#lost sibs

I'm just saying...

In which Soren sees a familiar face, and it doesn't go as he might have hoped. Co-written and edited by the amazingly talented @honeii-puff. I write the Soren POVs, they write the Corvus POVs Also on Ao3 and it has a playlist!

It was just supposed to be a quick run to get some water. The camp was quiet - everyone exhausted after the previous day - and Soren was trying his best not to make any loud noises as he made his way to the mess hall. Mess… tent? He was still getting used to having to call everything that.

He’d awoken in the middle of the night parched and sweaty, shaking off the remnants of an unpleasant dream. He thought he remembered it being about Corvus. No, Ezran. No, Viren. All of them? None of them?

Whoever it had been about, there had been a lot of fire and smoke. He remembered that much.

The need to get out of the tent had been instantaneous, even with Corvus lying beside him. Usually that was enough to banish the nightmares, and Soren had been sleeping sounder lately. But it hadn’t been enough tonight, and he’d needed the fresh air desperately. 

Now, standing in the cool, desert night under the twinkling blanket of stars, he did feel refreshed. The dream faded to obscurity as he filled up his canteen from the well and started to walk back to his tent. He’d snuggle up next to Corvus again, and by the morning, he’d have forgotten he even had the nightmare.

That was what he told himself. No reason to worry Corvus or Ezran or anyone about it.

A rustle to Soren’s right startled him and he glanced over, hoping that it was just some cute desert critter and not that he’d woken someone up. The tent the sound had come from was larger than the others, but he’d never seen anyone use it. In fact, most people seemed to avoid it. 

Interest piqued, Soren crept a little bit closer. There was definitely a rustling coming from inside, and it got louder the closer he crept. Maybe a raccoon? Did they have those in the desert?

“Hello?” he whispered into the night?

The sound stopped instantly, which made it seem very human. Or elf. It could also be an elf.

Now that they weren't at war, Soren mused, they needed a way to refer to elves and humans at the same time. Humelves? Elfmen?

He shook his head. Stay on task, Soren.

“Hey, sorry if I woke you up. I didn’t mean to,” Soren said, taking another step closer, voice soft. “I bet after yesterday everyone’s pretty on edge so-”

He pulled aside the flap of the tent, and two wide, green eyes stared back at him, practically glowing in the dark. A moment later Soren realized her eyes were glowing. She must have cast some sort of spell on them, and now twin beams of light shone from her eyes, illuminating anything she looked at. Which currently meant him.

Soren opened his mouth, but her name died in his throat. She looked… she looked.

“You changed your hair,” was all he managed.

Claudia looked him up and down, fingers clenching at her side, and then she lunged.

Soren stumbled back before realizing she wasn’t doing it towards him. She was doing it towards something next to him. She grabbed whatever it was - some kind of orb-like contraption - and then ran the other way.

“Hey! Wait!” Soren stumbled after her into the tent, half filled canteen falling from his hands and into the sand.

The light from Claudia’s eyes went out as she plunged deeper into the tent and Soren found himself in darkness as the flap of fabric fell from his hand, sealing them both inside.

“Claudia!” he had found his voice now, and her name echoed through the confines of the space. “Claudia, wait! Please!”

There was a crash as she threw something to the ground right in front of him and he tripped, going sprawling. As Soren regained his feet there was a momentary sliver of light, and he glanced up to watch the silhouette of his sister vanish out the side of the tent before letting the thick fabric fall back into place behind her, plunging the room once more into darkness.

Soren stumbled upright and dashed towards where the light had come from, throwing the flap open and rushing into the open night air once again. He glanced wildly about. There was more rustling now, but from every direction; people in nearby tents having been roused by all the shouting and crashing. Soren ignored them as they emerged bleerily from where they’d been sleeping, instead whipping his head this way and that as he searched for any sign of Claudia.

There. Footprints. Soren took off in the direction that they led. Thank the stars for Corvus, he thought. All that tracking talk is going to pay off.

He would have listened to a thousand more hours of it even if it hadn't of come in handy, though.

Soren pelted around the side of another tent, nearly crashing into the thing and sending them both crashing to the ground before narrowly course correcting at the last moment to curve around the corner of another one. Claudia’s footsteps were… odd. Something was different about them, Soren could tell, but he didn’t have time to figure out what just yet.

“Claudia!” he called again, knowing that he shouldn’t let her know where he was but also feeling a need to try and get her to turn around. To just talk to him. “Claudia, come on, it’s-!”

There was a horrible, yanking sensation in Soren’s chest and he tipped forward, hands going to his throat as the rest of the sentence was pulled from him unspoken.

Claudia stepped out from behind a nearby tent, a snaking tendril of green fog drifting from Soren’s open mouth to her hand, which clutched the - why did dark magic always have to use the weirdest and grossest things? - dead, shriveled foot of some creature.

“Be quiet!” Claudia hissed, as though she hadn’t just forced him to do so. “And stop following me.”

Soren tried to speak, but all that came out was a muffle “Gah”. He thought distantly back to the night the assassins came for Harrow, and the spell that Viren had used on Callum. If he could just knock the desiccated claw out of Claudia’s hand…

“I didn’t want to do this,” She was saying, looking down at where he was pushing himself back to his feet. “You made me do this. You didn’t leave me a choice.”

