Chapter Text
A golden dawn broke over the crown of trees, at last bathing the final sections of Whitestone still blanketed with blue-hour shadow, in honeyed sunlight. The early autumn morning came with a chill, but with the indications of another beautiful, clear day, a warm afternoon beckoned around the corner.
Though she was merely dressed in a plain tunic and brown leather hunting jacket, sweat slicked Vex’s skin. She and the twins had been hunting since before dawn, and they’d managed to go almost the entire time without much bickering.
Almost.
Vex placed an arrow back in her quiver as Wolfe and Leona trudged ahead toward the Parchwood clearing—Leona far more silent and graceful than her older brother.
Wolfe huffed which garnered a, “Gods, shut up,” from Leona.
“You took my kill,” he retorted.
“You weren’t going to hit that pheasant and you know it. Your back arm was too high and you released too late.”
Wolfe shot her a glare. “You’re insufferable.”
Leona laughed and tossed her dark braid over her shoulder. “I’m insufferable simply because you can’t shoot to save your life? Classy, Wolfie.”
Vex smiled to herself as she slung a simple yet well-made bow over her shoulder. “Not everyone needs to be good at hunting, Leona dear.”
Leona glanced at Vex over her shoulder and rolled her eyes. “Well, he’s affecting the hunt; he’s no good. He should do something more useful with his time.”
Wolfe barked a laugh. “Hold on! You’re the one who begged me to come out today. You said you’d be bored following Mother around.”
Vex raised a brow.
Leona gasped, wide eyes turning to her mother. “I did not say that, Mother.” She lowered her chin and mumbled, “I just like his stupid company is all.”
“I thought you said I’m affecting the hunt?”
“You are.”
“And yet you want me to come along?” Wolfe attempted to wrap an arm over Leona’s shoulder but she shoved him away. “Awe how sweet of you, Leo.”
Leona’s nose scrunched. “Shut up.”
Wolfe tried again to half-hug his sister, but she raised the fistful of dead pheasants and swung them in his face. He jerked back, shaking his head. “What the fuck?”
“Wolfe Kristoff.” Vex raised a brow and shot him a pointed look. “Watch the language.”
Leona swallowed and sucked her lips between her teeth.
Wolfe wiped his face and muttered, “What the...hell?”
His sister barked a laugh and punched Wolfe’s shoulder. “Fantastic fucking save.”
“Leona Pike.” Vex turned her stare to her daughter who shrunk under her gaze. “Try to keep the foul mouths in check while we’re in public.”
“There’s nobody around,” Leona groaned. “You’re the only one who’s ever in the Greyfield.”
Vex neared and reached out a gloved hand to cup Leona’s cheek. She said softly, “We are de Rolos. That comes with certain expectations, especially to those within Whitestone. You know this. You are both adults and have been living by these expectations your whole life.”
“Mother...” Leona sighed.
Vex placed her thumb over Leona’s lips. “All I ask is that you are more careful with your words when you are not at home. Please.”
“Fine.”
Wolfe rested an elbow on Leona’s shoulder. “Of course, mother dearest.”
Vex squinted at him.
He straightened. “That was complete sincerity.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Leona shoved him. “Get off me.”
“Gods, I wasn’t even doing anything,” Wolfe muttered, retracting his arm.
“Alright,” Vex sighed, motioning the twins forward, “let’s get these pheasants to the cooks.”
Leona slung the pheasants over her shoulder. “I’ll handle it.”
“And do not let Gwen touch them,” Vex said, suppressing a shiver. “We do not need a repeat of last time.”
“You know she hid those things in my bed,” Wolfe muttered. “Ruined my bedding.”
“Well, she’s your father’s daughter; ever curious about the innerworkings of things and how they function.” Vex shook her head and slid a hand down her face. “I just wish it would have manifested in something like a curiosity of clocks instead of dead things.”
Leona shrugged and raised a brow. “Maybe she’ll become a healer one day?”
Wolfe barked a laugh and Vex bit her lip, shaking her head. “I’d rather not think about the alternative.” Vex adjusted the fastenings of her gloves. “I have some things to discuss with your father, so I need one of you to make sure Vax isn’t getting into trouble.”
“Why us?” Leona groaned. “We’re only older by two years.”
