– Maddox –

“Explain it to me again.”

The embers of Emeriss still burned brightly against the black sky. The smell of fire and burned flesh followed the four even with as far as they walked. The forests that had once surrounded the great city were flattened, charred. The smell of a rainless thunderstorm hung heavy on the air, electric, thick, magnetic.

If Maddox had thought Sabre set a grueling pace to the capital, Varia was even worse. The man was relentless, storming ahead towards the mountain range to the south. It was where they would be safe. Surely someone would be coming to assess the damage of Emeriss, and no matter who they fought for, they needed to be cautious. Sabre had torn a sack and fashioned a makeshift sling for Maddox, but they had no time to properly see to his arm. It was clearly broken, that much was obvious. The pain was throbbing, shooting hot needles through his shoulder and back with every step. But they were drawing near, at least.

As Sabre asked Varia once more for an explanation to the bomb, the commander turned his head briefly, indicating he heard him. Varia let out an annoyed sigh, though Maddox took note that he perhaps seemed too calm in such a situation. His country just tried to murder him, twice. He was now a fugitive of Arcturus, and likely thought dead. For Maddox, this was good news. If Arcturus thought Varia and Brom dead, they would not expect them to show up to their door. The military of Arcturus was largely loyal to Varia and Varia alone. The council couldn’t stop him if he turned on them. But would he? It didn’t matter, at least not now. Maddox was far too focused on the pain in his arm to worry about whether or not Varia would be keen on stirring up a civil war.

“They craft explosives with specialized powders forged from the Wall of the Sun. They make hundreds of them, combining them into one large package. Mages, at least thirty of them, they combine their chants and their magics in order to launch the package great distances. Once they’ve reach the destination, they let it drop. Once it’s dropped… you see what it does.” Varia responded. It was the seventh time he had explained these… bombs to Sabre in the past two hours. Maddox had heard it enough himself, but he appreciated how eager his second was in finding out everything he could.

“And they have launch sites here? In Er Rai?” Sabre asked, ignoring the look he received from Brom. “Aye, they’re everywhere.” Varia responded, his head on a swivel as they neared the mountains. “Everywhere...” Sabre muttered, glancing to Maddox with a frown. But Maddox had nothing to contribute to the current conversation. He wanted to get under the mountains. He needed to rest. He needed to get the image of an entire city snuffed out in a matter of seconds from his mind.

Tens of thousands of people, gone in the blink of an eye.

He remained quiet. It was too much of an effort just to walk straight and not fall, but he knew Sabre likely had questions that demanded answers. Answers that Maddox wasn’t sure Sabre would like. The situation, as terrible as it was, was more precarious for Brom and Maddox. Maddox felt himself safe, so long as the other two with them held off their questions and remained ignorant to the truth. It was a shaky truce they had, one that would need to be deepened and turned into a full alliance if either party were to get anywhere. But that was consideration for a later time.

Without the thick forest to hinder their path, the short journey to the mountains was completed before the sun rose. Emeriss could still be seen in the distance, a speck of burning orange on the horizon. The further they got, the easier it was to ignore what happened. For a moment, Maddox wondered how many of his friends were killed in the blast, but the pain from his arm quickly distracted him. If he was thankful for such a distraction, he was not yet sure.

Thick bushes spread up along the side of the mountain ridge, overgrown onto the small pathway up the rocky slopes. It didn’t take Sabre long to find the entrance, a circle carved into the rocks led the way for anyone who may be looking. Varia pushed aside a low hanging branch, revealing a dark crevice. The smell of fungus and earth pervaded Maddox’s senses and the lack of light did little to help him keep his bearing and balance. The soil under their boots was soft and squishy as they proceeded into the deep darkness below. Brom didn’t start a light until they were further in from the entrance, presumably using Varia to help guide them away from walls and pitfalls. Maddox didn’t know how long they walked, but they didn’t stop until he heard the dripping of moisture and came upon a small hollow that housed a shallow pool and lent-to. There were torches on the wall, unused for years. Most of them were ruined with the moisture, but Sabre found several that could still be lit.

The additional light revealed much more than Maddox expected. Crude wooden bridges formed pathways over the pools of water. Overturned tables, cups and cutlery scattered about higher rises in the stone. Sabre had said these tunnels were been used by bandits before. He wondered now where they had gone. Maddox rested himself near one of the pools and as he did he had to bite back the wave of nausea and dizziness, willing it to pass. While he had gained back some measure of feeling in his body again, with it came the pain from his arm which threatened to cripple him again. It was not as if he had never broken a bone before, and for sure he had sustained worse injuries than this. But there was something about injuries sustained by his power, or in areas affected by it. When sensations came back they tended to do so with force. So when that sensation was pain, it hit him harder than it should. But far be it for him to show that in front of others, least of all Varia. They may have a truce now, but Maddox was not so foolish as to think that any show of excessive weakness on his part wasn't like dangling meat before a starved wolf. He had to endure and suffer in silence if he wanted to see any of this to fruition.

