I don't own WITCH. Rated T for violance and language.
Forever Lost
Frost was not a particularly evil creature. Yes, the brutish warrior had indeed a strong stomach, and he felt quite comfortable knowing there were more than enough golden coins on the bottom of his weather-beaten bag. But these attributes alone aren't necessarily indicators of a nasty person.
All these characteristics made him the perfect mercenary. He'd be unwaveringly loyal to, not the mention do all the dirty work for whoever was willing to pay him a significant amount of money. Even if his employer was such a bloody handed tyrant as Phobos.
To tell the truth, Frost was not much of a disciplined soldier, since he did not like rules and laws, and definately not superiors telling him what to do, unless they were paying. He only had one rule, which was in fact quite short and simple: whoever betrayed or humiliated him was not to be spared.
And this personal rule of Frost was the main reason why he looked forward to the encounter ahead.
„Quiet, fools! They're coming" said the ruthless hunter, strengthening his grip on his battle axe, though it seemed to be useless. The order was to capture the rebels alive, not to kill them.
„Are you sure?" inquired a man with rugged features and dark skin, a soldier from Phobos' army.
Frost sent an angry glare towards him.
„I don't have to be a bloodhound to recognize Passling stench" he mumbled.
Noises were streaming through the leaves of the bushes. Frost put a finger on his mouth, in order to silence the men.
„Are you sure they're this way?" they heard a young man talking.
„Blunk sure! Blunk recognize smell of Phobos' soldiers".
„But we are not looking for simple soldiers! We are looking for the ones who kidnapped Vathek" snapped the owner of the deep tone. „Aldarn, are you…?"
„Look, Caleb, I only know what my contact…"
„Silence, you two! You don't want them to find out we are here, do you?"
Frost could merely hear the last man speaking, but his fists clenched automatically as he recognized the voice.
He shook his head violently. No, there was no room here for personal quarrels. No matter what Julian had done… he had to fulfill the order. He mustn't have failed Phobos!
By the way, he could still deal with the hated man afterwards.
"Why… did you stop, father?" said the one called Caleb, much softer now than before.
"Something is not right" answered Julian. "It's too… quiet here".
Frost swore mildly under his breath, and waved at the leader of Phobos' soldiers.
"Take the men with the nets! Try to get around the rebels. Be quiet, and make sure they don't spot you…"
The deep, ancient woodland carried on withholding its breath, as if it knew what was about to happen. Frost emerged, and he walked out from his former hiding place, the bottom of a big fern plant. He stretched his long, muscular arms and legs, and then he started to approach the rebel group walking down the pathway through the forest.
Time for distraction, he thought.
Soon he arrived at the clear path, and walking past a large bush fully covered with fragrant blossoms, he found himself right in front of the rebel warriors.
"Stop!" said Frost, holding out his palm covered with a leather glove. The dark haired, tall teenage boy, who lead the little group was about to unleash his sword. "Don't do anything foolish. I have archers in the woods, who'll shoot at any sign of attack".
"Please. Am I supposed to…" started the boy, still holding onto the hilt.
"Warning shot!" shouted Frost, breaking the silence of the forest at once.
A split second later a slim arrow flew across the trees and the narrow pathway, at such a speed it was hardly visible, only to end up in one of the trees, slicing through silvery tree bark. The demonstration seemed to be enough to silence the rebel.
"I only came to negotiate" told Frost.
"And you go negotiating fully armed?" said another man sharply, one with long, blonde hair and a wide scar on his cheek.
Frost took a glance at the axe in his huge hand, with a bit surprised expression, as if he didn't expect to find it there. Then he shrugged.
"I'll put it down, if you'll also put your weapons down".
Silence.
"Good" said Frost with a grin. "Then we…"
"Where is Vathek?" interrupted the dark haired boy, snarling furiously.
"Oh, Vathek… he's not feeling too well" said Frost, cracking yet another vicious grin. "I have an offer. I'm willing to release him… in exchange for someone else".
"Then be it. I know you want me, Frost. So take me".
Every rebel looked at the same direction, and surprised whispering started to spread among them. Suddenly an elderly man stepped out from the rebel team, a pretty disheveled and worn-out-looking man. His hair and beard was basically dark, but there were way too many white hairs tainting them considering his age.
"Father!" the boy whose hair had the same tint grabbed on the bearded man's arm, trying to withhold him. "You forgot what you taught me? You cannot give him what he longs for! It won't solve anything… maybe he's just bluffing, and they don't even have Vathek with them!"
