[IC] Children of Light and Darkness at War: Can Love Bloom on a Battle Field? (Still unsure of the title) (no longer active)

[Narcotic Dollie]

Naya’s head jerks up as Skellington is engulfed in blue flames, her eyes widened in horror as the poor creature’s jaw works in a pantomime of a scream. “Skelly!” She cries, dropping her grimoire and scrambling out of the salt ring to try and get to him.

This is exactly the opportunity the other skeleton soldier had been waiting for.

With a well placed kick the summon that had snuck around to the back of the salt ring takes her legs out from under her, sending the witch to the ground in an ungraceful heap. The brunette hisses and rolls, bringing her spear up to block the strike the other skeleton had aimed at her chest. She grunts, her arms straining to keep the sword at bay, but the summon is strong and Naya isn’t exactly at her best after so many consecutive spells. Her strength is waning and her eyes clamp shut, her features scrunching up as she braces for the blow.

It never comes.

The witch cracks open an eye to see Skellington, the flames of its eyes burning hot pink as it viciously and systematically tears the other skeleton limb from limb, the sigil for true love still written in messy crimson on its right temple. “Oh thank darkness,” Naya breathes, smiling up at the skeleton as he lumbers back towards her. “I’d thought for sur--”

Quick as lightening Skellington’s flames shift back to that hateful blue again and it drops to its knees over her, it’s skeletal hand gripping her neck in a near death grip. “Sk-S-Skelling--,” Naya gasps out, clawing at the undead creature’s hand to try and get a breath in. Its grip only tightens, and slowly it draws its sword, dragging the sharp edge of the blade over her torso, cutting through her shirt and leaving a deep gash all the way from her ribs to her hip bone. Naya tries to scream, but it only comes out as a desperate gasping noise.

Then Skellington’s flames flash back to pink and it drops the sword instantly, it’s teeth clattering together in a worried noise. Naya gasps when the skeleton finally lets go of her neck, quivering hands reaching down to cover the ugly slash on her belly. It pats her hair delicately and the witch knows that it isn’t possible, but the skeleton looks almost remorseful. “I-it’s okay,” she reassures the best she can, reaching up and laying an affectionate hand on the summon’s cheek. “I know you didn’t want to.”

Skellington pauses for a moment before bringing its hand to its eye socket, shoving three of its fingers into the pink flame. “Skelly? What are you--Oh Gods, please don’t--!!”

The sigil for divine union was completely burned off earlier, so Skellington has become sentient enough to completely disregard her orders and it begins to run the searing bones of its fingers down the gash on her stomach, gradually and deliberately cauterizing the wound.

This time, Naya really does scream.

When it’s finished Skellington is running its other hand over her cheek gingerly, it’s teeth chattering away in concern. Then its eyes flash blue again and it goes to try and choke her again, but the skeleton shakes it’s head and stumbles back, the flames burning pink once again. Naya can’t trust it not to hurt her anymore, and Skellington knows it.

Skellington comes back to the witch and leans down, nuzzling her nose with where it's used to be in yet another parody of an eskimo kiss. Naya can only watch in dismay as the summon then begins to dismantle itself, ripping itself apart bone by bone. It’s flames flash blue, then pink once more, before fading away completely.

Naya’s eyes are hot as she sits up and gathers the skull up, thumb brushing over the bloodied rune on its temple. It had just been a simple summon, nothing to get so worked up over, yet even so the witch can’t stop the tears that spring forth. “I’m sorry, Skellington,” she says, placing a final kiss on the skull’s forehead before carrying it over to her satchel and stuffing it inside.

[Lord Zee]

What a fool he was! Not a moment had passed after the lightning shot at the wraith, before Lucius realized the prince was coming right at him. Those damn wings propelled him at great speeds and with a sword already raised, Lucius had to react quickly. The wizard barely had time to side step the attack, and in the process the sword gave him a nasty cut across his right cheek as he toppled over.

Lucius grimaced in pain as he sat up, his breathing became rigid as dark blood ran down his face, dropping from his chin onto his clothes and the ground. He absolutely hated blood stains, this outfit would now be ruined because of the demon!

Sir Lucius got to his feet quickly and jumped back in an attempt to get more room, using both hands while still gripping his staff, a larger ball of lightning began to form. It quickly reached the size of a large pumpkin and then Lucius sent it at the prince. If it hit him, he would receive a very nasty shock and be overloaded to death. If it hit the ground then it would explode, sending rippling electricity waves across a small area for a short period of time.