“Because as an eighteen-year-old, he will not listen to me because he’s got it in his head that I’m the worst mother in the world.” Leona squeezed Vex’s hand. “He’ll listen to you two more than me or your father.”
“He loves you,” Leona whispered, dark eyes sparkling in the sun. “He’ll never speak to me again if he knows I told you that, but he’s told me that he loves you.” She shrugged. “It was in his own stupid, arrogant Vax way, but he meant it.”
Vex smiled at her daughter who was nearly her height. “I know, but it’s also nice to hear.” She tucked an arm around Leona and kissed her hair. “Thank you, darling. I love you.”
Leona planted a soft kiss on Vex’s cheek. “I love you, Mummy.”
Vex glanced sidelong at Wolfe and tucked a few dark curls out of his eyes. “I love you.”
He gave a slanted smirk, but his eyes were filled with love. “Love you, Mum.”
The cracking and groaning of the big tree behind them eased the silence like the voice of an old friend. An arcane wind blew Vex’s braid, and when she glanced down, several autumn leaves tumbled near her boots.
She waited for the familiar words, but nothing came.
Leona rotated in Vex’s grasp and pointed past her shoulder, eyes wide. “Aunt Kiki,” she breathed.
Vex turned to see the Voice of the Tempest, the leader of the Air Ashari, the half-elven woman with bright hair whose presence usually filled a space with power and command, barely make it through the glowing green gateway within the tree before she collapsed onto the Greyfield grass. Her dress and armaments were torn and riddled with gashes and stains, and her flesh was covered in dozens of deep, bloody wounds.
“Fuck,” Vex breathed, already moving. “Keyleth!”
“Hey, language!”
Leona elbowed Wolfe in the ribs. “Not now, stupid.”
“Go find Pike!” Vex yelled over her shoulder at the twins as she raced toward Keyleth. “Now!”
The twins’ faces sobered and Leona nodded. “Yes, Mother.”
Vex sprinted across the Greyfield, slid on her knees, and nearly crashed into a collapsed Keyleth. “Fuck—gods—Kiki,” she huffed, scattered gaze soaking in the horrid sight before her. “Keyleth,” Vex whispered, voice breaking. She reached trembling hands for her dearest friend, and Keyleth couldn’t even sit up; Vex had hardly gotten hands under her before the Tempest collapsed into her grasp.
A low, guttural groan left Keyleth, and wherever Vex touched, warm blood smeared. It was everywhere.
“Hold on, darling,” she muttered, clutching Keyleth to her chest. She spread her fingers across Keyleth’s shredded back and willed her wounds to heal. “Come on,” she mumbled. “Come on.”
Warm light glowed from Vex’s palm, and she nearly loosed a sigh of relief, but the cuts continued bleeding.
She tried Cure Wounds again, a string of curses at the tip of her tongue. “No, come on!” Vex pleaded when nothing changed.
Again—
Nothing.
Again—
Nothing.
Again—
“Shit!” She cupped Keyleth’s cheek with a bloody palm. “Why the fuck won’t this work?” she whispered, eyes flitting along bloody skin and ribboned flesh.
Keyleth’s head lay in the crook of Vex’s arm, unmoving.
“Come on,” she begged as tears slipped between her lips. “I cannot watch you die again, Key.” She rubbed a gentle thumb along her cheekbone as if that would coax her from the edge of death.
After a few breathless seconds, Keyleth’s chest shuddered and she drew in a ragged breath.
“Keyleth?”
A moment later, her eyes opened—barely.
Vex released a building sob and placed her forehead against Keyleth’s. “Hi, darling.”
Her name was no more than thin wind. “Vex.”
“I’m here, darling. I’m here.” Vex’s heart stuttered as she wiped her jaw with the sleeve of her tunic. “You’re going to be alright. Pike’s coming. She’s coming, dear.”
“I’m sorry,” Keyleth breathed, the words hollow.
Vex shook her head. “Hush. Don’t say that right now. Focus on me, dear.”
Tears slid down Keyleth’s cheeks. “Vex, I’m so...sorry. It’s my fault.” She pressed her face against Vex’s palm. “It’s my fault,” she whispered again.
“I’ve known you for many years, Key,” Vex said softly, “so I know how apt you are at blaming yourself for things out of your control.” She glanced with a grimace at the deepest gashes circulating Keyleth’s torso and pressed a wadded-up section of her cloak against them. Keyleth hissed through clenched teeth. “Sorry, darling.”