"You're pathetic, Caleb" growled Frost, and he quickly pulled out a big, azure colored thing from his leather bag.
Caleb gasped, as he realized it was the hand of his friend, Vathek. Frost dropped the body part into the dust, and then he delivered it to the rebels with a kick of his boot-covered foot.
"You don't have a choice".
At the very moment a surprised yell came from the thick undergrowth of the forest, followed by one of the soldiers of Phobos falling out of a bush. He used to carry something which looked pretty much like a fishermen's net right until he tripped over a root or maybe his own foot.
Frost buried his face into his hands, realizing the seemingly infinite foolishness and clumsiness of Phobos' soldiers.
"It's an ambush!" shouted Julian.
He cannot get away! Not this time, thought Frost, and ha raised his battle axe, aiming at Caleb's father. He waved it, and hurled it at his target.
"Father!" shouted Caleb, as Julian collapsed.
"Stay still…" the boy said, and he crouched next to the man. The axe entered at Julian's collarbone, and it seemed to be impossible to get pulled out, without causing extra damage, and not mention unbearable pain.
Caleb was so helpless and worried; he never noticed they'd both been ensnared by Phobos' troops.
The boy struggled for hours, but finally, he managed to unlock his handcuffs. Since he had no longer a friend among the guards at the dungeons of Phobos' castle, he had to use a small bone of some sort of deceased animal which he found in the disgusting trash littering the floor of the cell.
He approached the door, just to realize he'd never get through it, given the lack of any locks inside. It was probably sealed with a padlock from the outside.
The dark haired boy thought of putting the handcuffs back onto his wrists and ankles, this time unlocked, and waiting for a careless guard to enter, but he had to find out something else. It was urgent to rescue…
The door opened up in full swing, and wood smashed into Caleb's face being too close to the entrance. He might have blacked out, because he couldn't recall falling to the ground. His nose was probably broken, becaus his nasal bone was hurting badly.
Suddenly the ugly head of Frost came into view.
"I've been listening to you fighting with the chains for a good ten minutes now, Caleb" murmured the hunter. "Thought I'd wait and see if you'd make it or not. More exciting for me this way. And for you… a bigger disappointment. I'm sure you could already feel the sweet taste of freedom in your mouth…"
Frost stepped onto the boy's bare chest with one of his gigantic feet, making it impossible for him to get up, given the hunter was about twice the size of Caleb. Not to mention the boy still felt dizzy thanks to the heavy oak door hitting his face.
The hunter was probably unsatisfied with this posture, thus he took off his foot from Caleb, just to smash his knee against the rebel leader's stomach immediately. The muscular creature also grabbed on the boy's throat with one of his huge palms.
"I killed your father" said Frost, smiling. "I cut his throat. Don't worry, he wasn't suffering much. He wasn't whining for his life, like a coward. But only because he didn't have enough time to do that".
Caleb felt uncontrollable rage filling his mind. Actually, he couldn't yet cope with Frost's claim that he killed Julian: the cause of his fury was the intolerable way the hunter was speaking about his father.
Having no other weapon, Caleb gathered some saliva in his mouth, mixed up with the blood flowing from his broken nose, and he spat it into Frost's face.
The fearsome hunter's expression darkened for a second, but then he started to laugh nonchalantly, and he punched Caleb in the face with his left. The boy would've cried out in pain if his mouth wasn't filled with his own blood.
"If I had a chance, I would've ripped and beaten your father until he'd beg for his worthless life. But I couldn't" told Frost, and for the first time since the hunter entered the prison cell, Caleb found him a bit annoyed. "Just as I cannot do it to you. You know why?"
Caleb failed to answer. Finally, he realized what Frost was saying.
"You killed him… You really did, you bastard" said the boy with a trembling voice, and he tried to get loose, tried to throw the terrible mass of Frost's body off him, but the only result of his efforts was yet another punch in the face.
"Phobos' order" explained Frost, seemingly unaffected by the sudden emotional breakdown of his arch enemy. "I have to destroy you, before the Guardians arrive. All of you. Your naked corpses will be their… welcome gifts".
Caleb looked upon the hunter with tearful orbs, and he saw the realization in Frost's carnivorous, yellow eyes.
"Well, well. As I see, there's no need to torture you, after all. I never understood you, humans. How can the suffering of your souls match the suffering of your bodies?"
"Damn you… They will come for me… You will never find peace, Frost. I'll get you… no matter how long it takes!" said Caleb between clenched teeth.
