Cold. Drifting. Lost. Where am I?
...
Am I dead?
...
There was light. Brightness and color. Shouts. I remember it.
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You told me to run.
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Missing. Afraid. Dad, where are you?
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Fell. Falling. Afraid.
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Empty. Nothing. Can't move. Can't see. Can't think.
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Is this death? Am I dead?
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Help me. I don't know where I am.
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Did they hurt me? I can't feel anything.
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I ran, like you said.
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Dad?
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Cold. Lost. Dark.
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I think I'm dead.
...
...
...
When Ingressus woke up, he knew who he was. And that was all he could say. Where, why, how, and when all came up blank. He was in a cave, that much was obvious. But it was wrong, it was too bright... Sunlight in a cave meant you were too exposed; you had to go deeper to be hidden, to be safe...
Ingressus nearly panicked when he felt something pressing down on him. He thrashed, but the thing moved with him. Then he realized it was a pile of blankets.
His ankle hurt. Ingressus moved it tentatively, feeling something tight encircling the limb. Was he tied down?
He fumbled under the blanket until he got his hands free. Well, at least he wasn't completely tied up. He shoved the blankets off of him, shivering at the sudden intrusion of cool air as he sat up (ow, why did his ribs hurt?) and inspected his restraints. That... didn't appear to be a restraint at all. Long strips of bandages were wrapped around his ankle, tight but not painfully so. Something stiff was strapped on either side of his leg under the bandages, keeping him from moving the appendage. Oh. It was a splint, then. But it wasn't tied to anything. A glance at his other leg showed another bandage wrapped around his shin, but no restraints there, either.
What had happened to him?
"Ah, you're finally awake."
Ingressus locked eyes with the blue Ardoni, and terror seized him. Those markings, that pattern— he was a raider, he was the Champion!
Flashes of songs echoed before Ingressus's eyes, red and green and blue and yellow blazing back and forth across the mountainside. The gleam of diamond, the splatter of blood, screams of anger and pain and fear and this Sendaris plunging a sword into his father's chest—
Ingressus recoiled, his gaze darted around the cave, scanning desperately for anything to defend himself. No sword, no Voltar, how could he have lost them, his father had entrusted him–
"Woah, kid," the Sendaris, the Champion said, "You're not—"
There! It wasn't much but it was all there was. Ingressus lunged across the bed and snatched up the flowerpot, then scrambled to his feet and leaped at the murderer before him.
Or, tried to.
The minute his leg took his weight, Ingressus's ankle crumpled. He fell in a painful heap to the floor, elbow cracking against the stone and the flowerpot splitting in half.
"Woah, are you all right?"
The Champion reached for him. Ingressus lashed out, smashing the piece of ceramic into the Champion's wrist.
"OW!" The Sendaris recoiled, cradling his hand to his chest. "Wither's rot, kid, you've got an arm!"
He'd done it. He'd landed a blow on the Champion. Ingressus snatched up a sharper piece of the flowerpot and scrambled back, slashing at the air to keep the Champion away. He needed to run, had to get away, but the only exit was behind the Sendaris...
"Kid, just calm down," the Sendaris was saying. "I'm not gonna hurt you—"
"You killed the rest of them but you won't hurt me?" How stupid did the Champion think he was? You couldn't trust the other clans, every Voltaris knew that!
"What are you talking about?"
No other raiders had shown up, that was good. Maybe the Champion figured he didn't need help to finish Ingressus. Well, Ingressus would make him fight for it!
If your enemy thinks you're weak, let them underestimate you. Even the best fighters can fall to overconfidence.
Ingressus limped backwards, leaning on the wall as though for support. It wasn't all an act, but an escape you survive was a successful one, and that was all that mattered. He needed an opening, a shot at a weak spot. If he could somehow make the Sendaris fall he could smash his head against the stone, knock him out or stun him long enough to get past. The sharp fragment could do some serious damage if he hit the right spot, could he bring him down that way? Yes, that was the plan. Act weak and scared, draw him in, do as much damage as fast as possible and then run as fast as he could.