He tried to say her name again, taking a stumbling forward, but she ducked out of his reach.

“Don’t make me do something worse!”

Soren’s chest was feeling increasingly tight and he could feel the old, familiar panic starting to well up inside of him. It was just in his head. He could breath. He could.

Soren forced his chest to rise and fall, taking the air in through his nose and holding it there for a moment before releasing it.

Claudia was staring at him, eyes wide and confused, scanning him up and down. And that’s when he realized what she was seeing. He looked like an elf. 

He reached up his hands and Claudia shrugged away from him again. But instead of reaching for her, he just pointed; first to himself, and then to her. Then he held up his other hand and tapped his fingers together, miming talking.

“Are you… are you playing Word Hands? Right now?” Claudia asked, staring at him.

Soren pointed to himself, mimed talking again, and then pointed to her. This time with increasing urgency. He could hear more people waking up, they’d spot her any minute now.

Claudia shook her head. “No. I’m not doing this. You’re being ridiculous. And you… you…” she trailed off, eyes lingering on the solitary horn emerging from his hairline. 

Soren slapped his forehead, letting out a huffing breath. He motioned to his lips, mimed talking again, and then jabbed a finger at the hand clutching the… the desiccated foot or whatever it was.

Claudia’s eyes widened in understanding, and for a moment Soren thought she was going to do it, but then she shook her head again.

“No! Why would I do that? You’ll just start shouting again.”

Soren threw his hands up into the air in frustration. I just want to talk! He pointed at himself again, then at her, then at his lips, and mimed talking. Again. 

Claudia just continued to shake her head. “Nothing you say will change my mind.”

Change your mind about what!? Soren wanted to shout. But, of course, he couldn’t. Not yet, anyway. 

Well, she couldn’t say he hadn’t tried. Soren lunged suddenly forward, and even though Claudia tried to move away again, he’d caught her off guard and managed to knock the claw from her hand. The little bundle of green energy flew from it as it hit the sand and into Soren’s mouth. It tasted… weird.

His voice tasted weird. Kind of like, well, what you might expect spiderwebs to taste like. He coughed slightly.

“Claudia, please,” he managed, the start of the sentence hoarse and croaking for a moment before settling back into it’s usual rhythm. “I just want to talk.”

“Do you think I’m stupid?” she all but snarled. “You’ve woken up half the camp!”

“Yeah! Trying to talk to you!”

Claudia paused for a moment, threw a glance over her shoulder at the rest of the encampment, and then looked back to him.

“Fine. Ninety seconds. Say what you want to say.”

“Ninety seconds?” Soren exclaimed, incredulous.

“Eighty-five.” 

“Fine! Fine! Okay,” Soren tried to think of what he wanted to say. There was so much. Too much.

“Eighty.”

“Alright!” he all but shouted, stumbling over the words in his haste to get them out. “Claudia, as you know, you’re my sister and I don’t want to hurt you-”

“It’s a little late for that,” Claudia intjerected.

“Just let me finish, I only have ninety seconds!”

“Sixty.”

Soren rushed to get everything else out. “Dad is gone, Claudia. Like really gone this time. And… and I know that’s hard for you but it’s going to be okay because I can help you. Just let me help you.”

“For me?” Claudia stared at him with a look almost like disgust. “It’s hard for me? So you don’t even care that he’s dead?”

“That’s not what I meant-”

“But it is, Soren.” Claudia's voice was rising higher, the distance that had been on her face vanishing in place of something much realer and more present. Something full of hurt. “You don’t care. Just say it. You abandoned us. You chose this,” she threw her hands up to encompass their surroundings. “You chose the elves. And now they’ve… they’ve turned you into one of them, somehow!”

“You’re dating an elf!”

“He’s different! He’s not like them! Terry doesn’t look at me like I’m some filthy animal. He doesn’t pity me.”

“Neither do they. Clauds-” he tried to take a step towards her, but she was already moving backwards, receding into the dark.

“No. They do. Just like you. You all do. You’re just like them. You even… you even look like them, now. What did they do to you?”

“I’m… I’m…” Soren didn’t even know where to begin. Was Claudia half-elf, like he was? If she was, would that change things? “I found Mom,” he blurted. Claudia paused for a moment. She stared at him.

“She’s… she’s an elf. A Moonshadow elf. The way we remember her it was… it was an illusion. I was under an illusion.”

Claudia was backing away, chest rising and falling with growing rapidity. Soren took a step towards her.

“Maybe… maybe you are too?”

“No,” she shook her head. “Dad would have told me. He would have told us. They’ve tricked you, somehow. Made you think that that was Mom and-”

“Claudia, it was her. She asked about you. I could take you to her right now.”

“No. You’re lying.”

“Why would I lie about this?” Soren gestured to himself. To the markings on his face, the silver hair, the horn sprouting from his head. “How would I lie about this?”

  “This is the illusion,” Claudia said, her voice growing in certainty as she spoke. “This is the illusion and they’ve fooled you somehow.”

“Why would they do that?” Soren exclaimed.

“I don’t know! Why would you leave me? Why would you kill Dad? Why would you try and stop me from bringing him back?”