Adrenaline was pumping through his veins and the cut on his cheek was seemingly ignored, for now.

[Cuccoruler]

@ace of flames01@sarcelle Renard@Lord Zee
Mozu watched on as the battle continued to rage on. It was then though that she saw Lucius again. He was back, probably because he cared about Mozu! Oh Mozu was so happy to see him again, her tail was wagging. "I wanna help! Let me help!" Mozu said bouncing around. At this point though she noticed the demon prince going right after Lucius. Mozu started to growl at this then started to bark like mad in hopes of distracting the demon prince. Though as she was barking she still stood infront of Octavia. Her barking may even be loud enough to wake up the princess

@Slendy
Rida gave a smirk at the reaper when he said he would show her around. She certainly couldn't let this chance go by. Not only could she increase the accuracy of her map, she would have a chance to kill this dark worlder without attracting attention from the surrounding area. "That would be wonderful to go look at the area. Please lead the way sir." Rida said with a smirk. As she did so a small bit of light appeared within her hand before disappearing. She would certainly make sure to make use of this man.

[Karos]

@SouffleGirl123@RiverMaiden@Lord Zee

Livia half blinded barrelled through the fairy's attack. She slashed with her blade catching one of the creatures legs and clipping a wing, missing her intended targets as she was blown of course somewhat by the sudden blast of light.

(River the attack isn't physical, instead it'll damage the soul so you can physically recover and the limbs are still there, but your magic and use of those limbs will be impeded at least without medical help)

Livia kept moving however following through the momentum of her attack. Then she felt it. One of the spirits she commanded shattered, she jolted as the connection broke, and then she was struck by a bolt of lightning. Livia slammed into the ground, or the closest thing she could do to slamming into the ground her ethereal nature preventing an actual impact. As she was blasted aside by the attack however her focus slipped. Then… nothing, she didn't feel the other two souls slip through her fingers… she didn't feel them at all. It swiftly dawned on her that they were already dead.

Livia swirled, a vortex of dark robes and smoke, blade still in hand. Her thoughts raced, now her blood was truly up. 'Til this point she'd been enjoying the sport the warriors of the light had offered her, but now, this, this was a real fight. She appraised the figure that had entered the clearing resuming her tactics of dodging around the clearing as she did so, making the most of her manoeuvrability to secure an advantage over the newcomer.

A human by the looks of him relatively well built, clearly he was a powerful mage. That could prove problematic, whilst Livia could ignore mundane weapons and attacks with impunity, magic could still prove a problem. She assessed her situation trying to find a solution. She ran through the options in her head, she needed to re-secure the princess, deal with the newcomer and finish off the damn fairy. In her current state it was unlikely she could just fight her way through to achieve all of those objective so she'd have to think of something else.

Then the prince barrelled towards the new figure, Livia swiftly eliminated that variable. She didn't know much about the prince but she knew he could handle himself. Livia thought it was time to truly push things in their favour, she remembered what she'd read in the old books. Why the warriors had been buried here, she smiled. With the Fairy basically out of the fight and more concerned with the unconscious princess, Livia began to utter ancient words and focussed her magic once more.

[RiverMaiden]

Aurora started to fall to the ground, losing control over her top left wing, and landing a little distance away from Aurora, eyes wide in disbelief. She couldn't believe it. Her stupid, desperate, last-ditch-effort plan worked. She survived. As she tried to stand up, she noticed that her left leg wouldn't respond to her commands. Testing the rest of her body, she found that the wing she lost control of wasn't working either. Great. So her plan didn't work quite as planned.

She started to stand up, her main right wing and two sub wings buzzing with their movement while posting herself on her one working leg in order to keep her balance. Aurora takes a single moment to see the situation, noticing the wraith focus on some magic incantation. A crackle of Lightning startled the faerie, and gave notice to a wizard who had burst onto the scene at some point or another. Her eyes dart between the wraith and the wizard, coming up with an idea. Cupping her one working hand around her mouth, she shouted a command at the human "STOP THE WRAITH!", Aurora cried out, hopping towards Octavia while the wraith was distracted, wings supporting her the whole time.

Reaching the angel, she notices a small, female dog taking watch next to the redhead. "Good girl.", the faerie praised the dog, rubbing the animal on it's head and scratching it behind the ear. In a feat of Herculean strength, Aurora picks up Octavia with one hand and slings the angel over her left shoulder, her single leg nearly buckling from the weight and her three functional wings beating even faster. Holy shit, this girl was heavy.

