The Things I Do for You.

[born_in_flame]

It hadn't taken Caleb long to figure out who had taken Fjord and where. The Assemby was not known for subtlety. He'd known his past was going to come back and bite him one day just not like this. Fjord was his blood brother and meant more to Caleb then most of the Nein other than Nott. He was willing to face his personal hell to get the half orc back from the Assembly.

Slipping away from the others hadn't been easy, but he wasn't about to hand anyone else over to Trent. He'd cleaned himself up best he could with the time he had and took himself home humbling himself before Trent, Astrid and Wolf in the hopes he will be able to think of a plan to save his friend.

The price to return is heavy though. His former mentor is a paranoid bastard and demands Caleb prove he is back by allowing Trent to experiment on him inserting crystals back into his scars exhausting his magic until the elder mage is satisfied. It takes a week before he is allowed to dress in his robes and is led to the cell where Fjord is being held. He knows what is going to be expected of him and he loathes it. Fjord will suffer from skills Caleb has hidden for years and the wizard has no idea if their friendship or Caleb's sanity will survive this.

Comments

[mayberaven]

They weren't tending to him out of the kindness of their hearts. Fjord knew that much even with the cell he was in, the manacles he wore, enchanted to suppress magic. They wanted something from him. Clear enough in the almost conversational questions asked, though he lied at every answer. But then they were well aware of that, and he knew they were, that they were sizing him up, trying to assess just what pressure needed to be applied and where before they started in earnest.

Whatever they were wanting to get from him, it wasn't going to be a pleasant process.

He hadn't been expecting, when they apparently deemed him 'healed enough' to be faced with Caleb entering the cell. Eyes widening as his gaze darted towards where the door swung shut behind him.

"Caleb?" A bare whisper, to keep sound from echoing. Uncertain what was happening but... if Caleb was here then did that mean the others were too? Was there some sort of plan?

[born_in_flame]

Caleb looks like a version of himself that no longer fits. He is shaved clean and his hair has been cut short. He stands in front of Fjord, his back ramrod straight in red and gold. "Bern," he replies sharply, "my name is Bren...you would do well to remember it." Caleb hated, hated using his real name. It wasn't him anymore, but he knew they were not truly alone and one mistake would end any chance he had in getting Fjord back to the Nien. He kneels and considers the half orc with a searching expression as if looking for something.

"They have told me you are being uncooperative," he says in his cold tone clearly there, "That is not wise given who is holding you."

[mayberaven]

Nothing about this sat right. Not that anything in this situation was good, but the look to Caleb was absolutely all wrong, like a gem forced into a setting that didn't quite fit.

Luckily, Fjord wasn't stupid. He didn't argue about the name, studying the wizard for any sign or hint of what was actually going on here, but taking that refusal to speak any sort of confirmation or assurance as a confirmation that whatever they said or did here was being observed somehow. Which meant that either they'd done something to force Caleb's compliance, a thing he didn't even want to consider, or that Caleb was playing along to buy time, to build trust until he could think of a way out of this. Fjord would rather put his faith in Caleb, all things considered.

"Well, if the tables were turned, you can't tell me you'd be feeling especially cooperative, would you?" Fjord replied, brows lifting. Not an unusual response from him, so hopefully whoever was watching this performance would see nothing off about the interaction.

[born_in_flame]

Caleb hid a snort at this. "I at least would know better than to fight my betters," he replies, his tone not changing yet. He loathes every moment of this, but knows if he doesn't do something the choice will be made for him. He removes a dagger from inside his robes and considers the half orc again. "Even more so when you have no leverage to speak of beyond your patron." At least Caleb is assuming that is what this is about...Trent has not been forthcoming to his former favorite student and getting information out of the others has been difficult. The hammer is still hovering over Caleb's head and one wrong move will bring it smashing down on them both.

