Caffeine and Magix

You can read mine here (X) or below! If you did the challenge, tag it CaffeineChallenge and I’ll add it to the doc!

I’m going to do one of these a day for the rest of October, so tune in tomorrow at 5 pm CST for the next one!

Lily doesn’t go down easily. She’s been a fighter her entire life and she–

She doesn’t go down easily.

Still, when the mages allow their sparks to fizzle out, when Brienne calls for a ceasefire, a surrender, when everyone stops killing each other, she’s down. She’s lying in the mud behind a random farm, letting the cold seep through her thin pants and shirt, because she’s down and she’s pretty sure she’s not going to get up again.

It’s worth it, she thinks viciously. She coughs and a hundred daggers embed themselves into her lungs. Something warm dribbles from her lips, slides down her cheek, skirts the fold of her ear before being absorbed by the earth. The ground sings with another drop of blood, louder and louder to her magic-sensitive ears.  It’s worth it.

“Lily!” The scream pierces the air and rises above the groans and curses of the injured. Lily hears someone running towards her, slipping and sliding, and she lets her eyes close. Brienne drops next to her, strings cut, and pulls her into her arms. “Lily!”

Lily can’t speak. She doesn’t know if it’s from using her powers or if she’s too injured. All she knows is that she can trace the shape of Brienne’s face with her eyes one last time. It’s a blessing, a boon, one she hadn’t thought to get. She wants to die like this, looking into the face of the woman she loves.

The younger woman is as beautiful as the day Lily met her. Her wide nose shows signs of having been broken more than once and there’s a horrible bruise blooming across one of her sharp cheekbones, but she’s still gorgeous. Brienne’s dark eyes fly over Lily’s face and body, cataloguing each of her injuries. From the way she pales, Lily can surmise that it’s not good.

“You weren’t supposed to be here,” Brienne whispers. She swallows heavily. “You weren’t– Lily.”

The badge on Brienne’s chest, once shiny and bright, is tinged red. It’s the mark of the King’s Sorcerer Corp, a mark of distinction. The day Brienne had joined, Lily had dismissed her as an apprentice, unwilling to give the King anymore of her secrets. She’d asked Brienne if that was what she really wanted, to be a dog for the Court, to have to turn against her own kind.

Brienne had walked away without another word, aura sparking with her fury. That had been two years ago, two long years filled with minimal contact and barbed words.

Lily hopes it was worth it to Brienne.

“Your King doesn’t want you back,” a new voice says. Lily still has the presence of mind to recognize the leader of the Mage Rebellion, Augusta. The stern woman is standing over them, hair white as sepulcher and expression grim. “‘Course, even if he did, he’s not going to be on the throne for much longer anyway.”

Brienne’s arms tighten around Lily as if anticipating Augusta interfering. “The King is a fool. We– we know that now. We won’t fight whatever the rebellion has planned for us. We’ve surrendered.”

“The King is a fool, right enough,” Augusta says, still looming. She wipes at the blood staining her leathers. “Yet you still fought for him, until the end.”

“Is there a question in there?” Brienne asks, voice tight. “You know the enchantments he puts on the Corp. You know why we stood by his side.”

“Sure,” Augusta agrees easily. “We all do. We understand.”

Brienne’s brow furrows. “Y-you understand?”

“Yep,” Augusta says. She finally drops to their level, where Lily doesn’t have to strain to look at her. “Doesn’t mean we don’t think you’re a bunch of spineless cowards, though.”

Brienne’s head flies back as if struck. “The enchantment made it so we–”

“You had to join him before any enchantments,” Augusta says, lip curling. She scans Lily, much like Brienne had, and her face crumples. “There’s always a price to pay when fools go to fight imaginary wars.”

“Y-you can heal her, right?” Brienne asks, ignoring being called a fool. “She wasn’t supposed to be here. She was supposed to be safe.” Brienne’s voice breaks and she bows her head so only Lily can see the glimmer of tears.

“Lily,” Augusta says, leaning forward, “Lily, will you let me heal you?”

“Why are you asking her?” Brienne demands to know. “She can’t talk, just do it!”

“Hush,” Augusta snaps. “I know Lily taught you better than to do a working on the unwilling.” Her focus returns to Lily. “Can I heal you?”

Lily feels her lips trembling. She needs to– to tell her. “C…cost.”

Augusta sits back on her heels. She looks, all at once, her age. The lines around her mouth deepen and a fine mist gathers over her eyes. “Oh, Lily.”

“What?” Brienne looks between the woman in her lap and the leader of the rebellion. “What cost? Why aren’t you healing her?”

“The ritual worked,” Augusta says, voice soft. Her weathered hand finds Lily’s cold one and squeezes. “Oh, my dear.”

