Hogwarts was a war zone. The one magnificent school was reduced to screams and flashes of light as the battle raged throughout the building and grounds. His body arching through the air as he lept from one of the floating staircases, easily spiraling down, his swords cutting down two death eaters as he fell even as he deflected a spell with his wand.
Landing in a crouch on the bottom floor his hand shot out. Wado Ichimonji spiraled away from him to cut through a flash of green light directed at the witch he'd always seen at Harry Potter's side. Blocking the death spell even as he charged forward from the side his own spell already flying forth before him, causing the death eater to drop.
Skidding to a halt in front of her, his white-hilted sword returning to float around him he extended the circle of swords to encompass Hermonie even as his attention remained on blocking spells sent their way. His back shifted to press against her's even as he cast spell after spell, his swords creating a shield around them.
Seconds or maybe hours later the castle shook as a voice reverberated through the stone. "Retreat! Hogwarts has fallen! RETREAT!"
The voice caused his blood to chill as he recognized the order from Professor McGonagall, his own gaze rising for a moment before he blocked another curse aimed their way. Spinning in place, a defensive spell flaring around them with a flick of his sword he dropped slightly and scooped her up.
Throwing her over his shoulder even as he ran towards a group of students who'd remained in the corner. Swords cutting through more death eaters as he fell into their midst and yelled. "Grab on!" Feeling the hands of three latch onto his body before he sent a final spell arching out from his swords. Recalling them to their sheaths seconds later even as he activated the port-key he'd been given for this kind of outcome.
summary: The Devildom has come under siege by the Ancient Beast of Carnage. So it is time to defend and wage havoc to bring it down.
characters: basically all of them. It's going to be a full baseball team dynamic.
content: battle, fighting, blood, injury, violence, danger, death, this is an actual fight to the death type scenario so be advised this isn't fluffy!
If you are looking for part 1 and part 3 and part 4 they be here.
Credit to the artwork goes to the actual artist not me.
The tension was starting to build again as more reports came in. That the aerial assault team was struggling with pushing the Ancient Beast of Carnage towards the beach and would need some extra help. So I was more than aware of what that meant. My gaze going from the various potions and elixers I'd been helping to make to Lucifer. Who was readying Cerberus for a frontal charge with some added protection spells. Solomon noting my unease to bump his shoulder with mine in a gesture of silent encouragement. So I signaled to Satan before I made my way over to the Avatar of Pride. Cerberus gave a growl at my approach for me to do my usual snort of derision. Which made Lucifer heave a sigh of air before giving a command in some ancient tongue. Cerberus quit growling to lay down and wait as Lucifer turned to me. "How goes the potion making? I trust there have been no issues with bolstering our supply?"
My grumble came before I had the desire to tamp it down. I just went for direct and hugged Lucifer as tight as possible. His wings snapping open before they gathered around me for his sigh to wash against my ear. His hug back was careful as much as it was comforting. So I made my words count. "You even think about dropping dead, I will command summon you back from the dead and beat you senseless. Because I love you too much to do otherwise." Lucifer gave that molten chuckle of pure love. Placing a kiss to my cheek before he stepped back and away from me. His words to Cerberus curt for the massive hound to jump up and start sprinting full speed towards his ordered target. With Lucifer vaulting into the air immediately after to soar overhead and right towards where more explosions were sounding off in the far distance. My fists clenched tight as Asmodeus landed behind me.
Asmodeus was so gentle when he pulled me into his embrace from behind. A warmth of pure affection coming off him as I rubbed at my eyes with my dominant hand. His words sweet and silken against my hair. "Oh sweetie. Always with the bold words and straight spine. We see right through it, y'know. It is a fine display of bravado. Despite the fear in your scent. But I love that you stand firm and hold tight to your courageous faith even when you are terrified. It's the most dazzling thing about you, Marzena. So tell me what I know we need to hear from my number one fangirl slash critic." My snicker came out as I nodded to then give Asmodeus my answer. "I do not care how bad this thing ruins your outfit or your skin toner. You dare let this thing kill you, I will bring you back as a decomposing zombie with no makeup." Asmodeus gave the most horrified gasp possible to openly lament, "You wouldn't dare be that mean! Oh no you would not! I refuse to have that happen, Marzena! Ever!"
