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It would be easy to just stand up and plant his feet in strategic places. Before his imprisonment, it was no secret that Startouch elves aren't the best at watching their feet. The amount of the small mortals that were crushed underfoot is countless. It would be so very easy. Of course, he can't do that. Not only did his kin (as much as he loathes calling them such) abandon the Xadian continent after his imprisonment, but he has uses for the humans that would only set him back if he killed them.
How annoying.
He talks to the child king about compromise, secrets of history, the Novablade and Laurelion. He tells the king of small stature about the humans' history, their beloved Orphan Queen. Only to have all his kind sharing thrown back at him with the brat spitting about imprisoning him again.
For a brief moment, Aaravos does something foolish.
He shifts, the chains that are supposed to hold him in place clank and clink. The human soldiers shout, jumping out of immediate range. He notes that the stars approach faster and faster, almost as if they still care about him and hasten their journey so his army of dead can handle the fodder.
Aaravos lunges forward, snapping his teeth inches (human inches, not him inches, so very, very close to snagging the little creature in his teeth) away from the boy-king. The dragon yelps, snarling a second later and tries to lunge at Aaravos' nose in retaliation, but he just pulls his head higher than the wyrmling can reach.
His face pulls into a grimace, he's ruined his waiting game plan but he supposes there's still fun to be had with the tiny king. His little friends too, just as young as him.
Aaravos whistles. The humans clap their hands onto their ears, he knows some of them have burst eardrums. The dragon yelps again, shrill and in pain. Good.
Creatures he summoned forth from the inverted moon nexus arrive in droves. They arrive on swift wings and shadows, slaughtering the fodder as they go. The stars truly have shown their kindness to him tonight.
He sighs, a confident smile resting on his lips. The chains are laughable. The humans truly thought the weak little strings of metal could hold him. Him! A Startouch elf! A Great One! Archmage Aaravos, founder of dark magic!
A shade of a light-eater swipes too close at the child monarchs. He grunts, wishing he could pinch the bridge of his nose in irritation. A burst of power, pure dominion, washes over the shades surrounding him. They steer clear of the king afterwards, as they should. Aaravos has plans for the king and dragon, the child queen is a bonus.
Standing is an easy feat. The metal is far too small to actually restrict him. One chain even dangles from around his neck, the ballista knocking into his chest. He tosses it aside, not caring for the human guard he just gave an impromptu amputation.
The little king and his companions huddle under Anak Arao's rib cage. He laughs, loud and echoing. It adds to the melody of humans screaming and dying under the shades.
It's not even multiple steps to loom over them, blocking their light and seeing the terror on their faces.
Aaravos grins, showing all of his teeth, and reaches down at them. He goes slow, lets them think they can flee if they run fast enough. The queen tries to knock an arrow, one of those magical ones, and a quick spell freezes her limbs, keeping her from firing the damned thing.
"Aanya!" the king shouts, turning on his heel from where he was running to race back to his ally. Foolish, but advantageous. Less work for Aaravos to grab them.
Mortals are always so wiggly! His fingers snatch the king and pull him into the air before he can reach his ally. Aaravos spares her a glance, sending a pulse of earth magic to wrap slabs of hard-packed dirt up to her waist, keeping her immobile as he releases the freeze spell. He doesn't have any plans with her in mind, although her magic arrows are interesting. He so loves human ingenuity.
"Let me go!" the king shouts, squirming this way and that in the loose grip. Aaravos contemplates just crushing him, resetting his plans to utilize the queen instead. Callum would be easier to manipulate with his precious brother dead, surely. But alas, the little king is too fun to just kill. Scaring, however...
"As you wish."
Aaravos releases the human to plummet towards the ground. It's not remotely a survivable height for a human, and if Ezran looks particularly confident, well, he plans to have a well-aimed kick ready. The screaming is shrill and it does make him smile.
Watching Ezran fall is entertaining. It's only a few seconds and he has no intention of actually letting the child die, not like this at least. Fortunately for said child, the dragon whelp catches him long before he could go splat. A pity, but Aaravos was going to do that if the dragon hadn't beat him to it.
It does pose a minor problem in that he cannot easily play around with King Ezran while he's hitching a ride with his dragon brother. But there is an easy solution to that problem in that Aaravos is a giant and can hold multiple people in one fist with space left over.