His gaze turned towards the little demon, watching how his eyes brushed over every bit of rubble the fire revealed. He wondered briefly if his abilities allowed him to see more, or to feel more than could be seen. But his curiosity was replaced by something else. He could see it in Varia’s gaze, a hint of wanderlust.

Does the little demon want to explore?

He wondered what he was thinking in that moment, if he wanted to run away, to get lost in the tunnels. Surly no one would be able to find a creature of the dark down there. But as quickly as Maddox had noticed Varia’s desire to explore, it faded the moment he turned to Maddox. His expression was unpleasant, marred by that familiar weight that he always seemed to carry.

Maddox felt himself tense under the others sharp gaze, wondering if this was it.

Is Varia going to kill me now? After hauling my ass into the tunnels? It isn’t the worst plan.

Despite a flicker of murderous intent flashing behind that icy gaze, Varia instead dropped the sack he had been carrying, crouching to dig through it. He produced a roll of dingy bandages, dirty and worn, but able to be used still. But Maddox found that glaring at the Demon of Arcturus was far too much effort in that moment and only served to heighten his nausea and dizziness. So instead, he closed his eyes, allowing his head to rest back against the soft dirt. He could faintly hear his companions speaking, no doubt about him. He was by far the worst injured, and he only could trust that Sabre and Brom would keep Varia from killing him.

As it turned out, while he could perhaps count on them for that, that was about all he could count on them for. Brom came behind Maddox and Sabre on silent feet, catching Varia’s eye and doing a silent count down.

“Hold him still, Nihalian, or he’ll cause more damage.” Brom told Sabre as he pounced Maddox, holding him in a lock with his arm outstretched for Varia to splint. Maddox balked at the sudden hold, even more at the influx of pain. Not that he could thrash very much, but he instinctively tried to throw them all over, wanting nothing to do with whatever they were about to attempt. While Maddox could keep mum about his pain and wounds, that lasted only until they were tended. If left to quietly sit with his pain he could filter it out, section it off in his mind for a while. But when someone was poking and prodding, jostling it and causing hills and valleys of physical pain, he couldn’t concentrate, couldn’t hold the pain at bay. At those time he was indeed childish, doing everything he could to escape his helpers turned tormentors.

Sabre had hold of his back, strong arms wrapping under Maddox’s own arms and limiting his movements. In any other situation Maddox could trounce Sabre, but with the added strength of Brom, and the break in his arm, he was virtually helpless against their grasps. Between Brom and Sabre, Maddox was well restrained, but as Varia grasped his arm, he was able to jerk away from him. Without thinking twice, Varia shoved himself against Maddox’s torso, his back pressed against the mans chest as he secured his arm against his own body. The struggle seemed to last for minutes, before a sickening crack echoed through the chasm. In an instant Maddox’s struggles lessened due to the pain, but Varia wasted no time, wrapping the mans arm up as best he could with the limited supplies they had available.

There were two things that distracted Maddox from his struggling that followed in quick enough succession that he was able to forget the first with the second. The sudden sharp pain of having his arm set had done a hell of a good job chasing away his first lapse in concentration: Varia.

Among the things to happen to him today he had not expected that Varia would 1. Be trying to splint his arm over irreparably destroying it and him, and 2. That the other would be straddling him. It was more the second than the first event that had startled him into momentary submission, primarily do to the fact that, for someone dragged around in a cart all day, Varia smelled kinda nice. Of course that was a relative statement, for objectively speaking they probably all smelled rather rank. But there had been a spice and forest smell about Varia that reminded Maddox of deep Arcturian wood in winter. It was a nostalgic smell and he had found himself inhaling deeply. Then came the pain and he promptly forgot any remotely pleasant feelings the man before him inspired.

Now, breathing heavily as he lay on the dirt floor, arm splinted and mind growing clearer, Maddox leveled a glare at his second. “You...are way...too gleeful for my taste….and your health.” Maddox growled at the others smirk.

Sabre was lucky Maddox was still injured, for he surely would have caused injury to the other if that were not the case. Maddox supposed the situation was funny. It was certainly ridiculous on all counts, but Maddox didn’t have it in him to laugh about it at the moment. More than his own pain, his thoughts kept turning to the city aflame, the lives snuffed out suddenly and brutally. There was also no small bit of guilt, not just for not protecting the city, but for also being unable to protect the soldiers that had been with him. Instead he had given priority to the three with him, two of which were professed enemies, one of which likely still was.