So it was we both laughed for Asmodeus to turn me around and sneak a kiss. Then he was vaulting off to head for his next delivery. Which left me to watch him depart as Barbatos walked up to me. We stood there for a long moment as shouting sounded out and warriors began making ready for final preparations. Barbatos taking the opportunity to open his hand to me. So I took it to give his hand that squeeze I needed to. My words flat and full of emotion. "I won't ask the dumb obvious questions. We both know you may only divulge so much. I accepted that a long time ago when you revealed those few hints about your power and what you might do. But I do hope and pray... Whatever comes next is us giving our absolute best efforts to save as many as we may. So I am grateful for every sneaky tactic you did behind the scenes to stack the deck in our favor." Barbatos gave a hum of both deep thought and pure affection. His tail sneaking up to my face to brush away my tears. "Always so good with your words. Knowing just what to say and just where you might wish to stop. Precious beyond all measure. That is what you are, Marzena. So hold tight to your beautiful and impossible convictions. I do so love seeing how things unfold when you put all of your heart into this."
Barbatos let go of my hand to turn and walk away. But he did pause to ask me a question of amusement. "By the way. I noticed you aren't wearing your grandmother's antique pendant. I cannot recall the last time you chose not to wear it and wondered if something happened to it." My smirk soon followed a blush dusting over my nose. "The chain to it didn't break this time. I put it on Mammon after I used a shielding spell on it. Since he's the main bait for this plan we all decided on, I wasn't going to let my first pact demon out the door without him wearing it. I did the same thing with my old silver cat ring. But that one is on Beelzebub and laced with a stamina spell." Barbatos gave a rare smile before he replied to my obvious intentions. "A wise choice. I will inform Lord Diavolo that they did not break or become lost. He wondered if such was the case."
Before anyone might say anything more, an air shattering roar sounded out from the direction of the Beast. Making me cover my ears as Diavolo started barking out orders left and right. Satan soon beside me to hustle me over to where Leviathan was currently sitting in the water. Since Simeon was using the space to organize various magic tools. His frown marring his usually tranquil features as Leviathan got up and out of the water. Satan moving to help Simeon with charging several magic tools with strengthening spells as I stared at Leviathan. But my words came out hoarse and uneven this time. "Lev. Stay alive. You don't have to be the cool looking champion. All I want is for you to come back alive. So please. Don't make this be the last time I tell you I love you for always." Leviathan gave a sheepish gulp as his tail went nuts behind him. But he just reached a hand out to ruffle my hair. "Right. Okay. I think I can manage that. But that does mean I expect you to not try jumping into the fight directly. Not unless you are the last party member up and have several mass rezz or nuke spells."
It was then my phone rang for me to snatch it up and answer it. Belphegor on the other end of the phone to sound frantic. "You were right! Thirteen and I just checked the nest of the Beast! Someone did do something insanely stupid!" This had all of us tense as I felt all consuming dread eat my stomach. "They found a way to cross breed this damn thing... It's awake to tend to and train it's soon to hatch young?" Simeon dropped the tool he was holding as Diavolo gave a cruse in ancient tongue. Belphegor confirming as more screams sounded out from a much closer distance. "Some of them already hatched! They just are too disoriented to anything but cling to the Beast's underside as they suckle! Our base camp might as well be a buffet!"
A crack of lightning soon replaced the air with ear splitting thunder. The rain starting to patter down as another shriek erupted from the approaching monster. Luke openly cowering to whimper as Diavolo just gave the full order to advance. So everything started with a frenzy of roars and shouts to charge full tilt at the looming mass that had come over the hill. The aerial assault team getting tossed weapons and tools to start hammering down with vigor onto the Ancient Beast of Carnage with as much as they might give. Blood cascaded out as the beast writhed and bellowed. Satan sweeping me behind him as the young that had already hatched started to dislodge themselves to begin their hunt.