Those piercing green eyes met hers, and they were filled with pain and anger. “It’s my...fault. I went in too confidently, too sure...of their plans—”
“Keyleth, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Her throat bobbed as silent sobs twitched her chest and tears rolled down her cheeks. “I’m sorry, Vex,” she said again.
“I don’t—”
“They took him,” Keyleth muttered, eyes almost completely closed. “Those...shitheads took him—that stupid elf and his…general.”
“What? Who? What are you talking about? Hey,” Vex said, placing a palm against her cheek. “Talk to me, Keyleth. Who took who?”
Tears stained her cheeks, and with the blood smeared along various parts of her face, her skin seemed pale. Far too pale. “He came back,” she breathed, leaning her head back against Vex’s leg. “He came back. For me.”
“Who?”
Keyleth inhaled, shallow and ragged, but the ghost of a smile graced her lips. “My love.”
Vex’s heart dropped. “Vax?” she breathed. “Keyleth, you’re talking about Vax?”
Keyleth nodded. “He came back for me. He saved...me.”
“I don’t understand. Where is he? And what the actual fuck happened?”
A sob wrenched itself from Keyleth’s throat, followed by a violent cough. “I’m sorry,” she said yet again. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t think—” She sighed. “I...was bait. The entire time—they knew we were coming. We played right...into their hand.”
Vex could barely focus on Keyleth’s words.
Vax was back. Vax had returned. Her brother. Her other half. The one she’d lost so many years ago.
She shook her head. “What—what about Vax?”
Silent without her armor, Pike seemed to apparate out of thin air as she fell to her knees beside Vex who still held a barely conscious Keyleth. “Hi, Kiki,” she said, the words rushing out in one exhausted breath. Her gaze roamed along the bloody half-elf's form. “By the Everlight,” she breathed.
Vex glanced up at the cleric, more unshed tears brimming in her eyes. “Please, Pike.” Those two words held more desperation than Vex had felt in decades.
Pike was already moving. “You don’t have to ask me twice,” she said as she reached for Keyleth.
A pale, slender hand clasped Pike’s small gnomish one. “Stop, Pike,” Keyleth breathed. “Don’t waste...your spells. These wounds...can’t be healed.” She took another stuttering breath. “Poison.”
“Like hell they can’t,” Pike growled.
The ghost of a smile picked at Keyleth’s mouth. “I’ve dealt with this...before. As long as I don’t...die, I’ll be fine.” She paused to lick her bloodied and cracked lips. “Eventually.”
“You’re not going to die,” Vex interjected. “You’re not.” She glanced at Pike. “We need to at least stop this bleeding. That could be the thing that ends up killing her more than the actual wounds.”
“Vex,” Pike muttered, “they’re everywhere.”
“I know,” she replied, voice breaking. Vex pulled Keyleth closer, held her tighter. “She just needs to hold on until she begins to heal naturally.”
Pike shook her head. “Why did you come here, Kiki? Wouldn’t the Ashari be able to help you better than us?”
Keyleth took a weak breath and nodded. She licked her dry lips and whispered, “It was...stupid...I know. All I could think about...was...home.” The ghost of a smile. “You.”
“That’s lovely, dear,” Vex said softly, grimacing, “but we can’t help you here.”
Keyleth’s cool, pale hand clasped Vex’s and squeezed. “Listen to me—”
Vex shook her head. “Save your strength, darling. We need to help you first.”
Keyleth’s green eyes flicked from Vex’s face to Pike, and after a moment, she breathed, “Pike, send a message...to Maeve.”
“Maeve?”
“You remember...Orym?” A nod. Keyleth exhaled and closed her eyes again. “She’s his sister. She can...travel through trees. Tell her to bring...healers...to Whitestone.”
Vex clung to Keyleth, keeping contact between their bodies to staunch as much blood flow as possible. Keyleth let out a faint groan and Vex’s heart dropped. She pressed a kiss to her forehead and murmured against her skin, “I’m sorry, dear.”
“You’ve nothing...to apologize...for.”
Vex shook her head and merely clutched her tighter.
