"My fellow valkyries, I apologize for disturbing your rest." Lucius called out, causing the crowd to go quiet. "The girl before you was found spying on our camp, having been sheltered and allowed to remain nearby by our trainee, Stephen." All eyes turned to Stephen, who stood quietly on the far side of the training yard. His eyes were red from crying, but his face was calm, focused not on the gawking valkyries but on Alexis.
Alexis was on her knees, being held there by two of the senior warriors. Her red hair was unkempt, and there was a new bruise on her cheek, but she glared fiercely at any valkyrie that dared make eye contact with her. One of her guards had a bite mark on his wrist. Did she know that they meant to kill her? Surely she did.
"What more can we expect." Cafos' bitter voice rose up from the crowd. "A betrayal from the only human among us? What a shock."
"Be silent, Cafos." Lucius rebuked him. "The girl came with intent to poison his mind, and he fell victim to her charms. Rest assured that her influence will be summarily corrected."
"You're Cafos?" Alexis's voice sent a rush of murmurs through the crowd. "You're pretty for a meathead." Her comment was rewarded by a blow to the head, and she growled. Cafos' gaze flew to Stephen, who tightened his jaw as he recognized what thoughts must be running through his head.
"If I've poisoned his mind, I don't think he wants the antidote." Alexis continued. "And you think by killing me you'll get him back on your side? You're a f-" Again she was struck, this time with enough force to make her yelp with pain.
"Keep her quiet." Lucius snapped. "In the interest of keeping our camp, and more importantly our young ones safe, this intruder must be executed." He nodded to Haliel, who drew his sword and approached her. Stephen's teeth clenched until he felt they might crack, his heart hammering in his chest as the elder stepped forward to execute his only friend.
As Haliel lifted his sword, Stephen blinked through space, snatching Alexis from the arms of her guards and teleporting into the woods.
Alexis gasped as he stumbled into a tree, momentarily disoriented as he set her on her feet. "Cutting it a little close, aren't you?"
"Shh." Stephen hissed. "Run."
"Only if you run with me." She hissed back. Stephen hesitated, then grabbed her hand and led the way.
He could hear the enraged cries from his people, his family, as he fled with her deeper into the woods. Alexis kept pace with him for a while, but eventually she began to lag, her breathing growing harsh. Stephen took the opportunity to pull her behind the trunk of a tree, guiding her to sit on the ground.
"You okay?" He asked breathlessly. His stamina was quite impressive, but even he couldn't run forever, and teleporting multiple times in quick succession took its toll. Alexis prodded at her bruised cheek, gave him a thumbs-up.
"They knocked me around a bit, but I'm fine."
"Good." Steve lowered himself to his knees in front of her, checking her over in the dim light. His heart was still pounding in his chest, adrenaline racing through his veins, but he wasn't sick with fright anymore.
"We need to get you out of these woods." He told her quietly. "Far away from here, and you need to spend the next few days as out of sight as you can. From the air, anyway. They'll be searching for you." Alexis took a deep breath, then let it out.
"Alright." She braced a hand against the tree, staggering upright again. "Not killers, huh?" Stephen grimaced and took her hand again.
"…I didn't think they were."
The two of them stayed as quiet as possible as they worked their way through the woods, eventually slowing to a walk to conserve Alexis's energy. The woods were silent, as if the nighttime creatures knew they were in danger. At one point, Stephen spotted a valkyrie flying overhead, and had them both hide until he was sure they hadn't been spotted. He had never been afraid of them before, but tonight…
The sliver of moon was high overhead when they finally reached the edge of the spruce forest. Beyond the taiga was a great valley, at the bottom of which grew copses of acacia trees that would prove ample shelter from watchers from the sky.
"There." Stephen murmured, pointing down the hill. "That will keep you safe. Stay down there for at least a week, if you can help it. Maybe they'll have stopped searching by then." Alexis gave his hand a squeeze, taking a single step out of the treeline to get a better look at her destination. Stephen cast a nervous look at the sky.
"Come with me." Alexis said quietly. Stephen met her eyes and shook his head.
"I can't, I'll only put you in more danger. They'll give up on you eventually, but they would never stop hunting for me." His throat tightened slightly. His punishment for this stunt would be severe.
"And you?" Alexis protested. "They were not happy with you, that much was clear. Even if the leaders don't hurt you, that Cafos guy certainly will." Stephen winced.
"Don't remind me."
"Stevie, those people treat you like a tool." Alexis went on. "I could see it in their faces. They don't trust you."
