The seven birds have prepared for war too many times. Taako's throat closes up at how easily they fall into formation.
Merle and Avi depart to the clerics' wing, either to rustle some feathers for the identity of the traitor or to get supplies for the coming battle. Taako isn't too sure which. He doesn't bother trying to clarify.
His sister is polishing her own wand, making sure her arcane focus is ready for anything. Magnus checks his own weapons beside her, face drawn and wan. The big guy hasn't said much since Taako and Killian's argument and it makes guilt twinge in Taako's chest. He knows in that moment he meant his words to be cutting, meant to hurt and punish and make them all feel what Taako's been feeling since he showed up days before. But now, faced with Magnus looking like his entire view of the world is falling apart in front of his eyes, it makes his stomach turn. Still, Taako says nothing; it doesn't matter now. Nothing he says will make Magnus feel better, not until they get Lucretia back and Magnus can see the damage for himself. That's just the man he is.
Killian and Carey have left to get transportation ready. Barry holds up the map, shrunken to fit in his hand now; his other hand curls into a fist around Lucretia's list as he stares at the bright lights still pinned to the parchment. Kravitz, for once in all the time Taako has known him, does not seem to know exactly what he's supposed to be doing. He's not pacing like Davenport or fidgeting like Lup and Magnus. But he presses his back up against the wall near the door, looking for all the world like he's a second away from bolting. Taako sympathizes.
"What happens if they teleport before we get down there?" Taako asks dully, nearly forcing the words from his mouth. It feels like all his energy has drained from him. His feet fuse to the floor, no more nervousness or anger or even fear to make his blood boil. Is this what Lucretia always feels? No wonder she couldn't get out of bed.
Barry barely flicks a glance in his direction.
"The list and the other reapers amplified my own magic for now," he says. "As long as I have them as back-up and this-" he raises the list and Taako watches a look of revulsion flit across his brother-in-law's face- "I can hold the spell and watch their movements until we get there. Carey is sending Bureau members to stake out other possible landing spots like you said we should, but I don't think we'll need them."
Davenport perks up from where he's been staring into space. He was wringing his hands before. Taako wonders if he feels Lucretia's blood on them like Taako does. At least Davenport's is imaginary; the elf reaches up and swipes rusty, blood-dyed hair from his face, grimaces when it sticks to the skin of his throat. Old sweat creases his clothes. He hasn't washed since he was trying to hold Lucretia together in the palms of his useless hands. At this point, his skin may be stained with her blood forever.
Maybe that's fitting.
"Why not?" Davenport's voice drags Taako back to the moment.
Focus, Taako. You'll only get this one chance to save her.
I know, Taako bites back. I know. Gods, I know.
"We'll set it up just in case," Barry relents. He turns more fully to the two of them and Taako knows they are all three ignoring the way his voice is shaking. It's so funny; there's just something about knowing Lucretia wants-wanted, please, for the love of all that is holy, please let it be wanted-to die that makes it so hard to stay murderously angry with her. "It was a good idea, Taako. But these lights, they haven't moved in the last few minutes. Just half an hour before-hell, ten minutes even-they'd disappear at least once every three minutes if we were lucky and the teleportation was taking a long time. Their margin of error has been increasing incrementally. We're up to every twelve minutes. The last location was a doubling back too, which means they're running out of spaces big enough to land the building, like Taako said they would."
"Where are they now?" Taako asks, too tired to even puff up in pride.
"How long have they been there?" Davenport asks at the same time.
Barry unfolds the map in his hands, turning it around for them to look. The same light that burst into being under his sister's fingertips stares accusingly back at Taako.
"Like I said, they've been stationary for about twelve minutes so we'd best get a move on if we want to catch up before they move again. Assuming they will move-whatever they're planning, it will probably happen fast. As for the location-" Here Barry pauses, shifts his weight, and Taako steels his spine. Whatever is coming, it's going to be another blow to them, he can tell from the way Barry won't look at anyone's faces. "Same place they started in. Near the town in Refuge."
