The Fight for Salvus

Tenoch had known that Aren would be around the battlefield somewhere. From the previous interactions he'd had with the feline, he'd learned that she was remarkably hard to keep down. Which, in the end, only made her a more fascinating target. So when he'd seen her and her dragons trekking through the woods, away from all others? It felt like fate had smiled in his direction.

He landed behind her, and as she got off of her dragon he motioned for Dian and Hestia to step out of the shadows. It was go time.

"I'll have you know that my feathers serve a purpose, at least. They give me guidance," Tenoch said vaguely. While he didn't want to give too much away about his abilities, he certainly didn't just want to accept such an insult to himself. "A shame that your fur cannot do the same for you. A little assistance making life choices could do you wonders."

Aren'dra bristled, predictably. "This one changed her life around," she spat.

"Changed it to what? A boring life in the wilderness with a bunch of fools too peaceful for their own good? I read your files, at the Militia. You had it all as a warrior. Glory, adventure, intrigue..."

"They were always going to turn on Aren eventually," the feline interrupted. "Just like they did all the other Ere. She was just too blind to see it before she came to Salvus. They'll probably turn on you, too, once you outlive your usefulness to them."

Tenoch took a guarded step forward. "If they ever planned on it, I would know. It's not like I owe them anything, either. The Militia is a ticket to free coin and free magic, and when the well dries up, my dragons and I will move on."

Boo moved to Aren's side, protectively, and said, in a quiet voice, "They haven't left us alone. Look how much effort's been put into just getting away - do you think you can do any better?"

"Oh," Tenoch said, "I know I can." After Salvus's capture, he'd have an excess of magic potential floating around. More than enough to scry into every future he would need to predict his next moves. No amount of planning or cautiousness alone could match up to the boon his foresight added on top.

Aren reached for a sword at her side. "Feel like proving it, furless?"

The time for talking was over. Tenoch raised his own sword, taken from a fallen soldier earlier in the day, and nodded. "Gladly."

Both warriors struck at the same time, each darting forwards, and their swords collided in the air. The dragons behind each rider sprung into action as well, tackling each other into a massive pile of scales and claws and nothing off limits. Aren'dra and Tenoch traded a few more parries, and on Tenoch's next strike - a slash towards the head, Aren ducked, and aimed her own weapon at his feet. He jumped back, using his wings to keep his balance, and tossed a bolt of magic at his attacker. She leapt out of the way, the spell horribly familiar.

Vines began to spring from the ground, each one attempting to wrap around Tenoch's legs and pin him to the ground. He took to the air and circled above, evading Aren's attempt at a spell. With another wave of his hand, a gout of fire erupted over the vines, burning them away. Alas, Aren was not burned as well - she took to the nearest tree, and her dragon Quirrel paused in his duel to conjure a torrent of ice and snow across the flames. The moment of pause meant Dian was able to get a free hit in on him, though - one that Quirrel roared about, as he swung around with vengeance in his eyes.

Aren'dra was quite the fast climber, Tenoch had to admit. She was halfway up the tree by the time he looked back, and had already tossed something large and grey in his direction. It grazed one of his wings but hardly hurt - was she flinging rocks at him? Seriously?

In his confusion, the next rock hit him squarely in the head. He yelped, cursed himself for his imperfect focus, and threw another blast of magic at Aren's position. She hopped over to the next one, and kept chucking stones as she tried to get closer to his position. Now that he knew they were coming, they were a lot easier to dodge, but it got boring fairly quickly. So instead of waiting for her to come to him, he flapped his wings and rushed at her, sword raised. With nowhere else to go, Aren swung down off the branch in a hurry, just evading his strike, and dropped to the ground. She landed with cat-like grace.

Tenoch landed as well. Their swords clashed, again and again, as they fought in a sort of deadly dance, their dragons roaring in the background, locked in their own conflict. Tenoch could tell that his dragons were waning in energy, and he chastised them mentally for it as he blocked another attack. But it was true - Quirrel, Gloom, and Boo were more than a match for Dian and Hestia, and it was only going to be a matter of time before they were down. He had to end this.

He summoned up another blast of magic to get her to dodge, guessed where she would move to, and moved to swing his sword at that spot. It worked perfectly - she moved, he moved, she had no time to block. He saw his victory stretched out before him, the town surrendering at seeing their poor friend taken captive, he and his dragons on to new and greater things -

- his feet stopped moving before he got there. Tenoch swung his sword but it was just short. Looking down, he saw his feet had been encased in ice, a rogue spell cast by one of Aren's dragons. Bah, a pointless trap to delay the inevitable. He summoned the fire needed to melt the ice, and as he directed it to his feet, Quirrel bowled him over.

The giant dragon, mean and angry and loyal to his rider, slammed into Tenoch and sent him sprawling to the ground, ice shattering in tiny pieces all around. And Quirrel just started slashing at him with his claws.

Tenoch was powerful, yes, but there's only so much that can be done when you're stuck underneath a dragon larger than a bear, and angrier than one, too. After a time he heard Aren saying, "That's enough! I still want to talk with him, Quirrel."

Tenoch, who felt quite hurt all over, wasn't sure he'd be able to talk with anyone right about then. It was hard enough to reach out to his dragons mentally, to make sure they were alright. Dian and Hestia were across the clearing, being held by Gloom and Boo, but safe otherwise. Anonymous... was nowhere to be found.

Aren bent down next to him. Quirrel didn't get up, just in case he tried something. "Years past, this one would have just killed you, but unfortunately Teeba has a bit of a pacifist complex going on and Aren likes him too much to go against his wishes." She sighed, untied the string that kept her hair up, and said, "It's not really even self defense at this point. Unless you try anything else. So we can do this one of two ways."

