In His Element

Victor glanced over his shoulder at the canyon walls rising behind them. Craggy and riddled with caves, they provided far too many hiding places from which to launch a surprise attack.

"Oh, quit worrying," Mirage snorted. "Have a little more faith in dear Pudding's speed, will you?"

With that, he patted the head of the leema they were riding on. Which he had apparently decided to name 'Pudding.' Victor supposed he couldn't object, considering the leema's warm brown coloration with black spots did give it a certain resemblance to butterscotch pudding with chocolate chips.

They'd gotten Pudding at a small mining settlement at the base of the canyon, populated mostly by golems. Along with new clothing, food, and supplies for a journey, all paid for by a handful of rocks Mirage had illusioned to appear like gemstones.

Now they'd been traveling for half a day, and though Victor couldn't say exactly how much distance they'd covered, he did feel they had made decent time. Pudding practically glided across the trail of slime it oozed.

Which presented a potential problem of its own, didn't it? No matter how far they traveled, it'd be for nothing if they left such an obvious trail.

Mirage sighed heavily. "I told you to quit worrying, fool. Shall I make it an order?"

"If the villagers decide to pursue us, we'll have no means of fighting back," Victor said. "So I think a little caution is appropriate."

Biting his lip, he fought the urge to feel at the crystal in the pouch by his side. Touching it would make no difference. That giant crack wouldn't go away, and its weakly pulsing Levia wouldn't become any stronger.

It had been a long time since the armor's Levia had felt so faint. Which almost relieved Victor, in a way; he hadn't realized how much easier he could breathe without its hungry, grasping power constantly smothering him.

'Don't be a fool,' he admonished himself. He wouldn't be breathing so easily if they got attacked by vengeful villagers.

An elbow between the ribs knocked him out of his thoughts. Looking up, he met Mirage's annoyed scowl. "You really are an idiot. That was a powerful illusion – it won't wear off until at least evening. And by then, we'll be long out of this canyon. So I command you to stop staring around like a spooked horse."

He rolled his eyes before turning back around and snapping Pudding's reins. The leema obliged by oozing more slime, speeding up its pace.

Well, he'd been given an order. Reluctantly, Victor tore his eyes from the canyon behind them. If worse came to worse, he supposed they could always hide using Mirage's invisibility.

When the scent of roses drifted through their contract, Victor stiffened. He stared, half-disbelieving, as Mirage snapped his fingers and the practical leather and woolen clothes he'd gotten from the village melted away and reformed into an elaborate Victorian suit complete with a frilly scarlet cravat.

"Um." Victor blinked. "Captain?"

"Ah, that's better." Mirage tossed his head, loose locks fluttering over his shoulder. Even his hair had become a little longer and shinier. "I feel much more like myself now."

"Are you...are you certain, Captain?" Victor kept blinking, but the illusion didn't go away. "Using your Levia like that…."

"Who do you think I am?" Mirage snapped, drawing himself up haughtily. "Such a basic illusion is as easy as blinking. If I must wear such unfashionable rags, at the very least I shouldn't have to look it."

"But you already cast that illusion on the rocks," Victor still insisted on protesting. Why he bothered, he had no idea.

Sure enough, for his efforts all he got was a knock on the shoulder. "You really think that's enough to drain me dry? Besides, we're on Tielos. Surely you should be able to feel it too – the resonance."

Victor could indeed. His Levia thrummed almost as loud as his heartbeat, so close to his reach he thought it might come spilling out if he wasn't careful. He'd even fed some to the armor crystal earlier, though he knew even his best efforts couldn't fix it completely. Yet afterwards he'd only felt a little bit drained, and his strength had returned to normal by now.

Perhaps being here wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Can't you try to relax even a little bit?" Mirage cast him a playful smirk. "What's it like being such a massive bore?"

"I couldn't say, Captain," Victor decided to answer honestly.

"Oh, you're no fun at all." To his alarm, Mirage tugged on his ear before snapping Pudding's reins again.

Victor stared at his captain's slender back, his heart beating hard – and not just because of Mirage's amusement bubbling through their contract. For the humiliating defeat they'd suffered, Mirage's spirits seemed higher than ever.

