Meanwhile, deep in the Glow wood.
Lucius Ruvin paced the halls of his ancient and decrepit castle. It had finally returned to the realm of man. He scoffed, even the Elders could not keep them out for long. Their thralls bred, and produced more blood to use as fuel for their magics. Eventually they had enough power to undo that which had been done all those centuries ago.
"Finally, we've returned." Count Ruvin looked out his window over the Glow wood.
"The Elders could not keep the power of our blood sorcery at bay forever, now we'll have our vengence.""What are your orders Mi'lord?" Victor, his cousin and most loyal knight bowed.
"Find the witches that have claimed our ancient castle." Victor nodded as he left the room.
"Ancestors, I'm coming home."]
-Laina & Genoveve-
After making sure there was nothing else Lorelai needed from the woods and a brief greetings to Vespa before leaving, Laina and Genoveve made their way to the Glow Wood. Honestly, it was one of Laina’s favorite spots in the area. The Flora and Fauna were quite…intriguing to say the least. So very useful in many experiments and…other things. Now that she had Genoveve with her, she could definitely get help with said experiments.
This ‘love’ thing was turning out to be quite useful, after a bit more of thought.
For now though, they needed to find this list of things for Lorelai. A simple task, which should be ended fairly simply as long as they didn’t get interrupted by anything. She was hoping it would be done with quickly, at least – mostly because she really was tired and she would like to return to her bed soon. She had a feeling tonight she would be able to get some proper rest.
For now though, she would focus on Genoveve and gathering these things to the best of her ability. The two of them spent the first part of their time in the forest finding some of the things Lady Lorelai needed. They weren’t too difficult to find, but soon Laina was feeling a bit tired, and she honestly would like a moment to rest. That lunch Lorelai had sent with them was sounding fairly good right about now.
“Genoveve,” She said to the girl, as they approached a rather pleasant spot in the wood.
“Perhaps now would be a good time to eat before we continue searching?”Genoveve loved the glow wood, partially because it was the only place the many spirits within her seemed content to let her be... except for Yeris of course,
"This is a perfect opportunity for us! We may be unable to kill Medusa alone, but with Lorelai and Laina we coul- "No! Medusa helped us after we killed mother! It's her who got us to meet Laina! Why would w-" For power ditz! This coven should be ours! We should lead these witches! It's us who should be the most powerful!"It was only in the fores where Genoveve has the fortitude to resist Yeris somewhat. Without the other spirits to help Yeris had difficulty overpowering the witches own spirit. She had to try much harder.
Her inner argument with her most powerful spirit was interrupted by her lover suggesting they picnic.
"But of course Laina! I'm certainly hungry!" as they sat down to eat though Yeris was warned of a presence... and shrouded the warning from Genoveve, who still felt... off. Refuse her will... the ditz was on her own for this.
Victor heard voices in the forest up ahead. The glow wood was an obscure place, very few people found themselves here who didn't know what they were looking for. He held out his hand to call his thralls to a halt before creeping ahead.
Sure enough he saw two witches, having a picnic. How cute, it was almost a shame he'd have to ruin their evening, almost. Signaling for his thralls to surround the unsuspecting witches he stepped out of the foilage that had been concealing him.
"I see two little witches enjoying a picnic...what coven are you from ladies?"
The picnic definitely had been enjoyable. She was hoping that it would continue to be pleasant…until something showed itself. She had taken a seat next to Genoveve, and had in fact been half asleep. However, Laina was immediately wary of the man that showed himself, though her emotionless expression didn’t betray her suspicions as she observed and asked his question. It would be rather impolite to not answer. Perhaps they could avoid a conflict here and then tell Lorelai about it if they were able to leave without a problem.
Greetings, Sir.” Laina replied, standing as she gave a curtsy to the stranger.
“Indeed, we are witches, of the Blood Rose Coven.” She finished her curtsy, standing before addressing the man with her own question. [/b]“To who do we owe the pleasure of meeting, sir?”[/b] Since he was here, it was most certain he definitely wasn’t a normal human. A hunter? She couldn’t be sure.
Still – just as a precaution, she alerted Saevire to a problem, an as their Contract demanded – he should be here as swift as his legs could carry him.
"The Bloodrose Coven huh?" He smiled malevolently
"All these years and still the same name."The forest around the two witches rustled as they were quickly surrounded by men and women who bore souless expressions. They carried various weapons, and were armored in leathers that bore a strange symbol of a raven in front of a full moon.
"Tell me, how many members do you have?" His voice took on a compelling timbre.
"Any witches of note?"Genoveve had been about to Naively respond,
"Well there's me, Laina, Lor-" Ditz... give me control. Now, before you get Laina killed~ What??!! NO! They can- and that was all the destabilization Yeris needed... the naive girl haf a strong will, but was emotional from years of careful manipulation and all the varied spirits in her hardly helped.
