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The village was dark, every lantern extinguished in the wee hours of the morning. Ulitus’ steps were muffled, soft leather scuffing on the stone path leading through the town centre. He walked slowly, leisurely. He could take his time, it wasn’t like anyone would think twice about a figure walking the streets of a small, safe town. After all, the guards would stop any threats to them.
A smirk tilted Ulitus’ lips upwards. Such trust in each other, as though their fellow man had ever done anything to earn such faith. So foolish, but it made his task easier. The Janavaar residence was tucked away at the far end of the main road, unused for most of the year as the boy lived in the training dorms for the village guards. Except, of course, for today.
One year ago exactly, the Janavaar matriarch and eldest child were lowered into a shared shallow grave in the village cemetery. A shame, and not something the overseer had anticipated. After all, Tayrun was the only one born in the village, the family holding no roots. There was no point for the village to treat them like engrained members of the community, and yet that was what they had done. Ulitus scoffed as he kicked the wooden gate barring entrance open.
It all came back to that damn woman, didn’t it? Taking her child and running, hiding them from Ulitus’ searches with the very magic he wished to extinguish. He didn’t doubt she’d used her abilities secretly while acting as a healer for the village folk. He wondered, if they knew, whether they’d still accept her. He’d worked hard to turn magic from safety, kind and protective to dangerous, wild, taboo. Not that it mattered. She was dead, and her son would play a key role in his plans for the future of humanity in this world.
Hence his presence, here and now. A table stood in the middle of the main room, a lantern extinguished and cold on the wood’s surface. Well, if it was just standing there… A mere thought had the oil alight, casting flickering shadows across the room. Now, to wake the boy quickly, give him a chance to get out before the building burned.
Ulitus ignored the ladder nestled in the back, summoning a platform to lift him into the attic. He paused, taking in the room. He’d never actually been inside the house, and given how the boy acted amongst the guards, he’d expected… well, more. More order, more items, more of anything in a teenager’s childhood room. He swallowed around a sudden lump in his throat as he noticed, for the first time, that there were two beds in this room. Right, they were relatively new here, they weren’t rich. The kids had shared a room.
Brayla had been in the guard, before he’d killed her. All of her things were resting in boxes beside her bed. And Tayrun… a short dresser sat beside his bed, books nestled into the lower shelf, clothes likely in the drawers above. But, nothing else.
It’s probably all in his dorm. Don’t get cold feet now, you already waited until he was old enough to look after himself. He’s fine. The village wouldn’t leave him with nothing. And if they did, that would just help you.
He didn’t care. He didn’t.
He shook his head and moved towards the lump on the boxless bed. Shake the kid, get him semi-conscious, set the house ablaze, skedaddle. Easy. He reached for the kid and poked his cheek, before pausing.
The kid was hot. Burning up. Hot and dry and that probably meant sick.
Shit.
“You just had to get sick when I actually wanted to do something, didn't you?” He glared at the kid, pulling the mound of blanket’s off him, leaving two behind.
“Fuck’s sake Janavaar.” He grabbed the teen by the scruff of his neck, ignoring the bleary-eyed confusion as he dropped them down to the main floor. “What am I meant to do now? Can’t exactly leave you high off your ass from a fever.”
He continued to grumble as he dumped the kid onto the couch in the corner. The brat whined as Ulitus held his hand up to his face, leaning into the cool touch, eyelids fluttering. Ulitus growled, pulling his hand away to start looking for a towel. This was not how tonight was meant to go.
“I should just leave you here.” He snarked without any real heat. He couldn’t, not if he wanted the kid to recover. Fucking hell, why did he have to take out the one person who could have helped in the whole village? Oh right, because she was magic. Great to know his wonderful plan was coming back to bite him in the ass so neatly.
He glared down at the rag he was holding. He pulled water from the air to soak the cloth, placing the cool item over Janavaar’s face, gently patting away the tacky sweat sticking to the boy’s skin. Isolating the boy had seemed like a great idea until he needed someone else to look after him. And didn’t that hit like a punch in the gut, because hadn’t Ulitus waited this long to avoid the kid needing other people to look after him? He hated humanity, but he wasn’t going to leave a kid alone and helpless on the streets if he could avoid it.