Oh gods. It couldn't be. Not Istus's temple.
She wouldn't allow it, would she?
But Taako remembers she was weak when she met them and had been deteriorating for a long time. It wouldn't take much to break her bond to the temple. Not much at all. And he would also know there are schools of wizardry that should never see the light of day, deep and complex and roiling with spells to bind and unravel and unmake and trap. Things he's seen in texts and old scrolls and promptly burnt out of his own head for the sake of continued sanity.
Behind Barry, Taako sees Lup's blonde head go still. There's a clattering as Magnus's weaponry tumbles to the floor.
Taako turns, hands up and mouth open-but what can he say? What can he say in the face of Magnus's abject anguish? Magnus's expression twists before Taako's eyes, his hands clenched into fists. His brow puckers and his mouth clamps shut into a thin, unbroken line. His scar seems to stand out even more against his pale face. It looks almost as if rigor mortis has set in.
"Is this-" his voice grates at Taako's ears and Davenport winces. "Is this some kind of sick joke?"
"I doubt they even know how important Refuge is, Magnus." Barry sounds as tired as Taako feels. Just hours earlier it would have sent Taako flying into a rage; what right does he have to feel so tired? He hasn't been here, not like Taako has. He hasn't seen the destruction and the depression, and he hasn't had the horrifying realization that he's the only thing standing between an old friend and certain death. He doesn't have the right.
Now, Taako seals his eyes shut against the way Magnus looks, tries to deafen himself to the way Lup's breathing is ragged and loud in the still room. It's all just this side of too much.
"That or they thought it would be poetic," Lup mutters bitterly from the corner she's set herself up in. Magnus's choked off noise is hard for Taako to ignore. "That's what they said they were, right? Lucy's fate."
"Lup."
His sister looks up and Taako blinks, vision wavering as he looks at her, perhaps from fatigue, perhaps from grief. It has been a long time since he's seen Lup cry. He'd almost forgotten she could do it.
"Sorry, Dav." she whispers. "Sorry Mags. It's just-I'm sorry. Stupid thing to say."
"It doesn't matter right now," Davenport returns just as the door flings open again. Lup climbs to her feet, the last one standing, as Merle and Avi enter. "We've got to pull together and get this done. The sooner the better. Avi?"
"Killian and Carey will meet us in the transport room. We're taking one of the old globes down. They're the fastest way," Avi reports. "Not the safest though, so you know. Watch out."
"I don't need to be wasting healing spells before we even get into a fight." Merle agrees. He's never so grave. Taako swallows, and, against his usual nature, reaches out to squeeze the dwarf's shoulder. Merle's eyes are so old when they meet his. He softens after a second and raises his hand to cover Taako's and squeezes back.
"Alright ladies and gentlemen," Davenport says, businesslike, and something in Taako's chest eases if only the slightest bit, "let's go pick a fight."
We may be too late, suggests a doubtful voice in Taako's head. Thankfully, he has long practiced the art of not thinking.
The ride down is cramped and stuffy and too silent. It crawls across Taako's skin, but something has fused his jaws shut tight. Killian's arm brushes up against his and Taako looks up; there is steel in her eyes. She nods. He nods back.
Refuge is just as Taako remembers it; small and quaint and just a little too dusty. They've arrived just outside the town perimeter yet again and Taako knows without looking that Merle and Magnus are shaking themselves from deja vu as well.
Seeing the settlement outside of the bubble at dusk is a new sensation though. If it were any other place, any other time, with any other people, Taako might stop to admire how the lights twinkle against the fading light of the sunset, how the pinks of the last of the sun mingle with the blues of the coming night. He might take Kravitz's hand or sling an arm around Avi's shoulders or ruffle Merle's hair so much they get into a stupid argument. He might sit quietly and watch and wait for the night to turn the air moist and calm and silent around him. He might breathe easy, for once.
Instead, Taako moves on.
