Chapter Text
It was supposed to be a quiet night –as quiet as the storm clouds would let it. The heavy downpour was one with the wild sea, loud thunder booming across the silhouette of the island. It was supposed to be a night like any other, filled with sobs and cries and begging, and songs of misery and lost hope and the angry shouts of guards demanding silence.
And then, there was fire. Fire that burst into the frontline, that roared louder than the thunder boomed, that hurt in more ways than a whip could. Asphyxiating smoke and explosions shook the building, breaking anything they came into contact with. Stone walls were reduced to rubble, wooden beams caught aflame, cloth was eaten away by hot, swivelling, hungry tongues. The begging silenced as each cell was opened and soon there were screams and cries for help, as armour and cloth melted and fused into skin and dug to the bone, tears evaporated into steam. The air stunk of smoke and charred flesh. Those who hadn’t been caught in the crossfire were running away, fleeing the growing chaos that three had caused.
Running her hand parallel to the cracked floor before raising it with deadly grace, fire burnt in intricate lines in her palm and a beam of fire raced down the hallway like the rays of an angry sun. “Burn to Hell!”, the woman screamed with a euphoric grin. The throng of armoured men screamed louder in horror, eyes wide and trembling with fear and she laughed at the irony. Oh, how lovely it is to see them run like chickens with their heads cut off! “Burn, you damned bastards! How does my fire feel now, huh?! Is it to your tastes now?!”, she laughed and touched her face, her hand shook with the enthusiasm of vengeance. It was so easy… How hadn’t they seen that sooner? Or rather, how had she not seen it sooner?
Tucker was the one to come up with the plan. He was the smart one, the one who saw the patterns, the one who wasn’t being constantly dragged from room to room and picked apart by unfriendly hands. He was the one who could calmly observe and connect the pins on the board and plan accordingly. Without him, they would still be in their little, barren cells, crying and singing songs that no one would hear. Tucker was the one who created that wonderful opportunity for them so carefully; every step thought out and a second plan for each one, every pawn placed and moved with consideration of probabilities and factors… and she was going to take full advantage of it just like he was taking advantage of them..
Their screams were music to her ears. She burnt them and cooked them in their metal armour, using their only defence against them. Sickening, sweet joy swelled in her chest and her fire reigned free. In that moment, she felt more alive than she had ever before. Perhaps that was the display they had been trying to get out of her: a beautiful and deadly beast, hungry and devouring everything in its path.
A surge of magma flowed freely just further down, blasting and melting more and more guards to clear out the hallways. The telltale sign of an ally brought a smile to her lips, as she’d thought they’d lost each other in the chaos: a guard and friend whom they had roped into their scheme, black hair, young eyes and gleaming armour. He ran towards her, through the fire and charred bodies, a purple cape billowing in the blaze until his path was cut off by falling debris.
“Reiko!” she shouted over the desperate roars of fire that was running out of oxygen.
The guard peeked through an opening in the fallen rocks. He could melt them if he wanted but instead, he grinned. Footsteps thundered in the molten hall behind him and he’d soon turn to face them.
“Continue down that hall, I’ll take care of these guys and catch up to you!” he was gone before she could utter another word. His confidence and skill promised his safe return; she believed his word more than anything.
“Come on, there’s no time for that!”, a man grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away from the blazing pool of a hallway. Her smiling eyes remained on the burning corpses and the agonised, writhing soldiers until they turned the corner.
No one was going to follow them through there.
“I gave them enough trouble to keep them occupied.” she mused. That twisted grin persisted; her cheeks hurt from its force.
“You bought us enough time to free everyone,” another man flanked them, a friend. Brown, matted hair, calculating eyes that could see miniscule cracks in a pristine wall.
“Ay, Tucker!”, she greeted, giggles bubbling up her chest. “My fire should hold them back for a bit –till a water mage comes along anyway!”
The thought didn’t bother her. She could light fires faster than they could extinguish them; she'd proven that theory of theirs. The plan was counting on her speed.
Tucker pointed to the left of an upcoming cross-section. The three of them followed his quiet lead, their feet thudding on the floor, collecting debris and splinters on their numbed heels.
“The exit should be that way!”
Around the next corner, however, was a horde of soldiers. It was a blockade of shields that stood behind a mysterious person, cloaked in sombre black and deep violet. A leader, perhaps or someone who was more capable than the men hoisting weapons. The grin fell from her face, the joy turned into annoyance, a growl replaced her laughter.
The two men skidded to a stop, the hand wrapped around her bicep let go. She sped onwards and magic sparked in her hands. This was their chance and it was not going to go to waste.
“Out of our way!”
Her fire was caught in a cloud of poison. A poison mage! Her eyes widened, and she shielded herself with her arms just in time. The cloud exploded instantly, a strong reaction to the heat, shaking the hallway, dislodging pillars and beams alike. Unexpectedly, she was blown away but was caught by her friends who quickly pulled her into a different corridor. Her ears were ringing, though she could tell that Tucker was murmuring a change in his plans under his breath whilst they ran.
“Pursue them!” someone commanded behind them, a voice heard from underwater, likely the poison mage they had encountered. “Bring those rats back alive!”