His hand was shaking, he noted tiredly, water splashing onto Janavaar’s brow, the boy flinching at the feeling. Fuck. What was he doing? He didn’t even know anymore. The whole point of killing off the witch and her daughter was to let humanity take its toll, so he wouldn’t have to step in until the boy was grown. But that hasn’t happened, has it? He’d left the boy alone and unprotected, and instead of taking advantage of that, the villagers had, what, looked out for him? At least not hurt him, even if the kid was lonely.
Ulitus sighed, wringing the cloth out and standing to look through the cupboards. There wasn’t much, but there was unused flour, water and salt, and that was all he needed to make some basic bread. He doubted the boy had eaten much recently if he was this bad. He called out through his runes to the game surrounding the village, and a small bird hopped through the open window, cooing curiously.
“Sorry, birdie.” Ulitus sighed as he reached over and grabbed the creature, snapping its neck quickly and efficiently. Red meat would have been preferable, but even with his control over the fauna of this universe, it was hard to make them just stand there as he killed them. Game was simpler, easier. He set a pot up and started plucking the bird, noting how the boy had curled up into a tiny ball on the couch. It was odd, to see such a tall figure so small. It reminded him of-
Frail ribs snapped in his grip and Ulitus instinctively let go. He breathed through clenched teeth, dropping the bird and moving on to making the dough for the damper. He blamed the dark and quiet for making his thoughts wander. It had been a while since he’d had such meagre materials to make food with. He knew the guards had better food, enough for their apprentices to grow big and strong, but that didn’t help him now when he was the only person there and Janavaar apparently didn’t care enough to stock his home with decent long-life rations.
Didn’t care, or couldn’t? You’d know about that, not being able to get enough food, relying on begging and stealing and sneaking around at night hoping no-one mistook you for a corner worker-
He growled, deep in his throat, glaring at the woodstove as he stoked the fire. Their situations were entirely different. Sure, he’d been hoping the boy would be exposed to the same cruelties he had, but the kid was older and capable. He wasn’t some scrawny preteen running around a big city, ignored by passer byers, or wishing he’d been ignored. He was a teenager training to be a guard, and maybe he didn’t have anyone at home anymore but he wasn’t, shouldn’t be, alone. He looked back over to the boy, placing the bread out to cool as the water boiled and he began cutting up the chicken. There were some greens out the front he could use, right? Kids needed greens, and as much as he’d been trying to avoid it, the teen on the couch was just a kid.
He huffed again, dropping the ingredients into the pot before returning to the couch, picking up the rag and continuing to wipe the heat from the boy’s face. He was probably thirsty.
“What am I doing?” He asked into the darkness. Janavaar didn’t answer. Ulitus hadn’t expected him to. He sighed, sat back, and ran a hand through tight curls.
“What am I going to do?”
- - - - -
He’d gotten the kid to drink half a bowl of the broth he’d prepared, plus a glass of water, which he was counting as a win. At this point, hydration was more important than solid foods, and the teen had furiously refused to even try the bread he’d made, which, rude, but whatever. He’d tak the wins he could get.
The sun was beginning to peak over the village walls, which meant leaving was soon going to be a fair bit harder than entering. Ulitus looked down at the boy in his lap with a glare.
“This is all your fault.” He hissed. He kid just blinked up at him.
“Huh-?”
“Never mind. I need to go.” He scooted out from under the kid, pointedly ignoring the sad look that got him. Someone was going to come looking, and Ulitus needed to be gone before then. His runes spun and glowed, and he looked down at the boy he’d wanted to turn into a weapon.
“Let’s just forget this ever happened, okay?” He reached into his own mind and-
The nexus point was covered in snow. That meant one of his beasties was outside of their territory, and he needed to go see why. Ultius groaned, floated into the air, and started looking for the Glacium Factoremus.