Chapter five, Beware the Leafy Ones

It was hot. Too hot.

Tivi choked, coughing and sucking in breaths as hard as she could. The air felt as thick as mud, each gasp a struggle until she managed to push herself up. It made it a little better, but not much. Tears mingled with beads of sweat in her eyes and when she tried to wipe at them, dirt got smeared from her hands into her eyes and only made it worse.

For what seemed like an eternity she struggled, blinking and panting until the world stopped spinning. She only managed to restore her sight after blindly turning her sleeve inside out and using it to wipe her eyes.

When she could finally look around, she almost regretted it. It took one single glance to take in her situation, and the memories of the attack came flooding back. A terrified sob stuck in her dry throat.

It was a small area, lit by torches spewing out dark smoke towards the low, rocky ceiling. She had seen this before, but never from this angle – those sharp, standing rocks shaped like a dragon's teeth, created by creatures that could shape burning rock at their whim and used it to terraform their territory.

She could hear charr move around on the other side. Soft yet heavy steps, the clatter of armor and weapons, and those growling, muttering voices. They sounded impatient.

Rubusa laid splayed out on the cracked floor like a heap of dead leaves, her head turned to the side and eyes closed. Her breathing mask, like Tivi's, was gone and she was still as death itself. It took a second for Tivi to see that Rubusa's chest rose and fell with slow in- and exhales, and that briefly slowed the churning dread in the asura's gut.

Xander was there too, but the sight of him had the opposite effect on Tivi.

He sat curled up against the wall, head hanging low and tail defensively coiled around his legs. All of his armor was gone, leaving him in only a loin cloth, and the way he held both arms behind his back told Tivi the truth even before she saw the iron clapped around his wrists. Dark streams of coagulating blood clumped in his fur, from out of at least a dozen cuts all over his body. He had not made it easy for the Flame Legion soldiers, but neither had they.

The light of the torches reflected in his eyes, but he didn't move. For a moment Tivi thought he was dead, but as she struggled to stand up he shifted a little. Chains clinked.

Tivi half staggered, half crawled over to him. Out of instinct she reached for her weapons, to channel a healing spell for him. She was not surprised to find both her scepter and dagger gone. She raised her hands and tried to focus, to do some little good – but as soon as she felt the little tingle of magic, a sharp pain shot through her body and her focus shattered.

Of course there was a magic barrier. Stupid.

She slumped.

Alright. Don't panic. Don't panic. She was not alone. Taking in a deep breath, she straightened and looked Xander in the face, refusing to acknowledge how miserable he looked.

"Got a plan?" Tivi croaked, her voice cracking.

"Yeah," Xander wheezed. He scowled, closing his eyes. "Piss 'em off so bad they kill us quick."

The tiny flicker of hope went up in smoke.

"That's a dreadfully inconvenient plan!" Tivi hissed.

"If you can, make it painful for them."

"Xander!"

He finally opened his eyes, but only to give her a look that twisted her insides into a knot. Shaking his head he turned away.

"Look, how…" He faltered. "How do you think they found us?"

Tivi stared at him.

Oh no, no, no no no…

The scent of Fizzer flared in her nostrils.

"It's… it's not your…" she stuttered, numbly shaking her head.

He should have scoffed and sneered, but instead he sighed.

"They told me they tracked us for hours, just because they wanted to know what that smell was," he said. He glanced at her again. "You two should have left me before."

There had to be something to say in a situation like this. Something that could make it better. Whatever that might be, though, Tivi had no idea. She didn't want to accept that she would probably not get the time to figure it out, either.

"Hey, he's awake," somebody on the other side of the wall said. Deep, cruel chortles from at least half a dozen growling voices followed. Xander flinched.

Tivi clapped both hands over her mouth.

Too late.

"Go!" Xander hissed, nodding sideways.

Tivi scrambled as far away as she could on trembling legs, the screech of rock against rock cutting into her ears. Gasping for air she fell over by the farthest wall, pressing herself against it, staring as the cage's gate fully rose up. The outside world was no more pleasant. In fact, there were a whole lot more chains and sharp tools out there.

Even worse, there were Flame Legion charr.

Two of them stalked inside while more hovered outside the cage, watching and grinning. Xander snarled, snapping his jaws at them as he struggled to stand. But they wore armor and were not bound. They had little trouble to grab his arms and haul him out. Xander threw himself from side to side, but there was no force behind it – he didn't seem able to support himself on his legs. Every time he set one of his feet down he gave a pained start and staggered.