The next question is spoken softly, carefully as Caleb snaps his hand out to grasp Fjord's arm and pull it toward the dagger. This pushes Caleb's robe sleeve up a bit revealing an odd gleam to his scars, .like the lines in his skin are sparkling with starlight. "What do they want from you I wonder," he asks, his voice warming a bit. The tone change is both meant to relax his subject and reassure them he could be trusted. He's used the tact with subjects before so no one watching will question it. He hopes Fjord will get what he really means by the question. "It is not like the Empire to care about one such as you."

[mayberaven]

"I don't know what to tell you, I've always heard I've got more stubbornness than sense." Fjord was getting the idea here. No words could be spoken that could give them away, only careful tones. And since he'd already set himself a specific mask to hide behind, he couldn't really deviate from it. He was no expert on enduring torture but he did remember a conversation from when he was still a raw deckhand with a sailor who had unusual scarring and a tendency to stare through a person in an unsettling way. That you shouldn't give up even a kernel of what a person wanted if they were intent on dragging it from you. That every honest answer made it easier to pull more from you.

He wasn't sure how true that was, but he was fairly certain the man believed it and for good reason. It was what he had to fall back on so that he would. He had experience at least with masks and lies.

All he could do was endure whatever was to come, and watch his companion for signs. Caleb might be the one able to come and go from the cell, but that didn't mean he wasn't just as caught for now. A soft huff slipping from him at the sudden grab of his arm, gaze picking up the odd glimmer to the lines carved into flesh, brows furrowing faintly at the sight. "Couldn't tell you, they haven't exactly been very forthcoming."

[born_in_flame]

While on the outside Caleb is the very picture of calm arrogance and calm inside he is a mess of both mental and physical pain. He'd forgotten how much the crystals hurt and having them set into old scars hurts even worse. He is terrified for Fjord and for the Nein, because he knows they will show up sooner than later and demand answers he cannot give them. "Nor should we be," he replies in a warm tone carrying a bit of amusement. He doesn't honestly care about himself....he has no plans to survive this, Trent will not allow it as soon as Caleb makes his move. He knew that coming back here and he mourns his freedom as well.

Carefully he concentrates on the dagger in his free hand and it begins to glow white hot, He studies Fjord's arm and nods as he lowers the heated dagger to skin and begins to cut a thin line down the half orc's arm. "The Empire's plans are not for others to know...it is for us to know the plans of others. We have enemies everywhere after all."

[mayberaven]

"Well it seems kinda counter-productive," He pointed out, more to just keep from stewing in silence. "Can't rightly tell you somethin' if I don't know what you want to know."

Not that he would anyways. The others had come to that conclusion already, that he was stubborn, that he was good at lying, that he seemed set on doing as much of that as he needed to in order to avoid answering them. Not that this would stop them, it never did. But it did mean that things would be... more unpleasant. Even if it also meant that things would take longer, buying at least a little time, if Fjord could hold onto that resolution.

Easier now with Caleb in the same boat. It wasn't just his own skin he was trying to save here.

The heated knife earned a hiss of pain from him, the half-orc tensing as only the concern of extra damage done kept him from trying to pull his arm away, a grimace on his face. "Ever think it's cause people just aren't thrilled with your socialization skills?"

[born_in_flame]

"It's been my experience that people will begin talking just to make the pain stop," Caleb replies as he keeps dragging the knife down. Once he has created the thin cut, he moves back up to the beginning and draws the knife down again slowly and surely making the cut deeper as he goes. It was a trick he'd learned from Wulf...they had done a lot of that in their younger days. Learning each other's skills along with their bodies. He knew his former....could he still call them lovers, were hoping he would return to them, but he had made his choice. Bern was gone...only Caleb and his wants and desires are left now.

"It does not matter what they say by that point.....and if one knows how to listen they will say the truth you are looking for." It's a cruel truth of the Empire and one he and Beau have talked about on watches before once she knew the truth. Fjord's words draw a harsh laugh out of Caleb. "Why talk when it is better to just take," he replies.

[mayberaven]

Fjord obviously wasn't a stranger to pain. But there was a difference in the pain of accidental injury, or damage taken in a fight. Deliberate injury where he didn't have something else to focus on was keenly more unpleasant, especially with the control that it was being done with, a faint tremor skimming through him as he grappled with what to do- if he should try and struggle, risk more injury than was 'necessary' in the moment, or hold fast. Save his energy for what he was sure would be worse to come.

