Cassien swung first.
The frost embedded longsword clashed against the sweeping draw of Alistair's ominous red battleaxe, the collision of the two weapons forcing a shockwave through the air. The pearlescent bridge behind rumbled, a blast forcing a perfect circle of wind through the grass beneath.
His strikes came faster, merciless, with each hit parried by brute force and uncanny precision. Cassien aimed a hand primed towards Alistair's feet. The king shifted suddenly and twisted his axe downwards, deflecting the beam of ice with the flat of the axe. Cassien's eyes widened at the sudden foresight, and sidestepped to avoid his own magic.
Alistair roared with a mocking laugh. "You won't get me so easily this time."
From behind him, a hiss of black shadow burst outwards with glinting daggers poised like fangs.
Cassien could see the slight smirk on Alistair's face before he barely turned, as if he had eyes at the back of his head. Blood arced from his palm like hardened shards, and the dagger bit harmlessly into the counter. Darius kept his pressure as Cassien began to circle from the side; with each swing, the air seemed to shimmer, halting their attacks by fractions of a second. But it was enough to evade Darius's blinding speed while parrying Cassien's hits repeatedly.
One strike went for Darius's chest - a shimmer of golden light appeared as a shield before him, absorbing the blow. He threw Naomi a thankful look.
Alistair nearly yawned just as he clipped back another bolt of frost. "Child's play. I'm disappointed."
Thom and Kaelen appeared from both sides. She went for a low hit towards his legs while Thom vaulted with an overhead slash. The atmosphere felt pressured, like a doomsday, as Aryn honed in with emotional blight to stagger Alistair.
But he merely laughed, unhinged with delight. If it had an effect on him, he wasn't showing it. Such a sociopathic creature likely couldn't feel anything, anyway.
All five assailed at once with the king caught in the middle. The air rippled once more, his body gone in a single blink. In his place, a dozen trembling red crescents suspended in the air like a minefield. Their weapons clattered uselessly against one another, and Kaelen reeled back at the sight.
"Get back!" Kaelen barked. "It'll bleed you out if you're caught!"
Both Darius and Thom tried to move, but their bodies were frozen in time once more. Cassien ripped Thom from his place, but Darius was too far caught in the cage of red to reach.
Naomi's eyes widened. She lifted her palms, attempting to visualize a dome of light around him before she felt Alistair's gruff hand lock around her throat in a suffocating vise. She scratched frantically wherever she could reach, willing her body to surge with power like she had done earlier, but it was like clawing at polished glass. His body was enshrouded in a red glow, empowering his obsidian armour. Her feet lifted from the ground, body drowned in a traumatic panic.
Through wet eyes, she watched as the arcs of red hemorrhaged all at once.
Glowing lacerations ripped through as if it cut the air itself. Naomi couldn't tell if the air was bleeding, or if it was from Darius as the razors shredded his armour and mangled his flesh. In every spot that he bled, it coagulated into a burning foam, seeping deeper into his body. He dropped to the ground in a violent convulsion, howling. Cassien was caught in the shoulder as both him and Thom were thrown to the side. The blood on the ground seemed to slick towards Alistair, invigorating him.
Naomi recalled Kaelen's warning of Alistair's blood based magic. With horror, she realized that every strung up body was likely drained for his powered consumption - and now, so did Darius's.
The grip around her tightened, and Naomi saw black spots in her vision. Every attempt to generate her magic was nullified by his absorption. She felt like a useless, ragged doll.
From across the field, Cassien caught his breath and forced a sheath of ice over his shoulder, staunching the bubbling foam temporarily. As soon as his eyes landed on Naomi, it was as if the pain didn't exist. He surged forward in an icy sprint, but his legs locked midway in a haunting paralysis. A threshold of time clung around every joint like invisible chains, choking him into stillness. Further behind, Aryn was bound by the same chains.
Alistair hoisted Naomi higher. "It's not too late, songbird. Submit your powers to me, and I'll make you my golden bride, as Lunare did with Lore."
Naomi kicked him in the groin, spitting out with what little words could make it through her strained windpipe. "Go…. fuck… yourself."
Alistair let out a low chuckle and squeezed harder, a dagger materialized in his free hand. "So be it. You females always choose the hard way."
Languid blue eyes met Cassien's. Naomi's lips mouthed three words that he couldn't hear but always recognized. A scream was stuck in his throat.