He takes the lead with Merle and Magnus by his sides. The grit of dirt shifts under his boots, grounding him in a way he learned from Magnus a long time ago. It feels almost as if they've been thrown back in time again, here in Refuge with their hands on their weapons and their friends behind them. The unknown, yet again, looms over their adventuring group. They're all so quiet Taako can hear their breaths as they move.
The streets of Refuge are quieter than he's ever known them, but they still don't go through the town square. Magnus pulls forward, strides loping with a strange grace, as he leads them around the outskirts of Refuge. It wouldn't do to attract unwanted attention. The shadows slip over them as Merle raises his hands; Taako can just pick up the words as he mutters the incantation for Pass Without a Trace.
Good. No one needs to know we're coming.
Do you think Lucretia is waiting for us? Or has she lost that much faith in you already?
No. No. He can't think that. Not yet. Not now.
"They've been stationary fifteen minutes." Barry's voice carries on the wind and Taako sends thanks to Istus, wherever she is, that she allowed them this time. They're nearing the temple, coming around the back, and he can see evidence of a large group; horses are tied up outside and there are a couple carts with supplies abandoned around the edges of the property, as if a large crowd was working and suddenly all got called in for dinner. Footprints litter the ground, crushing vegetation wherever it tries to rise from the cracks in the earth. Merle must be having a fit.
The temple is fitted with two large, arching back doors, slats of dark knotted wood looking like a black void against the lighter stone of the temple. One door is hanging just slightly ajar as they emerge from the shadows, and Taako thinks he may be able to pick up the sounds of revelry somewhere deeper inside if he strains his ears. "Whatever they're planning, I'm betting it's happening now."
"We've got to be fast," Lup replies, unnecessarily. She only babbles when she's nervous.
Taako's muscles scream with tension as Magnus shoulders the doors open. The fighter is silent as he does it, his rogue training making it easier for him to slip inside without a sound. Merle comes next, hands already raised to cast whatever spells he needs to get to Lucretia. Taako follows, heart clogging his throat.
But the hallway before them is large and entirely empty. This place looks much bigger than Taako knows it used to be; whatever the Ragged Harmony are doing-and they can all hear it now, the sounds of feet stomping and bodies shuffling and some deep, rhythmic chanting shot through with shrill cries of excitement that put his teeth on edge-they must have needed more space. He's got to hand it to them; creating some kind of pocket dimension inside an ancient temple of the goddess of fate must have been hard to pull off.
"They're deeper in," Magnus whispers. He hefts Railsplitter in his palms. Carey darts past, Killian not far behind as they scout up ahead, rounding a corner and disappearing from sight. Merle shifts beside him as Taako twirls his wand. The soles of his feet itch, his mind shrieking that they've wasted too much time already, that they have to run, that somewhere in the cacophony ahead, Lucretia is waiting, hurt and going to be hurt worse.
Do you really think you're going to go in, guns blazing, and be big damn heroes this time? You're weak and fallible and ripping apart at the seams. No one can save everyone.
But we can save her at least, Taako tells himself. It isn't very convincing. We can save her.
Lup and Kravitz have taken posts next to the exit, hands raised as some kind of white energy flows from their fingertips. It encases the whole archway, roiling around the doors and sealing them off. When the light fades, the doors are gone, replaced with smooth stone. If anyone runs past them, they won't be getting away.
Davenport takes point then, Avi bringing up the rear as Taako's sister and boyfriend flank him. Magnus joins Davenport and pulls his shield, readying himself to take the first hits as they move forward. Killian and Carey are around the next bend in the strange, over-long hallway, and they're flanking two wooden doors, similar to the ones outside. The sounds of the crowd are getting louder, stifling in the oppressive silence of the rest of the temple. It does not feel as though Istus is here any longer.
"In here."
"We get in, get Lucretia, and kill whoever is in our way. Let's be fast, everybody."
Davenport nods to the women, and the doors are thrown open.