She held up the string. "Either one, Aren ties you up and we take you prisoner to get all your allies to run away without their leader, or two - you try something stupid and Quirrel kills you right here. Which shall it be, hmm?"

Tenoch, thoughts everywhere at once, took a moment to examine the futures in front of him. Not even with his foresight - he had no time to, and it was easy enough to see the ramifications of each possible choice. He was in no state to be dramatically escaping, and he didn't intend to lose his life pointlessly in a moment. Which left the last, frustrating, option.

The quetzal bounty hunter let out a breath. He sent a mental order to his three dragons - to stand down at present. And out loud he said, "I suppose you win this time, cat. I... surrender." He let out a hacking cough. "Now can you get your hulking monstrosity off of me?"

"Not so fast," Aren replied, and she bound his hands in front of him, and then had Quirrel pick him up. Dian and Hestia were kept under careful watch by Quirrel and Gloom, and the group began the trek back to town.

"Aren will get you inside without your soldiers noticing, as long as you cooperate, hmm?"

"No promises," Tenoch said, but it was a half-hearted attempt at a jab. He was too beaten down and injured to use much of his magic - shifting into shadow and darting away was quite impossible at present, and it didn't feel like the time to throw fire everywhere. So he took the time to rest, and try to plan. No one attempted to speak with him - there was still no return message from Anonymous - so his thoughts turned ever inward.

He had not expected to go down this path. When he had last examined time, he had been optimistic, many good paths in front of him. This one was new, unsearched, and therefore not ideal. So, knowing that he likely wouldn't be questioned until Aren'dra and her dragons had taken him into the town, he closed his eyes, feigning falling unconscious (which wasn't that hard in his present state), and called upon his magic to glimpse the futures ahead.

The paths were many, winding. He examined them one at a time. In some, he mustered up his last energy and killed Aren, only to be destroyed by her dragons in their last moments. Not very satisfying. In others, he bided his time, and when he had healed enough he and his dragons broke out and returned to the Militia. Nothing good happened in those options - he was killed for his failures, taken prisoner for study, or all manner of negative things. And when he ran from everyone, most of his future seeing energy spent and still wounded, he was too easily tracked and too easily defeated.

He turned to the battle itself, saw the unfortunate inevitability - no matter what he did at this juncture, Salvus would escape. One of his own warriors had turned traitor, and the calculations for the artifact were nearly complete. But suddenly, this didn't feel like such a bad thing.

If the Militia would be closed to him, and escape was unappealing, why not stick around? Be the perfect helpful prisoner, cause no trouble, enjoy the safety of being a captive of the most peaceful lot he had ever met? The Militia would not be likely to consider Salvus worth chasing any longer, once they vanished to some other far off place. Not with the number of resources they had put into taking it down, with nothing to show. Not with the Shear Rebellion still happening on their own planet.

It was not the solution he wanted. But it would do. Tenoch resigned himself to being under the guard of his targets for the present time. Now the most ideal thing to do was to keep his pride while incurring the least anger possible.

As he came to this conclusion, a presence arrived in his mind. It was Anonymous, at last.

*It's over, Non. We'll have to make a new plan for greatness,* Tenoch sent mentally. *The web of time won't allow us this one.*

Anonymous took in Tenoch's injured state, while Tenoch searched for a glimpse of where Non was. Somewhere in the city? That was all he could tell.

*I thought you were stronger than this,* his dragon hissed.

*No one wins everything. Not even us. But I figure if we bide our time, we can be on our way to a fresh start, a fresh planet. Leave all this chaos behind and make some of our own.*

*So you're giving up,* was the accusatory return.

Tenoch mentally bristled - as for in his physical self, he was just too tired to do the same. *I'm keeping us alive, if you haven't noticed.*

*And keeping me from my greatness!*

*It's our greatness! We're stuck together, don't forget that.*

*Tethered, yes,* Anonymous agreed, *but I can still go down my own path. If I can't win this city, I can always burn it to the ground.*

*No!* Tenoch snarled. *You're my dragon, so you follow my plans. We wait for the right moment.*

*The moment is now, dear rider, and the time is short. Imagine - Salvus's leader dead, the townsfolk attributing the deed to you, not me. Because... I don't have a name, do I? No title for them to use.*

*Anonymous...*

*I'll escape their initial wrath and in the chaos, find a new rider, someone new to stand behind.*

*Non, stop it.*

*I'll find whomever the next leader of Salvus will be and I'll rule from behind them, give out all the real orders and let them be the pretty face. Good practice, right? And after that I can switch again, move up to a large city, or a kingdom, and I'll be able to do whatever I want because no one will remember I was there.*

*If you don't quit it right now I swear I will come over and strangle you with my bare hands, Anonymous! You're not the one in charge!*

*...But perhaps, in this case, I am. You're stuck, injured, and captive, while I am free to do whatever I like. Besides, aren't you feeling tired?*

*Aren't I what?* Tenoch was raging inside his mind. He was full of murderous intent towards his own dragon, never mind the consequences of such an act. He wasn't thinking clearly.

*I mean that all that blood loss must be exhausting, so why not take a nap? I bet it'll all be over by the time you wake up.*

*It's not -*

Tenoch was about to ignore all the things he'd just seen through his foresight, ignore all his injuries and just charge through the woods straight to Anonymous. But before he could do any of those things, he felt something else in his mind. Something new, and wrong. A fog of darkness was swirling around his mind, making him drowsier and drowsier, and he wasn't able to fight it off. True to Non's word, he was falling into the land of dreams.

Before he knew it, he succumbed to the darkness of sleep, and the nightmares of his failures.