
The Scourger had surprised him, managing to stab him before he had even realized they were there. The blade had sunk in deep and had left several heavily bleeding wounds in its wake.
Essek cautiously approached the door to the small flat the Brenatto family called home. Should he just leave now and go somewhere else? No. He couldn’t Teleport again today. He could always use a circle, but he wasn’t familiar with any that would actually get him somewhere safe.
Finally, he forced himself to knock on the door, making sure to actually put some force behind the motion in case Yeza was asleep.
Yeza was stirred from his slumber by a loud rap at his front door. The neighbors were sure to complain about that on the morrow. It was well past the middle of the night— who could possibly be out at this hour?
As Yeza became more aware, his thoughts began to darken. Who would be knocking on his door at this hour? He recalled the last time he was awoken by commotion in the night— the night he had been taken by Kryn soldiers. He managed to stamp down the memories and terror associated with the thought and instead pondered other possibilities.
Perhaps it was a neighbor who had drunkenly mistaken his flat for their own? Perhaps Nugget had blinked into someone else’s home again? Perhaps this was someone from the Assembly, coming to collect him. Or one of the Kryn. Was this one of Veth’s many enemies, coming to take Yeza and Luc in order to get something out of the Mighty Nein?
As his thoughts once again looked to darker avenues, Yeza reached under his bed for the small crossbow Veth had gifted him before she had left for the trial in Rexxentrum. If this was an enemy at his door, he would not be going quietly. Not again. Clutching the crossbow tightly in one hand, he stood up, retrieving his glasses from the bedside table.
He cautiously exited the bedroom, scanning the house for possible dangers as he approached the front door. He hesitated for several seconds before pulling the door open in one fluid motion.
To his surprise, he found none other than Essek Thelyss himself, slumped against the frame of his door. He raised the crossbow in alarm until he fully took in the elf’s appearance.
For starters, there was a heavy trail of blood leading from the stairs up to the doorstep. Did it continue down all four floors to the ground? Oh the neighbors would be sure to comment on that. This close to the elf, Yeza could easily see that his skin was pale and terribly clammy— was he ill? The slight tremble to Essek’s hands only further added evidence to that hypothesis. The fact that Essek was swaying slightly as if struggling to stand, despite using the left portion of the entryway as a support, seemed to confirm it. Something was terribly wrong with the drow.
“Mister Essek? Are you alright?” Yeza asked, barely able to keep his voice from trembling as he uttered the words.
The man before him had helped the Mighty Nein, of which his wife was a member, but Yeza couldn’t shake the memories of the cell in which they had first met. Essek had been in charge of his interrogation. Had watched as Yeza was beaten. In fact, he had ordered it.
“Sorry to bother you… Didn’t know where else to go…” The words were hard to make out, as slurred as they were. Definitely not a good sign.
“Come inside,” Yeza offered, immediately kicking himself as soon as the offer had been spoken.
What if this was some kind of elaborate trap? What if whoever had done this to Essek was nearby? What if they had followed him here? Would they harm Yeza to get to him? Harm Luc?
But Essek was a friend of Veth’s. Or at least an ally. So perhaps it would be okay?
Essek stumbled slightly as he crossed the threshold. Yeza did his best to steady him, though he wasn’t able to do much, given how much smaller he was in comparison. Thankfully, Yeza was able to assist Essek in walking over to the couch before much worse could happen.
As the elf settled himself onto the couch, Yeza carefully placed the crossbow down atop the coffee table, removing the arrow he had nocked from within the flight groove. Once the weapon had been disarmed, he turned his attention back to Essek.
Essek had curled himself up against one of the couch’s arm rests, still conscious, though only just. Already, blood had begun to seep into the bright yellow upholstery. Veth would surely be furious— she adored that couch.
Yeza took a moment to contemplate what he should do next. He knew that Essek was now a member of Veth’s Mighty Nein, but he still couldn’t shake his own feelings for the man. Essek had been the one to order his imprisonment. He stood there and watched as Yeza had been beaten. He had threatened to harm Luc if Yeza did not cooperate. How he had known about the child, Yeza was unsure, though he firmly believed Essek when he’d threatened his life.
The only reason Yeza hadn’t said anything in that dungeon was because Veth’s friends had assured him that Luc was perfectly safe and on his way out of Felderwin. He had also been told not to tell them anything. So he hadn’t. Essek likely would have killed him the moment he had.
It was hard to believe that the Essek of his memory and the Essek who now sat before him were even the same man. Especially given all that Veth had said about him after her return from the north.
He should help him. He was going to help him.
The moment Yeza pulled himself out of his thoughts, he found himself already doing so. While he had been deciding whether or not to help Essek, he had made his way into the kitchen. As he came back to himself, he was rummaging through the cupboard where he kept the emergency healing supplies.
He kept this particular cupboard locked, as he didn’t want Luc playing with anything in there. All manner of potions resided within, along with other supplies. There were two healer’s kits, a multitude of health potions, and a few vials of antitoxin. Yeza always made sure to keep a healthy stock of healing supplies in case Veth, or one of her friends, arrived in need of aid.
For now, he pulled two potions of healing and one of the healer’s kits from within the stash of supplies. Once he had retrieved the necessary materials, he returned to Essek.
By now, Essek seemed to really be struggling. His already labored breathing sounded even more strained than before and he seemed to be on the verge of passing out. Yeza reached out and shook him gently.
“Mister Essek? You should drink this, sir,” Yeza murmured, no longer able to keep his voice from trembling. He was still so terribly afraid of the man before him. After all, as a wizard, Essek was still fully capable of killing him even when on the verge of death himself.