Soren stopped, the words piercing him like they had sharpened edges.

“Why would you do that?” Claudia asked again, her voice rising in urgency. “Why should I believe anything you say? You say I’m your sister but you’re not my brother. I don’t know who you are.”

There were tears in her eyes and Soren stepped towards her, reaching out as though that would fix everything, if he could just touch her. Hold her the way he used to when they were little and their parents were fighting. When it felt like their family were apart and the world was ending but at least they had each other.

“Clauds-”

“No. Don’t call me that,” she turned away from him, and the fragileness had fled her voice, replaced by a cold, steely resolve. “That’s what my brother used to call me. And you’re not him.”

In which legacies are chosen and sacrifices are made. Co-written and edited by the amazingly talented @aria-bun. I write the Soren POVs, they write the Corvus POVs Also on Ao3 and it has a playlist!

Soren nudged one of the zombies lying on the ground with his foot. It didn’t move. He knelt down to poke it with his finger but Corvus swatted his hand away before he could.

“Do. Not. Touch. That.”

“Bu-”

“No buts.” Corvus pulled him to his feet with a firm shake of his head and Soren sighed.

“Fine.” Later, he told himself, turning to scan what had moments ago been a battlefield but was now just… kind of a field. Spotting Rayla a few steps away, he jogged over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“Look, Ray,” he nudged another nearby zombie with his foot. “They’re all just dead. Well, again. They’re all just re-dead.”

At first Soren was kind of offended that Rayla didn’t think that calling the zombies re- dead was funny, but then he realized that she hadn’t glared at him when he called her Ray. Which meant that something was wrong. Very wrong.

“Rayla?” he tightened his grip on her shoulder, turning her to face him. “Rayla, are you-”

Soren broke off midsentence, gazing into his friend’s wide, frightened eyes. There was only one thing that could have her that scared.

“Callum,” she said, her voice a hoarse whisper. “What has he done?”

And then she was running across the field, in the direction that her partner had flown, and Soren was running after her.

Please don’t let him have used Dark Magic, he thought as he ran. Please don’t let him have used Dark Magic. Not again.

Soren had only seen Callum do it once; and it wasn’t something he’d soon forget. He’d passed out right after, and Rayla had run to him just as she was now.

Was I wrong, not to stand by Claudia the way Rayla stands by Callum? Despite the Dark Magic? If I’d have stood by her, would she still be here doing this? Or would she…

Soren shook his head, there was no point in What Ifs. What was done was done. But he couldn’t help but hear the rest of the sentence echoing in his mind.

Would she still think of me as her brother?

Soren pushed himself to run faster, outpacing Rayla as they searched the encampment for Callum, focusing instead on the burning in his calves as he drove himself onward. His head whipped this way and that, searching desperately for any sign of the mage, but the base was in chaos; bodies covered the ground, both of zombies and of elves, and there was no giant Aaravos to point them in the right direction. Soren skidded to a halt.

There was no giant Aaravos.

Turning in a sharp circle, he scanned the skyline. Nope. No Aaravos. Where had he gone? What had Callum done?

Soren wracked his brain for the plan that the mage had been proposing, but Callum hadn’t had a chance to get to the details, Ezran and the others shutting it down as soon as the words Dark and Magic came out of his mouth in sequence. 

Not knowing what else to do, Soren raised his hands to his mouth, cupping them around it as he called out across the field; “Callum!”

No reply. He tried a few more times, Rayla and Corvus joining in behind him, but to no avail. Kicking frustratedly at the heads of one the nearby zombies, Soren cursed under his breath. If Callum had gotten himself hurt - or worse, killed - he was going to kill him. Again. He’d re-kill him.

“You!” a snarl to his left made Soren’s head shoot up. He stared at Rayla as she took off across the field, heading straight for something he couldn’t see. Not knowing what else to do, he ran after her.

“Wait, Soren!” Corvus called from behind him, but he was single-minded in his pursuit. Whoever Rayla had seen had to be important, if it was enough to draw her away from the search for Callum.

But the elf was quick. All of that Moonshadow training, probably. By the time he rounded the corner she’d disappeared behind, there were already sounds of fighting coming from it. He threw himself to the ground as a burst of purple fire flew through the air right where his head had been.

“What have you done to Callum!?” Rayla shouted, and Soren had a sinking feeling in his stomach that he knew who she was talking to even before Claudia replied.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about! If you’ve misplaced your boyfriend, that’s not my fault!”

There was another shout as Rayla threw herself at Claudia again, blades slashing, and Soren had to roll to the side to avoid getting trampled. He pushed himself to his feet just as another burst of fire forced him back to the ground. It was scarlet, this time.

They’re going to kill each other, he thought. They were going to kill each other.

Soren had lost enough people in his life. He didn’t intend to lose anymore.

Ignoring the continuing gouts of flame he pushed himself up off the ground and threw himself forward just as Rayla lunged forward again, forcing himself between the blade of her knife and Claudia.

“Wait!”

He squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the bite of steel, but nothing came. Slowly opening one eye and then the other, he found the tip of the knife wavering only a few inches from his nose. Soren swallowed.

“Wait,” he repeated, quieter this time.