“We shouldn’t linger too long. There are better safe stops further in.” Maddox said to Sabre, though he was loathed to move. But they had taken a relatively straight path to this spot, which meant it would be easy to find compared to some of the others. The Arcturians had gathered near the small pool, whispering in hushed voices, pointing every which direction. Maddox wondered if Varia was pressing Brom for more information, of their familiarity. He supposed they would have to come clean sooner rather than later. For now, he was thankful Sabre had left it be.

Sabre helped him to his feet. The pain was there, but dulled, only an ache now. Cold was slowly beginning to wash over it, and though normally that would be cause for concern, for Maddox it meant he was healing rapidly. Brom brought him several herbs he had pulled from the pool, instructing him to chew on them as they moved and they certainly helped to quell the hurt. Brom had gone ahead as they moved through the winding caverns, forging fake trails and scouting ahead. The more Maddox’s mind returned to him, the more uncomfortable he was in the darkness of the caverns. He had never cared much for such small and dark places. His own experiences inside of caves just like this, perhaps a bit colder, and usually with Varia actively attacking him had seen to that. But Varia seemed perfectly at home. Of course he did. He was a little demon after all. The dark and dreary caverns would make a wonderful home for the prat.

One spot in the cave forked into several directions. From the left side, a whisper seemed to come with the air, that electric feeling of magic surrounding the entrance. Varia was leading, and without hesitation he went the other way. Perhaps he sensed something Maddox hadn’t, for he didn’t think twice about moving down the center path. The walked for an hour, perhaps a bit longer before the cave opened up into a sprawling cavern. Fungus lined the pools, glowing a dim blue and illuminating the area. The ceiling was high there, too high to see before it was plunged into darkness. Water fell in a roaring fall, filling the pools with fresh water. Fish could be seen swimming calmly in their crystal depths. For a moment, that same wanderlust crossed Varia’s face, his eyes wide as he gazed around the area. Various ramps led to higher levels of the cavern and also other tunnels. Small buildings were scattered throughout, and they had their pick of where to stay.

“Have your fishing skills improved any?” Maddox asked Sabre as he spotted the small fish darting about in the pools of water. “Which cavern is this, anyway? I always managed to get turned around in these things.” That was a good thing. Maddox reckoned if he was so turned around, anyone who may have tracked them there would be equally lost. His eyes weren’t focused on Sabre though, instead following the movements of the small commander in his presence. Varia slowly stepped to the edge of one of the pools, a frown crossing his features briefly as he looked down to his own body, covered in blood and grime. Maddox saw the hesitation on the male’s face as he approached the pool, and thought it rather cute that the Demon of Arcturus was pining for a bath. Maddox would have thought the male at home in grime and blood, but perhaps it was because Varia had not caused it that he felt uncomfortable. His head tilted to Sabre as the man answered his question.

“I can try to fish. Better asking the creepy assassin." He muttered, jerking a thumb at Brom. "Honestly, I'm a bit turned around, but.... considering how far we walked, I'd say this is red rock, south." He said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I would assume there’s a map around here somewhere." Maddox’s gaze briefly turned to Sabre as he confirmed their location, making a mental note. They were near a few villages, but they were still close to the capital. It was likely those villages were evacuated by now, or worse.

His gaze was drawn back to the pool as the sound of heavy leathers and chain mail being tossed about echoed in the chasm. Varia was undressing, clearly not at all concerned about being unarmored around Maddox, an idea that left him both frustrated at his lack of intimidation in that moment and… curious. Varia always wore that heavy armor, black as his shadows. Chain mail decorated his vital spots, his shoulders protected with heavier metals. A thick fur cloak was normally drawn around his shoulders, so seeing him remove all those layers certainly had him interested. He heard Sabre huff, hearing the other turn away from the sight, but Maddox continued to watch. He had the thought that Varia was much more attractive than he would have thought. Though scars were expected, Varia had less than Maddox thought. He certainly had less than Maddox which pricked the captain’s pride a bit. Perhaps it was just the dim lighting, Maddox told himself. Though that ‘dim lighting’ wasn’t so dim that he couldn’t appreciate the finer points of Varia’s body. It was at that moment that he recalled how Varia had straddled him before, how close the other had been, the smell of him. Maddox looked away as Varia entered the pool, hoping it was dark enough that Sabre couldn’t see the flush on his cheeks.

He heard Sabre sniffing near him, finally turning his gaze to his second as the man gazed down at his own body, his nose scrunched in disgust. “Go on ahead. I’ll watch and make sure he doesn’t drown you. I want to get a bit more strength back first.” Maddox said, though that was only part of the reason.

