Tempered by the Will

31 - For the Cause

 Vica. He could feel her coming closer, but he had no way of warning her without alerting these three sons of jackals to her presence. If they wanted Bren, no doubt they would take her too if they could. And considering that they had a sealed explosive spell in their possession that would drive a crater five feet deep into the earth around them, Constantine found it difficult to believe that he could get her out intact if she came within range.

Even concentrating the bulk of his anti-magic on her wasn't enough to make her stop, not until she was far closer than he wanted her to be. With his back nearly turned to her, he couldn't see what she was doing, but his one consolation was that the trappers before him were focused far too intently on him to notice her approach.

Didn't help him, though. One false move, and he would be on the ground looking like a plucked chicken roasted in a blacksmith's furnace. And they wanted Bren in return for his life, or at least his intact body. Normally, that wouldn't have bothered him at all: he would have been only too glad to get rid of the suspicious half-elf who knew things he shouldn't and burrowed far too deeply into Vica's confidence in too short a time to be innocent. But where Bren went, she would follow.

And also, what was this all about? Trappers sneaking into free territory instead of sticking to the market districts like they should be? And expressly to capture the elfling, not Vica? Convenient, but still suspicious. And just because he gave them Bren didn't mean they would stop there, either. Once he led these men to the mages, it was just as likely they would take whatever else they could get.

That wasn't going to happen. He wasn't going to let them near anyone else. Especially Vica, obviously, but even if he tried to toss someone else over as a sacrificial offering, she would lose her mind about it. And then her hero's streak would turn into a martyr's, because that was just the sort of thing she'd do.

He really needed to find a way to squeeze that out of her. Life would be a lot easier for her if she just let things happen.

"So you want me to take you to the half-breed," he said. "But there's nothing stopping you from trying to f**k me over afterward. You didn't think this out that well."

The man with the vial in his hand grinned. "Didn't expect you all to separate. We thought you'd stay together once you all left the duke's domain, finally. Would have been a lot easier if you had."

Of course. And when they did part ways, they had gone after the straggler. That told him two things: none of these three were Resistant, and they had been watching for many days now. If they were capable of anti-magic, they would have gone after the mages instead of him when they separated, after all. And the man had just given away that they had waited for a long time for their opportunity.

"And you think that I can bring you all with me when I lead you to the half-breed?" asked Constantine. "They'll know something's wrong."

"Sounds like a personal problem. You should figure out how to solve it, and fast."

Damn them. He had no options here, or at least, none that ended happily for him. Vica was still somewhere behind him - hiding, presumably, behind a lone tree or something since she still hadn't been spotted. i***t. She should have kept running. Now she was going to try to jump in to save him since she had to know that something was very, very wrong by now.

Endearing, though. Even while staring mortal danger in the face, he found himself wondering how he could use it to his advantage. If he lost an arm or two, he might be able to get her to cry over his mangled body, put his head in her lap. Something like that.

"What are you smiling for?" the man demanded. "Don't bother trying anything stupid. I meant it when I said we're putting our lives on the line. Do anything to make us nervous, and we all go up in smoke."

"Relax, friend," Constantine drawled. "I was just thinking how I'm going to do this, because I've got this uncanny sense that you're going to double cross me no matter what I do."

"Same to you. Everyone knows that you're a lying son of a b***h. At least, that's what we've been warned, since we've never done business with you."

He paused. Warned? "Say, do me a favor and tell me who sent you. Thought you might be working for someone in the Order, but you aren't mages, so you wouldn't give your lives for their sake. Would be idiots if you were, considering that the Order doesn't give a damn about anyone who doesn't have the touch."

"Save it. If we were that fanatical for the Order in the first place, simple words wouldn't change our minds. But we'll throw you a bone. No, we're not with the Order. You know who we're with."

No, actually, he didn't. His eyes flickered from the man to his two companions, wondering why they had been so silent all this time. He didn't wonder for long, though. They were staring at him with eyes that reminded him of dead men, and not in the way that he would have preferred. Stone-hard, empty gazes, looking only straight ahead and seeing nothing but their immediate objective. Zealous, fanatics, whatever the word he would use to describe men like that - in short, they had already given themselves up.