Two guards remained by the gate, but they did not bother to lower it again.

It seemed to Tivi as if her body moved on its own, as if she was under some kind of muscle control spell. She did not want watch. She could not watch. But sheer dread forced her to crawl along the wall, trembling move after trembling move, so that she could peer outside the cage.

The charr dragged Xander to the middle of the room, where one of them took out a key and unlocked his bonds. He remained "free" only for a few moments, as his guards immediately threw his back against a standing rock by the wall. Chains dangled from it, and the guards forced his arms up.

Through all this Xander kept snarling and struggling as best he could, but Tivi noticed his wild gaze turning in one direction the whole time. There was something there, something she could not see but he could, and whatever it was it tugged at his attention though he tried to not show it.

With a pair of hard clacks, the irons closed around Xander's wrists and the guards stepped back. The chains were so far up they forced him to stand straight, almost to the point of dangling.

Then another charr stepped into Tivi's sight and Xander could not pretend to not look at him anymore. Tivi's heart dropped to the pit of her stomach.

This one was different, and the other Flame Legion charr stepped away from him in silent reverence. His fur was black with soot and he was naked from the waist up. Chains hung around his neck as if they were a necklace, and the rough leathers he wore around his waist were singed and blackened. The reason why was readily apparent.

His hands glowed like burning coals. No, not his hands. The flesh was seared off – there was only the bone, red hot and crackling. Flames occasionally burst up to lick at the skeletal remains. The tip of his horns, too, glowed. But the worst thing was his eyes, set deep in his face like two sizzling lumps of molten iron.

Xander's gaze followed every little motion of those horrible, flaming hands as the shaman moved towards him. Tivi could hardly breathe, the low, rumbling, hungry chuckles of the Flame charr rasping against her ears.

The shaman raised one hand, stretching out the pointing finger to hover in the air above Xander's snout.

"Do I have your attention?" the shaman asked, calmly and with a deranged smile tugging his lips away from his sharp, dark teeth.

"… yes," Xander admitted at length. He stared at the hot fingertip, cross eyed and frozen stiff.

"Name and rank."

Xander pinched his eyes shut for a moment and a snarl rolled out between his jaws. When he looked up at the shaman again, steely determination had settled in his gaze.

"None that matter to you," he snapped.

The shaman threw a glance towards the cage, making Tivi recoil with a strangled gasp. But he paid her no more attention than that, just as soon turning back to Xander.

"A gladium then, judging by your company," the shaman said. "But you were Ash legion. That is always interesting."

Xander did not respond. For a moment, the shaman studied him, running his gaze up and down the already battered body. Tivi saw Xander's tail curl and his muscles tense for every drawn out, passing second. Whatever the shaman thought, though, there was no comment about nice smells.

That thought ran off in a very unpleasant direction. Tivi swallowed hard, nearly breaking her claws against the hard ground as she scratched at it, desperate for a distraction.

"Your silence only makes your last mission more interesting," the shaman finally said.

"I have nothing to tell you," Xander said.

"Really."

The shaman glanced to his soldiers, who watched in silent anticipation.

"I'm told you also made it clear that you're too foolish to join us."

"Yeah… that was dumb," Xander drawled in a dull voice.

"Very." All of a sudden the shaman lashed out, grabbing one of Xander's horns and slamming his head back against the rock. "You killed one of my men, and you don't even have the courtesy of replacing him?"

Xander responded by presenting several scandalous theories about the professional relationship between the shaman and Gaheron Balefire, to the point where Tivi blushed black to the tip of her ears. Then the color drained and she recoiled, gasping in horror as the shaman put his red hot hand on Xander's shoulder. Dark smoke spewed up, filling the air with a stench of burning fur and skin, and the string of insults ended in a howl.

It never seemed to end. Xander's voice broke and he writhed, threw himself against the chains and the rock to get away but he could hardly move. Tivi flung herself down, pressing her hands against her ears.

Stop for the love of the Alchemy please please stop please!

Finally, finally the shaman removed his hand. The fur around the burn continued to sizzle for a moment and Xander slumped forwards, unable to hold back a yelp when his own weight tore at the wound.

There was a groan and Tivi glanced to the side, trying to blink away the tears stinging in her eyes. Rubusa stirred, blinking dazedly. She rolled over, turning her head as she started to push herself up – and froze.