Maddox very rarely undressed around others, and when he did it was usually dark. Up until now he had gotten away with it due to the nature of his work. There was always something to preoccupy himself with while everyone else was getting washed up. He had been able to largely avoid showing anyone his bare body. Even lovers never saw him completely naked, the encounters usually being rushed ones. Even when that was not the case he made sure that none saw his back. Before he had defected Maddox too had been initially put in a program in Arcturus. In that program the kids had been branded with a now antiquated Arcturus symbol. It spanned the entirety of Maddox’s back and had been branded with some kind of magic that resisted removal. At most he could cover it with magic, but never erase it. Most didn’t know what the symbol meant, and he had lied if ever someone had seen it. But Varia, Maddox was sure, would know it. With the entirety of his and Brom’s history not yet revealed, and unsure how both Sabre and Varia would take the truth, Maddox had no desire to unveil himself in such a fashion

So he sat on the edge of the pool, putting his feet in the cool water at least to ease their aching. “Tis a shame. You could have warmed many a bed and made quite a different living for yourself with a body like that. What demon did you bargain with to erase the hideous looks you had to have been born with?” Maddox asked Varia from the shore, trying not to stare too hard at the other’s body.

He received a scathing glare from Varia as the man drifted further into the pool, small hands rubbing across surprisingly muscular shoulders. He could only imagine the murderous thoughts rushing through the little demons mind at his words, but he soon found Varia’s eyes moving to Sabre as the man stripped.

Sabre’s skin was bronzed from years of living in Nihal, darker than Maddox’s tanned skin. He was well formed, dark hair and golden eyes, a pearly smile flashing from behind a well trimmed beard. Maddox saw Varia’s appraisal of Sabre and could sympathize. He too had appraised his second’s body, appreciating its tone and curves.

But, alas, that was a depth be could not plumb. There had been perhaps some drunken attempts on both of their parts to become intimate, but usually it devolved into a sexually frustrating wrestle that left both of them laughing and seeking release elsewhere. So Maddox felt amusement at Varia’s assessment, though he refrained from speaking of it aloud. Sabre would probably shit himself to think the Demon of Arcturus was eyeing him.

Of course such a thought had Maddox looking at Varia again, considering what kind of bed partner the other might make. Given his reputation it was assumed he would be adverse to being on the receiving end of sexual pleasure, but then again his stature lent to one automatically thinking him on the bottom. Maddox smirked at his thoughts, imagining a petulant Varia beneath him.

“What, are you shy?” Varia’s voice tore Maddox from his thoughts, a smirk falling over his face as he tilted his head at the naked man before him.

“I can’t have you distracted by the beauty and manliness of my body, so, for your sanity, I have refrained. Though if you are that adamant I may consent to a private viewing later, let you have a close view of certain parts.” Maddox said with a wink at Varia.

Not that he expected Varia to do other than cause harm to such parts, so it was more of a joke than not. But how Varia rolled his eyes nearly to the back of his skull was amusing.

"In any case, I am not so foolish as to completely divest myself while in your element.” For sure the thought of being naked in the darkness with Varia so close by was not a comforting thought. While much of his power was likely useless in such a case, Maddox had no desire to be more at the other’s mercy than necessary.

“Have you talked to your second yet, Varia?” Maddox asked suddenly serious, glancing back into the gloom for Brom. The other was not in sight and likely still scoping out the various compounds. “I will remind you, whatever else you may feel about the present situation, he has kept you alive when it would have greatly benefited to let you die. His loyalty to you, disgusting as it is, is genuine. Though, coming from me I suppose that means nothing to you. Not yet, anyway.”

"You're correct. Anything you say means nothing to me, though I am curious as to the history the two of you suddenly seem to have." Varia replied, turning in the water to move his back to face Maddox, not that Maddox was complaining by the sight.

“It’s not sudden, Varia. He’s my brother. My older brother.” Brom said in Arcturian as he materialized out of the shadows a little ways from Maddox, closest to Varia. He tossed the other a small piece of wrapped soap before sitting at the edge of the pool, slowly removing his own clothing.

“We grew up in the mountains northeast of the capital, near the Frozen Sea. It was a small village of no concern to the empire. As you well know, they didn’t take noble’s children for the programs. They took children from the streets, from far remote places that thought themselves safe and which no one would notice was erased in the night.” Brom spoke softly and slowly, his narrative mostly for Varia’s sake as he did not switch to the common tongue.

Maddox listened to the others speak, ignoring Sabre’s look. He knew Sabre understood Arcturian, but thankfully he wasn’t being questioned just yet by his second. They had larger concerns right now, Varia. He had already suffered a betrayal, and the man wasn’t known for being stable.