Next to them, Pike knelt on her knees, both hands out to the side, gloves smeared with blood. “Maeve, this is Pike Trickfoot.” She squeezed her eyes shut and grunted. Then, after a moment, sighed and then continued. “The Tempest is here in Whitestone. Wounded—poison, like before. Bring healers through the Sun Tree. I’ll meet you. Hurry.”
Vex held her breath as Pike paused, waiting.
After a moment, she released a breath and her shoulders sagged. She glanced at Vex and nodded. “Message received. They’ll be here in a few minutes.”
“Good,” Vex whispered with a nod. “That’s good.” She cupped Keyleth’s cheek and managed a thin-lipped smile. “Help is coming, darling.” She turned to Pike who had gotten to her feet and grasped her wrist. She inclined her chin toward the center of the city. “Pike, love, go meet Maeve. Quickly.”
“On it.” Before she departed, she placed a small hand on Keyleth’s head. “You’ll be okay.”
Keyleth gave the faintest nod.
Pike took a readying breath and muttered, “And we’re running again. Fuck me,” and broke into a sprint across the Greyfield.
Just as Pike exited, a young woman with short hair which swept off her temples in waves of white, who appeared to be in her late twenties, rushed up to the duo, her breaths ragged as she heaved air into her lungs. “Mother—”
“Vesper,” Vex gasped, reaching a bloody hand toward her, “help me.”
Vesper’s pale eyes went wide as she seemed to take in the bloody sight before her. “Is that—Aunt Keyleth?” she breathed, a finger raised at her side.
“Yes,” Vex huffed, heart pounding as she attempted to carefully grasp under Keyleth so she could lift her. “Help me.” Vesper still didn’t move. “Now, darling. Please.”
Her daughter shook her head, blinking, and then jerked as if awakened from a daze. “Of course, Mother.” She knelt on the other side of the Tempest and slung an arm across her shoulders while Vex mirrored her movements.
Vex glanced sidelong at Vesper and mouthed, one, two, three before both half-elven women pushed to their feet, the nearly dead weight of Keyleth almost dragging them back down.
The trio attempted their way back toward Whitestone Castle, and Vex let out a laugh that sounded lighter than she felt. “Good timing, dear.”
Vesper shrugged. “I ran into the twins on my way back from a morning walk. I couldn’t really understand their frantic ramblings, but Leo had said something about you and Aunt Keyleth.” She took a breath and said a little softer, “It didn’t sound good.”
Keyleth released another groan and slumped over.
“And clearly I was right,” Vesper whispered, concern glistening in her eyes.
Vex reaffirmed her grip under Keyleth’s arm and tugged the Tempest’s face up. Though fear permeated her soul, Vex forced her voice to be calm, almost musical. “We have to keep moving, darling. Can you do that? Can you fight a little longer?”
“I’m sorry,” Keyleth muttered again, tears streaking her bloodied cheeks. “He’s gone.”
Vex stilled. “What do you mean?”
“That’s what I was...trying to...say,” she panted, her breaths wet and labored. “Vax...saved me, but now he’s...gone. Trapped.”
Gone.
Vax was gone.
Trapped.
Trapped, trapped, trapped—
Gone.
Vax was gone, Vax was gone, Vax was gone—
Trapped, trapped, trapped—
Vex threatened to unravel, but she gathered her strength and shoved those emotions aside, slamming that all too familiar wall down on them.
Vex shook her head. “Keyleth, stop. Stop talking. I don’t need to know this right now. You’re far more important than something I can’t do anything about at the moment.” She stared into Keyleth’s eyes. “But what I can do right now is get you help.”
“No,” Keyleth muttered, nails digging into Vex’s forearm, “you need to know.”
Vex shook her head—hard. “Don’t tell me about Vax. Don’t. He can wait. You, on the other hand, are dying.”
“Vex—”
“Vax is not dead, correct?” She paused and corrected herself. “No more dead than he’s been for the past three decades?”
Keyleth stumbled but caught herself. Barely. She breathed, “Not dead.”
Vex adjusted her jaw and gathered her strength, heaving Keyleth’s arm across her shoulders once more. “Then fucking shut up and let us save you,” she said gently yet urgently. “Lest my brother’s sacrifice be for nothing.”
Vesper glanced at her mother, worry and fear wrinkling her brow. She looked down at her hand and clothes which were smeared with Keyleth’s blood and took a trembling breath before merely clutching Keyleth tighter.
