Malcolm bolted onward through the hazy fields, his grip on Tobias tightened. He glanced at Jayce a few feet ahead of him. How much longer are we gonna run for? He thought, filled with a new wave of fear at every turn. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, despite his aching bones, Malcolm showed no sign of slowing his sprint.
Fuck. His thoughts were brief curses or desires to strangle Tobias. He wanted running from demons to be the least of his worries.
"Where are we goin' exactly?" Malcolm shouted at Jayce between staggered breaths.
"We're going back to the shoreline to wait for Lux," Jayce replied, his tone hard. He turned to glance at Malcolm. "I think that is our safest spot to standby."
Malcolm nodded and continued to follow behind him. He glanced towards the rainbow lux created in the distance,"if you don't get out, I swear to Bard..."
Jayce rubbed his hand across his forehead "She'll be fine, focus on us and your friend, Malcolm."
Malcolm acknowledged Jayce with a grunt and maintained his run onward. They were in for a long day.
Lux took slow steps in the field she cast her spell in, then, with care, scanned the area. Traces of mana pulsed through Lux's eyes and occasional zaps of energy, akin to lighting, jolted across her irises. She dreaded the fight to come.
"Hey, sweetie," a familiar distorted voice coaxed, "you ready to die yet?"
"As if I'd let you take me down," Lux said, her tone bitter. "I've got some questions for you, whore."
Echoes of malevolent giggles loomed through the fields in response to the mage's comments. A chill crept on Lux's spine, despite her firm composure, the unearthly laughter could evoke fear in the bravest. Lux stared into Evelynn's eyes with a firm leer, her adversary's changed to a look of interest.
"Well, I'm afraid I can't help you, love."
Evelynn materialized in front of Lux in a puff of red smoke. She appeared human, apart from her long claws along with the crimson-colored lashers attached to her back. Lux gave a disapproving frown and scoffed at her sudden presence. Evelynn took a single step towards Lux. and giggled as she cupped her chin delicately.
"This will be over soon, honey," Evelynn spoke in a whisper. "let's see how you handle things in the dark," She camouflaged herself into the atmosphere with a sinister smile and the wave of her hand.
"Please, that's elementary," Lux said with a cocky grin. She held her wand in front of her and twirled it into a circle. "Prismatic barrier." She was cloaked in her surroundings, ready to face her adversary.
"Lights out." There was a change in the air, and Evelynn summoned a set of purple spikes behind Lux.
"Binding light!" A clear beam of light erupted behind her to snare the onslaught of spikes. Lux, with a wave of her hand, pointed her wand behind her, ready to take the offensive stance. "Lucent singularity." A bright ball of energy launched behind her and detonated on contact with the ground.
"That won't do." Evelynn slit the air with her claws, which sent seared red energy towards Lux's right side.
"Light step." She evaded the attack with an instant teleport to her left. "Prismatic zone," Lux called out with a figure eight drawn from her wand. Dozens of clear prisms erupted from the shape she drew and surrounded her. "Now let's get serious, bitch." She released her wand in front of her and let it levitate in place. Evelynn continued to slash and summon spikes, the levitating prisms remained untarnished and protected Lux from the onslaught of attacks.
"Enough foreplay!" Evelynn's tone shifted from playful to demanding. Her human features melted away like ice into water. "Shadows beckon." A thick black fog enveloped Lux and her prisms. Evelynn chuckled as she watched fizzles of light poke through the darkness. "Nothing can break my shadows, they will consume you in no time, love."
Lux closed her eyes in the darkness. She felt her breathing drop to staggers, an unseen weight lurked on her shoulders and tried to drag her onto the ground. "No!" Lux yelled. She clasped her hands together then channeled her mana in front of her, a lengthy red beam formed from the obscurity. "Finales... Funkeln!" The darkness dissipated in a dazzling ray that could blind. A wave of heat evaporated Evelynn's spikes away in the blink of an eye. Evelynn's lips formed a pout as she gave Lux a disapproved glance. "I'm just getting warmed up. Hope you're ready."
"You military brats are feisty," Evelynn taunted with a giggle.