“They came at dawn, slaughtering as many as they took. Our parents perished, as did our other siblings. Some there, some in the camps. Maddox and I were separated as young children, determined to have different uses to the empire with his natural born skill and my lack thereof. I was to be fodder for the likes of you and him. Pawns to throw in front of your enemies, test subjects for weapons. But Maddox, as you know, can be stubborn and tenacious, and very dangerous. The short version is that he escaped his hell, found me in mine and, rather than being the good brother our parents wished, he thrust me back into another. The program that led me to you is an Er Rai sleeper cell. Some legitimately work for Arcturus, but most intend to create more sleeper agents to destroy the empire from within.” Brom paused in his story as he removed his shirt, wincing as the fabric pulled away from his wound.

"I was supposed to kill you. Er Rai wanted it. Arcturus wanted it. And if you had tried to kill me in turn I probably would have succeeded. But you didn’t. I was your friend, your companion, someone you trusted. You believed in that and sought to reason with me, to save me.”

Maddox cut in in the common tongue, kicking the water idly. “I told him when he was assigned to you, when you first emerged as the Demon of Arcturus, to find out if you could be saved. If anything human was left in you. A kingdom for a demon….” Maddox scoffed and shook his head, rising to his feet and walking back towards the huts and fire Brom had started.

The truth was deeper than that, thicker. Maddox no longer worked for the cell Brom spoke of, that Brom thought still played a part in all of this. Maddox could not afford to keep the cell with him, not for his larger quest. The quest he was given, his birthright, when he was taken from the village and brought instead to the vast forest of Er Rai, E'letaesi. There everything changed. There he abandoned the cell and set in motion actions that could not be reversed. Brom did his duty, but the cause was not the one he knew of.

Varias gaze didn’t move to Maddox as he spoke, but his gaze darkened, his nose crinkling. "Save me?" He scoffed, shooting a glare over his shoulder at Maddox, before his eyes moved to Brom.

The look on Varias face as he stared at Brom... strange, especially for him. It was clearly the first time he had heard any of this, the first time it was even suspected. It left Maddox feeling a strange way as well… guilt, was it? Varia had known Maddox was Arcturian by birth, but nothing beyond that. The two didn’t even look the same, but... many things had begun to make sense to him, Maddox could see the realization dawning on him. There had been times that Varia had Maddox pinned, and he COULD have killed him, easily. But Brom never allowed it.

It went both ways as well, Maddox had plenty of opportunities to kill Varia as well, yet Brom had always managed to keep him alive as well. Though, Varia was difficult to kill even without Brom's interference.

Varia held Broms gaze for a long moment, almost as if he was considering an attack. Maddox watched from a distance, ready to jump to his brothers defense, all useless as he may be, before Varia lifted from the water, snatching his clothes from where he had bundled them and moving away from the others. Maddox let out a heavy sigh, as if he had been holding his breath. His eyes followed Varia as the commander moved towards one of the huts, leaving the others to be alone.

Sabre watched the events transpire, pulling himself from the waters as well, re-dressing himself. “Well… what an interesting turn of events…” He muttered, shooting a look to Maddox, though he seemed less surprised than he should be. Sabre knew of the cell, and knew of Maddox's departure from it. Though what else he knew, Maddox could not say. Sabre knew a great many things he should not.

Maddox grunted in reply, looking towards Brom as the other climbed into the water. “I expect he’ll be leaving then.” Sabre murmured as he pulled his shirt over his head.

“No.” Brom corrected, glancing in the direction Varia had disappeared to. “He can’t just live quietly somewhere, his pride wont allow the slight from Arcturus to go unanswered. But he can’t strike back without us. If he were determined to ignore the empire and live quietly somewhere he would have killed us. While I can’t say for sure that his desire to disappear won't someday outweigh his hatred and anger, at least for now I wouldn’t worry about it.” Brom said, half floating in the water, looking up at the distant cavern ceiling.

Maddox allowed Varia to brood in one hut, busying himself near the fire, skinning and spitting the scrawny cavern hares Brom had caught on his survey of the area. It was not easy with a broken arm, but he managed, and in doing so got some measure of control over himself as well. Maddox had not thought his plan would work out so well, nor have such devastating consequences. He had thought one or all of them would be dead by now, or that the circumstances which had propelled them into this alliance would never come. So how to deal with a foe turned ally, how to navigate his brother’s emotions in regards to him and now Varia, how to accept that their little plan may have been the ruin of the capital, how to tell his brother that he too has been used, and by Maddox, not by the cell he believe in.

Maddox scowled at the roasting rabbits. This had all been to obtain Varia. If he turned tail on them now it will have all been for naught. It was for his own sanity at least that he had to make sure that the threads keeping Varia with them did not fray beyond repair.