It did not take but seconds for the screams of the dead and the wounded to begin ringing out amongst the roars of both the creatures and the thunder overhead. Solomon gathering what few spell casters we had to begin full on blasting whatever came to close to the base camp. Asmodeus and several other lesser demons would swoop in to catch the wounded and bring them back to be healed or set aside to be buried. The stench of blood and death soaking into the setting as I moved to stand next to Diavolo and Luke. My one gift soon lacing around Luke's neck to surround him with the fragrance of wild flowers and banish any other scent from his knowing. Which made Luke squeak before he turned and all but climbed into my waiting arms. His whole body shaking in pure terror for me to kneel down and cradle him as close as possible. Which had me turn my gaze to Satan as he grabbed a rather deadly looking spear. My words hard and full of several emotions. "Work at culling the herd. And watch that finely sculpted ass of yours." Satan smirked to then vault up and into the fray. While Diavolo started channeling a spell so that the lightning would be drawn away from his army and more towards the creatures. Which had many a winged beast end up falling to the ground in a singed mess.
Finally, Cerberus landed a full charge hit into the Ancient Beast of Carnage to all but steamroll it through the sand and directly into the sea. Water going everywhere for Leviathan to have his navy attack. All kinds of sea creatures and deadly demon fish swarming both the mother and the younglings to rip and gnash and tear into the enemy. With Lotan smacking the Beast down so as to further submerge it into the frigid sea. Lots of roars and shrieks sounding out as Cerberus jumped into the sea to keep biting into the creature. Yet more eggs along the Beast started hatching to have more of the enemy start their counter assault and sweep over the navy. The sea going red in under a minute as more of the young took flight to nip and rip into the warriors above.
I felt a searing pain from my pact bonds to instantly recite the summon chant. Not even thinking when Mammon ended up teleporting directly to us with half his body covered in blood. Fresh bite marks all over his side and leg for his clothes to be ruined. So Luke and I knelt down to start using healing magic as Mammon openly coughed up more red. Diavolo knelt down to steady the Avatar of Greed as he wheezed for air. "Dammit! Guess I'm benched now! Those things are too organized for just hatching! It's like their getting controlled! I bet my beloved Goldie they have a direct hive mind to their mom!" My gaze went wide for Diavolo to scowl at this news. So he looked up to give new orders and have the formations shift. Luke soon grabbing a towel woven with special magic to have steam rise up when Luke placed it on Mammon's shoulders. The demon wincing to then huff a bit as he noted, "Ow. Now I can feel heat back in my bones. Appreciate the help, Luke." Luke gave a sad smile through his tears as Simeon brought a very dazed Asmodeus over. The Avatar of Lust looking rather pale as Simeon helped his newest charge lay down. "Apparently, this one just seduced several dozen of the young into not moving for the others to kill. Which ended up in a major magical backlash. His body is untouched. But his mind may be a bit scrambled for the next few hours."
I gave a grunt as I finally noticed the full on pounding of hammers against the inside of my skull. My eyes watering at the agony to then huff. "Great. Dia. I vote Solomon and Lucifer do a fully charged beam blast boosted by Barbatos and whoever else we can funnel energy from directly into the Beast's insides. I have zero idea what we need to do just that. So please come up with the details." Diavolo nodded to turn and bark out, "Barbatos! I'm giving you the direct order to help me with channeling all we've got into Solomon's next spell! Lucifer! Do the same with what anyone else might spare without dropping dead!" Barbatos gave a scowl of irritation at the idea to then bow his head. His movements quick to find Solomon as the Sorcerer finished tracing a magic circle into the sand around him. Diavolo vaulting over as Satan called out, "Everyone out of the air! We're going to use a full blown spell combo!" Beelzebub landing close to Solomon to have several rips and tears in his clothes to also have much of his leg coated in blood. But he nodded to hustle over to where Belphgor and Thirteen were sprinting over to me. my hand going to the pact marks as the Ring of Light started to burn on my finger. Yet I gave all my focus as I prayed. Giving all the warmth and magic I felt building inside and filling my bond with Lucifer with all I felt and had to give. Meaning Lucifer started to glow from his high vantage above the Ancient Beast of Carnage. Illuminating a speck of a figure even higher up and mostly hidden by the storm clouds. A thought touching at the back of my mind for me to smile. But then Diavolo gave the order. So Solomon and Lucifer let loose with a spell of pure searing light. Meaning all of us on the shore went blind at the intensity for shrieking to ruin all other sounds.
The roar of disbelief and anger that Daemon let out was loud and heartbreaking. It was the second sign that something had happened to you. Daemon wouldn’t have sounded so sad for anyone else on the battlefield. The first sign was the sharp pain that hit your leg. It was Daemon’s yell that had you dropping to the ground, finally registering the wound. You hadn’t thought much of the pain at first but that yell..