Lux spun around in response away from her adversary and spread her arms apart from one another. "Light prison."
The prisms brandished paths of colorful energy around the battlefield, shuffling towards Evelynn and mirroring her movements. The succubus giggled as she glided through the battlefield, darting around and moving at swift speeds, to evade the light's advance around her. Her blinks around the arena, however, subsided to a sprint which turned into a brisk walk as she lost pace with Lux's spell. All edges of the broad field were cut off by an iridescent wall of energy that hummed with concentrated magic. Evelynn rolled her eyes, annoyed at her opponent's games. Eventually, she noted any options to evade the spell were gone, it cocooned her in Lux's trap.
"Ok, fine. You got me, Honey. Now what?" Evelynn spoke, unamused.
Lux turned to face her then returned her comments, "You better answer my concerns, Or else."
Malcolm took the eruptive light show in the distance as a draw in their favor. They arrived at the sandy shore where they first disembarked, but their guards were anything except lowered. Jayce tensed at the slightest change in the air while Malcolm had his gaze focused in the distance. Malcolm's interest centered on Tobias, whose recovery was anything other than graceful. Tobias managed an occasional slur of Malcolm's name and his attempts at standing ended with him sunk further into the wet sand.
"Okay, princess," Tobias said, his voice less raspy. Malcolm shifted away from Tobias to cup his head in his hand, keeping his annoyed gaze away from him.
"Don't call me that, Fate," Malcolm replied sternly with a sigh. He swayed his head, annoyed at the dilemma. Great, now he can talk, Malcolm thought. Tobias' chuckle was soft while, gods be damned, disarming. Malcolm let his hand drift back to his side in a clenched fist and confronted Tobias. "What's so funny?" he demanded. His frustrated tone deflected off Tobias' unusual demeanor as if he posed the question casually.
Tobias paused for a moment before answering, "You haven't changed. Still prissy 'bout pet names are we?"
Malcolm felt a warmth rush to his cheeks. Oh, he did no-
"We can play catch up later. Stay alert. Especially you - mage." Jayce interrupted Malcolm's thoughts, agitated at how giddy Tobias appeared.
"If you mean knocking him senseless, sounds good..." Malcolm replied. Tobias shrugged and propped himself up from the depths of the sand.
Sounds of occasional zaps echoed in the distance, accompanied with an unnerving banshee-like scream. Malcolm dismissed the sounds with a shake of his head then paced towards Jayce. He noticed his posture was still as a statue and gaze firm as a hawk. Malcolm traced light motions with his fingers around Jayce's shoulders and said, "Relax a bit. There ain't a thing in sight." Jayce's composure didn't change though, he sat there, his eyes prying into the distance, with only a simple wave of his head to reply. "Jayce, C'mon..." Malcolm wrapped his arms around Jayce.
"Stop," Jayce said. "I'm focusing, don't touch m-." Jayce tore his gaze from the distance and shoved Malcolm aside with brute force. Jayce extended his arm outward. "Hammer." A flash of light erupted from his right hand, a large golden hammer encased in static energy hissed to life. Webs wider than the tides weaved with a swift grace around the three men.
"What the hell?" Malcolm cried, bewildered and struck with a new wave of fear.
"Call your weapon, Malcolm," Jayce commanded. "Otherwise we'll both end up dead."
Malcolm extended his arm out, reluctant to fight. "Destiny." His gun materialized in a pulse of blue light, he winced under its weight, it was heavier than he remembered. The webs engulfed them, with the moonlight seeped through into small puddle like blotches on the ground. A high pitched demonic laugh called for their attention above them, Malcolm trailed his gaze to the top of their imprisonment. He flinched from the ghastly appearance of a humanoid spider. It appeared as a normal human woman would. The creature's hair was fashioned into a red and black mullet and dressed in a black corset. The back of the creature contrasted with four long yet thin spider-like legs that bound themselves to the webs.
"Only the spider is safe in the web," the creature murmured.
"We'll see about that," Malcolm returned her comments. "Hope you have a plan." He tossed a curious look at Jayce.