Brienne shakes her head. “No, the ritual didn’t work! Kaine had it set up but you intercepted it in time– everyone kept their magic and he died–”

“The ritual worked,” Augusta repeats evenly. She closes her eyes and brings Lily’s hand up to press against her forehead. “It tried to strip us of our magic, strip us of our lives. Not just us, silly girl, but every magic user on the battlefield.  Lily took all the effects into herself.”

“Th-that’s impossible,” Brienne stutters. She meets Lily’s eyes, sees the sad truth in them. “But it’s just a spell! You can heal spell damage, I know you can–”

“I can,” Augusta says. “But the spell isn’t dead yet. She’s trapped it inside of her body. It dies when she does.”

“Impossible,” Brienne repeats. “She can’t–that’s not possible!”

“She’s a mage” Augusta says. “Trapping a spell is easy for someone like her.” Unlike you, Augusta doesn’t say. Brienne had never completed her studies, had never become all she could be.

“What happens if you do heal her?” Brienne asks, changing tactics. “The spell gets released, right? You guys are better prepared for it, my Corp will help, we can kill it–”

Augusta is already shaking her head. “Brienne, it’s done. There’s nothing more we can do. If we save Lily, we kill everyone here.” She reaches out with her free hand and strokes Lily’s hair. “Thank you for saving us, Lily. I’m sorry.”

Lily takes another rasping breath and sends a curl of warm magic to Augusta. She hopes it conveys all she wants it too. That she’s thankful for the older woman’s guidance, her compassion. That she’s thankful that she’s allowing her this, her final moments with dignity.

Augusta’s eyes close when the magic brushes against her cheek. “I understand. Rest well, my dear. We will meet again, one day.” She stands, wavering slightly before finding her equilibrium. “I’ll give you this time to say goodbye. I’ll return shortly.” She strides across the blooded ground, towards the remnants of the Corp.

“There has to be a way,” Brienne says, eyes darting over Lily’s face. “I–this is my fault. I’ll take the spell, I’ll take it with me into the next world. Just–please, Lily.”

Lily, with great effort, shakes her head. She might have dismissed Brienne as her apprentice, but she’s still her teacher. It’s her job to protect the younger magic user from her mistakes, her job to protect her from the enemy. She’s been failing to do that for years, ever since Brienne joined the Corp, and she’s not going to let herself fail now.

“No!” Brienne presses her forehead against Lily’s. Her tears fall hotly on Lily’s nose, cheeks, and lips. “No, I am not going to let you pay for my mistakes! Not again.”

Lily’s eyes widen as she feels Brienne’s magic, rough and wild from lack of training, pressing against her skin. Her hands come up weakly to push at the younger woman’s shoulders but she’s weakened by her physical injuries.

Brienne’s power sinks into Lily’s barriers, pulling and tugging at the locks it finds. It’s trying to get inside of her, into her core, but she can’t. She can’t let Brienne take this from her, can’t let the spell free. She struggles, lashes out at Brienne with her own magic, but that too is weakened.

Lily had accepted Brienne because of her power. She’d been glowing with it all those years ago, accidentally changing reality around her with simple wishes. Even then, untrained, Brienne had more power than Lily.

Now, half-trained, Brienne surpasses her teacher far too easily.

Lily convulses as Brienne’s magic breaks through her barriers, floods her mind with the smell of spice and the taste of oranges. It soothes the deep wounds the spell had gouged into her psyche, but it’s wrong. She’s going to be killed and Lily will have failed again–

You never failed, Brienne’s voice echoes in her mind. We can do this. Please, Lily, help me. Show me.

Lily sends the last of her magic around the spell. It’s akin to laying hands on a tiger and it bites into her. She wraps who she is around it, uses her essence to block it from Brienne’s sight. She’s startled when she feels Brienne’s essence (beautiful and wonderful, like her) folds itself around her, drenches her in warmth.

Let me see, Brienne’s voice whispers. Let me help. Let me save you.

No, Lily replies. Her voice is so much quieter than Brienne’s. No, no, I won’t let you, it’s worth it–

Nothing is worth it, Brienne growls. Her magic pulls at Lily until the barest hint of the spell darts through the crack. Lily cries out while Brienne purrs in satisfaction. It’s mine.

Lily’s hold on the spell breaks and it floods them both. Lily, disconnected from her body as she is, can tell that they’re both taught, every muscle straining, as the spell wreaks havoc.

Lily, gone as she is, can feel it killing Brienne.

NO! She’s out of energy, out of magic, but there’s still one place she can go. It’s dangerous, it might kill her on its own, but she won’t let it take Brienne. She won’t.

Lily reaches down, down, down, and touches the power of the Mother for the second time in her life.