The arrow was still sticking out of your leg and you didn’t have the time or the supplies to remove it. Instead, you painfully made your way to your feet and started to move your way from the fighting. You knew that Daemon wouldn’t stop until he reached your side unless he knew you were safe. However, he was needed on the field — he was one of, if not the best, warrior in the realm. They wouldn’t be able to finish taking the Stepstones and kill the Crabfeeder without him.
Finally back at the boats, you collapsed on the sand. Your leg was on fire but you were in one of the safest places on the island. If you weren’t safe here, that meant nearly everyone else was dead and then it didn’t matter where you were.
Lying prone on the ground, you watched as the sky’s colors began to swirl together. The clouds today looked gorgeous but that could just be because they reminded you so much of Daemon’s hair. They were sooooo pretty…
Time had had lost all meaning for you when Daemon appeared above you. You couldn’t hear what he was saying but you liked looking at his lips as they moved. They were so pretty too. Just like his hair. So pretty.
Something was shaking you a lot, sending the ringing in your head clamoring. It was distracting and it really hurt. You wished they’d stop. You tried to tell them that but you couldn’t get your tongue to move. Or was it your lippsss…
When you next opened your eyes, you quickly shut them again. The headache was gods near deliberating and the rocking of the sip wasn’t helping. You were pretty sure the only reason you didn’t barf was because there was nothing in your stomach to come up.
“It’s ok, issa jorrāelagon. It’s all gonna be ok. You’re gonna be ok,” Daemon kept uttering such words as he bent over you. He placed a small kiss on your forehead then buried his head in your shoulder, his hand a vice around yours.
Painfully, you turned your head to bump your chin into the top of his head, breathing in the scent of battle that still lingered on him. “…it’s over?”
“Of course it fucking is. He was the one who fucking shot you. The fucking cunt wasn’t gonna live after that,” he sounded offended that you doubted him but he still didn’t raise his head or relax his hand.
“Good. Back home then?” You carefully started to flex everything, trying to see if anything but your leg and your head hurt. There was nothing but the general ache that you now associated with the aftermath of battle. Good.
“Driftmark. I don’t want to chance moving you further than I have too and Corlys offered you a spot. He saw it happen and he’s pretty sure that Laenor was the actual target. He sends his thanks and his fastest ship,” Daemon finally sat up, carefully swatting you. “Stop moving you brat and just ask me. The only injury you have is the arrow wound in your leg and probably a headache from blood loss.”
“Definitely a headache,” you shifted your hands around, twining your fingers through his.
“Want something to drink?” He had already started to stretch out to grip the pitcher behind him.
“Only if you lay with me. I don’t want to be alone,” sitting up, you took a sip of whatever was in the cup Daemon held for you.
“Of course. For as long as you’d like,” Daemon moved you about to make room for his broad figure.
“…not too long. You reek,” you started to giggle helplessly, Daemon starting to wiggle his fingers against your side.
“Say that again, I dare you,” he growled the playful threat against the skin of your throat, scraping his teeth down the curve of it.
“I wish, my dragon. But probably not the best idea when we’re still covered in blood and guts with my leg having a new hole through it,” Daemon finally settled back, carefully pulling you tight against his side.
After action report of Battle ******** (TW : blood , gore , tanks)
The air was filled with the stench of gunpowder, blood , burning corpses, metal , and grass and stink of rotting corpses getting slightly stronger as time goes by. The ruins of a once luscious green paradise now filled with bodies , barricades , firing positions and wreckages both broken and alight. Two massive armies clashing together with no clear winner as the battlefield remains empty of live soldier or working vehicles. There, however, seemed to be more dead bodies and wreckage of one side than the other. Nevertheless, there was not much signs of occupied territory from either side. Only just the wreckage and the dead. Their weapons and equipment lay on the ground, their owners dead, missing or too injured to carry them. The silent deafening the surrounding only broken by the crackling of fires and creaking of metal .