So Maddox took the rabbits off the fire, taking one on a stick in his injured hand, taking a torch with the other and going in search of Varia. He found the little demon brooding in a dark hut a little ways away, and ignored the clearly oppressive air that told him to fuck all the way off. He kicked the door shut behind him, planting the torch in the dirt, it’s glow doing little to chase away the darkness likely being fed by Varia.

“I brought dinner. And don’t say you’re not hungry or don’t want it. You can brood like a spoiled kid in the corner if you’d like, but you’ll need energy for that as well.” Maddox said, also staking the rabbit stick in the dirt. He plopped down across from Varia, knowing he was pressing his luck and not caring.

"Before you get too deep into your brooding I want to make sure you have all the facts. So if you choose to fuck us over out of spite or even stick with us, you know everything.” Maddox said, holding eye contact with Varia over the flame. “For the record, my brother was never on board with killing you. Whatever friendship you have with him, it’s genuine. He needed it for his sanity as much as you did. So whatever dark little thoughts you are convincing yourself of, let that not be one of them.”

As Maddox spoke to Varia, Varia held his gaze. He was listening, but the questions and possibilities moved through his mind frantically, his gaze sharp, yet unfocused. Maddox was able to read the demon better than most, and he could see the way Varia teetered on the edge . The shadows in the small hut were pulsating, as if they were breathing, shielding Varia and now Maddox from the dim lights of the cavern. Varia finally turned his head away.

"Did Arcturus betray me because of something you two did?" He asked. It was a valid question and Maddox took a moment to think through the answer, owing Varia at least an honest one.

“No...and yes.” He said, looking back at the other after a moment. “The results of the breeder programs always had an expiration date. Your kind were bred to be violent, unpredictable, berserkers in uniform. That you turned out to be rather well adjusted was a fluke rather than the norm. All of your contemporaries have since done exactly as they were expected to do: die or need to be killed. If you weren’t killed in some suicide run it was expected that you would need to be put down, a rabid dog no longer able to tell master from prey. From the view of Arcturus, Brom was put by your side, at worst as a warning to them that you had lost it, at best to put you down if it seemed you were more liability than asset. But, better than they or we expected, he balanced you out, and you kept fighting war after war for them, by and large winning.” Maddox had a rueful grin, annoyed at that fact but having to acknowledge the skill regardless.

“But people like winners, and despite your personality, people liked you quite a bit. All on your own, whether you wanted it or not, you began to cause movements and waves among the populace, to gain supporters above and beyond what a mere grunt was suppose to. Naming you commander was suppose to curb any ambition you had, but it had the potential to work also as a way to undercut the government. You are not nobody. So the first part of the answer is, no. You set them against you from the start by outliving your life expectancy and succeeding in ways you were never meant to. What we did do, was throw a match into the powder keg you had made of yourself. A few well placed whispers that maybe you were not so innocent in your fame, that you had ambition and intention, and Arcturus found a diplomatic reason to kill you off.” Maddox sighed and stretched his legs to the edge of the light ring made by the torch. “Here or there, Varia, rulers are not different in their fears. To them you and I will always be trash, gutter-born, dirtying their halls and polluting their vision with our very presence. Eventually they will seek to kill us. It’s only a matter of when and for what benefit.”

Maddox watched Varia’s gaze shift from defeat to a focused, accusing glare. Maddox expected a lot of things to come out of Varia’s lips, but what came surprised him.

"They were going to cast me onto the ice when I was born. I was so small, how could I ever become what they wanted me for?" Varia’s tone was normally strict, stern, angry. But now, it was soft. It was so strange, hearing Varia speak this way, but Maddox wouldn’t stop him.

"I was number 22. I have brothers somewhere, probably dead by now. It doesn’t matter anyway, considering they took me the moment Vaalar Thiron decided to keep me alive. I was raised in those dark halls, beaten for not being violent enough, beaten for not being strong enough.... but that didn’t last long. I was 5 when I killed the first person. Another kid in the program. I tried to remove his head, but my sword was too heavy. I gouged his throat instead and... I was rewarded. My violence was born with me, it's in the very nature of all Arcturians, but they made me what I am. They elevated me, gave me everything I needed to rise in rank. I was the youngest commander in history, there’s statues of me in Akranes. My face is carved into murals of the greats and propaganda posters. Everything I've done, I did for them. Without them, I don't have anything. I don’t know how to be anything but what they made me to be, and now all of that is gone. Because I AM nothing without Arcturus. I am gutter-born, and I was perfectly content dying for their vision. You spoke of saving me, there isn’t anything to save."