Perhaps it was because he had a plan. Steal a shard of the Star of Miriel from the Ziegler stronghold. Victor had never heard of these Zieglers before, so he supposed he'd have to trust Mirage's knowledge of them. Suspiciously detailed knowledge, at that.

Victor couldn't say for certain, but he had some inkling where that knowledge might come from. Though he knew next to nothing about Mirage's past, the demon had stated he'd been a slave at one point. Could the Zieglers be his former masters?

Well, Victor knew better than to ask. All he could do was what he'd always done – obey Mirage's orders and protect him as best he could.

~*~

Sure enough, by nightfall they made it out of the canyon. As the day went by, the canyon had grown steadily shallower until the walls were less than ten feet high. These Pudding easily scaled, squishing and squelching up the rocks with surprising agility.

Now they were gathered around a fire Victor had started using the flint they'd gotten at the village. Even huddled close to the fire with his back to Pudding, the icy breeze still bit through his cloak.

Mirage didn't seem to care, though. He slouched on the ground with one leg extended, still in his fancy illusioned outfit, golden eyes glittering in the firelight. Victor couldn't recall ever seeing him so relaxed, so in his element.

It was a beautiful night, Victor supposed. With no light pollution, the stars in the sky sparkled like jewels on a black canvas. They'd made their camp atop a plateau that offered a breathtaking view of the mesas and valleys stretching toward the horizon, reminding Victor of the American Southwest.

No sign of pursuers, either. Maybe Victor should follow Mirage's lead and let himself relax.

Once again, his hand drifted toward the pouch with the armor crystal. By now, its Levia had become so faint he didn't even feel it unless he was touching the crystal directly.

"Hmm." Mirage noticed, of course, his eyes flicking toward Victor's hand. "I suppose our first order of business is to get that repaired."

"Repaired?" Victor sat straighter, his heart thumping.

"Of course." Mirage rested his cheek on the palm of his hand. "We're not going to get anything done if you can't fight."

"Is that possible?" Victor admittedly didn't understand all the intricacies of his armor, but he'd always had the impression it would be difficult, if not impossible, to fix by anyone but its original forger.

"It should be." Mirage tossed his hair. "I know of an extremely famous, one might even say legendary, weaponsmith who lives in this general area. I've never met her before, but she shouldn't be too difficult to find. Let's pay her a visit, shall we?"

"Yes, Captain," Victor said, but Mirage wasn't listening; he'd turned around and begun digging through Pudding's saddlebags in search of provisions, whistling a little tune all the while.

Seeing him like this rather nonplussed Victor, but perhaps he was a little bit impressed too. Somehow, he hadn't thought Mirage could be so resilient. Maybe Victor had just never given him enough credit.

Mirage hadn't risen to the rank of Infernal Legion captain for no reason. There was something to him worth following – otherwise Victor would never have stayed with him for so long. Even if he told himself it was only for Theo's sake….

"There we go." Mirage placed two packets in front of him. "Would you prefer the dried meat with the consistency closer to shoe leather, or the one closer to roofing material?"

Victor swallowed. Looking at Mirage, the warm firelight dancing across his pale face, a strange urge took hold in him. Before he could tell himself not to, Victor leaned forward and rested his hand on Mirage's shoulder.

Mirage blinked. "What are you – " But his voice cut off in a sharp gasp when Victor pressed their lips together.

The kiss was brief, just enough for a tiny spark of Levia to pass between them. When Victor pulled away, the brilliant flush in Mirage's cheeks made his heart beat even faster. He hadn't even known the demon's skin could turn so red.

"Some Levia," Victor said solemnly. "Since I'm not using it for anything else right now."

Mirage blinked a few times, looking so caught off guard Victor almost wanted to smile. The next thing he knew, slender hands grabbed the front of his cloak and dragged him into a crushingly deep kiss that sent stars swirling through his vision.

It felt like an eternity before Mirage pulled away. Their ragged breathing, slightly out of sync, filled the silent night. Then a familiar impish smirk lifted Mirage's lips.

"If you're going to be like that," he said in a husky whisper, "then don't quit halfway, hm?"