"Lapis Luzali" | Lapis, Indigo, Valeth, Fedal, Azula, Kelmorin

Written by littlesong

Ker-thunk.
Frost trailed from the dagger, evaporating as the spun through the air to sink into a swinging torso shaped target. Cold overtook the sack like a cancer pulling the moisture from the air and coating the form. Had it been a person they would surely be on death's door.
Back and forth, the ice spread, climbing up the rope before another dagger sung by, severing the link to the rafters. It fell shattering like glass upon impact.
Lapis was bored.
“Show off,” Valeth muttered with a smirk throwing her own daggers simultaneously. Both flew expertly landing into of two of the swinging targets.
“Really, I’m the show off?”
“I never said I wasn’t one too.”
He shook his head with a small smile and trudged out to retrieve his knife. Daggers flew by as other Blue Cloaks trained, but he feared not, by this stage no one could miss so badly as to hit him, and no one would dare to try to aim near him.
He could still feel the cold emanating from the handle as he lifted the blade and sheathed it back into the set of sheaths attached to his chest.
It was all so… routine.
“Hey, Lapis?” he glanced over to see Valeth pulling her daggers, a puff of white powder coming from each sack. “What’s the matter you seem off?”
“Why would you say that? I didn’t miss.”
“Your eyes” she said, and faced him taping the side of her head, her's a dark brown rather than his clear blue. “They look dead.”
“Really? Maybe I’m a vampire.” He stated bringing up his hands into claws and hissing at her.
Laughter followed at that inside joke. “No, just…hmmm. Like you’re not here today.”
“Yeah,” He acknowledged glancing down to the shards of ice beneath him, now slowly melting. “Maybe it’s just too easy or-”
“Think fast!”
A blade came whirling at his temple.
Thump. Thump.
His heart pounded as a hand shot up clamping down on the hilt half a second before it would have pierced. Well, almost no one would aim near him.
He found himself staring down the edge on a dagger, dripping with… that little snitch, he thought leaning his head over to meet Valeth’s smiling face. “Better?”
“You didn’t have to put poison on it.”
“My sheaths secrete poison it never doesn’t have poison.” She objected, planting her hand on her hips and mock pouting her long auburn ponytail swishing out from behind her for a moment.
He smiles. Spunky and pretty, he almost could like her. Though Keyleth had set a high bar.
“Indigo would have killed you if he had gotten hurt, Valeth,” An older blue cloak said from behind her on his way to pull his own six daggers from the target, Kelmorin.
“He was fine!” she wined, “Better?”
As much as he didn’t want to admit it, his heart was pounding with excitement now. “Hmm,” pretending to contemplate, he tossed the blade in a flourish and caught it. “I’m keeping this.” He smirked, and then turned to walk out.
“Oh, come on, it was just a joke! Lapis yo-“
“Calm down, he just got back from a mission. You don’t know how it went.”
“I know that, Kelly… but why does he have to take my knife.”
“You’re the one who threw it at him,” a new voice joined the argument right before the door to the advanced training room shut with a gentle thud.
The smirk had not yet left his face as he turned walking the cavern like halls of Five Knives. Glowing indigo and aquamarine lumistones hung from the ceilings and walls in elegantly carved elven iron cages, giving their calming glow to an otherwise dark place. It was said that they housed the souls of the martyrs by men… he had often wondered if that were so, and if the soles of martyred elves rested in them. Maybe Keyleth was still here, he thought, his eyes following a sky blue one as he passed. That had been her favorite color, the color of his eyes. Or Asune, or Helintor, or Yawnic or Locear. But then again, that theory was unproven and as far as he could grasp could not be fully understood, so why waste much time think about it?
He stopped then, wondering where he was headed. There really had not been a set destination in mind yet. The lab? But he didn’t need more poison. He kept forgetting to use it in favor of his gifts. Library? Meh… Dinning hall? Was he hungry? No, no he wasn’t. He could… visit… someone. But who? No. His ro-
“Well if it isn’t the little prince.” A call intruded as well as a shove upon his shoulder and Fedal brushed past him, a jovial smile brightening the tall lanky elves face. “What’s up, forget what you were doing?” He mocked leaning close his long brown hair sweeping over his ears.
Lapis smiled, raising one eyebrow at his peer, “I told you to stop calling me that.”
“Which is why I do. Prince.” He laughed. “I didn’t know you were back! How was Irra?”
“Meh,” Lapis shrugged.
“You completed it didn’t you!?”
“You would doubt me,” he responded feigning shock and drew back in mock offence.
“Nice,” Fedal smiled, relaxing his posture but his hazel eyes betrayed a hint of concern.
“I trust you’ve already reported to your father?”
“Of course. I did that last night when I got in.”
He nodded. “No worse for wear I see?” Fedal continued though from his examination Lapis could tell it was a question not an observation.
“I’m fine” Lapis smile reassuringly, “you all need to stop babying me. I’m barely younger than yourself.”
“Yeah, but…” he shook his head. “Just humor us please. It hasn’t been a year yet.”
“I do.” He nodded gratefully, “I’m fine.”