Boots thumped across the ground. The shadow of a lithe, tall figure grew closer; Cassien watched as fiery red braids appeared from behind Alistair in a high jump. Long, muscular legs locked around his neck in a chokehold, and Kaelen wrestled his arm back just before he made the plunge into Naomi's chest. She yanked back with all her weight, shifting the momentum and causing them to crash to the ground. He released Naomi with a grunt, and Kaelen forced her foot forward to push Naomi further away.
Naomi collapsed to the ground with a ragged gasp, her back hitting the earth hard as she coughed roughly, forcing the air back into her lungs.
Kaelen twisted midfall, landing on top of his chest. With a primal roar and tear stained cheeks, she drove a short blade into the centre of his body. The blade made a way through a chink in the armor, just enough to inflict a deep wound.
Cassien felt his movement return to him, veering his course towards Naomi.
Alistair's eyes narrowed. "How disappointing, lieutenant."
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A spike of hardened blood erupted - shattering the blade and forcing a hole through the obsidian armour - and impaled Kaelen through the abdomen.
Her body arched up from the force, eyes wide. Kaelen slumped forward against Alistair, blood pooling from her mouth. He held her in a strange, almost fond embrace.
He stroked back a sweat slicked band of hair from her face. "That was quite unexpected of you, even if it was stupid."
She looked at him with glazed eyes, but within them, they held anything but regret.
"Would you like one final, goodbye kiss?" Alistair asked in a voice dripping with sadism.
Without waiting for a response, he pressed her closer, lips hovering beside hers.
She spat in his face.
Alistair smiled in spite of the drooling red froth that covered his face. "You never mattered."
The spike surged in size, slicing through her like paper. Her body jerked - then hung limply, and he pushed her aside like rotten meat.
"Kaelen…." Naomi could barely breathe. The room spun, and she could barely tear her eyes away from the warrior's lifeless form.
While the king began to reposition himself, Naomi waved at Cassien in reassurance that she was alive.
"Go," Naomi mouthed. Cassien had to pause for the barest moment to still his frantic heart.
It was enough for now. The grass beneath Cassien's feet flattened into a frozen path as he turned and launched towards Alistair like a thunderclap. Frost howled behind him in a trail of shimmering white, his sword cleaving down. Alistair turned just in time to parry the blow with his gauntlet, and the imbued steel cracked through the obsidian.
At the same time, Thom and Aryn had caught up and began their own assault; it was a rapid fire motion of three against one, ice bursting and blood spewing in each direction. Magic from Aryn swelled, forcing a tunnel of every negative emotion towards Alistair. Alistair let out an agonized growl as blood trickled from his ears, but he continued the fight with equal fervor.
Recovered, Naomi scrambled to her feet and rushed for Darius. There was blood and lacerations everywhere - she didn't know where to put her palms. "Stay with me!"
Darius coughed a horribly wet sound. "In.. my right..." His voice cut off, eyes rolling back.
Naomi didn't hear him. She swung one leg over him, straddling his body. Her arms wrapped around his arms and chest, her legs entwining with his, face pressed against his. It was warm, slick with heated blood - and even now, she could feel the slight burn of the foam as it came in contact with her skin. Naomi's body began to glow with waves of gold, directing the energy into Darius in every place that they touched.
"D-don't die, okay?" Naomi said forcefully, though her voice was only a little more than a whimper.
His eyes opened slightly. "Best… way to die… is with a cute girl.. on top of you."
A tiny laugh slipped out from her. "Unbelievable."
"Nomi," Darius breathed in a ragged voice. His nickname for her hurt to hear. "Sorry… Sorry I hit.. Didn't mean to."
"I-it's okay. It's okay. I punched you before, too," Naomi choked back in a shaky laugh. Her mind went back to Harsbach, where Darius had been trying to spoonfeed her after she had collapsed. She knew he had her best interests in mind - and she never held it against him.
"Y'know," he murmured, voice slurring. His eyes fluttered shut. "If things… were different…"
"No," Naomi said. She squeezed harder, willing every ounce of energy towards him. "Don't start saying nonsensical things just because you think you're dying - you're not."
She flinched at the foam biting through her flesh, but she didn't falter for a second. Naomi imagined gold threading through every vein, mending flesh and muscle and bone that she couldn't see but could feel through the connection. Her own armour hissed as it began to split in tiny seams.