She takes a moment to steady herself, getting a feel for the redhead's weight. She really hoped her adrenaline didn't get shot to hell before she passed over the border, or else her death was almost guaranteed. The faerie half-hovered, half-hopped, away from the scene, hoping the random wizard could keep the two Children of Darkness at bay.
@Lord Zee@Karos@Cuccoruler@Sarcelle Renard@Ace of Flames01

[ArenaSnow]

Caezel hanged back in the fight, but decided it would be smarter not to engage when blades were flying. He half-expected the fairy to turn back and engage him at any point - there were certainly opportunities - but they were not taken. Good thing for ole' basilCaezel.

Perhaps the best opportunity came when the fairy tried to leave, slinging the angel over her shoulder. A hand less, reduced balance, and spent magic. Caezel didn't take to being chased well, and if he got lucky he could at least get the fairy for himself, even though the prospects of getting away with the angel were slim. Of course, it wasn't a matter of luck... but skill and timing.

Caezel went back around the combat, careful to stay out of view of both the light and the dark warriors, and came up behind the oblivious fairy. The wings would be an annoyance, but if he knocked the fairy down...

With that in mind, he sent his foot into the fairy's back upon her coming down and raised his blade with the intent to drive the wing into the ground.

[color=grey](Come now, there's nothing wrong with attacking a fairy from behind...)[/color]

[Sarcelle Renard]

The prince used the momentum from his swing to pivot himself so that his feet connected with the tree behind the mage. The impact was jarring and almost made his legs buckle, not to mention his vision went dark for a scary second. It was at that precise moment that he realized that if he stopped moving, even for the briefest of moments, he would be finished. Thus, he realized that ending this in the next instant was his best chance at surviving.

Using his legs to propel himself off of the tree, Asher shot at the mage once more. In his pitiful state, the prince almost didn’t realize that the mage had already fired off another bolt of electricity before it was too late. He was just barely able to veer out of its way, but the lightning still managed to graze his rib cage. A ragged gasp escaped him and his grip on his sword became precarious. Very little coherent thought was running through his head, as it was taking every ounce of willpower and stubbornness he had just to keep his eyes open.

Almost instinctively, the prince lashed out with Balmung as he passed the mage, aiming roughly at his midsection, before he more or less crashed into the ground. On impact, Asher skidded along the ground for a few feet on his knees and elbows, finally losing his grip on the sword in the process. His breath came out in pained gasps as he covered the mage’s souvenir with his good hand while the one that had held Balmung was little more than blisters and burns. And the worst part was that he wasn’t even sure if his sword had connected with his target yet.

This is bad. Real bad. Asher tried desperately to get up from his kneeling position, but his body just wasn’t responding to him and his vision was slowly fading. Come on! Move!

[RiverMaiden]

Aurora staggered toward the boarder, her weight upon her shoulder slowing her down immensely as three of her wings beat strongly to keep her upright. Her senses were hyperactive, waiting for the moment that the wraith would come flying out of the shadows. As she limped through the forest, the faerie pondered over her continued existence. She should be dead right now, slowly dying from the inside as the wraith's blade did it's work. The only thing that had saved her life was a quickly cobbled together plan that would have failed, had the wizard not come in to save their asses.

A rustle of grass behind her alerted her to a presence, but it wasn't the wraith. Phantoms couldn't touch the world, so who-

As she turned to see who it was, a well placed kick caught her in the side, causing the brunette to lose the air in her lungs and drop the princess onto the ground next to her. Falling to the ground onto her back, Aurora watched a blade sink itself into her working main wing, keeping a scream from releasing itself from her mouth as followed the source of the weapon to see the vampire from before. 'Basil'. A grin appeared on her face, despite the advantage the aged vampire had gained from the current arrangement. Basil might see her as an easy target, a wing unable to move and leg as limp as a worm, but he had forgotten one thing.

She still had arms that worked as well as any other, and a skull that was as hard as any other.