Rayla was frozen before him, chest heaving as she stared at him, and then past him, at…

He turned around, slowly, so as not to jostle the knife still hovering before his face, and looked at his sister. Her eyes were wide, but she was staring not at Rayla, but at him.

Soren’s mouth was suddenly very dry. Why was throwing himself in front of a knife easier than finding the words to express why he’d done it? Why he’d do it again? Why he’d do it a million times and never question it once?

Actions had always been easier for him than words, so instead of saying anything, Soren just leaned in and hugged her.

Claudia’s arms hung limply at her sides; not pushing him away, but not embracing him back, either. But he just held her there anyway. He knew that he’d do that for as long as she’d let him. Because he had given up on her, and it had hurt just as much as walking away that night on the mountain.

Finding his voice, Soren said the only words he could think of. “You might not think of me as your brother, but you’ll always be my sister.”

He heard her breath catch beside his ear and waited for her to push him away. To say that he was worthless, or that she didn’t want him, or that they weren’t family. Waited for her to call him delusional or foolish or just plain stupid. But instead her arms lifted, albeit shakily, and wrapped around him in return.

And she did call him stupid, then. But this time it made him smile.

“Don’t be dumb,” she whispered. “You’ll always be my brother.”

Soren closed his eyes so that nobody could see the tears in his eyes and squeezed Claudia tight.

“Good.”

He would have held her like that forever except it was then that Corvus’ voice echoed from the edge of the encampment.

“I found him! Soren, Rayla, I found him!”

It was enough to snap them back into reality and remind them that they were on opposite sides. Claudia jerked back from him as Rayla - who had thankfully lowered her blade - spun around to look at Corvus. Soren forced himself to drag his gaze off his sister and turn to look as well. There, at the edge of the field, lying in and amongst the fallen bodies of the zombies, was Callum. 

Corvus was crouched over him, one hand out, gently shaking the mage’s shoulder. But he wasn’t moving. He wasn’t moving.

No, Soren felt a half formed sob catch in his throat. No, I’m not losing anybody else. Not Claudia, not Callum, not Ez or Rayla or Corvus. Nobody. Nobody ever again.

Rayla was already running across the field towards Callum’s crumpled form and out of the corner of his eye Soren spotted Claudia trying to back away. He spun around, catching her wrist before she could vanish again.

“Please,” he begged her, “stay.”

“I… They don’t want me here,” she shrugged away from him. “You don’t really want me here. And I need to go and find Aaravos.”

Something inside of Soren crumpled a little bit at those words. But, of course. One hug, one sentence, wasn’t going to change all of that. They were still enemies. Still on opposite sides of a war. But he did know one thing.

“I don’t care what they want,” Soren told her, taking a step after her as she retreated into the dark.  “You’re my sister. Of course I want you here. Clauds, we’re…” he took a deep breath, forcing the words out. “We’re all that’s left of our family.”

She turned her head away, just like she had that night on the mountain, when he’d asked her to come with him. When he’d asked her to choose.

And he was asking her again.

“Stay with me, please. Don’t go. Just… we can make it work. We have to make it work.”

“You know that’s not true. This,” she glanced back at him, gestured between them. “This doesn’t work. Us. You… You’re a…” she couldn’t quite bring herself to say it. “I don’t even feel like I know you, anymore.”

“Of course, you know me. We grew up together. Claudia!” Soren’s voice rose, growing desperate. “You know me better than almost anybody!”

“Then maybe you don’t know me,” she almost whispered, taking another step back into the dark. Once, Soren had let her walk away, but this time he followed her. One foot into the dark, then another. If life was offering him a do-over, he was going to take it in both hands and not let go.

“I do understand you.”

‘No, you don’t. You… I thought that, once Dad was gone…” there was a sob in her throat that she forced down. “I thought that nobody understood me. But Aaravos, he does. We’re the same. He’s like me. Anything for family. However dangerous, however vile.”

She must have seen him wince when she said the words, because she took another step away again. “See? I told you.”

“Clauds, I-”

“He’s not breathing!” came the panicked shout from behind them, and Soren spun. There was too much happening, and too fast. Claudia paused midstep, her face falling as she realized what had happened.

They might be enemies now, but they had all grown up together.

Callum was family. Maybe more than Soren’s own had been, at times.

He glanced over his shoulder at Claudia, then back to Rayla and Corvus, crouched over the mage’s fallen form. The realization hit him like a smack to the face.

“Aaravos isn’t here,” he said slowly, more to himself than to Claudia. “It’s over. He did it.”

“Did what?” Claudia managed, eyes wide with horror as she realized what he meant.

“I- I don’t know but…” Soren turned back to Callum. He’d seen Dark Magic overdose before, when the light snuffed out of someone’s eyes and their legs went all fuzzy. It had happened to Claudia, once, when they were little. She’d been trying a new spell and it had been too much, too soon. But Soren had been able to fetch Viren in time, and he’d known what to do. It had been okay. It had been all okay and she’d said all that happened was that she had a really bad dream and a bit of a headache. And a week later, she’d had her nose in a book again and been back to practicing magic.

Soren spun to face Claudia, grabbing her by the shoulders in his panic. “What do we do? We can fix it, right?”

