Lateral Movement

by Alzrius


194 - There's the Rub

“Can we slow down? Going this fast is hurting my tail.”

Lex gave no indication that he heard Aria’s complaining, neither slowing his pace nor looking back at her as the two of them strode towards Vanhoover, and his lack of response was enough to make her grit her teeth. She could deal with his having a lousy personality; if anything that made him more fun to tease. But being ignored was, to her, the very opposite of being adored, and after everything she had gone through – having her voice stolen from her, being forced to live like an animal among the sahuagin, and now having to deal with her idiot sister again – Aria had reached her limit for how many indignities she could take. Increasing her speed, and fighting down the urge to grimace as she dragged her tail across the ground faster, she circled in front of Lex, blocking his path. “I said slow down!”

He came to a stop then…exactly long enough to hold out a hoof toward her, the one with the barbed wire wrapped around it, and say, “Move aside, then keep pace with me.”

“I d-, nnnrrgh!” Her statement of refusal was cut off as she felt her body move, drawing a grunt of frustration from her lips as she tried and failed to shake off his control of her. Like a puppet on strings, she slid out of his way, falling in behind him as he strode past her. “This is scraping my scales off!” she snarled as she dragged herself forward, the discomfort from her sore lower body increasing. “Why is it such a big deal that we get there so fast anyway? It’s been almost an entire day since they left. If they haven’t come back after this long then they’re probably already dead, so it’s not like we need to r-”

“Be silent!” hissed Lex as he suddenly turned and rounded on her. The command didn’t have the force of that strange power behind it, but look on his face then – his featured twisted with rage, eyes glowing green-and-purple and teeth bared in a snarl – was enough to make her instantly obey. “I don’t want to hear your idiotic speculations! Unless you have something useful to add, something that’s helpful or insightful or otherwise isn’t a complete waste of my time, then do not speak again! Do you understand me?! NOT! ONE! WORD!”

He all but screamed that last part, and as the last vestiges of his voice hung in the air he continued to stare at her, with Aria only belatedly realizing that he was expecting an answer. Immediately, she nodded her head, her belligerence replaced with meekness in the face of his anger. Even then, he didn’t look away from her for several seconds, and she knew that he was looking for a reason, any reason, to lash out at her again. It was only when he turned and started walking again, her body moving to keep up with him as per his orders, that she let out a breath.

Several minutes passed in silence, and although Aria felt that power he’d used on her fade away she didn’t slow down, biting her lip as she dragged herself after him, her discomfort starting to turn to pain as her scales protested the rough treatment. Sulking, she wished for the umpteenth time she could still use her natural magic. If only she could sing, then she’d be able to absorb negative emotions again, and with that power she could fly as much as she wanted! But now, her only option was to kludge together a flight spell – one which would only last for a few minutes – using the artificial magic she’d managed to cobble together after losing her voice. And that magic was sharply limited in how often it could be used. Not like it matters though, she thought bitterly. I’m sure if I so much as cast a spell without his say-so he’ll lose it all over me again. The unfairness of it all gnawed at her, causing her to glare impotently at Lex’s back. Why do I have to be treated like this? I don’t deserve-

His voice cut through her self-pity. “The evidence suggests they’re still alive.”

“Huh?” Her inquisitive grunt came out before she could stop herself.

But Lex had apparently regained control of himself. “Even if the worst case scenario happened, and Cloudbank and the others lost their lives, Severance would endure.” His voice was clinical to the point of being cold, not looking back at her as he spoke. “If such a thing happened, it wouldn’t simply remain there doing nothing. It would make its way back to me immediately, and since that hasn’t happened it therefore stands to reason that they’re still alive.”

Aria didn’t say anything to that, not knowing how his magic scythe worked and not wanting to step on another landmine. But at the same time, she wasn’t sure if he wanted her to answer him or not. Momentarily plagued by indecision, she instead opted to go with something else entirely. “So what’s the plan when we get there?” The city was a lot closer now, and Aria desperately hoped he’d slow down once they were inside. Cobblestone didn’t seem like it would be any more comfortable than grass and dirt.

“Once we reach the city proper, you’ll use your tracking spell,” replied Lex evenly. “While it’s active, we’ll head toward the bank along the route that the others most likely took. That should maximize the chances of you detecting the subject of your spell.”

Aria rolled her eyes, but knew better to ask what would happen if that didn’t work. After all, that spell only had a range of a couple hundred feet, and while it could detect either certain types of creatures in general or a specific individual in particular, it couldn’t home in on people who were already dead (though the undead were valid targets). More than that, the spell wasn’t all-powerful; running water acted as a barrier against it, as did a thin coat of lead.

