Stalk and seduce. Surprise and slaughter. Demons rarely went for direct attacks, and so Evelynn never stood still. She remained in her womanâs-shape, mostly anyways: all pretty legs and pretty face. But Evelynn no longer moved quite like a human being. Instead, she dashed back and forth, moving constantly, moving around and around in quick and unpredictable circles meant to dizzy and disorient, in order that she might catch the blade-dancer off her toes. All the while, her own lashers darted out, swiping at Ireliaâs face and hair and legs. Fast and wild slashes. Again, again, again.
The problem was: demons rarely went for direct attacks. And Ireliaâs defense was particularly difficult to get through.
Sparks flew as her blades swirled. They clashed against Evelynnâs claws, against her lashers, fending both off in a near-impenetrable sphere. The demon snarled â a deep, guttural sound â and jumped back to skirt around Ireliaâs spinning blades. No good. Every attempt to flank her was met with tips of sharp steel. Irelia could not quite touch her, not when Evelynn could dodge and disappear and even dissipate parts of herself into smoky, uncuttable shadow⊠But neither could Evelynn get her. Which was infuriating; and the longer Evelynn was beaten back, the more rage began to bubble up her throat, hotter than tar.
âWhy keep struggling, love? Youâll only tire yourself out.â
So she did what she was best at. She grinned. Began to sweet-talk. Began to seduce.
âWe both know youâve gotten tired of this game, havenât you?â
Clash, clash, clash, sang steel blades on glowing, organic ones. Evelynn shoved at them and slipped back into shadow, stalking a half-circle around Irelia. It was wider now, though. Her eyes, burning in the dimness, were sharp. Careful. Calculating.
âSo youâd rather be imperfect. Youâd rather be human, vicious and tender. All right. All right. I can work with that. Letâs go back to square one⊠What do you want? No, no. Forget all the others. Forget Ionia. Tell me. What do you, with your sweet, pounding heart, want?â
As soon as Eve slips away, Irelia dashes backward, withdrawing her blades. She is tiring, but she did not dare let that weakness slip into her visage. Eve was good- very good- but the daughter of Xan Lito was no novice, either. If anything, this afforded her a moment to catch her breath, re-think her strategies. More importantly, for her fatherâs sake if nothing else, it gave them a chance to speak.
âI made my terms clear when we first met, Evelynn.â Her fighting stance relaxes ever so slightly, but her voice is all business. âI want you to stay out of Ionia. Whatever it takes.â
So here they were, evenly matched and at square one again. Irelia was being pulled in two directions. A part of her felt it was her duty- no, an absolute necessity to make sure that creatures like Evelynn shuffle off this mortal coil. But that wasnât working, and Irelia had no plans to die just yet. The other part of her was- as unbelievably unlikely as it was- considering that perhaps Evelynn just...needed to hear the right words.
âShall we parley?â She asked, raising her arm again as if she intended to sheath her blades, but not committing to the activity just yet. âYou and I are evenly matched...love.â