But the Champion wasn't approaching him. If anything, he'd taken a step back, hands empty and held out to his sides as if to– what, act like he was unarmed? Ingressus wouldn't fall for his tricks.
"Okay," the Sendaris said. "I'm not a Voltaris, so I'm automatically an enemy. Fine, fair enough. But I'd like to think that not all of us are like the raiders. I certainly try not to be."
How stupid did the Champion think he was?!
"You're not like them?!" Ingressus half-screeched. "You led them! Everyone I've ever known is dead because of you! I saw it!"
The Champion only gave him a baffled look. "Kid, who the Nether do you think I—"
The Sendaris cut himself off, realization falling across his face like a slow avalanche. Ingressus gripped the shard of pottery tighter as the Sendaris gritted his teeth, his gaze leaving Ingressus as he glared at nothing.
"Void curse him," he growled. "Curse him to the pits of the Nether. When will it be enough for you?"
The Sendaris continued to mutter curses, but Ingressus didn't listen. Whatever had distracted the Champion was a good enough opportunity as any. He edged forward, and when the Sendaris didn't notice he lunged, stabbing at his face.
But he'd overestimated his speed. The Champion recoiled, bringing an arm up to protect his head. The ceramic cut into his skin, not nearly enough, and the Sendaris grabbed Ingressus's wrists, holding him at arm's length. Ingressus kicked at his captor's shins, but though the Champion winced his grip didn't loosen.
"Listen, kid," the Sendaris said. "I don't know what my brother did to you, but I think I can guess. I promise I'm nothing like him. I'm not gonna hurt you, but I also don't want to get stabbed with a flowerpot. So how about you just put that down and we start over?"
"Your brother?" Ingressus demanded. "You think I'll believe that?"
The Sendaris sighed. "Apparently not, no."
He took both of Ingressus's wrists in one hand, prying the shards from his grip with the other. Ingressus bit at his hand, too slow, and his only weapons were gone. The Sendaris tossed them aside, then abruptly let go of Ingressus and retreated, backing far out of reach. Ingressus curled his hands into fists but the Sendaris just dropped to a seat on the ground, spreading his hands and pressing them to the floor on either side of him.
"Okay, kid," he said. "No weapons, see? Not gonna hurt you. My brother has been obsessed with chasing Voltaris for decades, but I'm not him. I refuse to be."
Ingressus growled. "Let me go."
The Sendaris nodded behind him. "Feel free. But no one else here knows about you, so my neighbors may not react too well to seeing you."
Ingressus edged forward a step. The Sendaris didn't move. He took another step. Again, the Sendaris made no move to stop him.
Ingressus's gaze fell on the shards of the flowerpot. The Sendaris noticed. Ingressus tensed, but the Senadris just shrugged. "If you're not going to try to kill me again, take it. I've got no use for it."
A broken flowerpot was clearly a less than effective weapon, but Ingressus limped over and grabbed up the shards. Anything was better than nothing. But as he closed his hand around the pieces, he heard a voice from just outside, far too close for comfort.
"Galleous?" the voice said. "Are you here?"
Ingressus and the Sendaris both froze. The Sendaris recovered first, calling back to the speaker, "I'm closed, come back tomorrow."
"Since when do you close in the middle of the week?"
"It's called a sick day, Velarn."
"Oh." The person outside paused. "Well... feel better."
"Thank you."
Nothing else was said. Ingressus stood there, uncertainty crowding his thoughts.
That certainly hadn't sounded like an exchange between two raiders. It didn't sound like he was being held in some outpost of the four clans, taken hostage for one reason or another. But at the same time, he obviously wasn't in some extremely isolated location, which would mean making a break for it would be harder, even if he were in any shape to run.
His ankle really hurt now. It felt like spears were being jabbed into his foot, and every step sent pain shooting up his leg. Even just putting weight on it made him wince.
He was in no shape to run. He had to admit that. Even if the Sendaris let him leave, he would have to get past whoever he might find outside. Interestingly, it had sounded like the Sendaris really had kept his presence a secret. But why would he have done that?
