Chapter Text
The sound of the pouring rain chased her into consciousness. She blinked against the darkened world around her, the faint feeling of nausea roiling in her stomach and forcing her to swallow thickly. She groaned and rolled over onto her side trying to remember what had happened before she awoke. She had been with Percy and Cassandra making plans to fortify the northeastern section of Whitestone, going over the work force they would need to start repairs... She remembered looking up to see Percy smiling at her with that stupid all encompassing grin he’d been sporting the last few weeks (one Vax loved to tease her non-stop about), and then…
Nothing.
Vex grunted when the world around her rocked roughly. She pulled at her arms, trying to get her hands under her to steady herself but they were bound tight at the low of her back.
Wonderful.
Vex blinked and strained to see within the darkened interior. There was fabric whipping in the wind above her, rain dripping through patchy holes and pooling on the floor. Something moved in front of her and she stilled, eyes focusing on the darkened form crumpled against the far end of the wagon bed.
“Vax?” The whisper burned against her ears, afraid whoever was driving the wagon would overhear. “Brother?”
“Afraid he’s out for the count, deary.”
Vex startled at the feminine voice, jerking to see behind her and wincing when the sudden movement jarred her shoulders. “What the fuck?”
Vex watched as the unknown tiefling stepped over her and made to kneel down in front of Vax. There was a brief pause and the quiet murmur of words before a small flame appeared in the woman’s hands.
“Fuck.” Vex cursed and yanked against her bonds. She watched the purple tiefling gently run her free hand through Vax’s hair, fiddling with the multicolored beads that Keyleth had woven into Vax’s long strands just days before.
“Best to keep a God’s Champion under for the duration, wouldn’t you agree? Wouldn’t do any good if the bounty escaped before we reached our destination. Even if he would be more fun to play with awake.”
“If you want to keep those dainty little hands of yours, you’d best keep them to yourself.” Vex ground out, her own hands working at the knot that bound her.
“Shame, really, he’s too pretty to be a Champion.” The tiefling murmured, her nimble fingers brushed Vax’s cheekbone with a hum. “In all the stories I’ve heard of Champions, they were grotesque, marred and broken little things. Meant for nothing more than fodder to protect a god who feared the mortal plane.”
Vex narrowed her eyes when their captor tenderly traced her brother’s lower lip. “Back. Off.”
“My such hostility.” With a sigh the woman stood and nudged Vax onto his back with her foot. Vex watched on, cautiously. “The bounty was only for the vestige, nothing said the champion need be alive.”
The tiefling looked towards Vex with a toothy smile before the flame in her hand died out leaving Vex to blink against the sudden darkness.
She could hear her brother groan before a gagging, wet broken sound permeated the silence of the small space.
“Vax!” Vex pulled at her thumb — the gurgling from her brother turning into a soft gasps of air — and with a cry dislocated her thumb and slipped her restraints.
She crashed into the tiefling, her shoulder burning from the action. The impact drove them both hard into the wagon wall. Vex’s hands were slick with rain and sweat, her thumb screaming from where it still hung half out of joint; but she didn’t care. Her knee found the tiefling’s ribs and she heard a sharp wet grunt before a fist tangled in her hair and yanked her back.
“Feisty little thing, aren’t ya?” The tiefling hissed, her breath hot against Vex’s ear. “Sadly, you’re wasting it on a lost cause.”
Vax slammed her head forward with a hiss. Bone met bone with a crack that left stars bursting behind her eyes. She rolled, rainwater soaking through her clothes, and came up to her knees.
Lightning split the sky and for a moment she saw everything in stark white; the tieflings bared teeth, the smear of blood running from the woman's nose, and in front of her…
“Vax!”
Her brother’s name tore out of her, ragged and useless. She moved to get to Vax but a foot slammed into her forcing her sideways, fingers catching on the wet floorboards as she slammed into the bed of the wagon. She hacked and wheezed to catch her breath.
“If you won't stay down, girlie, I’ll make you.”
“More practiced fighters than you have tried and failed.” Vex hissed and forced herself upright, ignoring the ringing in her ears. The tiefling’s shadow loomed over her in the strobing light of the storm.
“Still got some fire in you, I see.”
A second figure climbed into the back of the wagon; a human, big shoulders like a bear. He carried what looked like a shard of blackened obsidian on a chain, and the moment he stepped close to Vex, she felt the hair on her arms raise. The air crackled, and Vax’s body jerked on the floor like something had yanked at the strings that tethered him to the world.
She looked from the man to Vax, confusion wrinkling her brow. She shouted and lunged towards the man but he swung the chain once and a ring of dark light burst outward. Vex froze mid-lung. Not paralyzed but trapped. Her body refused to obey her.
The tiefling dusted her hands off, satisfied. “Thank you, Alfric.”
“If you’re done playing?” Alfric questioned with a raised brow.
