Chapter Text
This was his moment. His time to escape. Their time to escape. Lucanis rubbed the scars on his wrists, scars from the blood rituals, still fresh. He put his gloves back on. Spite and him will be free. They had planned it for months. The guard shift changes at noon and…
He could hear muffled commotion from his cell. In dramatic Venatori fashion the cell walls were made out of some magical crystal material, strengthened by the mage guards that stood watch outside of it. It didn’t completely dull all his senses to outside, but it did enough to make him hunger for fresh air. The commotion seemed to get louder.
“I smell chaos.” Spite hissed.
“Whatever is happening out there,” Lucanis said, “plays perfectly with our plan.”
Spite gave an evil smile at him. “The cell is weak. Make our move. Quickly!”
Spite unfurled his wings and the force was enough to shatter the walls. Lucanis didn’t have much practice in combat with Spite’s abilities, but he couldn’t risk an opening like this. He swooped down onto the remaining guards, twisting and snapping their necks. A satisfying act after such a long year. There was a burning sensation in his chest that felt addictive, exhilarating. It was Spite. He couldn’t let him take full control, however in the moment he couldn’t help but embrace it.
“You must be who we’re here for.” An unfamiliar voice. It sounded warm, refreshing, but that didn’t stop Lucanis from unfurling Spite’s wings in defense. “Woah, woah, we’re here to help. Catarina sent us.”
Lucanis had to pry himself from Spite’s influence, dissipating the wings. He took a good look at who stood before him. A dwarven girl, Fereldan maybe? Freckled, red hair, seemed both mean and sweet at the same time. Then his gaze met with the Qunari that towered over him. Lucanis felt he should have been intimidated by his lumbering size, but when he studied the man’s face, all he sensed was a gentleness. A foreign feeling that he welcomed.
“I’m Asay, by the way.” The qunari said, holding his hand out. “People like to call me Rook, um, and this is Scout Lace Harding. She just likes to be called Harding.”
Harding put her hands on her hips as she assessed the assassin before her.
Lucanis looked at the large grey hand and slowly shook it. It was warm and soft, with a firm grip that didn’t feel imposing, but more like a warm hug. The assassin adjusted his posture, trying to act normal as if the past year had never happened to him. “I would introduce myself but I'm sure Catarina already told you all about me.”
“Demon of Vyrantium, the Mage-killer, grandson of the first talon…,” Harding listed off.
“You have a spirit in you?” The Qunari said, still holding onto his gloved hand as he sensed the possession. “You aren’t a mage, though?”
Lucanis looked at the staff strapped to Asay’s back. “But, you are.” Lucanis replied. “I suppose we’re both anomalies. But, yes, the Venatori experimented on me and forced Spite to join my body. Spite didn’t want this as much as I did.”
“Shit, a demon…I didn’t think Neve was sending us to an actual demon!” Harding said under her breath. “Rook, do we really want to recruit him?”
Rook realized they were still holding hands and slowly let go. “Right now, this mission isn’t about recruiting anymore. It’s about rescuing an imprisoned man from this shit hole. We need to get going now.”
Why did Lucanis feel tears forming? It had been a long time since he had been blessed with anything other than cruelty and torture. He had to pull himself together.
“Wait, we can’t leave just yet.” Lucanis said. “They have a vial of my blood and until I destroy it, I am under their control. I also need to complete my contract.”
“Your contract?” Harding said.
“The one that got me into this mess a year ago. I need to kill Caliban.”
“The vial of blood makes sense, but really? A contract?” Harding asked. “Do we have time for a contract?”
“A crow never breaks a contract.” He said matter of fact. “Plus, Spite and I have a personal vendetta.”
Harding rolled her eyes and started to walk back through the Ossuary. “Rook is going to say yes anyways so let’s get this done fast.”
“Harding, you know me so well.” The Qunari laughed.
Lucanis had met many Qunari in his life. Fighting back the Antaam, dealing with Tal-Valshoth, there were a few spies amongst the crow ranks. But, something about Rook seemed different. There was a softness where usually a Qunari had roughness—either due to the qun or leaving the qun. And to be a Qunari mage, obviously he was tal-valshoth. Not that he was suspicious of him, but he was definitely curious.
“I am curious as to why the first talon sent a Fereldan Dwarven girl and a tal-vashoth mage to rescue me.” Lucanis said as they walked through the prison. “Why not crows?”
“Well, we’re trying to assemble a team and one of the team member’s mentioned you since you’re a notorious mage killer.” Rook said with a nervous tone that Lucanis quickly noted. “Catarina said if we can get you out that you would join us, but obviously that’s your choice if you really do.”
“When the first talon gives you a job, you take it no matter what.” He replied, but honestly he was wondering what his grandmother had gotten him into. “What sort of mages will I be killing?”