"Don't be ridiculous. You will soon join your father, and your wretched friend, Aldarn. They are getting ready to their… performances, already"
"You should be proud, Caleb" continued the brute. "It's an honor to be the prey to Frost the Hunter!"
"You're a spineless slave, Frost, nothing else. A real hunter respects his prey. You… you don't respect anything".
Caleb felt Frost clutching his throat, and he realized it'll soon be all over.
"So, your last words will be useless insults? Very well" said Frost, while gathering his strength to murder the boy. "Just for you to know, Caleb: I enjoyed our little cat and mouse game very much. I'm even a bit sad it will be over… but just a bit".
A blinding flash of brilliant light rolled through the darkened cell, and with that, the heavy body of Frost fell over Caleb, pressing all remaining oxygen out of the boy's lungs. Caleb tried to roll the limp mass of muscle and bone off himself, but he was way too weak to do so.
Suddenly a tall figure appeared by his side, dressed in a cloak. The stranger grasped Frost's shoulder, and with combined strength, the mysterious someone and Caleb managed to move the hunter to the floor.
Frost was now lying on his back, his lemon tinted eyes no longer malicious but dull and puzzled. He was clearly dead, and some unpleasant, burnt smell was spreading from some invisible part of his body, a part which was now hidden by the dirt floor of the cell.
Sorcery. It was the only possible explanation Caleb could think of.
The rebel stole a glance at his savior, who was pulling the hood off at the moment, revealing her distorted, old features and impossibly green eyes.
"Get out of here, young warrior" told the elder woman in a rasping tone. "Run. Your friends are here. They'll take care of Phobos' minions".
"Mage" said the boy, gaping. He couldn't recall any occasion when the Mage had left her home, the Infinite City. "Mage, you have to help me! We have to save the others…"
But the woman turned her back on him.
"My work is done here, son. Well, almost done. And it doesn't include helping your cause".
"Then… what are you doing here? Why did you help me?"
The woman wearing a purple robe turned around, but she didn't look at Caleb. She glared at the dead Frost, her eyes full of hatred.
"It has nothing to do with your war. It was something personal".
The blond haired girl struggled her way through the crowd, right until she ended up next to a group of oddly dressed, young girls. One of them, an African-American girl wearing thick glasses was dragged away by a green skinned Meridianite a second before.
"How come only Taranee gets to do the celebrity thing?" told one of them, a brunette, showing spectacular feminine qualities. Her name was Irma, and she must've thought her mannered annoyance made the wisecrack funny.
Cornelia was about to give her a lecture about why isn't it such a good idea to be a jerk at a funeral, but she had a second thought. If it pleases Irma to tell her stupid jokes, then why not?
After all, Irma looked just as upset as all of them. Hay Lin, the Asian girl sitting next to Irma was even crying, with her head hidden beneath her own arms.
It was not a big surprise, after all. They all had found Aldarn sympathetic, since he always had something nice on his mind to say. And he was as young and full of life as them, just as all the other, unfamiliar fallen Meridianites.
And Julian… he was Caleb's father. This would have been fairly enough to respect him, even if he hadn't any other virtues.
"Er… Where did Tara go?" Cornelia inquired from Will, leader of the Guardians, a girl with flaming red hair.
"They asked her to start the fires" answered Will, her warm brown eyes fixed onto Cornelia's face. "They told… it'd be an honor if the sacred fire of a Guardian would engulf the fallen heroes".
"Sure" mumbled Cornelia, fiddling with her long blonde hair with steady movements. "No big deal. All of this is our fault, but it doesn't matter, right?"
"You cannot possibly…" said Will with a frown.
"We arrived late, Will, and you know that. We blew it".
"I don't know" interrupted Irma ", how we'd supposed to perform better. I mean we kicked as many butts as possible. It's… not our fault Phobos has guards around his castle, isn't it?"
"You think that's an excuse, Irma?" said Cornelia, gritting her teeth. "Those people died and we did not… could not help, no matter why…"
"They are more focused than ever" said Will confidently, and Cornelia had the uncomfortable sensation she just wanted to change the topic. "Phobos made a terrible mistake again. He wanted to get rid of the rebel elite, but he failed. And from now on, they will be even more determined to win this war".
Cornelia agreed, however she felt it a bit too profane to talk about such things as the odds of victory on this tragic day.
"No matter how many victories will the rebels achieve, none of them will bring Aldarn and Julian back" she said in a trembling tone. "I'll get back to Caleb".