A/N: It’s flurrying❄😊 I also just learned that the font I use for the header is called Holiday Romance and I just....the love triangle vibes are strong with this one. Like even Canva knew😂
Warnings: Home invasion, fighting, violence, panic, reference to assassination attempt/hired hit, use of guns, betrayal, explosive devices, murder (technically), invisibility powers (so not technically a warning, but they are this time and it’s a good thing Mirth is a hero), the plot taking over the storyline, Mirth is turning vengeful…and slightly murderous…
My Masterlist | Taglist Info | Mirth’s Ebenezer series
“Mirth! Baron!” Mirth’s brows furrowed as Superhero’s voice floated up to her. She’d heard them shout quite often, but very rarely had she ever been irked by it.
Mirth huffed and yanked the bedroom door open. At least Superhero had called for both of them, so she at least had the small consolation that they weren’t fighting with Baron over something trivial again. Hurrying down the staircase, a trickle of foreboding seeped into Mirth’s blood. By the tone of Supe’s voice—the urgency, the authority, the Superhero quality in it—she began to doubt the reason for their shout was anything but trivial.
But maybe she was wrong. Maybe Baron had broken another of Superhero’s house rules again and they were only calling her down to be a moderator, again.
“What’s going on?” She heard Baron ask as she stepped into the hallway.
“Yeah,” Mirth said breathlessly as she came around the corner in a hurry. “Can’t you two just get alon—”
Spotting Baron and Superhero standing around the closet that housed all the restricted—and therefore “dangerous” items their house-arrested criminal wasn’t allowed to be around—Mirth’s heart began to pound like a drumbeat between her ears. Superhero was arming themselves as if they expected to go to battle, bulletproof vest and all.
“Supervillain’s here,” Superhero interrupted, tossing something toward her. Mirth froze. Her uniform fell to the floor between them, but she made no move to pick it up. “Get changed.”
The beat of her heart grew louder. If Supervillain themselves was here, none of them were going to make it out of this house alive. “Supervillain? They’re here?”
How did they find them?
“I’ve already called for back-up,” Superhero assured her, taking a step back to meet her eyes. “Mirth, we’re going to be fine. And then as soon as we deal with this, we’re going to find the mole.”
The mole. The leak within the Agency that Agent and the Internal Affairs Department had been investigating, but still hadn’t found after nearly six months. That mole.
Mirth nodded, stiffly reaching for the fallen uniform and heading down the hallway without another word. Someone had sold them out. Whether it was to eliminate her and Superhero as potential threats, or to get rid of Baron with the pair of them as collateral damage, Mirth didn’t know. But the fact was: someone had betrayed her and Superhero, and to some extent, Baron.
Her fingers tightened around the fabric of her supersuit. Clenching her teeth, Mirth nearly kicked the bathroom door open as the realization settled over her mind.
As soon as they all made it out of here alive, she was rooting that mole out and returning the favor. The more her shock wore off, the angrier Mirth became. Stripping off her shirt and jeans, she roughly pulled on her supersuit, kicking away her civilian clothes. Just as she’d clipped her gun holster to her belt, her ears pricked at the sound of breaking glass.
A loud bang! burst through the air.
A high-pitched ringing overtook her ears. Blinking as though it would help to diminish the ringing, Mirth slipped her pistol from the holster. The weight of her limbs faded as she flipped the safety off and chambered a round. As her molecules turned into the invisible vapor that hid her from the world and gave her the same freedom as the air itself, a familiar current of electricity buzzed through the atmosphere.
Baron.
If she’d had eyebrows at the moment, Mirth knew they would’ve been furrowed. Had Superhero unlocked the power suppressant cuff on their ankle…or had they been freed some other way?
Was Baron the real danger here? Had it all—the mole, the safe house, the Rogue Trial—been a trap? Had he set them up?
Mirth didn’t have any time to contemplate the idea further as the sound of gunfire assaulted her ears. Slipping beneath the crack under the bathroom door, the invisible cloud that was Mirth expanded as she took a deep breath.
Floating down the hall, Mirth slipped into the cool, collected mindset she reserved for her missions. But no matter how hard she tried to, she knew deep down that this time was different. This time, it was personal. Supervillain had attacked them. They’d targeted them. This wasn’t some standard mission to bust a ring of thieves or the mafia, this was self-defense, and Mirth didn’t know how many lines she was about to blur for her own survival as she hovered behind a group of figures dressed in all black.
Solidifying her molecules enough to put her feet on the ground and take aim, Mirth lined the sights of her pistol up with one of the henchmen.
Inhaling slowly, Mirth held her breath. She had to time this all just right. If she didn’t…
If she didn’t, she would be as good as dead.