She had done this before, and was very good at making it discreet, and picked up only a mere moment where Genoveve had left off,
"And that's all... the coven has been shrinking for a long time... tell me brave knight." Yeris stood and walked over to the armored vampire,
"We could use string undead like yourself to protect us... two lonely, vulnerable witches alone in the woods... just waiting~" she trailed her finger down his armour, biting her lower lip,
"For some fool like you to let hid guard down."With that the vampires carefully placed thralls fell upon eachother, as as Yeris removed Genoveve’s ritual knife and plunged it into one of his eyes, hopping back and licking her lips.
Victor reeled in pain from the knife in his eye. He thought the witch had been trying to seduce him, this was certainly not the way to accomplish that.
"Fools, capture them, we need them."To his horror his thralls did not respond to his command, they were busy killing each other.
"Remember your master fools! Capture the witches now!" Victor screamed in the minds of his thralls.
That seemed to work, for the most part. Most of the thralls began to move towards the two witches ominiously. While some of them continued killing their compatriots. Victor bounded back into the woods. He wasn't sure how the witch had gained control of his thralls, but it was concerning.
He faded from sight. He might not be able to capture them, but he could at least follow them home.
Laina simply let out a tired sounding sigh from the turn of events. It wasn’t like she knew they were going to leave and not get into a fight after the other things appeared, but she had been hoping to take them out quickly and swiftly without any sort of damage. A small splash of blood form the vampire stained her white dress. Laina simply shot a small, somewhat actually irritated look over to Genoveve.
She’d get her to wash her dress later. For now, while they were distracted and fighting among themselves. It was the perfect time to use one of her spells why they were distracted, and she intended to end this swiftly as she could. She didn’t have anything else she could use as a sacrifice here, so she’d have to make do. She’d be fine.
Probably.
As the vampire attempted to regain control over his thralls, she began chanting in an otherworldly voice. It was an inhuman, but…oddly sweet sound, despite the guttural noises.
“Y’vulgtlagln grahof'nn hasg’h, ch’syha'h shogg shtunggli h'fhalma gh’chgi. Y’grah'n… Whatever the spell she was casting, seeming like it might take a bit. If Genoveve could keep them off of her, chances were she could wrap this up fairly quickly without getting either of them harmed much. Well, aside from the fact she was probably going to be quite out of it after this.
Victor's eyes widened as her heard the Old Tongue. It was old in his time, and held in as high a reguard as the Dragon's Tongue. Whatever spell the witch was conjuring would need to be stopped and quickly.
He set his crossbow to his shoulder, it was loaded with silver coated in lavender. He wasn't supposed to kill either of the witches, but this one was too much of a threat. He drew a bead on the white haired girl and as soon as she was in his sights he pulled the trigger. It barked with the same sound it always did.
The bolt however did not illicit the scream he had hoped. Instead it embedded itself in the full plate of a very large knight that had dashed in the way at the last moment. Throwing his crossbow to the ground with a snarl of frustration he darted forward past the new addition with alarming speed. His two short blades flashed in the moonlight on course for the witch's neck.
Though Yeris was in control Genoveve was still conscious inside of her body, and very huffy about Yeris suddenly taking over. It wasn't HER fault Yeris hadn't explained the vampires intentions and now Yeris was in control.
Yeris quite enjoyed casting spells, and she didn't do it often. She chanted an incantation and nearby thrall clawed its,own throat out in gory fashion as she laughed. She hardly even noticed the vampire dart towards Laina
"NO! NOT LAINA!!!", Suddenly Yeris,lost control as Genoveve forced herself back, throwing herself in front of the vampires blades, his bladed imbedding themselves in her upper arm and collar bone instead of her lovers neck.
Yeris cursed her inattentiveness, and attempted to rest control back from Genoveve. The result was... well the tall witch pulled herself off the blades, fell to her knees, and suffered a rather serious looking seizure. Her body was reacting to two souls attempting to control it... well that wasn't strictly correct.correct.
Genoveve’s destabilization in her 'soul' had leaked out in her panic to save Laina, and now other somewhat powerful spirits joined in, about 10 or so we're now entangled in the power struggle. Outside though? It appeared as though the tall girl was having a titanic seizure, in truth probably the worst since she was first possessed.
Everything was…well, going terribly. Laina, however, was too far into the verse now to quit. It would have worse repercussions than attempting to finish.
…Y’hafh'drn’nyth shugg, ng’athg mnahn'bthnk athg... She would have to thank Genoveve later for doing that. But as it stood, she couldn’t do anything other than finish this spell. Thankfully, Saevire would be enough to protect the both of them.
The black knight didn’t wait long to move as the vampire’s blade sank into Genoveve’s flesh. He turned, reaching for the vampire’s neck with his hand, and pulled him away from Laina and Genoveve. He slammed the vampire into the ground, putting himself between both of the witches.
He would not let the vampire past him again.
Victor flailed impotently at the knight's armor. It was getting clearer and clearer that he wouldn't be getting back at the two witches anytime soon.
"Warn the rest of your litte coven witches, House Ruvin comes to claim its ancestral home."With that he slunk back into the forest. A mental command ensured that his thralls would cover his escape. Thralls were plentiful, and while he was confident that neither of them possessed the ability to truly destroy him, he wasn't exactly eager to find out. Besides getting ground to pulp was painful, and his master would want his report sooner rather than later.