She quickly grabs the wrist of hand that held the blade with her right hand, keeping the elbow near the man's chest for the most leverage, as well as wrapping her remaining leg around his waist, pulling him to the ground from his waist, and keeping the vampire close and unable to move away from her. Her left hand grabbed the back of the vampire's head, the arm resting on the man's shoulder to chop into his neck should her try to pull away. This was all done in a singular, smooth motion, as if she had done this hold many times before. She was very sure that she was stronger than the aged being, and had a much greater leverage from the ground than Basil did from his knees. "Hi, Basil~" Aurora greeted the vampire that just wounded her, the grip on his wrist tightening enough that a few popping sounds echoed through the air. "Didn't anyone tell you that it was a bad idea to try and jump a lady?" Her mouth widened to a cheshire-grin, the blue orbs within her head filled with madness. Before the vampire could reply, she smashed her forehead towards the vampire's nose, certain to injure, if not break the appendage. She doesn't let go, however, keeping her grip on him as firm as ever, and waited for Basil to speak up for his actions after recovering from the blow.
@ArenaSnow

[Lord Zee]

Lucius gasped aloud as the prince zoomed past him. Then he felt it. Pain, even more so then the cut upon his cheek. Lucius looked down to see where the blade had cut him deep upon his right side, just below his ribs. The gash was around seven inches in length and perhaps two inches wide, all the while it gushed blood. Great, now his outfit was truly ruined and all thanks to the prince, who he now turned to look at, while clutching his bleeding side. He would be down and out due to blood loss soon, unless...

Before he had time to react, the lightning bomb, as Lucius liked to call it, made contact with the tree that the prince had just propelled himself from. The resulting explosion was deafening and it completely destroyed the tree and set the others around it ablaze. The draft also made Lucius's hair cover his face. He pushed his hair back and glanced back at his work. How pretty.

Lucius was going to hate this but it was the only way to stop the bleeding as he looked at his grotesque wound. A small fire burned in his free hand, with it he counted to three, then touched the wound. He choked back tears as he screamed out loud. Anger quickly replaced half of his pain as he looked at those hideous wings. It was his fault for all of this, and now he would pay!

Lucius walked over to the prince, on his way the gently picked up demon's blade and grasped it in his free hand. Dark thoughts washed over him, but he could not tell if it was the blade, or himself. It truly was a lovely blade but one that horrified him more then anything. Upon the steel was his blood, his oh so noble blood. But upon this night, it would feast upon another's.

He was in front of the prince now, and he kicked him over so he would be belly up. Then Lucius stood over him with the blade in his hand, pointed down at his heart.

"Good riddance, filth."

[Narcotic Dollie]

Naya's got all her belongings and is getting the hell out of this thicket. She came here this morning for burdock for darkness sake, not to be drug into the middle of some kind of royal conflict! The witch is stomping back towards Minora, everyone else blessedly too preoccupied with other things to pay her much mind, when she catches sight of Prince Asher.

He's not fairing well by the look of him and a human man has him pinned down, the demon’s own sword poised and ready to end the young royal’s life. Naya freezes, torn on what course of action she should take. She’s fairly handy with a blade, but she's a witch, not a warrior, and this man must be seasoned in battle if he was able to take the prince down. She wants to keep walking and let the cards fall where they may, but in the end Naya can’t do it.

Damn her morals.

“That’s enough, man beast,” Naya murmurs as she slips up behind him, digging her dagger into the small of his back. “Be a dear and drop the sword now, don’t make me use this,” Naya orders, bringing a bottle of an ominous bubbling liquid around front and shaking it to where the man could see it.

It was actually a brew meant to replenish magical energy, but the lithe brunette woman hoped he wouldn't call her bluff. “Hurry, be quick about it!”

@Lord Zee@Sarcelle Renard

[Ace of flames01]

@Lord Zee@Sarcelle Renard@RiverMaiden

The sound of the bomb awoke Octavia with a surprised jolt. She looked around dazed for a moment, then to her horror, saw Lucius about to kill the young demon. She didn't have much time. She quickly turned to the faerie and covered her eyes with one hand, and with the other came a flash of light, stunning the vampire behind her. A wave of fatigue washed over her, but she did not dare stop.

With the vampire disabled, Octavia left the him to the faerie, confident that she could take care of him herself. Octavia, tripping over her own feet, ran over to the demon and Lucius as quickly as she could. "No, Sir Lucius! Don't kill him!" She screamed as collapsed onto her hands and knees, ontop of the demon. She looked up at Lucius, her eyes filled with tears, fatigue, pleading, and desperation. "Please! Don't kill him! He saved my life! After I fell, he found me and took me to a witch so I could be healed! I kept thrashing about, so the wraith conjured up a skeleton to restrain me and they could heal me! They did nothing wrong! So Sir Lucius, please no more!" She lied, but she lied well. She continued to sob as she pleaded for Lucius to not kill the demon, and used her own body as a sheild. "Please... No more... No more...!"