Caleb's words were encouraging him to choose the latter. Physically fighting every little thing wouldn't get him anywhere but more exhausted and hurting, and if he was going to be any use when the wizard figured out how to get them out then he needed to conserve his energy. Not that it made it easy to do, a flinch of muscle accompanying the second pass of the blade, a muttered curse slipping out between gritted teeth.

"See you say things like that and wonder why people might not be so thrilled with the Empire."

[born_in_flame]

Caleb can feel the tremor and if he wasn't being watched he would have stopped for a bit. But he cannot. He does pull the knife back on the pretense of reheating it to give Fjord a moment to breathe and relax. It's another tactic he's used before that won't be questioned. Build trust and mix pleasure with pain, make the mark think he has made a friend then betray them to get what you want. He then returns to the cut and draws the knife down again. "I say what I think as do you," came the reply, "it is simply what you do not want to hear."

His words have a double meaning to them. On their face he's speaking about the Empire and their lack of care for their subjects, while he actually means that he doesn't have a plan to get them out yet and that Fjord should not hope for a quick rescue. This is going to take time, time they may not have. The longer they linger the more games will be played.

[mayberaven]

Fjord isn't sure if the pause is just for what it looks like, or for giving him a break, but he'll take it all the same. Mind already working on the problem, even as the return of the heated edge had him jerking faintly again, fingers flexing.

He heard what Caleb was saying. Heard what he meant, and so let a short slip of a laugh loose, more a sardonic sound but more than the others had gotten. Let them think that Caleb's approach was working, let them think that giving him leeway to work his own way would get them results. He had a rather unpleasant inkling that for all the wizard couldn't spare him without exposing them both, that he'd be wildly better to deal with than the others. "Careful, or someone might think there's a sense of humor in there somewhere."

He's not going to risk trying to pass back messages of his own unless absolutely necessary, but he does want the wizard to be careful, aware that the role he's pretending to fill here puts him in danger.

[born_in_flame]

Caleb fights the urge to smile in reply feeling a different sort of warmth spread through his body at the words. Fjord is still himself and that gives Caleb hope that he can get them out of here. That he is clever enough to do it. "That would imply I have some form of humanity left in me which I think, you think I do not," he replies sharply trying to make it sound like the implication hurts. He isn't pulling his punches yet since he knows he'll get caught if he starts doing that too soon. He has already suffered at the hands of those who knew him. He had to to regain their trust and the crystals were just the least painful of those "sessions"

He turns Fjord's hand he's holding over and considers it for a moment before taking the knife and digging a deep hot cut across the palm without any warning. "But perhaps you are right for what man would do this to a friend?"

[mayberaven]

"To be fair, this sort of setup does kinda give credence to that argument. But you're the one who said it not me." Of course Caleb could get him out. He just had to hang tight, trust his friend. Not let anything important slip or let on that Caleb wasn't quite on the Empire's side in this.

He also doubted that Caleb could do much to pull punches without drawing suspicion. Which meant that it was also on Fjord to give him the wiggle room to do what he could. Start early, establish a 'baseline' that was maybe a bit lighter than he could actually handle. Which really, this was easy enough to do, that sudden deep dig into his hand earning a sharp jerk back that he didn't resist trying to manage, adding a sharp-hissed 'fuck!' with the recoil.

[born_in_flame]

"This could be over quickly," Caleb muses, pushing the knife in a bit to make his point.. "If my mentor has his way it will not be. He does enjoy drawing things out." It's a careful warning to be on guard, which he knows Fjord already is. "but we were friends once and I do hate to see those I cared about suffer. I could...distract enough that he would get bored with you."

It's what he's already trying to do, but 15 years is a long time and people change/ His normal tricks are not working and he's struggling to come up with new ones. He's starting to feel lost and it's only been a week. But he cannot think of failure...he cannot. There is too much at stake here.