Whatever Maddox expected of this chat with Varia, a recounting of the other’s history and divulging into what sounded suspiciously like an existential crisis, was not it. As Varia spoke Maddox found himself commiserating with the other and he had the feeling that, though no moisture clouded the other’s vision, that something inside Varia was crying out desperately. Maddox could feel what his brother had claimed to see time and time again in the other. Despite what Varia was saying, no, because of it, there was certainly something salvageable in the other.

“And yet, despite the violence in which you were bred, rather than responding with unbridled violence as you were taught, you have shown mercy, compassion, traits that surely would have invited such beatings in your youth. So I am told by Brom, anyway. That he is still alive when his confession should have prompted you to dispatch him immediately and without hesitation, leads me to believe his words. It is not salvation we are offering, Varia. We are not gods nor do we claim to have ties to such. This is not an invitation to appeal to some higher power for all the blood on your hands. This is an offer to give voice and purpose to that part of you that seeks to be more than a demon. It’s an offer to create a chance to make your own future.”

There was no salvation for their souls, that Maddox knew well. It didn’t matter which side they claimed and the reasons they had picked up the sword. He and Varia would share a cell in hell together if there was a hell.

"There are other lands out there.” Maddox said quietly, looking into the fire. For a moment his eyes showed that same longing that Varia’s had every time he looked off into the caves. That want, need to explore, to become lost in a place no one would look for him.

“Places where we are not enemies, where we need not even speak if we passed each other on the road, nor even pass each other at all. But these places, they are closed to us so long as the current empire stands. To be free of Er Rai, I must be free of Arcturus. If you wish to hang on to the creature Arcturus made of you and never be free, there are places we can drop you off and you will get first hand proof how much you mean to them and whether we are lying. It’s up to you, Varia.” Maddox said, rising and stretching gingerly. He looked down at the other, a sudden urge to hug Varia surging through him. But he held himself in check if for no other reason than crossing that expanse before Varia was ready would reward Maddox with a blade between the ribs without a doubt.

Varia’s eyes lowered from Maddox as he rose, watching as his boots dug into the soft, dry sand covering the floor of the hut. He was quiet for a while, and Maddox dared not to interrupt his thoughts. Varia didn’t believe him, he knew that. He didn’t believe there was a place for him in the world.

“I will stay, only to see Arcturus destroyed." Varia spoke, his eyes continued to avert themselves from Maddox. "I suppose you've done your job then."

They were almost spiteful, his words. They carried much, his sense of betrayal, the feeling that everything he had believed and trusted had all been for naught. Maddox had never been good about talking out his feelings. Since his father and his family’s death, probably even before that, he had always had a problem using his words to convey his feelings and thoughts. Over time this had gotten better, especially as he had needed to be able to convey orders and intentions with clarity. Lives were at stake after all. But when it came down to his own frustrations, fears, wrath, love, he had always struggled to tell over show, communicate rather than vent. It was a disease of being a military man. It was the burden of those who spent those formative years with violence. Brom had somehow turned out alright.

But then again his strengths had always been those that allowed him to speak even if all he spoke was lies. Maddox imagined that, rather than being able to get Varia to talk to him, Brom had simply been able to speak the things Varia felt or else weaved a cleaver tale to help the other out of the darkness in his heart. But Maddox was not Brom, and as he gazed down at Varia he felt a kinship with him that their animosity up until this point had allowed them to ignore. Varia too was a man of action over words. He felt too deeply for the languages he had been taught to convey.

All but one, that is.

“Get up.” Maddox said, tightening the bandages on his arm to make sure they would hold. “I’m not going to spend the night holed up in a dark as pitch cave system with a broody demon of the dark. Thinking is not your strong suit, Varia. I’ll let you say all the things you need to, for I have a few things to tell you as well.” Maddox gave a crooked smile as he shifted the rabbit and the fire off to one side. “Don’t let this broken arm fool you. I’m still pretty eloquent with my fists. Or are you a sensitive bloke now, gonna write poems about your feelings instead?”

Varia’s gaze shifted up to Maddox, and for a moment he seemed confused. But it lasted a brief moment, before Varia slowly rose to the challenge. He was a warrior after all. This is what he knew.

"You’re useless to me dead, so I’ll attempt to pull my punches.” The commander spoke.

Maddox had grinned, gleeful that his invitation had been excepted. That grin turned downright feral as Varia said he would pull his punches, or at least attempt to. The demon had to know Maddox would afford no such consideration and for Varia to do so was at his own risk. That Varia was going to even attempt to treat him like a cripple angered Maddox even though it was somewhat valid. But he was never one to admit his weakness, least of all before a foe. So he said nothing to discourage the other his folly and prepared for battle.

