anothercontinuity | (no subject)

Good. Gather your clothes.

[ Lucanis pauses, following Tony's gaze to Delphine, ashen-faced and still trying to hold her own lifesblood in as it pools around her fingers. They tried that so often. But a mage's hands were often too delicate, unused to exerting the sort of pressure it would take to hope to stem a wound that wide, that deep.

There's no pity in his eyes as he spins one blade around with a flick of his wrist, swiftly jamming it into her temple. At once her struggle ceases, her eyes going blank and her hands dropping limply. As he withdraws the dagger, the rest of her follows suite, slumping gracelessly to the floor.

He'll take a knee, searching her briefly for anything of use, though he suspects he won't find much.

Still. It will give Tony a moment to collect himself, as much as he's able to, before they leave this place. ]

[ tony watches her suffer, his expression tight with a quiet, cold fury in his eyes. right when lucanis jams the blade in, he flinches, turning his head aside, and then stumbles back into the cell. the next couple of minutes are just the whisper of cloth and creak of leather, tony mute with his bare back to lucanis while he redresses. the tight leather shirt he saves for second to last. a long, loud hiss escapes him when he pushes his arms through the sleeves. fresh blood smears up to his elbows.

he exits the cell buckling the last buckle of the waist cincher and his eyes avoiding lucanis and the body. he doesn't know what to think or feel. too much to process at once. ]

[ By the time Tony exits the cell again, Lucanis has gotten what he needs, standing upright once more. Already he's reaching for a pouch at his belt, a length of bandages being quickly unrolled. There's something sticky and astringent-smelling on the underside of them. ]

Let me see your arms. We'll have time to tend to them properly back at the villa, but we shouldn't linger here. We'll stop the bleeding, at least, and the elfroot will help numb the pain.

[ There's no room for argument, the words gentle but firm, as he gestures for one arm at a time. ]

[ a glance to that open doorway shows nothing, no more guards running in, just darkness and more eerie silence. he wants to say he's fine just to get out of there sooner, but tony relents and holds out his right arm. on the underside of each forearm, beneath the blood, a semi-circle and strange symbols have been etched deep in his skin.

he keeps his eyes on lucanis's hands as they work, a faint twitch in his fingers when something stings. after a moment, he croaks out, ] Thought you didn't do altruism.

Mierda. A binding spell. It doesn't look like she managed to finish it, though. This will scar, but there shouldn't be any lasting effects.

[ It doesn't stop the disgusted noise in the back of his throat as he works, quickly but securely binding Tony's arms one by one to stop the bleeding. There's a momentary pause at his words, before the corner of his mouth twitches upwards. ]

I also said you were my responsibility, did I not?

[ The last bandage secured snugly, he nods towards the hallway beyond the open door. It's dark, but there's a figure visible, slumped against one wall.

There will be more, as they go on. Dead, to the last man. ]

[ tony brushes immediately past and ahead, out of the door, but when lucanis follows, he's stopped at the slumped body of the guard, staring down at it, unreadable in the dark. ]

Edited 2024-11-17 02:06 (UTC)

Tony.

[ He almost reaches to touch his shoulder, but thinks the better of it. Maker only knows what they did to him before he managed to track them all down.

But it's nothing they can afford to dwell on, here. ]

We need to keep moving.

[ the reminder gets a lift of tony's head and then a stiff, jerky nod. he motions a hand ahead, down the hallway: take the lead. he'll follow. (he says nothing about keeping a little closer.) ]

Edited 2024-11-17 02:41 (UTC)

[ Stepping around the corpse, he leads back the way he'd come. The side-entrance to the cellar they're currently in had been his entry point, and should still be clear enough for them to make a break for the canal without being seen.

Not to mention every guard and mage between there and here is now lying in a pool of their own blood, staring up in horror with lifeless eyes as they pass. ]

[ for most of the trek tony keeps quiet and close, within arm's reach. if lucanis checks behind himself, he might catch tony's gaze lingering on a corpse they're passing in the torchlight. the stony, unreadable expression has cracked into a furrowed brow and parted mouth. after so many bodies, tony's voice comes from behind him, hoarse and hushed: ]

Where...are the other Crows?

[ the ones that helped pave the way. highly trained assassin or not, there's too many. but even as tony says it, his voice wavers with uncertainty. were there others? ]

[ ...ah.

That's the sound of a man who isn't used to seeing this many dead bodies. ]

No others. Just me.

[ Let that settle in as he pushes open the door the exterior, fresh air rushing past to greet them. They're still in Treviso, it seems, the familiar silhouette of the buildings visible even from here. ]

[ the spectral wings flash across tony's mind—the blur of feathers and shadow, the terror in that woman's voice. is this why the people of treviso revere the crows, like they're heroes dispensing justice in the dark of the night? for the way they can bring torturers like that woman to their knees in an instant?

stepping outside the cellar, tony breathes a little easier. the fresh night air helps to organize his thoughts, and he has questions. ] Who were those people?