[Polaris North]

@ArenaSnow@RiverMaiden

Hale was wondering what all the commotion was about. She lived near the border and no one was capable of going to her to deliver information. After all, the elf didn't really like anyone going to her house without advance notice. As a traitor of both sides, apparently, she had to be on full alert all the time. She had decided to go to Minora when she saw a bunch of Dark Legionaries. Wait, what were they doing here. Hale covered up her ears with her hood and then began to talk with them. Apparently, they did a number on the castle grounds but they were asked to stand by. She thanked them for answering her question and fled into the forest.

She began to climb up one of the trees and use that as a means to travel. One hand was firmly on her bow while her staff was strapped behind her back. She jumped from one branch to another, sometimes swinging on the vines like some sort of jungle boy. She actually fought the childish urge to do a certain jungle man's trademark howl whenever swinging. Although he did hear voices followed by what seems to be bashing. She settled on one of the branches, near Caezel and Aurora.

The two seemed to be fighting and the Child of Fae seemed to be more injured. It was like a royal rumble between the two. Honestly, Hale wanted to intervene now and heal both sides but that won't do anything. She took out her staff and then aimed a lightning bolt, just enough to temporary paralyze the vampire, at Caezel. True, she didn't take any sides in the war but it seems the fairie was struggling against the vampire, even if she did manage to score a hit against the vampire. Hopefully, the attack would connect to avoid further harm that would happen. Hopefully.

---

He had his orders to stay in border town and yet here he was, hurrying over to the forest. The prince was taking too long in there. Uriel was more than sure that he was in trouble somehow. He wasn't sure what was happening but he didn't need an entire legion for this. He didn't even take his two most trusted legionaries. He blindly went into the forest and trusted his gut in it. Oh if only he had wings... he stopped thinking about it once the fear of flying came back to him. Soon he heard fighting and fighting meant that someone was there.

He reached the edge of the clearing and saw it all clearly. A wraith was there, and an unknown witch that seemed familiar, the human mage from before, a mutt, and the prince was there. And the Children of Darkness seemed more exhausted than the lone Child of Light. Now, that was odd. But there was no time to think about that. From what he could see, Asher was hurt and he seemed about ready to pass out. Wait, where was the angel? Ah, forget about that.

He did the first thing that came to mind. He extended his hand towards Lucius. Dark tendrils started to wrap around his hands and he prepared to shoot it out when suddenly, the witch attacked Lucius and then began to threaten him. Quite brave for a witch. Then suddenly, the princess came and practically begged Lucius to spare Asher's life. This act greatly confused the general but then she gave off a reason. Hm... to think the Prince would do something like that. Well then, that was a surprise.

But to further help the witch, spears formed from the darkness and shot forward, stopping mere centimetres away from the human mage. If he didn't follow Naya's orders, he might get impaled. After all, one wrong move and his flesh would meet the dark spears positioned in front of him.

[Slendy]

@Cuccoruler

Don nodded and led the way into a more darker and denser part of the woods. Of course he went down a path he's a bit familiar with in order to avoid getting lost himself. "Be careful there's a few rumors going around about a creature out here that likes to kill people within these woods..." Don said knowing the creature he was talking about was himself. He brushed his hands against near by trees to put on a show. Don could see in the dark with ease but he had to play the part of a human perfectly so when he does plan to kill the fairy she doesn't expect him to be a challenge that way killing her would be a bit easier. As he continued down the path he'd occasionally looked back in he fairies direction.

[ArenaSnow]

Damn fairies went through Caezel's head when he was pulled down with the fairy.

The phrase was repeated out loud when his nose was cracked. While he wasn't as sensitive to pain as some would be, he did release a few ungodly obscenities.

"It seemed fair enough to me," he muttered in response to the annoying fairy's question after hearing and feeling his hand pop. It wasn't altogether strange for it to do so in all honestly, though it didn't quite feel good in this case.

He noticed through her move to pull him down, a hand remained. He reached down into his pouch-

-And was blown right off the fairy by direct impact of a lightning bolt, sent a few meters away and rendered completely disoriented, hair beginning to resemble the rest of his appearance.

[Karos]

@Ace of flames01@Narcotic Dollie@Lord Zee@RiverMaiden

'AND YOU SHALL RISE ONCE MORE AND SERVE YOUR MASTERS!' cried Livia hands raised. So focussed had she been on her summoning she hadn't noticed the going on in the clearing. She took everything in with a glance and decided that the time was now.

'Al'Hazred you are summoned, arise the winds of the damned, scour this earth clean and deliver he who was entombed! Rend with claw and fang thy ancient foes, and feed your hunger unknowing' called out Livia's chorus of whispering voices, as she finished she began to cackle maniacally and a terrible wind picked up seemingly from nowhere and began to swirl about the clearing.