"Shall we start over?" the shaman asked, forcibly taking Tivi's attention again. The shaman made a beckoning motion, and one of the soldiers stepped closer to grab one of Xander's horns and force his head back up.

Xander shuddered with each breath, bloody froth dripping from his mouth.

"Name and former rank, gladium," the shaman said.

"Kiss my tail, smoke sucker," Xander wheezed.

"You're not paying attention, I see."

A second soldier moved up at the shaman's signal, grabbing a horn on the other side of Xander's head. Even from this distance Tivi could see him swallow hard, staring at the shaman's hand that rose up before his face. Slowly, the shaman curled up one bony finger after another until once again only his flaring pointing finger was stretched out.

The shaman moved his hand, pointing at Xander's left eye, then his right.

Tivi pressed her hands over her mouth, cold sweat breaking out as she stared. They weren't going to–– they couldn't!

"I will give you one more chance," the shaman said.

"I'm…" Xander's gaze was glued to the sharp, searing bone hovering before his eyes. "The only thing I regret is missing out on the celebration of Balefire's death."

All of the Flame charr but the shaman growled, and the ones holding Xander gave him a violent rattle. The shaman, however, chuckled.

"Ah yes, you mean Brimstone's little campaign. He made no secret of it," the shaman agreed. He looked Xander in the face and continued, "by now he is burning eternally inside the Flame Citadel, begging Lord Gaheron for mercy." He stopped laughing, though he still sneered. "I am more kind, however. I will let you chose which eye I'll take."

Xander snapped his jaw shut.

Silence.

"Not choosing?" the shaman said. "Pity." The burning hand moved back and forth, back and forth. "You are right handed, yes?"

When Xander made no answer, some of the other charr, those who had seen him fight supposedly, growled agreement.

"The left one, then," the shaman said. "It will give you time to think about preserving your strengths."

The hand hovered closer, finger straightening out into a burning needle. Xander pinched his eyes shut and tossed his head, but the soldiers held him fast. One of them reached up and put a finger above and below his left eye, forcing the eyelids apart so that he had to see the approaching stab.

"No! No, stop!" Tivi shrieked.

Xander winced.

When the shaman turned to look at her with his cruel, smoldering eyes Tivi tried to flatten herself against the wall – but it was too late for her.

"Fetch that thing," the shaman said, looking over to Xander as he spoke.

Xander's face remained locked in a snarl, not even glancing when one of the Flame soldiers walked into the cage.

There was nowhere to go. The wall burned against Tivi's back but she pressed against it, wishing it would crumble, or that by some miracle a heroic band of travellers would burst into the cave. But there was only the soldier, moving towards her.

Rubusa drew backwards, mutely watching.

The soldier grabbed Tivi and carried her kicking and clawing out of the cage, towards the shaman.

"Well, you seem to care for him, at least," the shaman said. Sweat beaded on Tivi's face from the heat of the shaman's body and she squirmed for dear life.

Helpless.

The charr held her with his hands around her chest, and his gauntlets made her feeble scratches even more useless.

She couldn't breathe, her heart hammering so hard it felt like it would shatter. Even that would have been less painful than the plans simmering behind the shaman's eyes. It took all Tivi had to not scream, to not beg – there was no mercy, she saw that all too clearly. At least, she could try to not give them that satisfaction at once.

That couldn't last long, though.

The shaman touched a smoldering claw to his tongue, and steam hissed from the contact. A pathetic noise escaped Tivi's mouth.

"If you don't care about her," the shaman said, looking back at Xander, "I'm sure you don't care if she dies slowly."

Tivi bit her lower lip so hard that the skin broke. The taste of blood filled her senses, like a dark promise of what was to come.

Still Xander said nothing, looking away. The soldiers holding his horns twisted his head back towards the shaman.

"Perhaps then…" the shaman said, turning to Tivi again. She whimpered. "Perhaps you can tell us about your friend. It will make it so much easier for us if we know what to ask him about." He leaned in and grinned at her. "I might even be a little kind if you behave better than him."

He made no attempt to pretend like he meant it. Tivi curled up, covering her head with her hands as if that might actually help. She heard the shaman chuckle throatily. Heat seared the back of her hands, he was reaching out for her.

"I–– no––" Xander hoarsely croaked, his voice suddenly hollow.

In an instant the rise of the intense heat stopped. Tivi peeked up through a mist of tears, her whole body trembling like a leaf. The shaman started to say something. However, there was a sudden cry.