"Because I betrayed them." Stephen shot back. "I never should have asked you to stay. I put you in danger."
"Yeah, you did." Alexis agreed. "So make it up to me."
"I can't."
"Why not?" Alexis grabbed his hand with both of hers, giving it a squeeze. "They're not- they're not good people. They made up some bull about how I was poisoning your mind and used that as an excuse to murder me. They did it to hurt you." Stephen swallowed past the lump in his throat as she spoke.
"They're my family."
"You're not theirs." Alexis fired back. "They don't love you, Stephen. I've known you for a week and I care about you more than they do." Stephen looked away, focusing on a faraway mountain to force back the threatening tears.
"You know," He choked out. "It's saying things like this that made them want to execute you."
"Well if they wanted to silence me, then I must have been saying something right." Alexis tilted her head slightly. Stephen didn't meet her eyes, his mind going back to his conversation in Lucius's tent.
He'd never answered his question.
Why wouldn't he answer?
Stephen's face screwed up as this tears spilled over, and he buried his face in his hands to muffle a sob.
Alexis's arms wrapped around him as he wept, her head resting against his shoulder in a silent attempt to comfort him. Stephen lowered one of his hands to press against her back, using his other sleeve to soak up the tears that wouldn't stop coming. He didn't want to believe such horrible things about his family, about Lucius, but… what if Alexis was right?
"W-what 'm I supposed to do?" He choked out. "I don't… don't know anything outside of that camp."
"Well, lucky for you, I do." Alexis mumbled into his shirt. "Street smarts, remember?" Stephen sniffled, wiping off his face on his sleeve.
"I- where are we supposed to go? Where do we find food or shelter?"
"You've lived in the woods too, don't tell me you don't know how to find food." Alexis gave him a squeeze, then let him go. "Come on, let's get to the bottom of that valley." She offered him a hand, and Stephen took it.
"…alright."
They started to walk down the hill.
Lucius lifted his head as Arak landed before him with a thump.
"There's no sign of them." The young valkyrie reported, wings folding against his back as he straightened up. "We surmise that Stephen teleported to avoid leaving a trail for us to follow." Lucius's jaw tightened.
"He will wear himself out quickly if he travels in that manner. Keep searching."
"Where would he go?" Arak asked. "He has no allies out there, other than the girl. Surely he will make his way back here eventually."
"If he has his father's stubbornness, that may not be the case." Lucius told him. "And it is imperative that we recover him as quickly as possible. As long as he is out of our hands, he is a threat." He waved the young one away. "Keep searching." Arak nodded and took off again, quickly vanishing into the night sky.
Lucius rubbed the bridge of his nose, a tic in his jaw the only sign of the anger that boiled beneath his skin. Anger with Stephen, of course, but also with himself. He had blindly assumed that Stephen would never disobey him, and that killing the girl would crush any chance of rebellion, but it seemed to have only encouraged him to act out. If he had killed the girl quietly instead of making a production of it, and told Stephen that she had been released, he never would have run away.
Lucius's blue eyes fell on Cafos, who was standing before the embers of the firepit with his arms crossed. He and the other trainees had not been allowed to join the search given their inexperience, which Cafos seemed especially upset about. Lucius could guess why. The boy hated Stephen.
It was this quality, however, as well as his great skill in tracking, that set him apart from the others. Lucius turned and approached him. "Cafos."
The boy lifted his head, steely grey eyes meeting his own. "Yes, sir?"
"I would like you to search for Stephen." Lucius told him. "Alone."
"Alone, sir?" Cafos raised a brow. Lucius nodded.
"If the search parties do not find him within a day, they will be recalled. You, on the other hand, need to hunt until you find him." Lucius leaned in slightly closer, so that any others around him would not hear him. "And if he will not come back with you willingly, you must kill him." Cafos blinked, a slow smirk spreading over his face.
"That, I can do." He agreed. "You should have let me do this a long time ago."
"Stephen is a powerful tool as long as he is under our control. But if he is not for us, he is against us. Cafos," Lucius gave him a meaningful look. "If I find that you killed him without discretion, there will be consequences." Cafos sobered slightly, and he nodded.
"I understand."
"Good." Lucius leaned back. "Ensure you do not return without him, alive or dead. Make ready to leave by evening tomorrow, at which point you will set off if he has not yet been returned." Cafos nodded, and Lucius turned away to reclaim his position by his tent. It would be a proper waste if Stephen were to die, after all they had gone through to obtain him, but it would be far worse if he were to turn against him. Playing with fire, he reflected, held a significant risk of being burned.