A battle it was, though of a different sort than he had imagined. Varia had aimed low, as was expected considering there was hardly anywhere else he could reach. Maddox found himself having to use his non-dominant hand to compensate for his injury, so his elbow to Varia’s back, while probably painful, was not as successful at dislodging the other as he might have hoped. In such a small dark space Maddox was unable to keep his hold and bearing, grounded by Varia though that was not as much a hindrance has one might fear. Yes he was on Varia’s level, but also Varia was level with his fists and Maddox introduced him to both several times. Varia fought like a hellion and Maddox found himself enjoying the others ferocity. There was only one slight problem.

The grappling and wrestling meant that Maddox was very close to the other. If Maddox thought the other smelled nice unwashed, he smelled even better with a few layers of dirt off of him. It was that same nostalgic smell, that same longing that pulled at Maddox’s gut when he smelled it. It was distracting and more than once he found himself biting Varia just to get the other to move further away or at least where Maddox couldn’t inhale him. But usually that ended up with Varia straddling him way more often than Maddox thought he would like.

Perhaps he was still dazed from the blast earlier, or perhaps he had simply gone too long without release and his body was waffling between violence and sex. Whatever the reason, this scuffle between them was morphing into something he couldn’t deal with and which Varia was the wrong outlet for.

As he reached up and grabbed Varia by the throat with his injured hand, squeezing as much as he could, he smirked through the busted lip Varia had given him. “You seem to like riding me, Varia. Are you sure you weren’t bred for the bedroom instead?”

He regretted his taunt almost immediately. As if a switch went off, Varias gaze grew dark. A hand reached up, before slamming it against Maddox’s throat, causing the mans head to smack against the ground harshly, a satisfying choke leaving him from the force.

Varia drew his face closer to Maddox, his grip tightening on the others throat as well, unhindered by any form of injury, a silent, yet dangerous warning. "Watching you drown in your own blood would be the most satisfying thing to ever happen to me." He whispered, his eyes locked with Maddox’s once more, so close his breath tickled the other mans lips.

Apparently he had struck a nerve. The swift change in Varia was almost enough for Maddox to regret his words. Almost. But there was something...off about the way Varia was looking at him. It was more than the usual feral hunger to hurt and be hurt, to vent. At some point in their tussle Varia’s eyes had come to hold a different kind of hunger, one that Maddox knew all too well. But that Varia should hold such a hunger towards him was what threw Maddox and may have partially inspired his words as a way to back-pedal. But even afterwards, after slamming Maddox’s head into the ground hard enough to make the other see black spots in his vision, that hunger persisted.

Thank heavens for Brom and Sabre bursting in when they did. Had he been left alone with Varia another few moments, Maddox was sure things would have taken a sharp turn. Varia rose up off of him as the others moved into the hut, shoving Maddox’s head into the dirt as he moved from the others. He stepped away, moving to where he had dropped his cloak, picking it up and smacking the dust from it. “When are we moving?” he asked.

Maddox remained on the ground, calming his pulse and trying to push silly thoughts from his head. But in the gloom of the room he could still see Varia above him, much too close, with a hunger misplaced. What was most startling for Maddox was that he found he wasn’t 100% sure how he might have responded if that hunger had voiced itself or persisted so close. Even more, he was unsure what face he had shown to Varia in return.

“We stopped so that everyone could heal, not so you two could re-injure yourselves.” Brom chided softly. “But if there are no more wrestling matches? A day or so.” Brom answered, crouching near Maddox in an attempt to check his arm.

Maddox brushed him off, finally standing and heading out of the hut without another word. He needed a bath, and to cool off. Maddox headed for the water, taking off only things that might cause him to sink but otherwise remaining mostly dressed before diving it. His clothes were a mess anyway, best wash it all in one go. His broken arm appreciated the cold to help with the aggravated swelling pressing against the binding.

Sabre and Brom joined him near the pool, but Varia took to exploring the cavern. He kept close enough to stay in their sight, though if that was so he could watch them, or the other way around, Maddox didn’t know. Maddox had initially meant to fill Sabre in on current events, but his thoughts had been distracted by Varia and continued to be so even as they parted ways. Maddox found himself idly watching the other male wander off, allowing his mind to revolve around his increasingly complex feelings regarding the other.

Complex. No, it was actually rather simple. It was not as if Varia were the first of his kind that Maddox had felt this way towards, just the first that would likely prove an equal. There had been other men that had been opposed to Maddox. Men who he found attractive exactly for their opposition and whose attractiveness grew as they continued to thwart him. Perhaps once he bedded Varia he would lose interest, as he often did. Varia was already less a rival now that they were not on opposing sides, so all that was left was to sleep with him and completely sever the attraction. If only things were so simple.

But the enigma that was Varia seemed determined not to cease to intrigue.