“I wouldn’t have actually hurt them.” The tiefling murmured with an eyeroll moving to resituate Vax into a more comfortable position against the wagon bed. Pursing her lips at the faint shadows curling around Vax’s neck. “Well, more than necessary anyhow.”
Vex grit her teeth and tried to will her muscles to move but whatever spell over her held strong.
“Careful with him, Della.” Alfric said. “Our benefactor wants the god-touched one whole.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Della replied, her right hand coming up to Vax’s temple. She whispered a soft incantation, her other hand clutching at a broach pinned to her blouse. A deep blue glow emitted from her fingertips before settling around Vax’s head and disappearing.
“You just take care of Kitten over there.” Della smiled and patted Vax’s cheek. “I got this sleepy head all under control.”
Vex narrowed her eyes and tried to tug against the magic binds holding her when Alfric turned his attention towards her. “Nothing personal, you understand?”
Oh, did she ever understand. And she was going to enjoy shoving her first into the smug bastard's face. Alfric sighed and grabbed something from the pouch at his waist, lightning flashed and thunder rolled and the next thing Vex knew the world plunged into darkness.
The darkness wasn’t empty, though. It pressed and shifted, thick as oil and full of whispers that sounded like words but nothing legible to her ears.
Everytime Vex tried to surface, her body lagged behind thought, almost like she’d been dropped under water and left to drown in the dark of muted understanding.
Somewhere, through the disorientation, she thought she heard Vax call her name, or maybe that was part of this twilight dreamscape too? Thoughts and sounds twisted around themselves until she couldn’t tell which was up and her stomach roiled.
Then…
Cold.
A shock tore the breath from her lungs. There was stone beneath her hands. The sound of rain still fell, but muffled now; as though the world had closed itself off beyond thick walls. Her limbs still refused her, her mind sluggish and heavy. She felt the vague sensation of being lifted, carried, voices–clearer, though distorted.
“--him to the circle.”
“The sister?”
“She’s to be kept...”
Vex tried to blink her eyes open, she flexed her hand, trying to force her body to respond to her demands to move but something struck her across the temple when she attempted to lift her head. A burst of white pain and then the dark swallowed her again.
When next she surfaced, the thunder was far away, the rain silent. Her tongue felt thick and dry in her mouth and there was wet stone beneath her cheek. She could hear, seemingly an arms width away, the soft, uneven rhythm of another’s breath.
Vax.
Vex forced her eyes open and the world swam into focus in fractured pieces. A ceiling of rough-hewn stone, a stuttering torch casting long, shivering shadows, a heavy door gleaming wetly in the low light not too far in front of her.
Vex groaned. Her body felt heavy, lethargic, her wrists bound before her with something that hummed faintly against her skin. She rolled, the motions scraping her bruised shoulder against the floor, and swallowed the low moan of pain that slipped out.
“Vax?” She rasped, her throat raw. She inched across their cell, knees slipping on the damp stone until she reached her brother.
Vax lay sprawled on his side, pale and far too still, his hair a dark tangle against the floor. There was a faint shimmer beneath his skin, that of light behind frosted glass, and pulsing weakly with each shallow breath he took.
“Come on, brother.” She whispered and brushed damp hair from his forehead. “You’ve slept long enough. Up with you, yeah?”
Vax ignored her plea. She cupped his cheek, thumb brushing over his cheek bone before sliding down to rest against the pulse point in his throat. Relief rippled through her when she felt the strong but erratic flutter beneath her fingertips.
“Thank the gods.” She muttered. “Knew you were too stubborn to leave me.”
His eyelids twitched. His breathing hitched and when he finally stirred, he blinked open bloodshot eyes, only to flinch at her closeness.
“Vex…? You…you shouldn’t–”
“Shh…shh… it’s alright, darling. Deep breaths.” Vex said, voice low. “Stay with me, alright?”
Vax tried to lift his hands, bound together as they were, the movement was jerky and weak. “Shouldn’t…shouldn’t be here.” His voice was hoarse, words slurring around exhaustion or magic, she was unsure. “They’re reaching for her, and I…”
“What are you on about?” She questioned, confused and grasped Vax’s chilly hands in hers.
“They’re us-using my con…connection. Demanding…attention.”
She’d be ashamed to admit it took her a moment to realize her brother was talking about his connection to the Raven Queen. “I’m sure she’s thrilled about that. Think she’ll be willing to dispatch our rather hospitable guests for us if she answers?”
He gave a strangled laugh before devolving into a coughing fit. Vex pulled his head into her lap as best she could and gently ran her hand through his hair. She watched Vax blink heavy-lidded eyes.
She began to softly hum the faint lullaby she could still remember their mother singing to them all those years ago and continued to gently brush her fingers through her brother’s damp strands.
They stayed like that until the sound of boots echoed outside their cell.
As they drew closer Vex slipped her hands around Vax’s, her grip like iron. “Stay quiet but stay with me.”
His thumb brushed her, weak but sure. “Never far from you.”