Leaf litter, broken wood, dirt, rocks and more besides were scattered by the powerful winds. Dust filled the clearing and a dreadful moaning began. Livia smiled the guardians were calling out, she heard them, she was probably one of the few who could understand them. She paid them no heed.

The gale picked up buffeting all in the clearing with a hale of grit and other small missiles that been sucked up into the tempest. Then in the centre, at first it seemed small a black square hewn from ancient stone. It seemed to be criss crossed with ancient symbols in any number of languages. Livia recognised most of them, but even she didn't know them all. The symbols started to glow as the wind grew faster and stronger, scouring more and more of the dirt away. As the wind buffeted against the square it began to reveal that in fact the thing was a great cube. A lip seemed to run around the top suggesting that it could be opened in some way.

Nostalgia hit Livia like a kick to the gut, she recognised the cube, but with a life as long as her's it was hard to remember everything. The memories came flooding back, a small girl was led by the hand through an ancient forest. Soldiers stood around her carrying torches and her mummy and daddy led the procession with a man bound in chains standing between them. Then the little girl was crying, she was hugging the man in chains, he looked down at her and ruffled her hair before she was pulled away from him. Then the girl was leaving, she'd ran out of tears by this point, but she looked back one last time at the large black cube, one last time… until now.

Livia floated towards the cube and brushed her ghostly hand against it and the box shook. Suddenly there was a bestial roar and the top of the box cracked, dust plumed up from inside, another roar and the top of the box cracked completely large fragments of obsidian being sent flying in all directions. One shot through Livia before imbedding itself in the ground a distance behind her. Then a decayed claw bound in leathery flesh grasped the top of the box, a bestial head followed, huge and misshapen, it resembled that of a bat but its proportions were colossal. The creature pulled itself free of it's prison, and walked to face Livia.

The creature walked on two short stumpy legs and then on a pair of ginormous wings each of which ended in long claws like a bat. The creature was at least 9ft tall was covered in rough patches of fur and rotting skin. It's entire frame seemed to be covered in muscle and these too seemed to be rotting. The creature eyed Livia for a moment before letting out a horrendous blood curdling screech full in her face before swatting at Livia with tremendous force. The blow passed straight through her before crashing into the ground cutting a deep furrow several meters long underneath where she was floating.

'Now now' said Livia to the creature, placing one ghostly hand on its cheek 'Is that anyway for you to say hello to your sister?' The creature snarled but then bowed its head bringing it down to Livia's height and peering directly into her hood. 'Better' cackled the wraith maniacally, 'I suspect you're hungry after all that time spent cooped up in there hmm?' The words didn't seem to mesh well with Livia's whispering chorus, but it simply served to make them sound all the more sinister. 'Fortunately my dear brother' she continued 'Ive brought you a few morsels', the wraith extended a skeletal finger and pointed at the mage that was stood over the prince. 'He should do you nicely, hmm? Oh but don't eat the little one would you? In fact' she called out 'Naya, you might want to get out of my brother's way.'

(Just thought I'd include the picture of what this thing looks like again)

Livia's brother

[Sarcelle Renard]

Each step the mage took punctuated just how screwed Asher was. Fighting was no longer an option and he knew full well that he wasn’t going to be able to talk his way out of this one. The prince didn’t even have enough time to come up with the barest concept of a plan before he was kicked on to his back. With eyes straining to stay open, Asher looked at his soon-to-be killer, with dark hair and bright eyes gleaming with dark intent, wanting to at least see how his life would end.

”With my own sword?” the prince muttered weakly, too tired to laugh at the irony or even feel outraged at his situation. The mage raised Balmung and Asher made his peace with the sorry life he had led. In the end, he had failed both himself and his people, as the war would most likely turn even bloodier with his death. The ground was cold and inviting, a welcome relief from the burning sensation from the light magic coursing through him, and whispered soft promises about the peace that awaited him. Finally, Asher gave up the struggle to keep his eyes open and prepared for the inevitable.

But today he apparently couldn’t even die without being interrupted. A voice gave the mage a very pointed threat with an equally pointed dagger. It took him a moment, but Asher realized that his savior was Naya of all people. What the hell is she doing? he wondered, knowing full well that she had been given the perfect opportunity to escape. The last thing he wanted was for his own stupidity to drag her through even more misfortune than he already had. The children of darkness were not known for their selflessness, and honestly could not afford to lose one of the last decent folk they had left.