“You hungry, they got some new snacks from Akihide if you’d like to try.”
“Maybe later.”
“Would you like to spar then?”
“Ahh…” he voiced glancing to the sky blue glowing stone. Did he? Would that be fun? “Steel on steel, or ice and fire?”
“Whatever you’d like?”
He rubbed his neck. He had embedded a lot of energy into the dagger before, though he probably still had enough for a few rounds. Training could be helpful for staying sharp and-
A feral instinct told him to duck right as Fedal’s eyes widened, his hand flying to his blade. Rapiers clashed in the air above him the swing of the one behind blocked a hairs breath away from where his head had been. He side stepped looking back to the figure, her wild blond hair spilling out in rivers as intense blue eyes glared at the blue cloak that dared to interrupt her strike.
“Nice to see you too sister," he noted with a sigh. Azula, youngest child of Indigo Loneleaf and Cordiala Sliverstream Loneleaf, and perhaps the most intense of his five children. Lapis was the most laid back. They had never gotten along well.
“You interrupted,” she lectured Fedal, sheathing her blade, “I was testing him. Hello brother.” She nodded.
“I ducked,” Lapis pointed out.
“You’re always so spaced out though.”
“Ahh no… I seem to always be spaced out. And thus no one sees me as a threat.”
Fedal nodded, sheathing his own blade now.
“So how did it go? Lord Marics?”
“Dead, along with his two daughters and the resources retrieved, but um… I’m sorry. Are you the one I need to report to?”
“I’m just making conversation,” she rolled her eyes. “Mine went well too, target killed along with ten guards and,” she smiled, “we hit a village on the way back. Thanks for asking.”
“Yeah, I don’t care.”
“You get any extra kills?” She continued, examining her fingernails pretending not to notice.
“Think fast.” He smirked as lightning fast two daggers were in his hands, and cross slashing across her torso.
Azula flipped drawing her rapier mid air and whirling to meet his assault. Then two warriors danced in the blue glow of the halls, their indigo capes flaring, the blades glinting in the light of the luminstone.
In truth he had only attacked because he didn’t want to answer the question. Extra kills were when you had the opportunity to take out more men than just the target. It was almost expected. Targets chosen were usually to incite fear, but the ultimate goal was to wipe out the blight of humanity. Thus whenever you had an opportunity to end a man without much risk you should do so.
Lapis very rarely got extra kills. He often excused that as being a solo worker and also utilizing his shorter stature and less pronounced ears to hide in plain sight, he almost never got the chance.
Though in reality he didn’t really seek them out. He never led people somewhere alone though there had been hundreds of young women that would have followed him if he asked, and dozens of men and boys enthralled to trust him from his charming nice guy persona. And this last time…
100% he had opportunity for an extra kill. But nope. He had helped the lost little healer find a safe town instead of gutting her like he should of. She probably would go on to save dozens of men in battles that would otherwise have died so not only had he spared her but prevented others from perishing. It was so stupid. Yet at that moment… no he didn’t want to.
He hadn’t reported that.
Recruitment was his other failure, there was that elf singer from Hovydann. Probably wasn’t too strong but still, he could have offered and then just taken him if necessary. Killed the violinist. But nope, didn’t go back for him that night, didn’t even mention it to him, just left. If father knew-
“We have rooms for this you know.”
Speak of the devil, Lapis thought, as he and Azula broke from their blade dance standing at opposite ends of the hall. “Sorry father, simple test of alertness got carried away.” he explained, turning to face him.
King of the blue cloaks, loyal and loving to every one of his members, almost like a father to all of them, he thought, seeing the bright smile upon Fedal’s face as he looked upon the leader.
“Well I can understand how that could happen,” he smiled his dark blue eyes looking upon Lapis with a special affection.
Indigo loved all his children, but it was no secret by now that the second youngest was his favorite. Lapis had often wondered why. Sapphire had the best record. Zircon was the best stagiest and would take over should anything happen to father. Azula had the most kills. But no… Lapis… Lapis was the little darling prince of the blue cloaks, perhaps the only member that they would raise all hell to save if need be.
“Anyways, you can continue this match in the training grounds later. Azula come with me. I need to brief you on an assignment.”
“Yes father,” she smirked, winking at Lapis as if to say, I get so many more assignments than you.
Indeed, she was almost always away, and Lapis could go months without a job. She tended to break things if she got antsy though, so it was best to keep her continually in the field, and his style of infiltration didn’t come up too often. At least that was how he justified it.
Fedal shook his head as he watched her go. “You okay?” he asked quietly.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You know he only keeps you here because he can’t bear to lose you right.”
“Yeah I know,” Lapis turned, now knowing where he wanted to go. “I’ll be in my room if anyone wants me.”
“Oh, you want some of those snacks?”
He opened his mouth to refuse but… “Why not?”
“Mind if I hang out with you, then?”
“That’s fine.”
“Okay, little prince,” Fedal called, his tone endearing, “I’ll be there in a bit.”
Yep… little prince. There were so many here that would never let anything happen to him.
And also never let him go.