"Stay back and guard your friend," Jayce said. A blue light flashed under his feet, and he propelled himself upwards, head in, towards the creature with his hammer arced behind him, his eyes cold and calculated.
Lux snapped her fingers, a zap of clear energy cascaded across the trap she laid out. Evelynn hissed in pain as the potent magic struck her. "So are you going to tell me why you're after my kingdom's intel?" Lux asked, her tone was sarcastically gleeful. "Or do I need to zap it out of you?" She held her fingers together again, threatening a second wave of shock therapy.
"What can I say? I'm bored. Nothing else, Love," Evelynn said with a shrug.
Snap
Evelynn screamed in agony once again as a single jolt passed through her. She cursed under her breath. "Agh! You stupid brat! You're gonna burn my hair!"
Snap snap
"I'll stop if you tell me. Otherwise, I'll just keep jolting you for fun." The last line hung off her tongue with glee. She continued to snap as Evelynn shrieked, the jolts became more potent with each click of her hands. "Tell me, now."
"I like to keep tabs on stuff for my own interests, honey."
"The hell do you need that for?" Lux pressed her fingers together and glared at Evelynn. "I imagine you don't want me to shock you to death. Let's make this easy, mkay?"
Evelynn giggled then relaxed her posture. She took a seat on the ground and gazed into Lux's eyes with a smile. "You need to relax," She coaxed, not breaking eye contact.
A purple aura encased Lux's body. She took unwanted steps towards her opponent. "What the hell are you doing, whore!?" Her steps picked up in tempo until she stood in front of her adversary. It filled the young mage's eyes with fear, for she was no longer in control of the battlefield.
Evelynn giggled and motioned Lux's face towards her imprisonment with a beckon of her finger. She took a few steps back, Lux matched her movements and was now inside the trap she wove. "I'm sorry, Love. I couldn't plan on giving you hope any longer." Evelynn swiped the side of Lux's cheek with her claw then licked at the beads of blood cradled within her nails. She gave a soft smile, her eyes gleamed with victory.
Lux's adversary stood up and chanted, "Shadows, allure." A thick black smog responded to the spell. The cloud spread into the air towards where they disembarked. Lux collapsed onto the cold Earth, her mana reserves dwindling from Evelynn's curse, the last chance for escape slithered away. Evelynn shifted away from Lux, then withdrew within the smog.
"Link," she mouthed.
Jayce. I'm using damn near the last of my mana. Please get out with Malcolm while you can and report what has happened. I'm sorry, she thought. Desperate desires for the communication spell to carry through filled her mind. I can't let them die... I fucking can't! If they don't make it out.. this is all my fault for tagging them along. I could've gotten that mage out myself. She continued the onslaught of thoughts and regrets along with begging for her heart to stop beating, for each breath she drew felt like engulfing flames.
"That's it, Love," Evelynn's voice was a demonic distortion. "Feed me your anger, sorrow, and regrets."
Tears streamed down her face, her death would not be admirable. Demacia, the only home she knew, would view her as a failure and innocent lives may perish due to her own selfishness. She sighed, then allowed only shallow breaths. Anything stronger could be her last, along with the other three men on the island.
The prisms she summoned from her spell descended onto the cold ground. Shards of glass shattered all around her, low pulses of magic followed Evelynn's spell.
Shatter it, she pleaded. I'm unable to stop her.
Jayce's gaze shifted from the demon to Malcolm, he appeared to be distracted. "Now's not the time for a stare-down," Malcolm said with his weapon aimed at the spider. He gripped the trigger with a precise aim on his target, despite years of not using it, Malcolm considered himself a skilled marksman.
"Get your friend. We're leaving, now." Jayce said with a stern look, his gaze shifted between Malcolm and the spider. He reached into his coat pocket, the assortment of the crystals Lux provided shined in the darkness. "I'll distract her, just grab your pal and I'll get us out of here."
Malcolm nodded and ran towards Tobias. "Can ya stand?" Malcolm asked, trying his best to not show concern.
"If you're still standing so I don't see why not," Tobias said with a smirk. "I know you're scared shitless of critters."