[mayberaven]

The half-orc hissed his discomfort, trying again to tug his hand free from the dig of the knifepoint. Not enough to turn it into a struggle that Caleb would be forced to escalate in response, just letting the reflexive attempt to avoid pain happen.

"Disappointing to hear that past tense," He grumbled, brows furrowing. Let the ones watching assume that whatever Caleb might be convincing them he feels or doesn't, that there's still a bond there from Fjord's side to be exploited, which should let Caleb have plenty of reason to keep lead on his... interrogation. Or whatever the fuck they were wanting here. "What would such distraction cost me though? Hypothetically, I mean."

[born_in_flame]

"Who said I would require yet another favor from you," Caleb asks, his expression unreadable. He is doing what he's doing to spare Fjord as much as he can because he...he cares. Fjord is his friend and how can he not face his own past and the trauma of it for a friend. A dear friend if Caleb was being honest, but he could not think of that now. He pins Fjord's wrist with his thumb and finger making sure the grip is strong. "You already owe me one and to owe more is a heavy debt." It's a gentle rebuke. Caleb expects nothing from this ever. He's doing it because he wants to and nothing more.

Once he is sure Fjord's hand isn't going to move he yanks the knife out hard as he adds. "And I am not sure I want you of all the Nien to owe me any more than you do."

[mayberaven]

Fjord is aware of that. Caleb wasn't one to fling himself into a situation sight unseen, with no real plan. But... that's what he'd done here. Come into the viper's nest with no way out, and no plan beyond trying to lessen the damage done. Control the spin somehow. The half-orc couldn't help the furrow of his brows, though he kept his expression otherwise in that tense uncertainty that was honestly not really a surprise for this situation.

"Don't- hell!" Cut off with another curse at the yank free of the knife, trying to flinch back, though Caleb's grip kept his hand in place. "Don't put yourself out on my account then."

Flippant in tone, but serious in the ways he was aware Caleb would note. He wanted the wizard to be as careful as he could. Didn't want Caleb getting into even more danger because of him.

[born_in_flame]

"I have never been one to do as I'm told," comes the reply equally as flippant. Caleb isn't leaving until his plan is complete no matter what might happen to him. He was in danger every day he ran away from this and he was so so tired of running. He is not strong enough to end this now, but he was going to try. "I am not the type of man anyone would worry about anyway."

It is a truth Caleb has believed for 15 years and he doesn't plan to stop now. He wipes the bloody knife on the cell floor and tucks the dagger into his robes again. He then hovers his hand over the cut on Fjord's hand. after a long moment a small flame appears and cauterize the wound painfully. He wishes he knew more healing magic, but this will both help and cause pain to please everyone.

"

[mayberaven]

"From where I'm sitting I'm plenty worried." On the surface an obvious enough snark from someone at the mercy of the wizard, but true underneath as well. He was just as scared for Caleb as he was for himself in this situation.

Not that it didn't mean that the maneuver with the flame didn't hurt, earning another pained curse from the half-orc, hand jerking against Caleb's hold in a reflexive attempt to get away from the sensation. Effective enough in stopping him bleeding everywhere, but it also wasn't going to do anything good for his casting should an opportunity to escape crop up. He was just going to have to trust Caleb.

[born_in_flame]

Caleb finally lets Fjord's hand go through his fingers lingering a bit on the orc's wrist. "Don't," he says, his voice carrying a bit of actual emotion now. He knows how emotion can be turned into a weapon and Fjord is being held by people who have made it an art form. He stands slowly. "Worrying will get you nowhere because that is where you are going." He turns to go each step heavy with his own worry. Until he can act he will not know if Fjord will survive day to day. He hesitates a moment when he reaches the door, but he pushes himself through in the end on to his own pain.

[mayberaven]

Fjord had no real idea what Caleb would have to do. He doubted they trusted him entirely, figured he would have to keep proving himself but beyond that, there was little way to tell. And obsessing over it wouldn't do him any good. The best thing he could do both for the wizard and for himself was to focus on his own situation, and mitigating as much trouble as he could for himself.