Mirth pulled the trigger. Exhaling quickly, she let her molecules loosen once again, becoming the vapor of her invisibility powers just in time for a barrage of bullets to be sent her way by the new rear guard of the group of henchmen.
Sailing past them, Mirth put herself between them and the henchmen in front of them. Only solidifying her upper body enough to hold her gun, Mirth took aim and fired.
The henchmen dropped to the floor, and in the seconds that followed, chaos erupted.
Bur Mirth was already a vapor again, clinging to the ceiling as she watched the team of henchmen scramble to find who’d killed two of their comrades.
A whoop filled the air as Superhero, disheveled and bloodied, appeared at the mouth of the hallway. They didn’t even take aim, just shooting from the hip. Mirth would’ve shaken her head if she was solid, watching as they sprayed bullets throughout the hallway, cutting down henchmen where they stood until they’d all fallen, injured or otherwise. Mirth didn’t stick around, knowing her friend had this handled.
The closer to the great room she traveled, the more her molecules fizzed. Lightning flashed, the air buzzed, people screamed, and at the center of it all, was Baron.
Mirth found herself freezing at the sight. Staring in wonder as Baron conducted his powers, Mirth realized this was not a man who had betrayed her or the Agency. Fighting for their lives, she, Baron, and Superhero had one enemy in common: Supervillain’s mole, and to a larger extent, Supervillain themselves.
The large window looking toward the front of the house shattered. Pinned down by henchmen, both Superhero and Baron had their hands full. Mirth gently landed on her feet about a yard away from the window. The weight of her limbs was odd after spending too little time gliding around in her favorite form of invisibility. A henchmen with a shouldered rifle was the first to climb through the open window. Before he could open fire on the room behind her, Mirth grabbed the barrel of his gun and twisted, yanking at it hard. Wrenching it from his grip, Mirth jabbed his throat with her free hand and swept his legs out from under him.
At her beckoning, the rifle turned invisible.
The next henchmen and the one after didn’t make it one step inside the house.
Supervillain wouldn’t win. Not this time, not tomorrow, not the day after, and most certainly not in the near future.
She didn’t care what lines she blurred, Mirth vowed she would find their mole, and then she would find them.
Supervillain was going to die.
A/N 2: Huh. I did not see a corruption arc coming for Mirth 🤔
Nayr pulled at his aging father, desperate to keep him out of the war. An army was forming, almost desperate for revenge. This was a direct attack and all peace talks crumbled as the bloodied coffin arrived at their castle’s door. The king was angry at the attack, having avoided appearing violent and antagonistic, especially to the people already standing on their crumbling ground. The air burned from the war tension and Nayr’s father grew bitter and lost his patience. A black horse was prepared as the king rode off to the border with the soldiers, forgoing his helmet. Nayr grabbed the nearest horse he could find, an old silver workhorse.
He followed his father to the battle, lacking the metal armor the tropes wore, instead, he was wrapped in leather and thick cotton, deciding to stay on his horse. The horse itself did have metallic armor but the metallic shine was dulled to the point of matte, making it blend into the horse's fur.
Nayr’s father’s army ripped through the mad king’s troops like paper. Blood and gore painted the ground, making Nayr sick to his stomach; grief and anger pulled at him. The Traitorous lineage had given the army damaged and broken armor and weapons, making them easy targets. Nayr rode his horse hours late to the battle but still could not find the battle, despite hearing the clattering of the metal in the distance. Nayr’s heart pounded as he tried to offer back up to his father. Clouds started to roll in, humidity sticking to his skin like glue. The army stood around, as two men battled, the lights of flames reflecting off of the armor of the two men: his father's whose armor had lost most of its shine, with bits of gore and blood sticking to him like adornments, and the other king's whose armor had such a glow to it, it had to have been brand new. A matching helmet lay thrown on the ground, sinking into the mud. Grunts of effort echoed as the battle continued. It was the remains of an abandoned village all around them, dust and ash kicked up from their efforts, trees poking out from around the groups. A light drizzle made the filth around them turn sticky.