“The ancient elven kind.” Harding jumped in. “The kind that calls themselves gods.”
“It’s…um…” Rook chuckled nervously, “a long story.”
“We tried stopping one elven god from destroying the veil and we fucked it up and now two more evil elven gods brought the blight and trying to destroy the world so…” Harding shrugged.
“What happened to the first god?” Lucanis asked.
“Fen’herel is trapped in a fade prison and, um, in my head.” Rook rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “But only if I sleep or meditate I guess. I don’t know I haven’t connected with him long enough to really know.”
Lucanis straightened his back. “It’s nice to know the world is as crazy as it is in here.”
“Also I’m not Tal-Vashoth. Well, I am because I’m not apart of the qun or whatever, but I’m Dalish. I know some people think that’s a little weird so I like to try to be open about it.”
Lucanis didn’t want to seem rude so he kept his expression minimal. “Do you think I’d have a problem with you being a Dalish qunari mage? As long as you aren’t trying to secretly kill me, you are my favorite person right now.”
Rook smiled at him. “Then I’m your favorite person right now.”
Lucanis could help, but note that his smile was nice. A smile he felt he could trust. It felt strange to feel that way after everything. He’s never met a stranger that has hasn’t kept him skeptical for a long while.
“Oh, if we’re properly introducing ourselves to the demon,” Harding said, “I unlocked some ancient dwarven rock magic inside of me so I’m like magic or whatever.”
“Is the rest of our team like this?” Lucanis asked. “Do you only recruit strangers with paradoxical identities? A demon possessed mage killer, a magic dwarf, a mage dalish qunari with an elven god in his head?”
“Actually Bellara and Neve are pretty normal.” Harding said.
“Yeah, they’re pretty normal.” Asay shrugged. A blast of electricity went past his head. “Woah.”
Venatori guards blocked their path in front of them. A good group of them.
Lucanis didn’t have his daggers, making him feel a bit useless. They must. Kill the venatori. Just wait a minute, Spite.
Asay struck his golden staff towards the red cloaks charging towards him, sending flames into the air. Lucanis had studied mages, seen many in action, killed more than he could count. They all had a rhythm to how they threw their magic. Some were harsh, fast, sporadic, sharp, heavy footed, off beat. For a mage his size, Asay was surprisingly graceful with a force held at bay. There was glint in his eyes that wasn’t of a killer, but of a protector. Something hopefully. Something sparked by life, not death. His throws were not merciful, but they were not for death.
With venatori distracted by the flames and arrows, Lucanis took his chance. Charging towards the closes rogue venatori, he pounced on them and used Spite’s wings as an added push. The blades slipped out of the cultist’s hands and quickly Lucanis snatched them up. In not even a second, one of those blades found itself in the throat of that same cultist. Blood splattered onto the assassin’s face. It was almost comforting, just like old times.
He had been so focused on himself that he hadn’t realized the flaming meteor over his head. It plowed into the ground, scattering the venatori in it’s path. The magical walls of the Ossuary trembled.
“Rook!” Harding yelled at the Qunari. “Maybe cool it with the massive ball of fire while we’re in an ancient underwater prison!”
Rook nervously laughed. “Sorry!” He said, “but, at least I got them knocked out.”
Lucanis blinked in a moment of shock. Definitely a different kind of magic he was used to dealing with, but he’d take massive balls of fire over blood magic any day.
“Stop getting distracted!” Spite hissed in his ear and Lucanis flinched. “Your blood. Then we DRAW blood.”
“I know.” Lucanis bit back.
“Are you okay?” Asay looked at Lucanis.
“Oh,” Lucanis looked over at him, not sure how to answer a question he’s never been asked before. “Let’s keep moving…”
After several tricky venatori security crystals unblocked, Lucanis came face to face with his vial of blood. He remembered the countless experiences, the rituals, the interrogations. His own blood strangling him. He grabbed the vial, the size of a large flower vase, and shattered it onto the ground.
“That was the vial?” Harding said. “I was expecting something small, not a whole jug of blood.”
“It’s been a long year.” Lucanis said, looking at the blood that pooled at his feet. Theu never needed this much blood to control him. They just wanted to take this much. Like it was fun to them. “Help me find something to dilute it. Then they can’t use it anymore.”
Asay started looking on the shelves around him. He picked up a jar and shook it, sounded like liquid. He opened it, sniffed it, cringed, and then poured it onto the puddle of blood. Black ink. “Ew,” he said. “Did that help?”
“I think so,” he looked at the black ink mix with the blood.
“They can’t control you anymore.” Asay said.
Lucanis huffed in amusement at the statement. “They could never truly control me.”
Harding looked over at the assassin. “Bold statement for the guy with a demon inside of him right now.” She then smiled. “But I like the confidence. Let’s get your contract finished and get out of here.”