“I… Soren, if he’s not breathing-”

“There has to be a spell for that.”

She stared at him, then her gaze flicked to the lone horn emerging from his hairline, and when her eyes locked with his again they were filled with a steely resolve.

“There… is.”

“Then what is it?”

“Soren-”

“Claudia,” he told her, voice ragged. “He’s family. I don’t care.”

She swallowed, eyes narrowing as she looked past him at where the others were huddled around Callum. “Okay. I’m… we’re going to need someplace safe. Where we won’t be disturbed for a while.”

“Done.” Soren released her, spinning on his heel and running over towards the others. He only glanced back at Claudia once, having to just trust that she would stay. That she would help him with this. She had to, didn’t she?

“Get him to the war tent!” he shouted before he’d even crossed half the distance. Rayla looked up at him, and there were tears already spilling down her cheeks.

“Soren, he’s…”

“I’m going to fix this. It’s going to be okay.” Soren found himself repeating that, “It’s going to be okay.”

And then, as they carried Callum quickly towards the center of the encampment, again and again in his own mind.

It’s going to be okay.

It’s going to be okay.

It’s going to be okay.

When they arrived at the war tent, Soren and Corvus helped Rayla heave Callum up onto the table in the center of it. They’d offered to carry him for her, but she’d refused to let go of him for even a moment.

Soren recoiled at the way Callum’s head lolled to the side as they laid him on the table, his arms flopping at his sides. He knew that, no matter how many days or weeks or even years passed, he would always remember that image. It would be seared into his mind forever.

Claudia hesitated in the doorway until Soren gestured for her to come in. Rayla was too concerned with Callum to care who else was in the tent, and all that Corvus did was give Soren a worried glance. But he knew what he was doing.

Or at least, he hoped he did.

“What do we do next?” Soren asked, turning to his sister. He couldn’t help but think that this was probably a bit what it was like when Viren was learning magic from Kpp’Ar, or when Claudia was learning it from Viren.

He swallowed. No matter how hard he tried, it seemed to follow him. Dark Magic. Like it was in his blood, and no matter how hard he tried to distance himself from it, it would always be there. Just under the surface. Waiting.

Claudia, upon stepping into the tent, had snapped into mage mode. She was already pulling out her spellbook and opening it,  pushing Callum’s hand aside so that she could place it on the table beside him.

“We’re going to need…” her eyes scanned down the page before her, and he saw her breathing quicken.

“Hurry,” he urged her.

“I am!” she snapped, eyes flashing up at him for a moment. But he could tell her heart wasn’t in it. “I’ve never… I’ve never read this one before. I didn’t want to know…”

“Know what?”

“This is the spell Dad used, Soren!” she exclaimed, suddenly, staring up at him. “This is the spell Dad used when you died!”

There was a moment of stunned silence in the tent and, for a moment, all eyes turned to him. Soren let out a strangled laugh that sounded wrong even to his own ears.

“I… I never died.”

“Yes, you did,” she whispered. “You died. And he brought you back with this spell.” Claudia jabbed a finger hard into the paper before her.

Soren found his feet carrying him around the side of the table. He didn’t want to believe her, and even more than that, he didn’t want to know. He didn’t want to know what his father had done to save him.

And yet.

And yet.

And yet-

He had to know. 

Soren’s gaze ran down the page as everyone watched him, their silence hanging oppressively in the air.

The blood from a Wind Elk’s horn. 

The petals of a delicate flower.

The tears of a Moonshadow Elf.

Soren paused at that one, confused, before he realized where they must have come from. He choked back the revulsion that rose in him. His mother, Viren’s wife, used just like any other elf would be by a Dark Mage.

He forced himself to keep reading, sure it couldn’t get any worse, but then…

An elf’s horn.

His hand went subconsciously to the single horn above his head, grazing the place where the other must have one been. It wasn’t a fluke, then. Not some quirk of being only half elf. He had another, once.

He squeezed his eyes shut at the memory of pain. The first thing he’d felt upon opening his eyes. His father’s face above his own, blurred and distorted, but horrific nonetheless.

“It’s okay. Shhh. Go to bed now. It’s all going to be okay. You’ll be better, now.”

Blood flecking the sheets of his bed in the morning, the rough feeling of a bandage under his hand as he reached up to find the source of the pain.

Soren had had nightmares, all his life, about his father hurting him. He’d never understood why; the man had never laid a hand on him. All his abuse had been doled out in words and scalding glances. But that wasn’t true, was it?

I’m as dead as those zombies out there. No, I am one of the zombies out there. Soren nearly started laughing, it was so funny. Except he thought that that might have made everybody worry. It kind of made him worry, too, and he hadn’t even done it.

What is zombie on zombie violence called? Is there a word for it?

Soren was finding it hard to breath. Maybe he was having a panic attack. Maybe one of the prerequisites of the spell was that he could never find out, and now that he knew it was going to fail and he was going to die.

Re-die, Soren corrected himself and almost started laughing again. He might have, had his chest and lungs been working properly.

And then Corvus was there, and he realized the other man had been reading the spell as well, over his shoulder. He reached out, taking hold of Soren’s shoulder, and gave it a tight squeeze.