Not that he was aware of much he could do here. Just paying attention to his surroundings, working the injured hand to keep it from stiffening up as well as he could manage. And failing to keep from worrying over Caleb's situation in kind.

[born_in_flame]

Caleb returns to Trent's side hiding his terror behind the mask of cold ego he knows his mentor is expecting. He lets himself be toyed with in an effort to figure out what is going on. It's not pleasant and he earns a nasty set of new scars as a result. but he does learn that Trent intends to visit Fjord himself. This makes Caleb's blood run cold. His mentor only tolerates non-humans if they can offer him something in return. He knows for a fact Fjord will not survive the encounter and it forces Caleb to move up his place faster then he would have wanted to.

He is now going to have to burn the Assembly down physically in order to get them out. And it meant he would place the same price on his friends' heads that were on his. Was it a price they would want to pay for one life....that doubt weighted heavily on Caleb's mind during many sleepless nights.

[mayberaven]

Fjord does what he can. Keeps up the mask he'd decided on, does his best to not appear too attached to Caleb. Tries not to give them any more hooks than they already had. They thankfully seemed to at least buy that Caleb was getting more cooperation from him than they were, so he was left to do the majority of the interactions though that didn't stop the others from stepping in from time to time- if Caleb was busy with Trent for example.

The half-orc tended to not look so great after a situation like that but at least it was manageable. This time though not so much. The most immediate hint that the restraints had been rearranged, Fjord slumped with his back against the wall, the chains of his manacles keeping his arms stretched over his head, where his hands would be unable to dig at the cuts crisscrossing his forearms. Familiar enough things for Caleb. And though it wasn't nearly as many as the wizard sported, clearly a more mild initial test than anything, the half-orc didn't seem to be doing well, even aside from the injuries he'd been enduring. Feverish, visibly trembling in his bonds, pupils thinned with pain, it was questionable how aware he was at the moment, with the reaction he was having to the few crystals already embedded in his arms.

[born_in_flame]

The second he realizes what he's looking at Caleb sees red in a way he hasn't since one terrible night 15 years ago. But this time it isn't a memory, but anger that is driving him forward. They are leaving NOW. He will not let his past hurt any of his friends like this. His mind is sharply focused as he pulls the dagger he's been using out of his robes and uses the tip to work the locks of the cuffs. For all their boasting, Empire chains are as weak as any other place and he soon sees the cuffs fall away. But before Fjord can collapse, Caleb is there to prop his friend up. Neither one of them is in a good state for the fight Caleb Widowgast is about to start, but the wizard does not fucking care. They are going to leave and burn as much of this place down as they can on the way.

"Fjord." he says, his voice tight with barely concealed fury, "we are leaving now....you must do what you can to help me by moving as fast as you are able. I will be occupied with other matters." Caleb starts to move them out, reading to cast his first spell with his free hand.

[mayberaven]

It was a good thing that Fjord wasn't nearly of a size to his brethren with how heavily he wound up slumping against Caleb like dead weight at first. Not a reassuring thing for the wizard's intent on getting them out, but the half-orc seemed able to force himself to stirring, to getting his feet under him for all he still didn't look like he'd manage for long.

Regardless he nodded at the instruction, a slow, jerky sort of movement, tellingly sticking close. With the manacles gone he could feel the strange energy of the crystals crawling under his skin like acid, fingers spasming at the sensation. Nothing good there, but so long as he could still cast, he'd deal.

Even if the idea of it, of rousing even a bit of power to aggravate the sensation made him feel like puking. But Caleb needed backup. Caleb needed him, and he kept hold of that scrap of thought, simple enough to cut through the haze as they were starting to move and focus on anything other than that and keeping up with the wizard fizzled out.

[born_in_flame]

Caleb is well aware of how horrible Fjord is feeling as he felt it himself in his younger days. He's better now because he was ready for the reaction, but that doesn't mean using his magic is going to be any easier. As soon as he clears the door he's casting a cold spell to slick the path and hide their tracks with ice. He speaks softly to Fjord. "Let the power flow into the crystals when you need to. They are meant to work with you not against you. At least that was the theory anyway." He does his best to move at a decent pace hoping to clear the dungeons before having to attack someone.

