Chapter Text
“There’s nothing here, Barclay,” Tadg said bitterly, throwing his hands up and turning around. His voice echoed throughout the cave, the sound ricocheting off the walls and eventually getting drowned out by the thundering waterfall just outside the cave entrance.
“I’m sure we’re missing something,” Barclay insisted. The wild lore was a constant drum beneath his feet, like it was trying to tell him something but he could not yet understand it. They’d left camp in the middle of the night, alone, off of Barclay’s hunch. There had to be something.
“We’ve been searching for an hour,” Viola said, rubbing at her eyes. She lifted her other hand and broadcast the light within it throughout the cave. The walls were a bare gray, water droplets dripping down from the condensation. Stalactites hung from above. It was, well, a cave. There didn’t seem to be anything special about it all.
“Just- just give me a minute to think.” Barclay paced back and forth, pressing his hands to his ears. He just needed to find out where the wild lore was originating from. There was some disturbance here. He just needed to listen and find it.
“You’ve had plenty of time to think,” Tadg snapped. “We should just go back before Runa or someone else wakes up and realizes we’re gone.”
The three of them went back and forth about the topic for several minutes, bickering similar to how siblings would.
Barclay should’ve felt the change in the atmosphere, heard the footsteps and quiet talking outside. But the drum of the wild lore was so deafening, it drowned out everything else. At the very least, he should’ve seen the orange glow of fire in the entrance of the cave.
“I’m not insane!” Barclay said desperately. “There’s something here and I know-“
“Ah, look at that!” A eerily familiar voice boomed out. “Seems our friends have made it here first.”
The three apprentices whipped around to see the face they all dreaded most. Audrian Keyes stood at the mouth of the cave, the waterfall thundering behind him. He looked worse than they’d previously seen him, his hair completely silver and deep bags beneath his eyes, but he still had his same cocky smile.
Barclay’s stomach dropped as he spotted the tall, blonde boy standing next to Audrian. Yasha stared back at them, eyes hard. A bright flame curled in the palm of his hand, illuminating them both in orange and yellow.
“I don’t think they’re our friends,” Yasha said plainly, avoiding looking at Barclay for too long. Barclay willed him to look him in the eyes, but it didn’t work.
“That’s a poor way to see it, Yasha,” Audrian scolded in a light, joking tone. “I do wonder, though. What coincidence brings us both here, to this exact spot, on this exact night?” He cocked his head and smiled at the apprentices. It sent shivers down Barclay’s spine.
Barclay and his friends exchanged uneasy looks, a silent plan passing between them. Audrian and Yasha were blocking the only way out. They’d have to fight through and make a run for it.
Tadg bunched his hands into fists, sparks of electricity coming off of him. “That’s none of your business,” he snarled.
“But it is,” Audrian said, mouth curling into a thin-lipped smile. “Especially considering what happened last time you were in a place with unstable lore.”
A shudder rippled through Barclay’s body and he hunched his shoulders. Audrian was no longer talking to Tadg, he was talking to him. And the blight he’d nearly caused at the northern Glacier Point. Audrian’s eyes bore into him, and Barclay pressed his hands to his ears again as the lore around him thumped louder and louder. He decided he hated Audrian’s smile.
A deafening crack! rang as Tadg fired a lighting bolt at where Audrian and Yasha stood. The two sidestepped the strike easily. Yasha summoned fire on his fists and lunged forward, and Audrian raised stone pillars around the cave.
The fight had begun.
The three apprentices stayed near each other, throwing out attacks before ducking back into their triangle formation. Yasha dodged the blades of wind and the lightning bolts with surprising ease. He moved smoothly, each step calculated. Barclay thought Yasha looked graceful, dancing inbetween glass daggers and water whips and light beams.
Barclay struck out with a large wave of wind and glanced over at Audrian, who stood off to the side, observing. Why wasn’t he fighting? He could end this in seconds, and they all knew that. Was this a test? But what for? Barclay thought nervously.
Motya lunged for Barclay while he was distracted, but was tackled to the ground by Root before she could meet her mark. The two beasts grappled on the floor until they finally broke apart, moving to circle each other instead.
A flame caught Viola by the shoulder, sending her rolling to the ground to put it out. She cried out in pain. Barclay and Tadg both whipped their heads around to see if she was okay.
Viola gripped her injured shoulder with her free hand, ignoring Kulo’s anxious investigating. One of her curly buns had come undone. She pushed herself up off the stone floor and looked up at them, her eyes going wide and her mouth dropping open. “Tadg, Barclay— run!” She shouted in warning.
The two boys turned around just in time to throw themselves out of the way of the massive inferno that had been fired while they were distracted. Yasha stood with flames curling around his arms and torso. His eyes glowed orange and yellow. Beside him, Motya’s entire body was engulfed in flame.
Lore surging. Barclay couldn’t believe he had forgotten.
Tadg recovered first, standing up quickly and shooting a bolt of lightning at Yasha. The blond boy side avoided it easily, leaving behind the black scorch mark on the ground where he once stood. Yasha scowled and prepared another fireball within the palm of his hand.