There was little time for regret though, as Asher felt somebody throw their body on him. The white wings gave away the fact that it was the angel that was shielding him, begging for his life, and lying to the mage. Not to mention she was also making it quite difficult to focus considering her current position put his face right next to breasts, which thanks to her torn clothes were partially on display. You’re about to die, now is definitely not the time to have your head in the gutter. Regardless though, the prince could not help but ask what could possibly possess the woman to go to such lengths to protect him, the one that had brought so much misery into her life. In fact, Asher was finding more and more questions he wanted to ask the strange creature, assuming of course he somehow managed to survive all of this.

[Lord Zee]

He was stopped, so close to his goal, by another voice. The other girl perhaps, but he could not turn around to see. Lucius hesitated, weighing his choices and knew he could take her. Regardless of whatever she had in the bottle. He was about to elbow in her in the face when Octavia brst into the clearing. He shouted, "Octavia... no!"

No no no! This was wrong, she was not supposed to come back, he couldn't save her like this! Then she did the unthinkable and shielded the demon.

His face went blank as he realized that she cared for this demon. Lucius was no fool, he knew there was more to her story and he also knew that the prince was behind this. It was the only logical explanation, no one else had the audacity to attack the capital. Octavia's words however, and the fact that he was being threatened, forced him to drop the sword. With a dagger ready to strike his back and a darkened spear at his front, Lucius could do nothing risk mortal injury.

He looked at Octavia with a hurt expression, so this is what they got? The children of light sacrificed much to save her, again no doubt and instead of being thanked, he was being told to stop. Here was a person he looked so highly towards, but no longer. As a future queen and as a princess, it was her duty to protect her people and instead of letting him end the threat, she was only prolonging it by returning. How could he stop that? Lucius was so shocked and confused, wrapped up in thoughts that he did not know what to do.

A roar snapped him back into reality and much to his horror, a revolting creature had arrived in the clearing. He saw the wraith point at him and the creature began to run forwards, great thuds echoing in the clearing. Lucius could do nothing, he realized. All of his exits were blocked and he looked back at Octavia one last time, his voice full of surprise, like he was just realizing something, "You killed me?"

Then the creature was upon him, with one massive swat of its right forearm, Lucius was sent flying into the trees. The force of the blow shattered most of his ribs and collapsed a lung. Then he hit a tree, breaking his left arm and dropped his staff. Finally his body fell and he broke his right leg upon impact with the ground. Fresh blood ran from his body, among the many new cuts he had received. The crimson blood was just a reminder that he was just a human and it also ruined his clothes for the final time.

If Lucius could scream he would have, but instead he was gasping for air as he lay on the cold forest floor, looking up into the trees. This was not supposed to happen today, he had barely been a knight for twenty four hours and he now was dying from a monster that he had never even seen before. It could have gone so different but it all went wrong when the angel shielded the demon.

His bright eyes wept silent tears as he waited for oblivion.

[Cuccoruler]

@Lord Zee@Karos@RiverMaiden

Mozu was happy to be petted and told that she was a good girl. She would never get tired of hearing that. She followed the fairy afterwards only to see the angel wake up and run to save a demon prince. Mozu was a bit confused at this. Though she didn't understand royals in the first place anyways.

This was also when Mozu saw the giant bat like creature. Her eyes went wide though when she saw it run and hit Lucius. Immediately Mozu ran between the bat like creature and Lucius. "NO MORE!" Mozu yelled out in a sort of bark. "He is mine! Let him go!" Mozu barked out inbetween growls. Mozu would not allow Lucius to fall, he was currently her favorite person and she would not let him die.

Mozu continued to growl at the creature, drool coming from her mouth as the fur on her back stood up on their ends, if she had to she would start fighting to protect Lucius. At this point all could tell that she was a werewolf, after all she was speaking despite being in the form of a dog.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

@Slendy
Rida continued to follow the man, as it got darker she realized that he may be taking her into a trap as well. It seems that he had the same idea after all. Rida soon enough rose her hand allowing a flash of light to come from her hand in order to stun the reaper. Rida then took the next chance to fly above him while he was stunned in order to attempt to stab him with her dagger which she had infused with light. She was aiming right for his head. Hopefully the effects of the dagger's light element would do more damage as due to her dagger being about the size of a finger it wouldn't do much damage.