“In and out,” he whispered, so low and close to Soren’s ear that only he could hear. “In and out.”

Soren fought through the rising panic and hysteria and followed Corvus’ instructions, feeling his chest rise and fall in time with his partner’s. Slowly, the breaths grew more even. Slowly, he began to feel like he could think again.

Everyone was staring at him. Their eyes seemed huge, in the dark, and Soren tried not to look directly at any of them. But then Corvus - thank Lady Justice for Corvus - he stepped forward and started barking orders; telling Claudia to get the ingredients they’d need out of her back and Rayla to retrieve the staff from where they’d left it beside the entrance of the tent.

Soren took the moment of distraction to lean back into Corvus, feeling his partner’s arms close around his waist as the other man’s chin rested on his shoulder. His breath tickled Soren’s ear as he spoke.

“I’ve got you.”

“I know,” Soren whispered back. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He knew that, and so long as that remained true, he could do this.

He would do this.

Rayla held the staff out towards Claudia as though they both might bite her, and Soren intercepted it with his own hand, fingers curling around the shaft of it like that’s what they were made to do.

It felt a bit like fate.

What was it Callum was always going on about? A destiny you choose? Well, what about a legacy you choose?

Claudia stared at him as he drew the staff back and rested it against his chest.

He spoke low, so only she could hear. He knew he didn’t have to say much; not that he did understand her, that he would do anything for his family, too. That he would do anything for his kingdom. That he understood her better than anyone would ever know. Except, maybe, Corvus.

Because he was here. He was always here.

He had seen Soren in his darkest moment and stayed. Just like Soren would now do for Claudia. He would look her in the eyes, see her, and tell her…

“However dangerous…” he whispered.

She stared at him for a moment. “...however vile,” she replied, her voice barely audible.

He nodded, took a deep breath, and slung the staff across his back the way he had when he’d brought it to his father back in Katolis. When he’d offered his heart for Katolis.

There, in the corner of the war room, was what he was looking for. A Sunforge blade. It would work far better than his own. He hefted it, and it was much lighter than he’d thought it would be. Pushing his hair back from his face so as not to catch it on fire, he closed his eyes and swiped the blade clean through the single remaining horn on his head.

There was a sting of pain, and a gasp from behind him, but when he turned back to the others, blade in one hand, and horn in the other, he only looked at Claudia.

It was unspoken. I understand you better than you think.

He resheathed the blade and placed the horn on the table beside the other ingredients. There was only one thing left to do. Well, two.

He turned to Rayla.

“Rayla, the spell needs…”

“I’ll do it,” she said, with only a moment’s hesitation.

He gave her a sad smile. “The tears of a Moonshadow elf.”

She let out a sound that could have been a laugh but sounded more like a sob. because she was already crying. He could see the tear tracks down her cheeks.

“Well, that’s easy.”

He handed her the vial without a word, and she pressed it to her cheek, letting it fill with tears. Soren looked away, trying not to imagine his mother’s face in her stead.

He wondered if she had given them willingly, to his father. He couldn’t imagine she had.

Or else, why would she have left?

A shaky hand passed the now filled vial back to him, and Soren took it, following Claudia’s instructions carefully as she walked him through the spell. She didn’t ask why he was the one casting it. She understood.

He had to do this. It had to be him.

As they neared the last stage, Claudia tried to usher the others out, but Soren shook his head.

“It’s okay. They can stay.”

She gave him an appraising glance, and he could almost here her saying it. They’ll judge you, for this.

But he shook his head. No, they won’t.

That was what family was, he realized; the people who saw you at your lowest - at your darkest - point, and instead of turning away, walked in to help pull you out. They were the ones who weren’t afraid of the dark because they knew you were in it, and you needed them. Or if they were afraid, they fought through it and helped you fight through it too. They pulled you out of the dark and into the light.

Soren swore that, no matter what happened next, he would wade however deep into the dark as he had to and pull Claudia out with him and into the light.

But first, they had to survive this.

So Soren lifted the staff, and he cast the spell, and he could only imagine that this was what his father had done all those years ago. Because that was their legacy. The legacy he chose.

Not one of death and destruction, of selfish actions and fractured kingdoms.

But of self sacrifice. Of loss and grief and mistakes, yes. But also of love. Of love above all else. Of loving until that was all you were. Because even if that wasn’t good, wasn’t always healthy, it was all he knew how to do. Even if they’d gotten everything else wrong, his family had known how to love.

And when Callum opened his eyes, and Soren had blinked the darkness from his own, he looked down at someone who he thought of as a brother and he told him that it was going to be okay.

In which plans change and realizations are faced. Co-written and edited by the amazingly talented @honeii-puff. I write the Soren POVs, they write the Corvus POVs Also on Ao3 and it has a playlist!

Callum and Rayla set off immediately, flying off with her arms tucked around his neck. Soren almost wished he was going with them.

Because now he was standing here, and everyone was dispersing to go and work on their parts of the plan, and he didn’t have one. There were no troops for him to rally or magical items to fetch. So it was just him.

Him and Corvus.

“Do you want to talk about it?” the other man asked, giving him a worried look. Soren had said he would tell him after.