"Hey wha––!"

The shout from one of the soldiers ended in a hard punch and scrape of metal against metal. The shaman turned his head, as did Tivi and just about everyone else – just in time to see one of the Flame charr just outside the cage falling, and Rubusa snatching a dagger from his belt even as he tumbled.

The nearest charr leaped at her but she ducked aside, drawing her hand back. She swept forwards, the dagger flying from her hand. There was a thunk.

For a moment the world seemed frozen.

The shaman looked down at the dagger's shaft sticking out of his chest, too shocked at first to register what had happened. Then he roared in pain, clawing at the weapon. He staggered backwards while flames erupted from the wound, spreading across his body. The wild, magical fire consumed him even as he fell – he shattered into a cloud of sizzling ashes as he hit the ground.

Nobody moved, staring at the pile of evaporating dust.

Only for a second, though. Then Rubusa called everyone's attention back with a handful of words.

"I awakened to kill you," she said, eerily calm. "All of you."

With a rustling sound she reached beneath the giant leaves of her armor, drawing out her axes. The charr must have thought they were only decorative, or could not possibly be deadly. They certainly did not look it, but neither had Rubusa.

Until now.

A thought that Tivi hadn't even noticed leaving for a walk came dashing back to her, its hair disheveled and breath caught in its throat.

When we first met, Rubusa mentioned that she had fought ogres and one had "gotten away". What kind of person makes ogres run away?

The charr that held Tivi tossed her aside and leaped towards Rubusa, roaring in fury. Tivi hit the ground and scrambled blindly for cover. There was little safety to find and her mind was in too much uproar to pay attention. More roars filled the air as the rest of the Flame soldiers broke out of their shock.

Behind Tivi there was a horrible crunch and one roar ended abruptly.

Something made a weak grab for her back and a strangled shriek burst out of her – but when she cast a frightened look around she found that it was Xander, gingerly pushing at her with his foot. It was enough direction for her current state, and she managed to get up beside the rock he was chained to. Not that he could offer much protection, but neither could she and for what it was worth, despite his helplessness there was a scrap of comfort in at least being close to a friendly creature.

Tivi wiped at her eyes, trying to make herself as small as possible and hoping she would be forgotten. She regained her sight just in time to want to very quickly avert her eyes from the sight of Rubusa burying her axes in another charr's face. Tivi did not manage to look away quick enough to miss the spray of gore as the sylvari tore her weapons free in time to duck from a sword coming her way.

Rubusa whirled around like a demon, keeping the remaining three charr at bay with the sheer threat of getting turned to mince meat if they got too close – wait, three?

There were only two, stepping back and forth with their swords poised to strike if there was only an opening. But there had been three. Tivi's brain was not so paralyzed that her ability to count failed her. She wildly looked around, trying to spot the hiding charr before he could strike at Rubusa.

He did not even attempt to.

The air in front of Xander shivered and a Flame charr wearing dark leather armor melted into existence, dropping his cloaking spell. Tivi ducked as far back behind the rock as she could.

"Stop right there!" The Flame stalker pressed his dagger against Xander's throat so hard that he could not hold back a groan.

Rubusa slipped on the bloody floor as she spun around, narrowly avoiding falling over. As soon as she saw the stalker and Xander she froze, axes half raised. The two remaining soldiers started towards her and she backed, hesitating.

"Don't!" Xander snarled.

"I…" Rubusa bit her lip, throwing her gaze between the soldiers and back to Xander.

Afterwards, Tivi couldn't remember if she even had a plan. Probably not. Everything went black, and at the same time, crystal clear. Without a single thought in her head she shot out of cover and clamped her hands around the stalker's sweeping tail.

Although her magic was blocked, the Eternal Alchemy had after all seen fit to grant her species more than just superior intellect. Not all of the tail had protective armor, and Tivi buried her sharp teeth in it.

In retrospect, she might as well just have made the other charr slit Xander's throat on accident. Luckily he did not. The Flame stalker howled in pain and swept around, vaulting Tivi into the slab Xander was chained to. Agony rolled through her body and black stars danced through her vision. All she knew was that she could not for any reason let go.

Then she hit the ground hard, and there was only silence.

This chapter should have been longer, but I had been fighting writer's block for long enough.

Aaand, there you have it. Rubusa is a Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass, and embodies Beware the Silly Ones. Also, Pre-Asskicking One-Liner, woo!