Essek struggled to sit up a little straighter, taking the offered potion from Yeza’s hand. He downed the entire thing in seconds, his skin quickly regaining a bit of color, though he still looked positively dreadful. More than that, he looked sickly.
“Could I take a look at your injuries?” Yeza asked, worried there might be something he was missing.
With a bit of help from Yeza, Essek was able to remove his heavy winter cloak, as well as his usual robes. When he was just left in his thin grey undershirt, Yeza could clearly see the bloodstains. Essek’s purple and black robes had hidden the majority of the blood that soaked them, but the grey fabric of Essek’s undershirt showed it easily. The elf’s dark grey pants seemed to be mostly free of blood, apart from spatterings from the wounds to Essek’s torso.
Carefully, Yeza helped Essek to remove the undershirt, so that he could take a closer look at the wounds themselves. The worst of the bleeding seemed to have stopped now, likely thanks to the healing potion. As the wounds were laid bare, Yeza was able to see clearly why Essek looked so unwell.
The deep wound in Essek’s right side and the gash across his chest were both terribly inflamed. Even more concerning, were the blackened veins of poison spidering out from the injuries themselves. He definitely should have brought over one of the vials of antitoxin.
As Yeza moved to stand up, he passed Essek the second healing potion, instructing him to drink it while he retrieved the necessary vials from his cupboard. Yeza wasn’t entirely certain just what kind of poison they were dealing with, but he was sure that he would have something to neutralize it.
Yeza had several vials of specific antitoxin dedicated to the more uncommon of poisons as well as several universal antidotes. He just hoped that whatever had been used to poison Essek was something he had the antidote for. If not, they would likely need a cleric.
For now, Yeza grabbed a few vials of each variety of antitoxin he kept on hand. He would begin with the universal antidote and work his way from there, should that one prove unsuccessful in neutralizing whatever this was.
“Hopefully this will help,” Yeza muttered, handing Essek the vial.
“Thank you.”
Yeza simply nodded in acknowledgement, turning his attention away from his surprise guest in favor of busying himself with the Healer’s kit. He removed a few creams and several bandages from within before once more heading into the kitchen. This time, he returned to Essek with a bowl of warm water and a soft bit of cloth.
“The antitoxin will take a while to kick in. We should get some of this blood cleaned away in the meantime,” Yeza offered, taking a seat on the edge of the coffee table beside the bowl of water he had placed there.
Essek maneuvered himself as close to Yeza as he could get, also seeming a bit reluctant to get too close.
“I apologize for barging in like this… You don’t have to be so kind. I do not deserve it. Least of all from you,” Essek replied, his violet eyes never once meeting Yeza’s own.
“From what Veth’s told me, you are in part to thank for her continued survival. She’s told me quite a bit about her time up north. I may not necessarily like you or trust you, but I do feel I owe you. You’re part of the reason why Luc still has a mother. And why I still have a wife.”
“Most of the credit there belongs to the Nein. And to Veth herself. I fear I was not as useful as I could have been.”
Yeza sighed softly, deciding to change the topic of conversation.
“Who did this to you?” He asked, gesturing to the wound he was carefully cleaning.
“A scourger. They were waiting for me in my home when I returned. I am unsure of how they got in.”
“You went back to the Dynasty? Why? Veth mentioned you’d been avoiding going back there.”
Essek nodded, wincing slightly as Yeza put a little too much pressure on his injury. “I was hoping to find something that might be useful in regards to Ikithon’s trial.”
That piqued Yeza’s interest.
“I was able to find a few documents and letters I was meant to destroy, still hidden exactly where I had put them. There was no sign of tampering, though I cannot be completely certain,” Essek’s voice sounded stronger now, steadier. More color was returning to his face as well, which was definitely a good sign.
“I am hoping to be able to give them to Caleb, though I plan to wait a few days. Until I am certain there are no more assassins on my trail.”
For the first time, Yeza caught a glimpse of the man Veth had spoken of. A glimpse of the Essek his wife was friends with. The man that sat before him now was most certainly not the one that Yeza had first met. That man wouldn’t have risked his life in order to help others. But this one had. Veth was right— he had changed.
They spent several minutes in complete silence as Yeza finished cleaning and bandaging the wounds. He didn’t know what to say. Neither did Essek from the look of things. The drow was still seemingly unable to meet his eyes. At last, Essek broke the silence.
“I’m sorry. For the part I played in your capture. And the— interrogation. For what it is worth, I am sorry.”
“I appreciate that, mister Essek,” Yeza murmured, unsure of how else to reply.
Once an hour had passed, Yeza removed some of the bandages, exposing enough of the wounds to see that they were no longer bleeding. The dark veins seemed to be subsiding as well, indicating that the antitoxin had done its job.
“I can leave now, if you would like? I cannot teleport again today, but I could go to Yussa’s? I do not want to intrude any more than I already have.”
Yeza contemplated that for a moment before shaking his head. There was no way he was asking Essek to leave after he had been so badly injured.
“You can stay here. Just— don’t wake Luc. You can sleep on the couch.”
Essek nodded, his shoulders sagging in relief. “I will be quiet. Thank you.”
“I’ll get you a blanket.”
When Yeza awoke the following morning, Essek was already gone. To his surprise, so were the blood stains. The trail of blood leading from the front door to the couch had vanished, as had the stains on the couch Essek had rested upon.
Yeza himself had cleaned up the healing supplies, but everything else had been left to deal with in the morning.
Upon his inspection, he found that the blood trail leading up the stairs of the building to the door of the flat were gone as well.
He did still get a few complaints from the older woman that lived next door about the ruckus in the middle of the night though.