[center][b]Renais:[/center][/b]

Part of her knew that what she was doing was wrong, that the people dying all around her were innocent and of no fault of their own. It didn't stop her in the slightest. Her teacher was right, fate could never place everyone in the convenient position they desired. Not everyone could be the paragon; the means offered had to be taken. 

Instinct and the will to survive take over and push empathy aside as the intensity of battle increases. Cecilia had killed before... but never had she been thrown headfirst into chaos like she was the moment her and her master warped into the throne room. To try and make sense of the bloodshed was pointless, so she didn't make the attempt. There was never Cecilia moved into position with her master behind a group of her so called 'cohorts', occasionally unleashing her magic into the crowds of Renais soldiers, but for the most part she focused on guarding her flanks and keeping herself alive. It was all about buying time.

She glanced over to her master, and was taken aback. He shaped and channeled magic with the grace and poise of a conductor commanding an orchestra. He kept up an offensive pressure by mixing light and dark magic, at one point even knocking a fully clad knight into the air with a concentrated beam of light. Cecilia had never seen her master fight before, and didn't even know if he had substantial experience in combat to begin with. It was clear that she still had much to learn when compared to her master, but that didn't mean she was dead weight by any means. She had plenty of talents and tricks of her own, what better way to prove it than on the battlefield. 

---

A soldier, sensing an opportunity and the slight shift in momentum, was able to break through the chaos and charge at her with spear point dead set on running her through. She spun away from his lunge, and drew upon the power of her tome to launch her counter attack. Tendrils of darkness radiated outwards along the radius of the magic circle she materialized in the air, traveling in every direction imaginable as they converged at a single point, where the soldier's heart happened to reside. In an instant, the man was stopped cold in his tracks, watching in silent horror the spectacle of his own blood erupting out of his mid-section. His spear clattered to the ground as his arms clutched at his chest in a vain attempt to stem the tide. He took two meek steps forward before collapsing to the ground. There was no healer who could help him now. Seconds later he died in a pool of his own blood, with one hand meekly grasping Cecilia's shoe. She kicked it aside and rushed to her master, sensing that her situation was on the verge of rapid deterioration. 

"We need to act now if we are to do anything", Cecilia gasped out as she launched another volley of her elshade at the soldiers of Renais. "I'm sure you can also sense that this battle cannot endure forever."

Valois nodded to indicate he knew the truth in her words. "It can't endure, but maybe it can hold out long enough for us to accomplish something that we might never get the chance to do again."

"And what", Cecilia inquired. "Would that something be?"