Immediately, Taako feels a burst of heat as Lup lets flame rip from her outstretched hand over his shoulder. It flares into the crowd before them-Taako counts three, maybe four goblins to his right, a human man who may be a warlock in front of him, two elves behind the warlock, three jeering orcs to his right, and that's all he's able to get from behind Magnus's broad shoulders- and screams go up over the chanting and shouting.
His sister does love to make an entrance.
Despite the fear clenching at his heart Taako feels his lips draw up into a mean smirk. This is what he's been waiting for, this is what he has wanted for so long. Violence tears through him, makes his blood sing with ferocious intent. And he thought he'd been too tired.
Taako is the world's best wizard, and he will make the Ragged Harmony wish they had never set foot in his realm.
Magnus's war cry goes up as he charges, and light flashes, smoke rising as Merle lets loose a spell that makes two orc women go up in ash. Behind him, Taako can pick up the deadly slice of Kravitz's scythe as it swings through air, and then a dull thunk as a body drops. He knows Carey is ahead when one of her knives impales the warlock through the eye. The human screams, whirling, and magic flies from his hands blindly. It shatters part of the roof, sending stone cascading down on all them. A goblin is crushed, and Avi yells from behind Taako and grabs him roughly. He pulls Taako back two steps and they barely have time to register the large boulder smashing into the ground at their feet before the mob is on them. Avi pulls his spear and whirls into the fray, away from Taako's side as Taako casts Shield on Merle, who he can see sending Thunderwave out in the center of the room. The floor rolls under his feet but Taako rocks on his heels and holds his ground.
He can't keep track of everyone for long, not when two goblins bear down on him and Taako is instinctively swinging his arm up, the tip of his wand blasting fire just the color of his sister's in their faces. Someone strikes at him then; he can feel the tip of a blade slice through the back of his shirt as he throws himself forward, out of the arc of their slash. But when Taako whirls around, snarling, Killian is there, standing over a dead body and pulling one of her own knives from it. She grins. He bares his teeth too. She ducks as Taako blasts electricity at an elf who was swiping for Killian's throat with an ax. There are so many of them-how big was this conspiracy? How many would have come for Lucretia's head?
An arrow plants itself into the stone behind him and Taako howls his own war cry, a spell forming at his fingertips. Magnus slams Railsplitter into two people in front of him, twists out of the way of a third strike that would've snapped his spine in half and-
The path of the battlefield is clear for a moment. That is all the time Taako needs to find Lucretia's eyes.
She is up on a dais, an altar to Istus, desecrated with blood and violence. Taako's stomach curdles. Lucretia is bruised and bloodied; there is a cut above her right eye, blood pouring down the bridge of her nose and her temple. Her arms are restrained by an elf whose smile looks like the edge of a knife. There is an orc just behind Lucretia. The orc is screaming, face twisted around a broken nose; she's missing an eye, even more blood sheeting down her face than Lucretia's and Taako has enough time to be smugly satisfied. He hopes to hell Lucretia did that.
Lucretia's eyes are unfocused, and she looks confused-concussed then, or maybe just surprised that a battle has broken out so suddenly. She sways and shakes her head and catches sight of Taako, face haggard and eyes overbright. Her mouth opens but Taako wouldn't be able to hear her over the roaring of his own blood, never mind the fighting.
The fight distracts him. He blocks a blow to his head with an elbow, ignoring the way his bones shudder, and drives his wand into the air to cast another spell. He must look away then, if only for a moment, to make sure he doesn't get his head lopped off. But their group is shoving their way towards Lucretia, Lup's fire and Merle's spells helping Magnus and Killian and Davenport push their forward advantage as Kravitz, and Avi cover their backs. For a moment, hope leaps in Taako's chest, and then he catches sight of Lucretia again, clearer now with Magnus and Barry managing to clear their way of enemies. He sees all of the altar now. He sees what he missed before.
"No!"
But his denial does not lift the dagger from her throat. Taako only has time for a wordless scream before it descends and blood rips into the air.