Vex gave Vesper a sad smile, but the amount of blood loss worried her too. They’d left a trail out of the Greyfield and onto the streets of Whitestone, and more dripped as they stood. Vex didn’t want to think about the amount of damage somebody had to deal to Keyleth for her half-elven form to be this flayed. She shivered at the thought.
Keyleth’s breathing slacked and Vex’s instincts blared.
As if Vex’s previous words were permission from some unspoken request, Keyleth’s eyes fell closed and all tension in her body laxed. Her chin folded to her chest and then the rest of her limbs followed suit as the Voice of the Tempest collapsed into a pile of bloodied material and shredded armaments.
The sudden dead weight caught Vex off guard which sent her scrambling to catch Keyleth before she could hit cobblestone.
“No, no, no, no, no,” she gasped, fumbling with her hold. “Shit. Keyleth.”
“Bloody hell,” Vesper muttered, blood-slick hands slipping off Keyleth’s bare, tattooed arm.
“She needs help,” Vex bit out, panic laced through each word. “Where the hell is Pike?”
Vesper touched a bloody hand to Vex’s shoulder and motioned with her chin. “Dad.”
Percy hurried toward them like a white-haired angel who brought the dawn with his presence. His long hair and beard were well kept but disheveled, and his simple button-down shirt sleeves were rolled past his elbows and the top two buttons were undone. Despite his age, he was spry and fit and certainly still much stronger than Vex.
“Percival,” she cried, desperation thick in her voice.
His glasses glinted in the light as his piercing gaze swept over all three of them. His brows narrowed when his eyes landed on Keyleth. “Bloody hell,” he muttered.
“Help me.”
At his wife’s cry, Percy moved, a deftness to his actions. He carefully yet quickly scooped Keyleth’s limp form into his arms and gave Vex a curt nod as he stood.
This time, it was Vesper who jumped into action. She followed at the heels of her father and began filling him in on the situation as they made their way back to the castle.
Vex couldn’t make her body move. She remained on her knees sitting back on her heels, bloody hands face-up in her lap.
She was covered in Keyleth’s blood.
They couldn’t be too late. They couldn’t.
She couldn’t lose her.
A building sob threatened to break from her, but Vex pressed both hands over her mouth and muscled it down.
She couldn’t lose her.
She couldn’t lose her, she couldn’t lose her, she couldn’t lose her.
A broken gasp exited Vex as she muttered, “Oh, gods,” and anchored both hands on the cobblestone street, shoulders hunched and back muscles trembling.
She couldn’t lose her, she couldn’t lose her, she couldn’t lose her.
Boots pounding against pavement quickened with each step and the impact of sole on stone grew louder as the figure closed in.
A voice, deep for a boy, said in a rush of breath, “Mother?”
Then, hands were on her, fingers searching Vex’s clothes, her skin, her face. Vax’s gaze met hers as he tugged his mother’s face up, his eyes wide with fear.
“Mum, what happened?” She couldn’t answer. “Mum, are you okay?”
Vex shook her head and couldn’t quite get her eyes to focus. “It’s not mine,” she whispered, voice scratchy.
“This is a lot of blood,” Vax muttered. His hazel eyes met Vex’s. “Whose is it?” The question was tense, hesitant.
Vex merely pulled Vax into a hug, clutching him tightly, fingers curling into his tunic as if she could hold him tight enough and prevent him from blowing away like petals in the wind.
She cupped the back of his head and ran her fingers through his long hair. “I love you, Vax’ildan,” she breathed. “I love you so, so much.”
After a few moments of stillness and silence, Vax wrapped his arms around his mother and reciprocated the embrace. Eventually, he sank into Vex and melted against her. “I love you too,” he said softly.
“Do you love Aunt Keyleth?”
Vax pulled away and tilted his head as he stared at Vex. “Yes,” he said slowly. His gaze raked up and down Vex’s bloodied form, dozens of thoughts swimming in those hazel eyes. After a few breaths, something seemed to click in his mind because he muttered, “No.”
“If she wakes up,” Vex said, her voice thick with unshed tears, “make sure you tell her that.”
With that, Vex pushed to her feet, Keyleth’s blood clinging to her with the weight of an unsaid goodbye.