The Sendaris stood, causing Ingressus to tense, then flinch again as his foot flared with pain. But the Sendaris just turned, walking out towards the rest of the cave.
"I'll bring you some food," he said. "I'm sure you're hungry."
Ingressus's stomach was cooperative enough to not growl until after the Sendaris was gone. But growl it did, reminding him of yet another disadvantage he had.
With a sigh, Ingressus relented, limping back to the bed and definitely not collapsing on it. If nothing else, he still had his pride.
The Sendaris returned a few minutes later, a strip of bandage wrapped around his cut and a bowl of stew and a small loaf of bread in his hand. He held it out to Ingressus, but Ingressus didn't move, just glared suspiciously at him.
"Prove it's not poisoned."
The Sendaris rolled his eyes and pulled off a piece of bread, dunking it in the stew and putting it in his mouth. He chewed the mouthful, swallowed, then held the bowl out to Ingressus again.
"Satisfied?"
Ingressus took the food without answering, ripping off a bite of bread and gulping down a mouthful of stew. It was still warm, and tasted better than he would ever admit aloud.
"Don't eat too fast," the Sendaris warned. "You don't want to make yourself sick."
"I know how this works," Ingressus snapped.
The Sendaris had no answer to that. He just left again, and returned a moment later with a cup in his hand. He took a sip of the contents and cast Ingressus a knowing look, then handed it to him. Ingressus inspected the contents, sniffed it, then took a tentative sip. Water.
"Where did you bring me?" he asked.
"You're in Ataraxia," the Sendaris said. "Although I didn't bring you here. I found you washed up on the rocks by the shore two days ago."
"Where the Nether is Ataraxia?"
"Near the Heart of Ardonia. Halfway down the continent from the mountains." The Sendaris shrugged. "I have no idea how you got this far, if that's where you came from."
Halfway down the continent? How long had he been drifting in the ocean? Assuming the Sendaris was even telling the truth.
More importantly, how could he get back home? With such a distance to travel, and over unfamiliar, hostile lands at that... "make a break for it and hope for the best" could only get him so far.
But there was a more immediate problem.
"What do you want with me?" he said. "Even if you aren't the Champion, why would you save me?"
He still didn't trust the claim that this Sendaris was just the brother of the Champion. But he had clearly decided on his story and didn't intend to change it.
"Nothing," the Sendaris said with a shrug. "As for why... honestly, I'm not sure. Conscience, pity for the half-dead kid I found, spiting my brother... we don't exactly get along, to keep the story short."
Ingressus snorted in response. Spite was the only thing he found even slightly believable.
"Did you even expect to believe anything I said?" the Sendaris asked, arching a brow at Ingressus.
"Why should I trust you?" Ingressus retorted.
"Then why bother asking?"
Good point. Ingressus tore another chunk out of the bread, chewing in pointed silence.
"Okay then, what do you think I would want with you?" the Sendaris asked. "What might my motive have been? It can't be killing you, because there'd be no point in waiting this long to do it if it was."
"Maybe you think I'll tell you how to find the rest of my clan," Ingressus retorted. "Maybe you want me to heal up before killing me so you can say you beat me in a fair fight. Maybe you're just like a cat playing with its food." Whatever that meant. Ingressus had never seen a cat. "Maybe you think if you act nice enough to me you'll make me trust you and join your side, and you can send me to kill my people for you. Maybe you're crazy. Maybe you want to mess with my head and drive me crazy because you think it'd be more fun than killing me. Maybe you have something even worse you want to do that I'm not evil enough to think of."
The Sendaris stared at Ingressus. He opened his mouth, closed it again, then just shook his head. "I'm not even going to engage with that."
"Good." Ingressus aggressively ate another mouthful of stew. "So go away."
The Sendaris looked him over. "Do you want me to check your wounds?"
"Don't come near me."
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(2360 words)
Soooo... Apparently Ataraxia is super landlocked, and wasn't even founded until the Great War? I was not aware of either fact when I had this idea. I guess the guardians being there just made me assume it was by the coast. I dunno, I'll figure something out. Or maybe not. By continuing to read you agree to suspend this disbelief if I don't find a way around that inconsistency.