Malcolm rolled his eyes. He pulled Tobias upright with an unwilling hand, then, with his eyes set on Tobias' playful smile, felt an invisible force compel him a few steps towards him. He wanted to stop, but, despite telling himself to move away, he continued onward. What the hell? Malcolm couldn't fathom why he was a few steps away from Tobias' face.
"Malcolm, I ain't sure if this wench is dealing us a bad hand. I can't move and don't know what I'm feeling," Tobias said. His eyes shifted nervously as his face flushed a light scarlet color.
"And I thought my nickname was scarlet, Fate." Malcolm noticed the color through the low light and chuckled. Then, in that moment, he sensed a new, yet forced, emotion drive him on end: Lust, from Tobias' handsome appearance to playful quips, Malcolm absorbed every feature with care. Nothing else mattered then, for it was the two them - alone.
"I don't want to remember you as an enemy." Mixed emotions overcame him. "We spent all of our lives together almost. How can I abandon it all now that I've found you? "
"Malcolm…"
Malcolm pursed his lips as he looked down at him. I missed ya', you cheat. His lips tapped against Tobias'. Malcolm savored the blissful moment and gave way to his desire. He pressed tighter into the kiss, Tobias returned the favor while they embraced each other tightly, their arms locked around each other as a vice would. Malcolm's will dug deeper, he needed more of him.
Malcolm broke the kiss and looked into Tobias' eyes, both men full of lust and years of want, Malcolm knew this wasn't right. "I'm sorry… I don't know what's coming over me," Malcolm whispered. He loosened his embrace around Tobias. "I need more than this." No, I don't! Malcolm's thoughts clashed against what he said. I can't fall under this.
"Drain my mana, Malcolm..." Tobias' carried his name with a low moan. He hitched his neck towards Malcolm's face. "Now."
Malcolm enthralled himself in Tobias scent. Unable to hold back any longer, he grabbed Tobias' shoulders and leaned in to nibble soft trails across his neck and shoulder. Tobias' mana pulsed in quick cadences, each throb of energy invigorated Malcolm with a yearning he couldn't quench. He leaned in towards Tobias' neck to bite and take the sweet transfer of energy.
Thwack.
Jayce launched a forceful blow into Malcolm's shoulder to throw him off balance. He furrowed his brows - his stone cold gaze couldn't hide a look of disappointment.
"In case you forgot you left me to fight that murderous thing," Jayce said. He pointed his finger towards the lifeless spider demon smashed into the web. "You're lucky I'm taking you along."
Malcolm dropped into full confusion and panic. "Wait! I don't know what happened, but I wouldn't do this!" Malcolm pleaded.
Jayce scoffed at him and held the transparent crystal. He stared at it, sighed, then stepped towards other two to teleport them out. The crystal fell to the ground with a forceful toss and shattered into tiny shards, small white orbs of energy surrounded them and spun at a rapid pace. The surrounding scene shifted from the dark webs to a blank white canvas.
Somehow, I fucked everything up that I earned, Malcolm thought. He cursed under his breath, regretting even looking for Tobias. I don't gotta beat him senseless or have him in my life, anyway. Why the fuck did I do this?!
Malcolm closed his eyes and rubbed his fingers against his temple. He hoped for some reassurance within his sporadic thoughts, or for Jayce to believe and comfort him. Everything was a full circle to the start of the ordeal with Tobias, except, this time, he was the one who broke someone's trust that cared about him. Warm droplets fell down his cheeks, his confused feelings doubled down to a squeeze on his heart.
"I'm sorry, Jayce," Malcolm said timidly, in a whisper.
The white field they stood in pulsed to with a blinding glow. Malcolm covered his soaked face in response and waited for the light to dwindle. He uncovered his head a few moments later, they were back at Demacia's docks. Tobias to his right, Jayce nowhere to be found.
Malcolm turned towards Tobias, he resisted the urge to pummel him. Instead, he sighed and spoke his voice croaked, "You have a lot of explaining to do... ya bastard." He grabbed ahold of Tobias' shoulders and gave him a forceful leer. "Don't even think of weaseling your way out."
Tobias shrugged within Malcolm's grip and smiled at him.
"Guess so. I gotta say though... I missed ya, partner."