The corridor thundered with metal steps. The soldiers who had been holding the blockade were on their tail and they were far more equipped than those guards she had carbonised. Tucker seemed to be taking random turns in the maze of unfamiliar hallways and doors but as much of a genius as he was, trying to lose their pursuers, the guards knew the place better than they did. As her hearing slowly came back, she could make out some of them barking orders not far behind them. She had to do something, or they’d be doomed.
“I can throw them off,” she told her friends. Their faces were stoic but their eyes shone with worry and fear. She knew her own betrayed similar emotions as much as she would've liked to keep up an unfazed facade but she was determined. They'd see Tucker's plan through. “I need a long corridor.”
The two of them ran ahead, leaving her to enact her impromptu plan and she watched them disappear down the hall. The heavy, iron footsteps of their pursuers were growing louder; closer. She raised her hand and fired at the ceiling. The fireball burst and broke it apart, and many of the soldiers who had just turned the corner fell victim to falling, scorched rocks. She destroyed some more of the ceiling, burying the corridor and successfully slowing them down. The soldiers would have to put in more effort to capture them and that thought was satisfying enough to return a grin to her chapped lips.
The others were waiting for her farther down, noticeably calmer but still on edge.
“That should hold them for a bit,” she said once she caught up with them. “Are we going to continue running or…?”
“I guess our stealth plan has gone out the window thanks to you.” the other man clicked his tongue in annoyance. She knew him long enough not to take offence to that. They were all in a tight spot and destruction was a given when it came to her magic –as they had learnt within the little time they’d been trying to escape.
“Our stealth plan was gone the moment you asked me to slow them down back at the cell block.” she cheekily corrected him.
“Let’s just get to the docks before you cause more havoc for them to follow.”
Tucker, who was silently contemplating different courses of action, finally spoke. “We've lost them for now, so let's make our way to the docks. I know the way from here.” he said and then he took on a warning tone as he addressed her with severity. “No. More. Fire.”
“Aye, aye, captain.” she put her hands up in mock-surrender. The man gave her an unimpressed look whilst the other peeked around the corner.
“It’s clear, come on.”
Explosions went off somewhere in the building, an echo of her fire, the sparks on the tinder that no one noticed. The walls shook, dust and burning beams fell from the ceiling. The stone floor cracked beneath their feet. Even though she had created noise, she had also bought valuable time. It had been enough for them to find the exit.
The air hit them harder than any of the initiates could. It was fresh, cold and tasted of crisp salt. Storm clouds swirled above, rain beat the island relentlessly, waves as tall as pines crashed into each other. The sea was wild, the water an untamed beast. The wind howled and blew but harmlessly caressed their skin.
Freedom tasted like sea salt.
The elements were against them, yet they stood barefoot on the worn, damp wood of the docks, unafraid, in molten shackles, overwhelmed by a concept they'd believed to have disappeared. The cold couldn’t compare to the heat radiating off their bodies; the danger couldn’t compare to their suffering.
“We aren’t out of the woods yet.” Tucker, ever logical, reminded them. A teasing taste never promised a hearty meal. Immediately, they moved.
“Cover me!” she asked them, wasting no more time enjoying the air in order to climb aboard a brig. The big boat was docked but the waves crashing into it made it sway and the mooring ropes strained to hold it in place. Water sprayed and wet the tattered, charred rags on her body.
“Make it quick!”
It was the easy part of the plan: free three rowboats and get out of there while the weather was treacherous. Even though Tucker had told her not to use fire, she had no sharp weapon to cut the first one free. So, the ropes burnt, and the boat splashed into the waves near the docks. Another fell from the adjacent ship, which the other man had cut free with a dagger.
Last one… She ran to the other side of the deck to look for it but she was cut short when one banged into the water. No… No, boats don’t make that sound. That was a–
She didn’t complete the thought, running towards the dock and catching herself on the brig's railing. Her eyes frantically searched the area for the source of the sound, only for her ears to pick up the softest click in the downpour.
In their hurry, in that split second they had let their guard down, they had ignored the vantage of the battlement, where someone stood dressed in those horrible blacks and purples. They scoffed on their high perch, shouted something that was lost in the storm, and aimed the gun again on a fire that seemed to die.
Yet, she didn’t raise her head in challenge, as she'd done time and time again in their hands. Her whole body had frozen when she set eyes upon the body swaying on its feet with a hand above the heart. No. No, it couldn’t be… She threw herself overboard urgently, landed on trembling feet and somehow mustered the will to move. The skin of her knees split open on the deck as she caught the body right before it hit the ground.
“Tucker!” she was in hysterics, body shaking, mind breaking. The only answer was a gurgle of blood, a trembling, red-stained hand raising to grab on her torn shirt, and glassy eyes that stared into the darkness of the sky, unblinking when the raindrops splashed on them. Blood pooled on the hand that supported his back, the hand weakly fisting her clothes and trying to convey a warning.
In the distance, she heard heavy footsteps and the clinging of iron but she was too busy putting pressure on the wound, trying her best to keep the blood from escaping. A shadow blocked the light, dread clawed at her neck.
From the dark sky, the only sound was the pull of the trigger.