Fate, however, has other plans as Astrid and a guard round the corner and spot the,. Caleb feels that rage bubble up and he's casting a one handed fireball at her before she can react. Any feelings he had for her are long dead now...turned to ash by time and her actions against his friend.

[mayberaven]

The half-orc lets out a low mumble of agreement at the instruction. Uncertain how well he'll be able to manage the task but Caleb needed him. He'd sooner rip off a hand than let the man down, especially now.

They'd discussed the differences in their magic before at some point, beyond simply the source. The lack of modulation available to Fjord in comparison to Caleb seemed the main difference, the warlock unable to put anything other than every drop of power available into a spell no matter if it was useful or not.

It was useful here admittedly. The crystals amplified the power, Caleb would notice the eldritch blast fired off had half again as many projectiles as the half-orc could manage normally. But on the downside there was no regulation there, no real ability to throttle back the power to something more manageable, something that he could take longer term. A low, raw, animal keen of agony from somewhere in his throat, hand spasming as he felt the burn of the spell light up his nerves, like someone had poured molten lava into his veins.

But he had no choice here but to endure. Endure and just hope they could escape before the flow of too much magic did some permanent harm to him beyond just the scarring of the crystals being implanted.

[born_in_flame]

The guard with Astrid is gone as the blast and fire ball turn him into nothling. However, Astrid is quicker to move and while the fireball misses her, the blast does not, clipping her side as Caleb casts Fire Bolt at the same time. She retaliates with a bolt of sickly green energy aimed straight at Caleb. He has been half blocking Fjord with his body, which means part of the orc's earlier blast clipped his side and part of his arm as well. But the wizard's higher pain tolerance means he didn't feel much of anything.. When he sees the spell coming he twists so that his back takes the hit, leaving a smoking hole in his robes and a black wound with green edges in his back. He hisses quietly before moving back to his half protective, half battle position.

"You could have been something more Bren," the half elf calls out in a mocking tone and Caleb's reply is snarled back with a fury Fjord may never have heard before. "Bren is dead," he replies reading another spell, "he has been dead since the night our master turned him into a monster. I am Caleb and that is who I wish to be."

[mayberaven]

If a simple cantrip felt that miserable to cast, Fjord was honestly worried what casting any other type of spell would do to him in this state. No, he'd hold those options as a last resort, rather than risk becoming entirely dead weight to Caleb, given he was already halfway there as it was and... the wizard was taking hits as it was.

And he'd never heard Caleb that furious indeed, surprised at the fiery vehemence even as he tensed faintly, ready for more trouble as he heard the sound of running echoing from somewhere down the hall, likely drawn by the commotion.

[born_in_flame]

Caleb remains focused on Astrid as he whispers softly to Fjord. "Cover my back," he says, "they may try to block us in and I cannot be everywhere at once." Caleb worries about asking this of his friend, but they really have no other choice. They will either burn a path on the way out of here or they will not be leaving at all. Trent Ikithon will not allow them to. "I know this is much to ask of you my friend, but we might not get out of here alive otherwise." He is burning through his spells as it is and knows he will soon hit his limit.

[mayberaven]

"Got it." Fjord replied in a low tone, with a confidence he didn't feel. But that didn't matter. Caleb had waded into this hell for his sake, so he would do everything he could to ensure the wizard got out of this disaster of a situation alive, even if that meant dragging him kicking and screaming. But for now he focused on keeping his shit together, bracing against Caleb to keep his feet as he took aim to give the new guards that came running a faceful of eldritch blast again, trying to shove aside the agony that was coming with using the spell.

[born_in_flame]

Caleb draws deep from the well of his will as he flings fire at anyone who dares come near him or Fjord. There is fire in his veins as well as the crystals in his own arms reacting to his magic. He's simply better at hiding the pain since he's been doing that for over a decade. Every time he manages to clear a bit of space he moves forward, trusting that Fjord will follow. Astrid backs up trying to give herself more room to attack, but Caleb's focus is clearing the path so they can get out.