No one spoke to Nayr as he approached. He saw a frail-looking figure, their head wrapped in blood-red silk, their gaze focused on them for a second and his pulse quickened, throbbing under his palm. Emotions tried to fight their way through a cloudy bond, but he could make out anger and exhaustion, the two almost canceling themselves out. The figure looked away but the echoes of emotion stayed. They grabbed their arm, fingers wrapped around their leather band. They were sitting in a glass carriage. The metal holding it was cracked, causing the glass to have a spider’s web cracking design with jagged holes in some places. Jagged glass laid on the ground both inside the cage and the ground surrounding it. The carcasses of horses lay mangled in front of it. Nayr looked at the mark on his arm for a second realizing who exactly that figure was. The realization made his heart sink- memories that he didn't have, yet scars his soul did, brought sadness to the front of his mind.
A sharp cry yanked him from his thoughts. Nayr looked up, wiping a tear away from his eyes. The mad king had cut Nayr's father in the throat. There was coughing but the king stood proud for a heartbeat, before crumbling to the ground, the sound of the metal clanking to the ground.
The mad king laughed over his defeated enemy. The army stood shocked, hesitating to draw their weapons. His voice was booming, with a low growl to it.
"Your king is dead, bow to the new king, the great King Norrix!" He announced, taking the name of the king that started his lineage. The name made Nayr flinch. He had heard about it when he learned his kingdom's history, but to hear it in this context was sickening. It was a promise to run down the land, rendering it as useless as the land under them. Bile rose into his throat, burning him.
The army kept their eyes trained on him, preparing to step closer. None of them heard the sound of broken glass scraping against each other, all of them too focused on the man that killed their king. A sickening squishing sound cut the victor off. A sharp piece of glass poked out from under his adam's apple. Nayr watched with wide eyes as the girl in the glass cage behind the king held the shard of glass in place, both of them feeling the cut of the improvised weapon against her own skin. Her arms were sticking out of one of the gaps in the glass, the leather on her arm protecting that wrists, but blood was dripping down the other, onto the glass. The mad king turned to face her, losing her grip on the weapon. He ignored the men pointing blades at him and swung his forearm back at her, and the glass collapsed in on itself.
Nayr felt the blow before he registered the pain through the bond. It was a sharp pain centered around his- her eye. One of the soldiers pulled out the glass, making it essentially a killing blow.
Blood sprayed everywhere. More of the glass cracked underfoot and shattered as the girl in the box shoved her way out, her silken crimson hood catching on stay pieces still attached to the metal frame and falling away, exposing short choppy blood-red hair. With one hand, she pushed the now dying body away from her, crumbling on top of the other body. Turned their attention on to her, watching her with intent to deal with any threat she might be.
Nayr climbed off his horse and stepped closer to the group. One by one and one at a time the soldiers looked at the prince, the now defacto king, for a command. Avina was stiff as wood, too still to even shake. Her eyes moved quickly as she looked back and forth between Nayr and the soldiers.
Red dripped like tears down the right side of her face.
"It's over." One of the soldiers spoke. "You're wounded, and even if you weren't, you're already half dead.” She twitched at the words.
Nayr stepped between the soldiers and Avina, his back to her. He could hear her breathing harshly. Her dress was matted and dirty. “Stand down. We won.”
A beat passed before the soldiers lowered their weapons. Everything was quiet as Nayr and Avina stepped forward, away from the glass. “Prepare to bring the king home, we have arrangements to make.”
Nayr placed Avina on the gray horse, the soldiers moving in to carry the dead king, leaving the newly dubbed Norrix on the ground. Nayr grabbed the headscarf before getting on the horse. She was sitting between Nayr and the horse’s head. The glass was in Avina’s eye deep enough to know that her eye was beyond healing, but not deep enough to kill. Her skin was pale, ghastly in tone. She had down the side of her jaw, with a soreness that they both felt. Her breathing was shallow and light, her strength fading, and her weight on Nayr. The soldiers attached a cart to the horse for ease of transport of the body. Avina’s blood dripped onto the horse as the storm kicked in. Thunder and lightning boomed around them, rain washing the blood away, turning the soot and dirt turning into a red dyed mess. Avina’s head was resting under his chin, silence filled the space between them. The flowers' smoke made their bond foggy and the exhaustion Avina felt blurred it even more. She was bruised from whatever made the carriage crack and seemed to just be content to rest at the moment. The rain was cold, soaking through their clothes, the cold leaching the remaining strength of the two of them. Avina took a deep breath before the cold sucked away her consciousness.