And yet the idea of it made his stomach curdle. Because saying the words, that he had seen Claudia. That he’d let her get away… and that she’d… she’d said…

“It’s nothing,” Soren told Corvus with forced cheer.

It was clear his partner didn’t believe him.

“We don’t have to talk. We could just… sit.”

Soren nodded, even though he knew how this worked. They were supposed to sit down, ‘just to rest’. And somehow he’d end up spilling his guts out and telling Corvus everything.

Usually it worked. But he wasn’t going to fall for it this time.

Except the silence was killing him.

Soren dug one boot through the sand, except that reminded him of that one summer when Viren had brought him and Claudia down to the beach with Callum, Ezran, and Harrow. They’d stayed there all day; building sand castles and running from the waves as they crashed against the shore. It had been only a few months since their mother left, and it had been the first time he’d heard Claudia laugh since it happened. The first time he’d seen his Da- Viren smile.

Soren pushed himself to his feet, Corvus’ arm falling from around his shoulders. “Why don’t we go with them?”

“What?” Corvus stood up beside him.

“With Rayla and Callum,” Soren said, shifting his balance from foot to foot. “We can go and help them get the pearl or whatever. I know the way. I’ve been there before.”

“When you were attacked by the living tree?”

“Before that. And his name is Elmer,” Soren reminded him for the millionth time. “We’re friends now.”

“Mhm.”

“Anyway, come on.” Soren grabbed Corvus’ hand, tugging the other man after him as he hurried across the encampment. Janai wouldn’t mind if they borrowed Embertail, would she? Probably not. Hopefully not.

Anything to get out of here. To do something rather than think.

“Soren, are you sure this is a good idea? Shouldn’t we at least tell the others we’re going?”

“We’ll be back before they even notice,” Soren replied, throwing a grin over his shoulder back at Corvus. Not like they needed them here right now, anyway. Janai and Amaya had Ezran taken care of and well protected. “Come on, it’ll be fun. Our very own little adventure, just like when we took Pyrrah into the forest to find Zym’s Mom.”

Corvus couldn’t quite hide his smile at the memory, and Soren knew he had him convinced.

“Alright. A small adventure.”

“We’re just fetching a magical doohickey. How hard can it be?”

——————————————————————

As it turned out, very. 

When they arrived, it was to find the beach where they had first encountered Akiyu smoldering and littered with dead creatures. It looked like something out of a nightmare. The smell of roasted meat rotting in the sun was sickening, rising up in waves from the still steaming tide pools, all of them choked with the bloated bodies of charred fish. 

Soren covered his nose as they landed, and Embertail had hardly let them down before she launched herself back into the sky to circle far above.

“Soren…” Corvus stooped down and brushed a hand gently across the scorched earth. “This isn’t natural.”

But he didn’t need to say it. Soren already knew.

“Claudia.” The name was half whispered and full of horror as he surveyed the destruction before him. It could only have been her. Was the item she took the thing that did this? Could he have stopped this?

Corvus stood up, placing a gentle and steadying hand on Soren’s shoulder as he came up to stand beside him. “We should find the others.”

Soren nodded woodenly, eyes still locked on the surrounding devastation. Claudia - and Viren - had both done some horrible things in the past. He’d seen it. He’d been part of some of it. But this… there had been no point in this. This was just cruel. 

Snapping out of his shock, Soren rushed towards the cave he knew Akiyu lived in. The smell was still overwhelming and the closer they got, the more destruction there seemed to be. Like she’d stared when she arrived, and the longer it had gone on, the angrier she had become. It reminded him of when Claudia used to have a temper tantrum as a really little kid. But instead of throwing a book at the wall, she had destroyed an entire beach.

He saw a cluster of the crab creatures from before, shells blackened and shattered, charred limbs sticking out at odd angles. 

She’s gone. Really gone. We can’t save her. I can’t save her. Soren’s jaw set. But I can still stop her.

“Callum!” he called out as he stepped into the open cavern. “Rayla!?”

Corvus followed less than a step behind, both of them scanning the darkened interior of the cave for signs of life. The fire hadn’t reached in here, but there were other signs of destruction. 

Like a body. Lying by the side of the tidepool.

“No. No, no, no, no.” Soren rushed to the small form’s side, dropping to his knees beside Akiyu. He lifted her up in his arms, and her head lolled to the side, her entire body limp. She was so light. Like he was holding a child.

“No.” He shook her gently, even though he knew that was probably the worst thing to do in this situation. “Come on, Akiyu. You can’t be dead. Please don’t be dead.”

Soren looked up to find Corvus standing a few steps away from him, a horrified expression on his face.

Soren knew his face must have matched as he said; “She’s not dead. She can’t be.”

“Soren.” 

Corvus’s voice was gentle, but Soren just shook his head, looking back down to the small body in his arms. “She wouldn’t do this. I- I didn’t think she would do this.”

“I… I don’t think it wasn’t up to her,” Corvus said, coming to crouch beside him by the tidepool. He brushed the hair out of Soren’s face before resting his hand on his shoulder.

Akiyu, Soren realized. Corvus thought he was talking about Akiyu. 

He shook his head. “No. I meant-

“Claudia.”

