Fightclub

"Once Rath kills your friend, we're gonna have fun, kid." A particularly stringy bandit sidled up to Noah.

The boy was too numb to notice anything but Cain growled at the man on his behalf.

Without magic, the only thing he could do was look feral.

"Jeez, that one has rabies." He backed off a bit, turning to watch the fight.

Cain let Noah clutch onto his arm as the boy struggled to watch the ring through eyes that threatened to water.

"This is a fistfight. What's with the hammer?" Alexis demanded, anger shadowing the fear.

"Problem, sweetheart?" He grinned. "There's two of you. It's only fair.

"Besides, the last guys didn't mind. 'Course, they're dead." He shrugged, jerking his head towards the pile of weapons and armour in the corner.

Markus glanced at the armour, the crests of each clan emblazoned on the plates. One caught his eye. A crossed sword and hammer.

"What's the plan, Markus?" Alexis murmured into his ear but he wasn't listening. Blood pounded in his ears as he walked out to meet Rath at the center of the ring.

His features were eerily calm, except for his eyes, which reflected barely contained rage.

"I'm gonna kill you." He whispered, his voice still carrying across the room.

There was no starting command. Markus ran straight for him, unarmed and now running on adrenaline.

He barely had time to remember the warhammer, which was swung in a vicious arc, meant to cave his skull in.

Markus slid on his knees, barely avoiding the dense metal before he sprung up, tackling Rath.

The big man stumbled briefly, his grip still strong on the weapon. He grabbed a fistful of Markus's hair, forcing him back before headbutting him.

He managed to put some distance between them before Rath swung the hammer again. The only thing keeping Markus alive was the fact that the weapon slowed him down. As long as he made no rash decisions, he had a chance at winning.

Unfortunately, adrenaline makes you a terrible fighter.

Markus charged him again, throwing all his weight behind a punch, something that's hard to land and hard to recover from. He vaguely heard Alexis yelling at him to stop before he saw Rath smile.

He ducked under his fist, bringing his own around for a jab. It connected with Markus's cheekbone, nearly shattering it. He wasn't fast enough to react. He felt himself being grabbed by the front of his shirt and thrown bodily across the ring.

He rolled to a stop, spitting blood as he raised his head off the ground. Instantly, he caught Noah's eyes. The boy looked at him, hands trembling as they moved to unwrap the bandage on his hand.

He was going to use the Arts.

Markus shook his head an infinitesimal amount, snapping back to his senses.

'What am I doing?' he thought in the split second before Noah screamed at him to move.

He ducked, rolling away as Rath brought the hammer down where his head had just been.

"Markus!" He heard Alexis clearly this time. Her outstretched hand sending a clear message.

Gritting his teeth, he clamped his hand around hers, tagging her.

Alexis used his arm to ground herself before launching herself up, kicking Rath in the jaw.

Outside the ring, Noah circled around, keeping up with the fight, hands fidgeting around the ropes on his wrists. The other men let them walk around, knowing that they wouldn't try to escape now.

Alexis had let panic control her when she made the decision to drop kick him in the face. Now she was staring at the man who really really wanted to kill her.

Fortunately, she was spared that ordeal as Markus recovered enough to kick him behind the knees, giving her an opening to kick him in the forearm.

His grip on the weapon finally loosened, making him snarl at them. "You fuckers! That's against the-"

He didn't finish. He yelled as a glass vial broke against his chest plate, the contents eating through the armour at an alarming pace.

It took exactly 0.5 seconds for Alexis to grab Markus's arm and run towards the exit. Noah had snuck around to where their supplies were, discreetly picking them up before throwing Alexis's eroding mixture at him. Now he dashed for the exit, followed closely by the rabble.

As soon as they converged at the bottleneck, one of them threw a dagger, which lodged itself in a support beam.

Cain stopped in his tracks, using the blade to slash through the ropes on his wrists and his wrists as well. He pressed the wounds against each other, jerking his head back to warn the others to keep moving.

The warlock moved his arms, one straight above his head, one straight down, leaving a line of blood between them. He swung his arms to form a circle, creating a shield which deflected all the weapons thrown at them. Not a second too soon.

"The fuck is that?" One of them eloquently asked as they faltered.

The escapers on the other hand, ran as fast as they could towards the surface, not stopping till they physically collapsed,a good distance between them and the cave.

Cain rolled onto his back, his arms crossed at the wrists, hoping to staunch the flow. His face was deathly pale, breaths coming in shallow bursts.

"Cain, hey!" Alexis kneeled beside him, pulling out bandages and salve from her pack. She cleaned his wounds before wrapping them, working as quickly as she could.

Markus sat a few feet away from them, head in his hands. He looked up when he heard Noah approach.

"You okay, Markus?" His grey eyes seemed wider than ever as he fiddled with the cotton pad in his hands.

Markus sighed, not wanting to talk. "I'm fine."

"Um-" He faltered, nervous. "You might wanna-" he pressed the cotton against Markus's cheekbone, the salve stinging a little, "-hold that there."

"Thanks." He said, shortly. He knew he made a mistake when he let his emotions control him in the fight. He didn't want to think about that right now.

"Okay," he turned to leave, then paused, turning back. "Markus?"

He answered without looking up. "Yeah?"

"Thank you." He skittered away, trading places with Alexis, who had left Cain sitting up against a tree stump.

"And how are you on this fine evening?" She asked sarcastically as she sat next to the guard.

"I'm fine."

"Yeah, and the truth?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

He said nothing, pressing the cotton pad gently against the cuts on his face.

Overcome by a sudden feeling, Alexis leaned forward, wrapping her arms around his chest, her head on his shoulder.

Markus hesitated for a second, then patted her on the back in understanding.

He realized it was the first time she had been that physical with him.

'I don't know what to do with that information.'