Barclay pushed himself up and summoned wind around him. He moved his arms in a circular motion and expanded the wind until it had both him and Yasha inside of it. The strong gusts blew Barclay’s hair out of its bun, but other than that he was entirely unaffected. Yasha’s flames sputtered underneath the pressure and he struggled to keep them alight.
He thought he heard the other boy curse underneath his breath, but it was hard to hear. The wind drowned out any sounds outside of their sphere. Any strikes Yasha made quickly dispersed and burned out before they reached Barclay. Quite honestly, he looked quite frustrated.
“Got a new trick since the last time we’ve fought,” Barclay called out with a smirk.
But Yasha didn’t answer— just glared at him. Eventually his fireballs slowed in frequency until they completely stopped. The two boys circled each other, seeming to have reached some kind of standby. Barclay could see the calculations running through Yasha’s head. He couldn’t strike— any fire would burn out before landing on its mark. And he couldn’t get out either.
Then, as he was busy planning his next move, the ground rumbled beneath them. Barclay looked down and saw the stone shaking. Shit—
Stone ruptured out from underneath him, knocking him off balance and ruining his focus. His wind lore dispersed and the sphere of air disappeared. Barclay tumbled backwards and managed to catch himself. He lifted his hands again, ready to defend himself or attack. The wind gathered around him, ready as well.
“Now there, Barclay, I wouldn’t try anything if I were you,” Audrian’s voice rang out.
Barclay looked around, and his chest seized. His friends were shackled to the ground, stone encircling their wrists and preventing the use of their lore. Viola lay unconscious. Blood trickled down her face from a gash in her temple and her shoulder was burned badly. Kulo was curled around her chest, growling fiercely at the much larger Motya. Tadg seethed from where he sat. He was breathing heavily and had many small cuts across his arms and face. His brow was furrowed deeply and he stared at Audrian and Yasha with pure hatred.
Barclay let out a breath and let go of the last wind he’d summoned. He kept his hands up so as to not leave himself completely defenseless.
“Put Root in his mark,” Audrian said. Barclay and Root reluctantly obliged, and Audrian grinned at him. “You were always the smart one, when it mattered at least,” he said. “You know, it really is unfortunate how poor these warm welcomes have become. Can’t a man come to enjoy a natural phenomenon?”
The wild lore around them had quieted down, Barclay realized. Audrian must’ve calmed it, or absorbed it somehow. Barclay wasn’t sure which one it was. The heartbeat was still there, but it was no longer overwhelming, no longer demanding of him.
“Now, Barclay, I have a proposition here-“
“The answer’s no,” Barclay said firmly, hiking his chin up in an attempt to look confident. He’d seen Viola do it before, probably in some imitation of her father. Leopold, who was believed to be the strongest lore keeper in the world. Leopold, who was still recovering from his wounds after he had faced off against the unhinged man that stood in front of Barclay now.
“Not even hearing me out? That’s a shame, you know. I always thought you were one to help your friends.” Audrian paced the large room casually, talking with his hands.
Barclay’s blood went cold. He heard the threat within Audrian’s words. “Leave them alone,” he said, clenching his hands into fists.
“Oh, I will!” Audrian said, clapping his hands together with a grin. “So long as you come with us.”
Tadg pulled against the stone cuffs that kept him on the ground. “Don’t you dare—“ he snarled. “Barclay’s not going anywhere with you.”
“I think that’s his decision to make, no?” Audrian cocked his head and looked between the two apprentices.
“Barclay, don’t,” Tadg insisted. “We’ll be fine.”
Barclay looked between Tadg, Viola, and Audrian. Tadg, tired and injured. Viola, unconscious and burned. And Audrian, casually flipping his massive stone hammer in his hands, as though it weighed nothing to him.
And then there was Yasha, standing behind Audrian, once again avoiding Barclay’s gaze. Coward.
There was no choice here. Barclay would do anything to keep his friends safe. Even if it took following the most dangerous person in all of the wilderlands.
“I’ll go,” he said finally.
“Barclay, no—“ Tadg started, tugging desperately at the stone binds.
“Excellent! Let’s get going then, shall we?” Adrian waved his hand, and bits of stone broke away from the cave floor and encircled Barclay’s wrists. “I’m not one for chances, you see. Yasha, keep an eye on him, will you?”
Yasha gave a brisk nod, but Audrian had already turned around, strolling out of the cave. Barclay reluctantly followed, meeting Tadg’s eyes as he passed. Yasha was watching Audrian retreat to the mouth of the cave. Quickly, Barclay wriggled off the friendship bracelet Hasu had made for him, letting it fall to the floor in front of Tadg. “I’m sorry,” he mouthed.
Barclay took in a shaky breath, and followed Audrian. Yasha fell into step behind him, casting a look back at Tadg and Viola before shaking his head. Motya retreated into her mark, not wanting to be sprayed by the waterfall as they tread past it.
As Barclay focused on placing his feet on safe, dry footholds, he concluded on one thing; He wouldn’t let Audrian— or Yasha, especially not Yasha— see his fear. And so he kept his head high and stood straight, even though part of him truly thought he was taking his first steps towards his demise.