Varian of the Northern Isles

Rescue

I winced as I ran. My feet hit the stone in dull thuds until the sound of Varian shouting for me was drowned out. I was far away from the madness, and didn't stop running until I reached our campsite. My breath came in ragged huffs and our horse raised its head and breathed what I could only assume was the horse equivalent of an eye roll. It got up and trotted around me. I walked over to Varian's multiple notes and machines laying together. I had to go back for him, I had to get him and Terrin out of there, and I had to get us all to safety. We needed to regroup and plan, but right now I needed to save them. I ran a count of all of the things at my disposal.
A horse.
Varian's Alchemy lab.
A knife.
There wasn't much for me to use. I knew next to nothing about alchemy and if I just ran in with a knife and horse, I would likely be overpowered. I reached over to Varian's notebooks. They were covered in Varian's writing, marking down notes and discoveries. I flipped through the pages as quickly as I could, my mind frantically searching for ideas. There! I had found the page I was looking for. It was the explosive capsules Varian had used to break me out of prison. My heart raced as I tried to recreate the chemical, mixing and pouring powders, until it was complete. When I was done, thirteen explosive capsules lay in front of me. I took a deep breath and saddled up our horse.
"I swear, you'll need a name by the time we're done," I muttered to it. The horse whined and I raised an eyebrow.
"Well I can't name you right now, I've got to go save my friend!" We galloped off and reached Gala in no time. Inside, I could hear the sounds of arguing. I could distinctly hear Terrin's voice, but I didn't know where Varian was. I lead the horse to a crumbling alley way and peeked into the pub's window. Varian was tied to a chair, just like Terrin, as the woman named Lady Caine slowly paced around them. I noticed, with more than a little satisfaction, her arm was bandaged and she moved gingerly to avoid brushing it against anything. Terrin and Varian were in the center of the room and surrounded. I needed to drop in, pick them up, and leave. I looked around thought the window for anything that could be used as a distraction. There was...there was... Nothing! I was out of options. I had dragged Varian into danger and now he could be hurt. I pressed my face up to the window again just as Lady Caine bent towards Varian.
     "How does it feel, kid? Being left behind in the dust?"
     Varian said nothing, but looked down at his feet.
     "And how about you? Terrin wasn't it?Acting as an undercover agent for a CHILD pretending to be a Queen. Did she ever contact you? Give you guidance?" she turned to Varian," I bet she promised you greatness, didn't she? It's what interests all of us, but what has she really given you?"
     Hot anger burned in my chest, but she was right. I unclenched my fist. What had I done to deserve to lead anyone? I was hardly more than I child, and had received little to no formal training of how to handle a queendom. I was to blame for all of this. I was-
My train of thought was interrupted as Lady Caine bent down to Terrin and stuck out her hand.
     "I'm offering a job for you and the kid. Abandon that child and follow me instead."
     NO!!! I could not lose them! I didn't know who this red haired bitch thought she was, but she would not take away my people. She would never touch my friends. I backed up and hurled two exploding capsules at the wall. The force of the chemical reaction blew the wall inwards scattering rocks and debris everywhere. I leapt onto the back of my horse and charged into the newly created chaos. I grabbed Terrin and cut his bonds. He climbed onto the back of the horse. I hopped off and he scouted up to grab the reins.
     "Varian?" I called out through the people," where are you?!"
     "Looking for your alchemist?" Lady Caine sauntered out from behind me, dragging an unconscious Varian behind her.
     "Varian!" I shouted and lunged for him only for him to be ripped away from me and I kicked to the floor. I coughed and stumbled to my feet. Before I knew it, my knife was in my hands and Lady Caine was circling me with a viscous gleam in her eye. Terrin had quelled most of the chaos and now the pub was deathly quiet. Many of the people were either knocked out or dead. I glanced at Terrin then back at Lady Caine. Just then, I got an idea.
     "Listen Lady, why don't we settle this like women?" I forced a grin that felt all to brave to spread across my face. I tried to mimick that same glittering madness in her eyes and force it into my own. My bluff worked a little to well. Caine hissed out a laugh and dropped Varian to the floor with a dull thud and squared her shoulders with mine. I slipped my knife back into its shieth as we paced. I needed to get Caine farther away from Varian.
     "Well, Little Queenie, What are you gonna do? You challenged me so come finish your promise!" she mocked and in that moment I itched to drive my knife hilt deep into her chest.
     "TERRIN!!! NOW!!!" I shouted. Terrin seemed to appear out of no where and grabbed Varian from the floor. He easily hoisted me with a we dodged the raging Lady Caine. I held onto Varian's body just as he began to wake up.
     "Hypatia?" he muttered rubbing his head,"What happened?"
     "I'll explain in a moment, but first we need to get to safety." 
     "GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE-" Lady Caine didn't finish her sentence as I hurled one of my explosive capsules into the pub. (Hahaha... Yeet. OK I'll shut up now.)
     "Wait was that... You're using alchemy?! My alchemy?" Varian shouted over the sound of our hoof beats and the crash of the pub behind us.
     "I said that I believed in alchemy helping people, Varian." I turned my head slightly to see Varian staring at me.
     "You came back for me," he said quieter,"The woman back there said you had abandoned me, but you didn't ......By the way, How did you even get me back?"
     "Oh, it was a pretty clever scheme her Highness came up with," Terrin smirked,"She just needed Lady Cain to let go of you so I could sneak around and grab you guys."
"YEAH, BUT THE WAY I GOT HER TO LET GO OF HIM WAS TO CHALLENGE PROBABLY THE SCARIEST PERSON I'VE EVER MET TO A FIGHT!!"
"Well it worked didn't it?" Terrin replied as he sharply veered the horse into the woods.
"Y-yeah I guess so," we stopped when we were sure no one was chasing us and I directed Terrin back to our campsite.