Lex knew all of that, of course; she'd told him all back when he’d tried to get her to teach him that spell after they’d fought the Great Lord of the Deep. But I fooled you, didn’t I? Aria smirked to herself. I could have showed you exactly how to cast it, but I said that I didn’t know enough about how it worked to write it down for you. And you bought it! She couldn’t help but smirk at that, pleased to have gotten one over on him. Oh, he’d made her explain it up one side and down the other, telling him all about its range and duration and limitations and various other factors that she couldn’t plausibly claim not to know, but in the end he’d believed her when she said she wasn’t able to diagram its structure. With no other way to make use of her magic except by keeping her around, it guaranteed that he wouldn’t be able to double-cross her so easily.

Even if that was the reason she was out here abrading her tail off right now.

As though to drive that point home, the pain in her lower body suddenly spiked, causing her to gasp silently as she rolled over in momentary agony. After a few seconds it faded into a throbbing ache, and she scowled as she looked down and saw blood on the underside of her tail. The reason for that was made plain as she glanced back at where she’d been crawling: peaking up from between the grass was a small rock, its rough edge still red from where it had broken through her scales to scratch the sensitive skin underneath.

Her good mood thoroughly spoiled by this latest injustice, Aria turned her head to shoot Lex another dark glare, only to find that he was already looking back at her. His head turned just enough to glance over his shoulder, it was the neutral expression on his face that pushed her over the edge. “Are you happy now?!” she snarled, pointing at her injury. “Or do you want me to scrape more of my skin off for you?! It’s no big deal, I’m just out here on your orders to rescue your friends!” The look on his face didn’t change, and that only made her angrier. “It’s not like I’m important at all, not like Sonata or Severance or Cloudbank! After all, I’m just the one guarding you while you sleep! I’m only the one who was right there protecting you on that dock while you fought the Great Lord of the Deep! Who cares what happens to me, right?! So come on, let’s keep going!” She righted herself then, keeping her eyes pointedly on Vanhoover as she dragged herself forward. It hurt, but she refused to let it show on her face, her features twisted in anger as made a point of not acknowledging the heartless stallion in front of her.

She was about to pass him when Lex held a hoof out, barring her path. “Stop,” he said softly. For a moment she thought he was going to use that power again and make her obey him, but to her mild surprise he didn’t, and that was enough to make her come to a halt. Once she did, he spoke again. “Show me your wound.”

She almost didn’t, just to spite him, but for some reason decided not to. Instead, she slowly turned onto her back, unable to suppress a pained grunt as she took her weight off of her injured tail. Moving alongside her, Lex reached up to adjust the circlet he always wore before he began to gesture and chant, reaching out to lightly brush his hoof over her tail as soon as he’d finished. Immediately, the inflamed skin scabbed over, and Aria let out a breath as the residual pain faded away. A second later new scales sprouted to replace the ones she’d lost, with only their coloration – being a slightly darker purple than the rest of her lower body – to hint that they were covering an injury.

When Lex withdrew his hoof and stepped back Aria tentatively rolled back onto her belly, wriggling a bit as she gingerly touched the underside of her tail to the ground. Registering the lack of pain, she let out a sigh of relief before turning her attention back to the stallion next to her. She half-expected him to say something insulting, or maybe just turn away and head toward Vanhoover again, but to her mild surprise he just stood there, looking at her like he was waiting for her to say something. Without quite knowing why, Aria suddenly found herself feeling self-conscious, frowning at the unfamiliar sensation. “What are you looking at?” she snapped, though there was no real heat in her words. “If you’re waiting for me to say thank you, you’re going to be disappointed. You’re the reason I was hurt in the first place, so don’t expect me to be grateful or anything.”

His only response was to blink once, and then he did turn away from her, silently heading toward the city again.

Giving a self-satisfied nod at his standoffish behavior, Aria started after him, only to realize a few seconds later that he was walking slower now. He wasn’t sauntering by any means, but he was no longer moving at the near-gallop that had caused her so much discomfort before. She was still processing that when she saw him glance back at her, silently regarding her for a second before facing forward again, and she knew that he’d been making sure he was traveling at a pace she was comfortable with. It was enough to make her open her mouth…only to close it a moment later as she realized that she had no idea what she was about to say.

In silence, the pair continued forward until they finally reached Vanhoover.