Venatori. Tevinter supremacists, cultists who wield blood magic. Demons. And worse.

[ Once Tony seems to have his bearings, Lucanis nods. Through a sheltered walkway lined with stone pillars, there appeared to be a set of stairs down to the water, and a boat waits quietly there, bobbing in the water. ]

Their empire is long fallen, but they dream of bringing it back to its full glory. And it seems you had a taste of what they will do to achieve that.

[ the cuts on his forearms have been soothed to a dull ache, tingling under the bandages and ointment. tony tries to ignore them. while traversing the walkway, he casts his eyes between the pillars and the vines wrapped around them; at the darkness between them, the lantern light sparse and distant. he feels naked still, which never bothered him before, but this feels different. a deeper kind of nude.

next question. keep moving. ] How long was I gone? [ couldn't have been more than a day. he's hungry, but not starving. the thirst is worse. ]

Since last night. You didn't show up at the blacksmith's, so I went looking. Just in case.

[ So. Yes. He's been watching him this whole time. Tony can be upset about that or not, but Lucanis isn't sorry for it.

He also walks that outer edge, between Tony and the open dark, without making a show of doing so. One hand remains on the hilt of his sword as they walk. ]

Do you expect payment?

[ still in that hoarse, hushed voice, but the word payment comes out a bit too strained, the question's end too crushed. ]

You couldn't afford me. Remember?

[ The corner of his mouth lifts slightly, but nothing more besides that. Lifting a hand he beckons for Tony to move more quickly if he can, quietly descending the stone steps to the landing.

One hand reaches out to steady the boat, the other reaching back for Tony to assist him in. ]

[ after falling silent with a brief look, tony picks up the pace, eager enough to leave the cellar farther behind. he steps down into the boat with lucanis's help and chooses a far thwart to sit on and face the front. resting his arms to either side, fingers loosely curled around the thwart's edge, he stares at the bottom boards. ]

Is Will okay?

[ it's whispered, softer than his questions before. worried. since lucanis has been keeping tabs on him, he should know the name of the blacksmith tony works for. ]

He is.

[ Once Tony is settled, Lucanis drops in after him, pulling the rope back into the boat and picking up the oar to nudge them away. Slow, silent, they pass down the canal, under ivy-strewn stone bridges, into the heart of the sleeping city. ]

Concerned about you, but unharmed.

[ tony exhales. eventually, in the quiet, his eyes drift from the bottom boards to the boat's gentle wake beside them. what is he supposed to do now? he's painted a target on his own back. ]

[ He has. But the attention would have come, eventually. As they drift quietly, Lucanis's gaze turns back towards Tony.

Dropping briefly to his arms. ]

We had a conversation, once. About the sort of people who merit a contract from the Crows.

This qualifies. The Venatori and their kind, they are my quarry.

[ tony remembers that conversation: lucanis upfront about the source of his wealth and tony fresh to thedas and quick to judge. learning lucanis's personal choice of targets appeased him, but he still used a few choice words about it—offhanded slights hinting at his distrust. it didn't matter that much back then. lucanis was a means to an end. tony would get home and never look back.

at the same time tony remembers the blood spilling over delphine's fingers from her throat. he remembers watching her gargle and struggle. he remembers thinking the world was better off. ] Hard to complain about your methods now, I guess, [ he mutters. if those are the kinds of targets, if that's what it takes to keep people safe—then they do decent work. ]

[ It might only have been a day, but the echoes of what had been done to him were clear. There's a haunted look in the eyes of those who suffer the touch of blood magic, knowing they cannot trust even their own bodies to obey.

It is not something he would have wished for Tony, much less for context as to why he does what he does. Perhaps it will not be of comfort, but...

Honesty between them has worked thus far. ]

...I was once their prisoner, too.

[ There is a heaviness to the pause that follows, a weight, as the oar silently parts the water and guides them onward. ]

I would not have left you to them. Knowing what I do.

[ tony doesn't know where it comes from, but his throat constricts and he fights to stop his face from following it, a sheen forming in his eyes and reflecting the water he still stares at. ]

Edited 2024-11-19 03:55 (UTC)

[ Silence, save the lapping of the water, distant bells from the Chantry, the rustle of wings overhead. He has no soothing words, only shared experience. Nightmares. With the Venatori, it only ever got worse the deeper you dug.

Tony doesn't need that right now. He's shaken. Fiercely independent as he was, he needs a sense of control to cling to.

Carefully, Lucanis reaches into his vest pocket, drawing out a familiar-looking vial filled with swirling red liquid and holding it up to the light to catch Tony's eye. ]

Here. I thought you'd want the chance to destroy this yourself. When we're back to the villa.