Lucien didn't care for much in his life. He'd cared about power and knowledge, but they had been ripped from him, leaving him raw and empty. He wasn't sure he even knew how to care about someone other than himself. He knew he wanted Caleb but to care for him seemed...unlikely. However, the fear on Caleb's face made Lucien question his sympathies.
The wizard that hovered above him wanted Caleb dead. The two wizards that had corralled The Mighty Nein also seemed to want Caleb dead. Lucien felt a hatred for them unlike anything he'd felt before. He stood between the larger tattooed wizard with his swords out, his own blood dripping from the blades. The fresh wounds on his chest oozing.
The raven-haired man pulled out a sword of his own, a dark look in his eyes as he stepped towards Lucien.
"You can't have him," Lucien sneered.
The man tilted his head in question, glancing to Caleb who stood behind Lucien.
"Wulf, please," Caleb's voice pleaded, closer to Lucien than it had been.
Lucien couldn't help but notice the fondness that Caleb held in his tone.
Wulf, as Caleb had called him, said nothing, but a flicker of regret crossed his face.
Lucien grit his teeth. How many people did Caleb have pining after him?
"Astrid, I know you still love Caleb. You don't really want to do this," Jester was pleading with the other wizard.
"I have to," Astrid said with a shaky voice.
Lucien looked between the two advancing on Caleb. There was a history he didn't have time to question as Wulf leapt forward, his blade slicing towards Caleb.
Lucien threw himself in the way, his own blade catching Wulf's.
A white-hot pain in his back caused him to arch with a hiss as flames leapt at his flesh.
He turned a glare to the blonde woman, her tattooed arms aglow with magic. She cast her eyes sympathetically towards Caleb.
"Caleb," Essek backed towards the ginger as Trent hovered towards them, his hands rolling into a familiar casting motion.
Lucien had known fear once, long ago when he was alone and searching for purpose, but it had been many years since fear had truly gripped him. However, in this moment, seeing Caleb and Essek cowering together, Lucien feared for what this terrible man would do to them.
With one more quick block of Wulf's blade, he bolted for the wizards, his body blocked them just as an arcane blast of lightning struck his back.
Lucien let out a cry as he fell to his knees. His hands barely holding onto his swords.
"Lucien," Caleb reached for the tiefling, trying to help him back to his feet.
"Bet you wish I had my eyes still," Lucien gave a pained smirk.
Caleb frowned but said nothing as he steadied Lucien.
A shout from Caleb and a dagger sticking through his shoulder made Lucien's blood run cold.
"No," Essek turned and with a wave of his hands, purple energy burst from them pelting Wulf with arcane missiles.
"Caleb," Lucien reached for the wizard's now gushing wound, desperate to stop the bleeding.
"I'm fine. I'm fine," Caleb insisted, pulling away.
Lucien had never felt so truly out of his depths. Every attack thrown at Trent did nothing.
Over and over, he watched Caleb and Essek be targeted by this man. What had they done to warrant such anger?
Lucien stayed close, taking as many hits as he could to spare Caleb and at times Essek.
He leaned over a prone Essek, pain wracking through him as he took another attack meant for the drow. His hands pressed into soft earth on either side of Essek's head, his knees straddling his waist.
"Why are you doing this?" Essek asked, his voice battle worn and weak.
Lucien only panted trying to shake the pain from his body.
He winced when Essek lifted his hand, throwing a spell over his shoulder.
He heard the fizzle of a counter spell and felt the electric buzz just behind his head.
"Thank you," he sighed. He wasn't sure how much more he could take. In many places, blood pooled to the surface, turning his lavender skin indigo. His muscles throbbed, and his head swam.
Lucien slowly pulled himself from the ground, reaching for Essek's hand as he did so.
The drow accepted, his own body aching with every movement.
"No matter what, promise me you'll protect him," Lucien pleaded between ragged gasps.
"With my life," Essek promised, a frown tugging at his features.
"That is why I am doing this," Lucien turned and lifted his blade to defend once more.
-
The relief that punched through his chest when he saw Trent pinned with Beau on top of him, ached his lungs. But he couldn't bring himself to care.
He slumped back into a tree as the members of The Mighty Nein surrounded the Wizard. The blonde no longer threatened The Nein, and the raven-haired man lay unconscious beneath Fjord, less than ten feet away.
He watched Caleb stride towards the subdued wizard and felt that familiar fear grip him. He wanted Caleb nowhere near that man.
Lucien pulled his eyes from Caleb, trying to understand the feelings in the pit of his stomach. Trying to understand the ache in his chest. He had never feared for the lives of the tomb takers, not even when they had been mangled by the trap set by The Nein. He left them to die. He sentenced Cree to an equally early demise all in favor of power. But he had nothing to gain and yet he feared for Caleb's safety as if it were his own. Feared so much that he aided Essek in hopes that Caleb stood a better chance with the drow alive. What was it that drove that fear? Surely it wasn't love. Love was for paltry beings. Ones who strived to fill their pathetic lives with something to give it meaning. He wasn't like them; he was the non- His eyes clenched at the once again reminder that he was no longer the nonagon. He was nothing. He was no different then those around him who strived to fill their lives with meaning. He had no meaning in his own life now. And that...that was once his biggest fear.