"Cornelia!" The blonde turned back, and she saw the tall figure of Will emerging. The girl leaned close to Cornelia, and she lowered her voice. "It may be a bit late telling you this… but maybe you should stop worrying constantly about him".
Cornelia locked her sparkling blue orbs into Will's eyes.
"What do you…"
"Yesterday's events showed you could lose him any time" said Will relentlessly. "And you cannot be here all the time to protect him".
"Oh, and why not? We're supposed to fight evil, right? What if we'd… put a bit more effort into this task, huh?"
"Yes, we're supposed to fight evil. But we are the Guardians of the Veil. Therefore, we guard the Veil. It's not our job to win this war…"
Suddenly, the flames started to rise at the direction where the dead were lying, and the Meridianites started chanting at an earsplitting volume.
"Fuck you!" screamed Cornelia, surprising even herself with her coarse words. She tried in vain to shout down the hundreds of people singing monotonously. "Even a dead Mogriff is more sensitive than you!"
She ran away, concentrating on finding Caleb. Actually, it was okay if she didn't find him. She only wanted to get as far from Will as possible. At the very moment Cornelia hated Will more than anything else, more than even Phobos. Though she knew the redhead was right.
It was in fact exactly why Cornelia hated her. Because Will was right.
Caleb stared perplexedly at the reddening flames around Julian, licking the dead man gently, only to swallow him whole later on. He remembered the first time his father had taken him to the forest.
He remembered Julian making a big fire, in order to keep the creatures of the night away. He could recall the hungry eyes flashing beyond the circle of wayward light, afraid to come closer.
Back then, he thought Julian was invincible.
And he even came back from death once, after he was lost in the Battle of Greenwoods… But now, he died once again, this time for good.
"He was a fine man".
Caleb shot a puzzled look at the Mage standing by his side.
While Caleb and the Guardians rescued the prisoners, the old sorceress brought the dead to the Infinite City. Caleb assumed it was some sort of a spiritual duty of the ancient woman.
"I know how you feel, rebel" said the woman, and she took her belt off her hip. She patted the cover off the swivel, and waved the metal product before Caleb's face.
The swivel was painted black, and it was decorated with a red snake, which bit its own tail.
"Do you know what this is?" the Mage asked.
Caleb looked into the woman's eyes, which were glowing in a celestial light, and he shook his head.
"The Ouroboros" said the Mage. "An ancient symbol".
Caleb felt stupid. He was positive the Mage tried to comfort him, but he had no clue how this strange worm could make him feel better.
"It's the symbol of the eternal cycle we're living in" said the Mage, gesturing around. "All of us. Everything and everyone has a purpose, and death is only part of finding and fulfilling this purpose. This is the law of nature, as one might say".
Caleb frowned. He was taught to these things since he was a child. He knew what the woman said was valid: in fact, the whole farewell rite was about this. The ashes of Julian returned to nature, recycled to where the man had risen from in the first place. But at the moment Caleb didn't feel this concept reassuring at all.
My father was so much more, than a just pile of dust ripped out of nature. He was… something unique and special.
"Be strong, Caleb! You have still many things to do. Find your purpose! Find your place in this reality, fulfill your role. Otherwise, your father's sacrifice was useless".
Then she turned around and walked away, leaving Caleb with the strong conviction his father did not wish to sacrifice his life. No sane man would wish that. Even if he wanted to save his son's life, he'd prefer to do that with keeping his own either.
Things like the death of Julian just… happen. Unfortunate consequences of some stupid grudges carried by stupid people.
"Caleb…"
He turned around to face the crying Cornelia. He wasn't sure for a second whether she was crying because of sorrow, or just because the smoke leaving the impromptu crematories was hurting her eyes.
"Caleb… I'm sorry. For your father, you friends… all of this! All this… wretched world!" She gestured around like the Mage did it before.
Caleb could understand. He accepted Cornelia's feelings. It would have been perfectly understandable if he hated Meridian as well. The only reason why he didn't was the fact that he had gotten used to it throughout the years he lived here.
"It's not that bad" he said, grabbing on to Cornelia's soft hand ", as long as you're with me".
So, I'm supposed to find the meaning of my life, right? he though, remembering the words of the Mage. Well, this girl may do the trick, as far as I can tell.
Hey, seems like I'm back in business :) In fact, there was more to it, even Phobos had a whole scene, but I edited out. It would've been too long.
Note that I altered a bit the snake symbol of Nerissa, in order to give some sort of a meaning to it.
Please, leave a review, if you feel like!