/ breakdown
1,412 words
Cold. So, so cold. Kwet thought the Light in his hands had solidified. He still clutched his staff and energy hummed, but it was drowned beneath the shuffle of wings and feet.
Every second he fought off the instinct to fly as he and his "escort" delved deeper into the natural maze. Or rather, his captors, because there was no escape now as the sky disappeared.
"Where are you taking me?" Kwey snapped finally, stopping and spinning to face them "Where is Aveth?"
They shared an unreadable glance.
"Diocore requires your presence," the female clipped, her wings flaring ever so slightly "You will see your friend after."
Kwet wanted to demand that they take him to Aveth right now. But the warriors where pressing closer and their hands were straying towards their weapons. Kwet bit back his angry words and started walking again.
Several more turns down the ever narrowing path, then it opened up to a wide cavern. White lights burned against the metal, bathing the whole space in painful brightness.
The figure that commanded the center of the room cast no shadow but it didn't make him any less imposing. His gaze fixed on Kwet and didn't stray as the doctor was shoved the last few steps forwards. His gaze never left, but their eyes didn't meet, in fact the stranger looked everywhere but his face.
"Doctor Kwet," there was no question in their tone but Kwet nodded anyways.
"How do you know me?"
The stranger shrugged slowly and stepped closer, eyes glinting "You'll lend aid to anyone who needs it. Several of my soldiers have come back, patched up with surprising expertise from a scavenging neutral."
"I entered and completed medical school long before this madness started," Kwet answered shortly, wings locking flat against his back as he forced his neck to crane upwards at the huge Vive.
"Yet," they rumbled, reaching out towards the humming staff "You've created several useful tools that most certainly aren't standard medical grade."
Kwet pulled the staff closer to his chest "I only make weapons to protect myself. I won't make them for you or the other side." The cold crept to the inside of his core and seeped down his spine as the two warriors at his back shuffled quietly.
"Only yourself, doctor?" Diocore laughed and wrenched the staff away from Kwet as he blanched.
"I suppose it's a good thing I don't want you to build us weapons," Diocore whirled the staff in a blazing arch, laughing "I just want you to use these wonderful creations and that bright mind of yours. This is war doctor, you may not have chosen a side, but certainly you've killed."
Diocore hesitated, gauging the doctor's silence "To protect yourself? To protect your friend?"
Kwet tried to choke out a reply, but only a grinding wheeze made it out.
Diocore narrowed his eyes "Yes?"
"No!" It burst out from Kwet and he tried to backpedal from Diocore, only to have his arms wrapped in viselike grips from the soldiers.
"No?" Diocore said it almost curiously "Certainly you hate seeing your fellow Vives slaughtering each other? You could end it," his voice took on a wheedling tone "Just kill Mayveth. We know where he is, we just need someone who can get into the base and you've proved wily before, little doctor."
"No!" Kwet tried to pull himself out of their grip "No! Not for you!"
"No?" Diocore rolled his eyes "Still? Fine," he huffed out a sigh and turned, leaning the staff in the crook of his elbow "Let's go see your friend."
Kwet didn't struggle as he was dragged out of the room into a substantially darker hallway. Several minutes and he could barely see Diocore's folded wings in front of him. With a flourish, the would-be king threw open a door and stalked into the dim hole. The warriors pushing Kwet paused at the entrance and he could feel their wings shivering. Diocore turned, eyes glinting as he pinned his soldiers beneath his gaze. They still wouldn't go forwards and instead shoved Kwet in, blocking his escape, but not budging.
Kwet stumbled and landed on his knees, the freezing pain in his joints preventing him from rising again.
"I assume you know quite a bit about Vive biology, being a doctor," Diocore's voice hummed, from somewhere above him "You know how hard it is to preserve a body after death? We may have one of the longest life spans of the know sentient races in the universe, but after it's spent there's nothing to show that we've been around, just the memories of others."
There was a click and a dusty white light poured down, painting Diocore with an unnatural sheen and revealing rows of shelves.
"What...did you do..." Kwet rasped out, his body temperature dropping so far he could hardly move "Monster."
"A revolutionary," Diocore corrected with amusement "Political and scientific."
"No," Kwet wanted nothing more than to pull his wings around his face and hide the horrifying sight, but he was frozen "This is sacrilege."
"I immortalized them, for eternity if I've done my science right," Diocore shrugged, turning and facing his collection "So maybe not the whole body, but honestly, the face is the most important part anyway and the arms and legs and wings have a tendency of taking up more space than they should."
"Speaking of spaces, here's an empty one, right in the center, I've been saving it actually," Diocore glanced over his shoulder at the immobile doctor "For Keyvar. But you know, your friend is nearly the same size as Mayveth is. If you don't bring me what I want, I'd have no trouble filling the empty space."
"no..."
"I'm sorry, I told you we were going to see him, didn't I?" Diocore clamped a heavy hand over one of Kwet's quivering wings and hauled him to his numb feet "Well, I do hope you take a good look, doctor, if you decide not to do as I have asked, this will be the last time you see him."
Diocore spun them both to face the opposite wall, where pallid light dripped down over the chains and pooled in the wide set of panicked eyes. They'd bound his mouth shut, but Aveth was still screaming, his whole body straining against the chains.
"As you can see," Diocore said, gripping Kwet tighter as he tried to rush forwards "I haven't hurt him yet, but-" easily he forced the doctor to face him and leaned so close that the breath of his words washed over Kwet "if you don't do what I want, I will tear him apart long before I kill him. Piece by piece I will break him down."
Diocore released him and hefted the gold staff, angling it towards the gap between Aveth's helmet and chest armor. It began to charge up with a deadly humming. A crackle sped along the length and the tip began to glow.
"I'll do it!" Kwet clutched uselessly at Diocore's arm, trying to pull him away "I'll do it!!"
With a twist of his shoulder Dicore connected the tip directly with Aveth's skin.
A muffled shriek of agony echoed through the room as Aveth's back arched and his wings beat against the wall as electricity wracked his body.
"Stop! Stop! I said I'd do it! Please!"
Diocore relented, grinning as he turned the staff over in his hands "Clever, clever little doctor. Your toy causes a great deal of pain, but only enough to incapacitate your enemy, not cause any damage or any lasting effects. Just give you enough time to run away."
He threw it to the ground "Disgustingly delicate, aren't you? You've got better, I know. Or you'll make better, if you want to bring back Keyvar's head."
Kwet reached for the staff and clutched it tightly, using it to brace himself as he stood up "You might win, but you'll still be hated," he hissed "You're still a monster."
"Oh, hush hush," Diocore waved a hand idly "Best be going now."
Kwet threw a glance towards Aveth, but he could only bear to meet his friend's eyes for a second.
"I'll keep the staff though," Diocore ripped in away from Kwet "It may not be potent, but it still has a tip, I think it'd be rather poetic to kill someone with the weapon their friend made to protect them."