Constantine preferred dealing with enemies who valued their lives. With these, he had nothing to bargain with, nothing to leverage.

But that did tell him a little more about who they were.

"You're part of the Resistance," he chuckled. "What, did Yezia send you?"

"No. But someone close. My understanding is that she wasn't willing to make the hard decisions, so someone else gave us the orders to come and corner you like a trapped rabbit. It's turning out alright, I think. Overdue. If you won't help us, then we won't help you, either."

"So it was Yowan, then. You talk just like him."

"I've said enough. Come on, assassin. Are you going to give us the half-breed or not. From what we've heard, you don't even want him anyway."

He should have seen this coming. It wouldn't be all that hard for a trapper to infiltrate the Sanctum. The nobles loved their rare animals and exotic pets as well as engaging in taboo beast trading, so all they would have needed was a greedy sponsor. And they were, in many ways, just as trained in the art of the kill as assassins were, but without a reputation that would put everyone instantly on guard. Slip in...slip out.

"Fine," he said. "One more thing. Those two back there that I just offed. They yours, too?"

The man shrugged. "Wouldn't know. Probably not, but we aren't told anything we don't need to know."

"That's fair."

"Sure is. Now let's -"

Suddenly, his companion interrupted, knocking his elbow into him with a grunt. "We're not alone," he rumbled, and pointed a finger over Constantine's shoulder. "Company."

Shit. They'd seen Vica. Damn trappers with their hunters' eyes. "Relax. That's not the one you want."

But now they were all glaring past him, and he felt her magic stir. She must have realized she'd been spotted. Stay back, he thought, nearly begging as he had never done before. The way things were going, death was in the air already, and she was a magnet for trouble. Even if he survived, who knew what would happen to her? The sealed spell in that vial was dormant, but once released, the explosion would be massive. Linked to the living energy of three power sources, these three wretched pawns of Yowan who were no better than meat shields.

It pissed him off that anyone could so fanatically support a cause that they would risk their lives for it. He would never understand. And Vica - he could feel fear in her, as well as rising panic. Sweet of her, but futile - and why the hell was she creeping closer? Get back, he wanted to snarl, but with how agitated the men were becoming, he knew that now wasn't the time for any sudden movements or noises.

"I said ignore her," he snapped. "I said I can help you."

"She's the one coming to us. I know that face, she's the bush mage you were paid to drag here." The loudmouth was talking again. There was something tense in his voice now, however, and Constantine stopped to wonder at the realization that they were more afraid of her than they were of him. Good thing they didn't know that she was more bark than she was bite, but then again, if Yowan had really sent them, it made sense that they knew little about her other than her penchant for casually wiping out a couple hundred soldiers on her own. If they only knew how soft she was.

"She's not going to be a problem," he said. "You want the half-breed, don't you? Come on, I'll take you."

"Send her away. She's not the trouble we're looking for."

So Yowan wanted Bren, but not Vica. Was there a particular reason behind that, or was it purely because she was too hazardous a catch? A frail little elfling was an easier mark to be sure, but -

"I said send her off! Or we all burn." The man hefted the vial in the air, and Constantine threw up his hands. s**t, s**t -

"f*****g hell, I said I'll handle it -!"

Too late. He didn't know what happened in the next half-second, but suddenly the vial was tumbling out of the man's hand and falling, falling, falling down to the ground. He couldn't catch it; it would explode in his hands. He had to get away, and he had to get Vica away from here because there was not a doubt in his mind that she was well within its range.

But as fast and agile as he was, there was no outrunning a falling object. He was still going to try, but even as he spun around and leaped away, heading straight for Vica, he knew it was all over. He should have taken his chances before she appeared, so that at least she would have escaped intact -

A terrible sound ripped through the night, and a wave of scorching heat overtook him. Flames, a deafening, rushing sound all around him, burning, shrieking -

The impact hurled him forward, and he tumbled, tumbled, tumbled...