He claps his hands around the flying pair, smiling a tad cruelly at the shouting and yipping that are muffled by the flesh of his palms.
"Well, now... Just what have I caught, hm? A little birdie?" he hums, bringing his clasped hands up to his face and shaking them a bit. The pair of them will definitely have bruises later, but they'll be alive to lick their wounds.
There are muffled words and growls from behind his fingers and he smiles wider. However, a shout of his name draws his attention elsewhere. He puts on a bemused frown and raises an eyebrow at darling Queen Aanya of Duren, freed from her dirt trappings and aiming her fire ruby arrows at him.
"Aaravos! Release them!" she calls, pulling the string a touch tauter. He almost laughs in her face.
"And what if I don't? Are you going to be the one to make me? Please, do try," he coos. Keeping his hands closed tight, pressing into the captured pair a bit more, he steps closer to Queen Aanya. He makes sure to place his foot right next to her as he kneels. It's a bit awkward so he pulls his leg back instead of leaving his boot next to her tiny mortal body.
He watches her face pull into a snarl as she looses the arrow. He even laughs as he intercepts it with his hands. Undoubtedly, Azymondias and King Ezran are quite injured from it. He laughs louder at the scream she releases, knowing she may have just killed her allies, maybe even her friends! Oh this is so delicious, it makes him wonder if he should have even bothered with his waiting game before.
Aaravos unfurls his fingers, revealing the injured dragon prince curled around the human king. How endearing, shielding the squishier one with his tough scales. Azymondias growls at him, fur singed and smoking. Aaravos smiles and plucks the dragon off of his palm by the tail, letting him flail and flutter in the air. Without ceremony, he tosses Azymondias into the canyon wall and sends out a jet of earth magic to have vines restrain him and even adds a minor illusion to keep his attention.
King Ezran is bruised indeed, dirty and disheveled from the rough rescue and manhandling and fire ruby arrow. Aaravos keeps him clutched in one hand and snatches Queen Aanya with the other. Unlike her fellow human, she is vocal about her dislike of being grabbed by a titan.
It's quite interesting, the bond they share. Steadfast allies and close friends. If it wouldn't start a succession crisis in both their kingdoms (if you can count Katolis as a kingdom at the moment, it's capital and seat of power is ash and dust), he's sure their advisors and councils would have set up an arranged marriage for them. Their bond is most likely due to their similar ages and circumstances. How sweet.
"Two royals in hand and no bush in sight. You have made this far easier than I thought it would be! Ah, but luckily for you, I can only afford a bit of time before I must away to Lux Aurea."
"What are you planning, monster?!" Queen Aanya shouts, kicking at his fingers as she does so. He hums, pressing a finger to his mouth in thought, King Ezran still too discombobulated to react. He makes a eureka gesture and shows his teeth in what could either be a bared warning or cruel smile to the queen.
A quick diversion and he leaves her on top of the canyon wall over Azymondias, a snapped leg and broken bow to console her. Now he can focus solely on the king.
Aaravos shakes his fist, gently of course, and watches reason return to the human's mind. He grins, eyes glinting in the low light. Before Ezran can react properly, Aaravos tosses him into the air five meters. He catches him of course, but just rolls his wrist and sends him back to altitude in a smooth motion. It's almost like an old game he and other newly formed Startouch elves would play to get them prepared for interacting with mortals.
A few minutes go by like this, Ezran gradually becoming more and more aware of being thrown into the sky like a ball. It gets boring when the king stops responding with surprised exclamations. He tries getting more entertainment out of the king by juggling him, but after a few near-misses of catching him, Aaravos sighs and holds the human in both hands. He forces his right thumb under Ezran's chin, making sure he's looking him in the face, and presses hard enough to just slightly make breathing difficult.
"You are lucky I have grown bored of this and that I must not linger here any longer. I leave you with a warning: do not tempt the beast smiling at you."
Aaravos slides Ezran onto the ground in a quick motion, releasing the spells containing the dragon, and turns to walk away. The shades of the dead prowl closer to what remains of the human army, what few that found safety and shelter as he tormented their king and queen. If the young royals end up eaten by the shades, then that is not his fault.
He takes a step into the river and starts his journey to Lux Aurea.