[Narcotic Dollie]

The angel throws herself over the prince and tells her mage to stand down just as a shadow spear forms in front of the man. Naya lets out a ragged sigh, lessening the pressure she is applying to the dagger. “Thank you, friend,” the witch breathes, eyes shifting to follow the dark magic towards the newcomer that had entered the fray. She couldn't make out any of his features due to the heavy armor he wore, so there was no way she could make out his race for certain, but judging by the magic she'd say…demon? But where were his wings?

Curious.

“You’d best do as your lady bid you, man creature,” Naya huffs, turning her attention back to the child of light. “There doesn't need to be any more bloodshed this da--,” the witch stops when the ground begins to tremble, stumbling with the movement briefly before getting her footing back. “What…?”

When she sees it she can't breath for a second.

Oh no.

---

“What's this, mama?” A six year old Naya asks, flipping through an old tome and pointing at a sketch of a crude looking bear like monster.

“You know how to read, girl,” Elora Ashgrave chides, but there is a small smile on her face. “Go on, tell me what it says,” the older woman prompts, her nimble fingers braiding her daughter’s dark locks.

“Al--Al--Al’hapsted?”

“Al’Hazred, dear. Good try though, my little witch,” Elora chuckles, tying the ends of Naya’s hair with black ribbons before dropping a kiss onto the top of her head. “He was a Varghulf, a vampire whose hunger was said to be insatiable,” the blonde woman pauses, holding the little girl just a little tighter. “Your grandmother told me he was the one that devoured our coven.”

“Really!?” Naya gasps, turning around in her mother’s lap to stare up at her, the child’s eyes widened in a mixture of horror and awe.

“It was many years ago,” Elora explains, flicking Naya’s nose. “There’s no way to know for sure. But to be safe, if you ever see a Varghulf, you must run away very fast. Do you understand?”

“Yes mama,” the little girl nods seriously. “I'll be as quick as a fox!”

“That’s my girl. Now off to bed with you.”

---

Naya shakes her head to dismiss the memory, disgusted with herself when she realizes her entire body is trembling. “L-Light magic,” the witch says lowly, so soft that hopefully only the mage could hear. “Light magic or holy water is your best bet. Don't let him catch you, he’ll rip you to pieces.”

He doesn't answer, instead calling out, "You killed me?" Naya couldn't be sure since she couldn't see his face, but she could only assume he was speaking with his princess. The tone of his voice is almost heartbreaking, but the witch doesn't have much time to dwell on it because she's too busy diving out of the Varghulf’s way.

The witch rolls to her feet, jogging in the direction of Asher and the ginger woman. She's no stranger to blood and corpses, but she doesn't actually like to watch people get murdered. Still, there was nothing she could do for him, she had nothing left in her bag that could heal anyone’s physical wounds. “Prince. Little Dove,” Naya greets, wincing at the sound of the mage crashing into the forest floor. “This is for you,” she tells Asher, leaning down to press the dark green colored potion into his hand. “It’ll replenish your magic. It will also dull the pain of your injuries, but it won't heal them.”

@Karos@Polaris North@Ace of flames01@Lord Zee@Sarcelle Renard

[Karos]

@Polaris North@Lord Zee@Sarcelle Renard@Cuccoruler@Narcotic Dollie

Livia watched as her brother swiftly dispensed with the mage, swatting him into a nearby tree with ease. She laughs 'Very good brother dear, very good'.

Then she hears the dog talk… damn she thought damned wolfkin. With another thought she calls her brother back. At first the great beast seems to resist, wanting to finish its kill, longing to feed. Not just yet she thought to the beast, deal with the mongrel first then there'll be more to eat. The beast swung round at that, Livia smiled. Simple creatures Varghulfs, powerful, but simple. Offer them food, provide a strong will and they were rather obedient creatures really.

Al'Hazred turned and looked at the dog, the immense beast reared up on its hind legs revealing its muscular torso. It slammed its fore-limbs into the ground as it came back down and extended its neck towards the creature before letting out another bloodcurdling screech. As it did so the Varghulf drew back its right wing, raising the claw and pointing it so as to skewer the dog with a simple swift jab.

Livia left her brother to enjoy his sport, it'd been far to long since he'd killed she could tell. He was relishing his freedom, but the hunt, the hunt was now his only calling. As she scanned around Livia noticed Naya trying to heal Asher, the prince had taken quite a lot of punishment that was to be sure, much more than she'd expected. The dedication of the witch struck her as odd though, admirable but odd, she found herself coming to respect the little lamb just a little though. Then it hit her like a thunderbolt, the angel! The angel was atop Asher, Livia shot forward shifting past her brother as she did so, coming to a halt over the three figures.