The voice wasn’t Soren’s, and they both whipped their heads up and around to watch as Callum stepped out of the shadows, battered and disheveled. He was gripping Viren’s staff in one whiteknuckled hand, Rayla trailing a few hesitant steps behind him. 

Whumpuary 2025 | Prompt: Impaled | TW: MCD & Blood

 Claudia jerked her head to the side just in time, the blade just grazing her cheek, leaving a small slash of red across her otherwise grey skin, scarred with deep violet. She spun away, a counter already on her lips.

 “Umbra dolor!” violet particles gathered at her fingertips to form the blade, seemingly appearing out of thin air. But Soren’s sword knocked it from her hand almost immediately, sending it clattering across the ground before it disappeared in a burst of purple light.

 “Why couldn’t you just leave well enough alone!” she hissed, turning on her brother. He was panting, tunic singed from her last attack. But his grip on the blade was unwavering, his stance firm.

 “You’re my sister,” he said, twirling the sword in his hand. “You’re my responsibility.”

 “So you’re going to, what?” she asked, taking a moment to catch her breath. “Kill me? You know you wouldn’t.”

 It was more a plea than anything else.

 “You’re not-” he swung the blade in a high arc down towards her and she leapt out of the way, rolling before launching herself back on her feet “-leaving me much of a choice!”

 “You always have a choice!” she shouted, raising her hands into a casting position as she spun to face him again. She stopped, eyes going wide as she found the blade held level with her chest.

 Soren stared at her, eyes cold. Slowly they softened, but the blade didn’t waver. “Yeah. You do.”

 She met his gaze, and for a moment, thought he might have looked at her like he used to. Then it hardened again, and her eyes narrowed. 

 “You never left me any,” she stepped forward, letting the tip of the sword press against her chest. She felt it tear the fabric of her shirt, a small bit of red seeping to the surface. “So go ahead. Make it for me.”

 “Clauds, I-” 

 Her eyes stung at the old nickname, something tugging in her chest, but she pushed it down, “Make it.” 

 The blade wavered, and she smiled. “See? I knew you were too weak.”

 Soren’s eyes narrowed, “Stop this.”

 “Stop what? I’ve already stopped.”

 “Stop trying to- to do whatever it is you’re doing! To bring him back!”

 “Aaravos will return with or without my help,” Claudia said. “Your time’s almost up. Killing me won’t change that.”

 “But it will make it harder for him to win,” Soren said, grip on the sword tightening. 

 “Maybe,” she admitted. “But you’ll still lose. Because you’re always going to lose, Soren. You’re not willing to do what has to be done.”

 “You’re wrong.”

 “What? Is the power of love going to save the day again?” she mocked.

 “I will do whatever needs to be done," his voice dropped to a whisper. "However dangerous, however vile."

 Her eyes widened with understanding as the blade sank into her chest. Claudia gasped, looking down as the red seeped through her tunic, spreading in a great patch across her front.

"It's my blood as much as yours," he said, hands shaking slightly as they went to withdraw the blade. She grabbed it, metal digging into her palms, and channeled the pain into her casting.

 “𝕰𝖌𝖓𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗 𝕷𝖆𝖓𝖎𝖋!”

 She let out a hiss at the sudden surge of heat, the blood on the blade evaporating. Soren’s eyes widened.

 The blast was so loud as to be barely audible, leaving Claudia’s ears ringing as she lay on her back, sprawling across the rocky ground. She rolled over onto her side, gasping at the pain in her abdomen. The blade had gone deep. Blinking spots from her vision, she glanced about for Soren, finding him crumpled against the far wall.

 There was a tug in her chest, the sight of him horrifying despite the blade he’d driven into her chest. She took a wavering breath, tasting copper. She had, what, a few minutes at best? Seconds? Her vision swam.

 Still, she used what strength remained in her arms to drag herself towards him. 

 “Soren?” he didn’t stir, and she called out again, voice weak and losing strength with every second. “Soren!”

 His eyes fluttered open and she let out a sob of relief, blood speckling her lips. She reached for him, but her arms gave out and she flopped forward onto the cold stone. Her eyes drifted shut, opening again as something jostled her. 

 “Clauds?” his voice rasped from beside her. He clasped one of her outstretched hands in his. “I’m here.”

 She took a shaky breath, body going numb except for the burning in her chest. “I’m sorry,” she managed.

 “It’s okay,” she heard him take a wheezing breath that became a cough. “Me too.”

 She almost laughed at the absurdity of it all, “I forgive you.”

 “I… forgave you… a long time ago,” Soren managed as Claudia’s eyes closed once again. He squeezed her hand. “Clauds?”

 “Hm?” his voice came to her as though from far away, through deep water.

 “On the mountain… you asked if I was going to go through with it… kill you… my sister. I said I didn’t know. I know, now,” Soren coughed again, “I wasn’t gonna do it.”

 She raised her head marginally to stare up at him. He was bleeding, she couldn’t tell from where. But it was a lot of blood. Probably too much.

 “What… change?” she choked out.

 He stared down at her, taking a shaky breath, “You. Me. Us.”

 She clutched his hand tighter as the darkness seeped in, “Don’t go.”

 “I’m here for you. I’m not going anywhere.”

 She sighed, letting her eyes fall shut again, “Thank you.”