It seemed that the Elf was already prepared to follow him out to the caverns despite the little indication she really wanted nothing to do with him unless it benefitted her. It was a pity in Icarus' mind. The pair seemed to have impressive chemistry when it came to their natural competitiveness and abilities that seemed to complement one another. Something in her was different, something that made her unwilling to trust others.
Icarus was similar in that respect. He rarely chose to trust anyone and refused to care too deeply when it came to them due to his own personal experiences that gave him great reason to refrain from offering his heart to others. Too many of those he held dear had died untimely deaths and the only survivors among those he truly did love were his master Cain and his son, whom he hadn't even named before giving him to nobles in the northern kingdoms. Every fiber of his being felt his life essence, though, and he knew his son was growing, gentle as his father hoped he could be in an era of peace.
"Yeah, I suppose you can follow me for a bit. Just try not to kill me and we can keep it the same as last time. We work together and split the bounty, everyone goes home happy," he said, giving a nice warning concerning her predilection toward betraying him.
When she asked about his findings, he had no inclination to tell her at first, only shrugging his shoulders in defeat, but he kept the patterns and formulae in the back of his mind where he held most of the information he had acquired over the years. Icarus didn't know when, but he had the suspicious feeling that when their objective seemed close at hand, Rixxan would make her move and betray him once more. He would remain vigilant when that time came and if it came to it, flay the flesh straight from her bone so she would remember to never cross him again. A dagger to the back was something he definitely didn't want, but he would make do with the situation.
Together, the pair wandered into the desert outside the gates of town, beginning the trek to the caves that the resistance group had chosen to make their fortress. The walk was a few miles and after the second hour, Icarus found it in the distance, the blaring heat of the sun beating down on both their bodies from overhead. It was perhaps only another hour before the darkness in the cliff wall that marked the cavern was directly before them and a cool breeze fought against the nearly intolerable heat.
Walking ahead of Rixxan, Icarus passed a few natural structures and a wash of light flooding the interior from above in the first chamber. He tuned his senses to pull in as much sound and visual movement as possible from in front of them, neglecting his back to the Elf that had previously made life rather difficult for him. Mistakenly, he had trusted her enough to the extent he hadn't expected her to betay him now and didn't notice she had allowed a great bit of distance to open between them. Kneeling down for a moment, he looked into a deep crevice that sank deep into the earth below them, blackness lining the area.
Icarus heard his name called and instinctively knew he had already committed his fatal error. Before he could even react, rocks and boulders were rolling toward him, prompting his descent into the abyss below, although he seemed stuck and unable to right himself or fall downward. Trapping his leg with a set of boulders was perhaps the best thing that could happen to him because he didn't know how deep the pit was nor what lay at the bottom of it. It may very well have saved his life despite being extraordinarily unfortunate at the same time.
He remained inverted, dangling precariously over the pit. I'm going to beat her within an inch of her life. Between a rock and a hard place, how screwed up is this? he thought to himself, trying to secure a means to free himself to no avail. If there were any sentries in the area, he would be in a very difficult position and the Elf was likely going to have to fight her way out if she were lucky enough to get the chance. That is, before he came back for her. He would ensure she suffered for this. Nothing in the cavern indicated a collapse was even possible, meaning she had worked her magic to orchestrate his possible demise once more.
There seemed no option for him as he struggled and he funneled through all the magic he had studied in his youth through his mind, coming up empty-handed. Thinking now of the words and markings he had seen on the page in the room, he recalled one that had several similarities to earth based animation magics. Focusing his mind, he took in the rocks above him and channeled his thoughts and the spell directly into them. Suddenly, they began shaking, as though vibrating from his magic.
Seeming to squeak as though alive, the rocks that held him up began to retreat away from the pit, still clutching his leg and pulling him up. When at last able to clutch the edge of the abyss, he pulled himself up carefully and the rocks released him when he was fully over the edge. Rolling away from him, they continued to squeak and rolled away, releasing his sore ankle that fortunately enough was not broken. As he stood up, they fell over lifeless once more.
"Thanks, I guess. Wait, why am I thanking rocks? This day just gets weirder. I'm going to kill this bitch for making me lose my mind," he said to himself as he brushed himself off and continued down the path leading further after Rixxan.
His mind focused once more, Icarus could see the few guards present, dragging an unconscious or perhaps dead Elf with them. They moved further into the tunnels and he followed them, shadowing their movements and mentally mapping the area as he went. Eventually, he came to an outpost with guards present and was unable to go further as he saw nearly a dozen men standing in wait as the men proceeded with Rixxan in tow. His swords rested at his side, but he found no inclination to draw them, seeking to go without alerting them if possible. Leaving a massive body count of militant civilians that hadn't done more than steal an important artifact after being thoroughly disgruntled with near-slavery was not worth it in his mind.
Ducking into the shadows as the patrol returned, Icarus evaded their eyesight and lingered, hypothesizing the checkpoint ahead into the actual manmade structure that comprised the headquarters of this rogue organization. More men came out, seeming to expect additional people to come into the caves looking for the Tusk or perhaps the woman they had captured. Icarus wouldn't leave them disappointed, but perhaps he would leave them wondering what happened and how they had been made to look like fools.
Trailing along the wooden barricade, he moved out of view from the checkpoint and climbed the wall carefully, quietly rising over the top and coming face to face with a man that was already raising his weapon to strike him. His fist compacted quickly and found the man's jawline, fracturing it and sending him to the ground unconscious. Dragging the man, Icarus hid him in the darkness, out of sight from anyone that may happen to come upon the area. Taking the man's shirt and pants, he tore them into strips and bound his arms, legs, and gagged him before departing.
He didn't know where Rixxan was, but he honestly felt inclined to simply leave her wherever she was and take the Tusk for himself since the tide had turned in his favor and she had betrayed him once more. It would be a fitting demise for her if they chose to kill her but somehow, he felt unsatisfied by the fact he hadn't directly done something to even the score with her. He wasn't the petty sort, but she had crossed the line once more and it was now a long time coming.
Shrugging, he took to the darkness once more and snuck around the camp, working his way around dozens of others without being discovered by pure luck and skill alone. He eventually came to a hallway amidst the fortress that ended with what seemed to be a cell door, a pain in the ass Elf on the other side. Sitting on the ground, she didn't seem to notice him as he snuck upon the jailer sitting beside her cell until he slammed the man's face against the bars, knocking him out and taking his key.
"Fancy seeing you here. I should leave you after that. I expected you to do something but I also had enough hope to think I could trust you for one day. This is where we part ways, try not to kill anyone. They're pissed off farmers' kids, not pirates," he said as he turned from her, tossing the key back toward the cell and between the bars. He departed, heading off to find the Tusk in the darkness of the caverns.