House…Ruvin? She would make a mental note for later, but for now…
Wgah'n mnahn'bthnk ng’goka throg’suggot, ghushak fm'latgh’n hasg’h, nog n’gha nilgh'ri ya!” Laina rose her hands towards the heavens as the spell finished, the power of the cosmos swirling overhead as starlight shimmered around them.
Five miniature stars winked into existence overhead, and fell towards the earth in front of her. The vampire thralls wouldn’t stand a chance most likely, and though it wasn’t likely to majorly harm Victor, she was certain there was no way he was going to escape unscathed either.
The stars fell, and brought their cosmic fury upon the thralls.
Outside very little changed about the tall red-headed girl, she spasmed and kicked on the ground, her violent seizure continuing. Within her though, a war ensued. The most powerful spirits within her body all vied for control, each one seeking power over the witches powerful body and control of the spirits.
Outside the seizure lasted as long as the rest of the fight and Laina's spell, within it seemed much longer. Eventually, the end result became obvious. Yeris ceded control back to Genoveve and helped her re contain the other 8 spirits, and then went quiet... Genoveve needed time to stabilize.
Slowly her seizure came to a stop and her vacant eyes seemed to fill... but she remained on the ground.
Thralls moved in to caputre or kill the two witches, one was vulnerable on the ground twitching, blood oozing from the wound Victor had left. The other called baleful stars into being that exploded amongst them flinging their broken bodies far and wide. The few that remained alive were soon cut down by the strange knight.
Victor cursed under his breath as he hobbled away from the battle, one of those damned stars had destroyed most of his right leg. He could feel it regrowing, slowly and painfully. Fortunately between the wound he'd left in the red head and the distraction of the thralls he was well away from the scene.
"Mi'lord will not be pleased."The spell finished, and Laina was certain they were no longer in immediate danger. That said, she was not feeling too well. The elder gods were fickle things, and though she had invoked their name and received a boon of destruction from them, she had to give a suitable price. In this instance, they had wanted her blood it seemed since she offered her own vessel as the sacrifice.
A careless mistake. Next time, she’d offer the souls of whoever she was fighting.
But for now, the small witch fell to the ground, exhausted. How much did they take? A pint? Two? They definitely took a lot. Her body felt weak, and if it wasn’t for Saevire coming to support her, she would have definitely passed out.
The large night sat her against a nearby tree, letting her rest for a bit. He then walked over to Genoveve, insuring that she was safe for the most part aside from that gash. The knight, then waited as silently as he normally did. He would not leave either of them without some form of protection.
Genoveve slowly came back into reality, the spirits calmed. Her left arm hurt... same with her collar. Shakily she pushed herself up. She grabbed at Saevire for support as she shakily walked over to Lsina, her voice was weak and quiet.
"L-Laina... we need to... go... back... I... we are all drained. Tell Sae-sa- your pet to... carry us... I'll point the way." that said she leaned heavily on Saevire, hoping he would pick the two up and follow her directions.
Laina, was mostly unresponsive. Suddenly just having a few pints of blood taken out of you, was not a pleasant feeling. The small witch could barely retain consciousness at this point, but she was able to instruct Saevire to bring them back to the castle. He wouldn’t need directions. He wasn’t a completely mindless beast, as some might say.
“He can…find his way back. He isn’t mindless.” She quietly replied to Genoveve, though her voice sounded strained as Saevire lifted her. She sat on his forearm, leaning against his shoulder and side for support. It wasn’t an oddity for him to carry her like this. Next, he gently picked up Genoveve as well in his other arm, carrying her as gently as he could under his arm.
With that done, he set off back towards the castle.
Honestly, that little talk with Bobby had soured Senna's mood. She felt like killing something. Fighting in general, really. But as it stood, she couldn't really do much. That, and Clay was right. She had a little too much to drink, and it was likely going to make her more than a little sloppy on the hunt. Not that it mattered much to her - she'd just smash everything with her axe either way.
"Well, for one, I actually think you're a pretty decent hunter." She replied with a grunt.
"You've had my back so as long as ye don't fuck anything up, you're a pretty decent guy." She started walking, ignoring any protests Clay might have about her heading towards the forest. She wasn't tired in the least. In fact, it was quite the opposite. She was riled up, as they say, and ready to go at the next guy who just looked at her funny.
"And goddamn it clay, really? I like hunting night because that's the time when we can easily find our targets. They all thing hunters cower in the dark? Bullshit. I say we take the dark from them and hunt them on their own turf." She stopped, sighing slightly and pressing a finger to her head as she turned back to clay.
"And I'm not tired. I'm not gonna be able to sleep like this, so what do ya suggest?" She said giving him a glare.
"I don't fancy goin' back to the church right now. Place is goddamn boring, so unless you wanna show me a good time tonight, I'm going right into that forest, and I'm gonna find me something to hunt so I can goddamn tear its head off."@Ellion