With a strangled gasp, his body jerked once more. Seafoam eyes met hers only inches away. "This… this really fucking hurts."
"It's a healing pain," Naomi gave him a shaky smile.
An agonized scream pierced the air, and Naomi snapped her head towards the fight. Cassien and Alistair were duelling alone, white streaks of frost clashing against red in a frenzied dance. Alistair had a major gash in his leg and blood trickling from his head. Crystallized blocks of ice clung to his armour with each hit, slowing him down. They were getting dangerously close to her once more, though Naomi was determined to use herself as a shield for Darius if needed. Cassien continually tried to divert his direction, but Alistair was relentless.
Thom was writhing on the ground, clutching at his arm - except his arm was on the ground, and he was really only clutching at a sliced stump instead. Blood seemed to pour endlessly from the amputated part.
Aryn held one side of his face, blood pooling beneath his palm as he staggered onto one knee.
Cassien raised his sword, but this time, Alistair was faster. He let out a roar, kicking Cassien square in the chest and sending him flying backwards into the silver tree trunk. His body rocked against the bark, setting a deep imprint within the wood. Stars danced in his vision before his gaze fixed back onto Alistair who began an intentful walk towards Naomi.
No.
He forced back every bit of pain, surging forward like an ice comet. He fired off spikes of ice that embedded through the king's armour, swinging arcs of ice towards him over and over until it began to slice into exposed flesh.
Alistair didn't flinch, didn't even turn to face Cassien. He lifted one arm, and it was as if the battlefield itself came to life.
Blood rose from all over: drops in the grass, the hung corpses and Kaelen's impaled body, even from both Thom and Aryn - cauterizing their injuries almost immediately. Crimson ribbons twisted obediently through the air at his bidding, and Alistair devoured every drop hungrily. Every wound that Cassien created, he powered through like a temporary bandage.
Then he vanished, like a single blink in time.
Alistair reappeared standing in front of Naomi, who clutched Darius protectively. His eyes were hollow with a murderous euphoria as he looked at Cassien. "I'll make you wish that I'd kill you."
Red mist curled around his raised hand to form a semi-opaque serrated blade. Naomi looked up with wide eyes. It was her chance to either fire back, or let go of Darius and stop his healing. He would die, and she would live - like she had promised Cassien.
Naomi closed her eyes and locked her arms tighter.
Cassien didn't think, didn't breathe.
He just moved.
The blade moved down and struck flesh - a sickening crunch as blood gushed out in an intense spray. She didn't feel anything. Naomi looked upwards to meet golden eyes that were beginning to streak with blood.
"Cassien!"
Alistair twisted the blade lodged deep into Cassien's back, right behind his heart. He let out a guttural sound.
Alistair threw him to the side.
Naomi felt like she was suspended in time, but she knew she wasn't because she could still blink. Her heart felt like it was going to explode. She stared directly into the eyes of the mad king, a disgusting grin spread across his face. He conjured another blood blade in his hand.
Naomi felt rough fingers - Darius's - brush against hers, something cold and heavy pressed into her palm. A flash of silver appeared in her mind for the briefest second, the bare whisper of a woman's voice that she hadn't heard in what seemed like a lifetime ago. It was like a precognition, a hidden shield.
Blindspot.
Alistair raised his weapon and tutted his tongue. "A shame."
Naomi didn't think.
She swung up for his chest. To her surprise, it struck him, like he hadn't seen it coming.
Alistair's mouth parted, but no sound came out. He staggered back and looked down in utter confusion. The blade had sunk into him like it was always determined to be there. It made no sense. How hadn't he seen her move?
The handle looked familiar - thick, etched with a strange runic pattern. With horrifying recognition, he realized it was the same ancient dagger that he had cursed Seraphine with.
The blade began to hiss.
"No," Alistair finally echoed, his voice gargled and distorted.
He reached out to grab Naomi's throat - but he never reached her. Behind him, a silvered void rippled through the air. Slender arms and manicured hands reached through and covered his mouth, across his chest like a suffocating embrace.
Silver eyes framed with white lashes peered through for a heartbeat - set in a tender gaze at the prince in the distance.
Then, the arms pulled back, and the void swallowed Alistair Seraveth.
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