The snow was stained with obsidian piles of bile that erupted from the Caladrius after it had exploded. Heloise had started to feel a malaise and was struggling to understand why. Her concentration was failing and the only thing she felt was the undeniable urge to give up. She was about to collapse before the image of Alma's face had flashed in her mind.
“What… am I saying? The great witch Heloise doesn't give up. She digs her 6-inch heels—or in this case, boots—into the back of adversity and she presses on! I can't lose here.” The sickened sorceress forced herself to stand up straight, looking around for any larger trace of what remained of the bird. “I have to win. I have to win… back my only real friend. —Whoa. Shake it off, girl. You totally just admitted you have no friends. I… guess there’s also Anais and Lysa Hora. Ugh, Hora is right. Always stealing my dates. At least she stayed away from Alma. No—fuck those sluts.” She shook her head. “Azotha’s wounds! What in nature’s name am I thinking?! Concentrate! That fucking bird definitely did something to me. Nice parting gift, you little shit!”
As if on cue, the black bile bleeding through the snow gradually pooled at a focal point between the trees across from Heloise. The melancholic daze she was in was fading as the vile secretion moved away from her back and rejoined with the rest. It bubbled as it slowly formed into the silhouette of a large, fat bird. It rose up from the snow, regaining its complete form as the bloated black bird from before.
“Je te vois !” The witch’s voice rang out excitedly. “Oh my Dark God, I can’t believe it! You’re, like, totally immortal?! Thanks for not staying dead, I’ve still got a use for you!”
Radices Invasor Virgo Ligneus!
Another spell from the witch’s repertoire, controlling the very nature of the forest with her will. Thick roots cracked open from deep beneath the snow, coiling and wrapping around through each other to form a solid wooden prison around the newly revived bird. The container trembled and rattled violently, but continued to steadily hold the creature in place. After a few minutes of fierce shaking, the tremulous vines surrounding the bird finally settled down. Heloise approached confidently.
“It’s just that easy, ma proie.” The sorceress leaned forward, smiling smugly at her newly entrapped quarry. “Not so tough now, are you? You little shit. Why do all you dumb monsters, like, give me so much trouble? I’m totally going to get an aneurysm one day. Not that you can understand a damn thing I’m saying, huh?” Heloise angrily kicked the wooden prison, causing its contents to rattle once more. “Or maybe you can? Please say you do. That would make this victory all the more sweeter.” She kicked the wooden prison a couple of more times—an action she would regret immediately.
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A putrid liquid seeped from between the tightly-knit vines—a yellow bile that was unlike any of the other things that the bird had excreted—with a doubly odorous stench.
“Ugh. Chose dégoûtant.” Heloise shuddered in disgust, covering her face with the puffy white sleeve of her snow jacket. She knelt down, using her staff to keep her balance, and took a closer look at the oozing container. “What exactly is happening to you this time? This isn’t very conducive to my predicament!”
The yellow bile slowly oozing out suddenly and without warning, exploded outward in a foul spray all across the forest floor and much to her choleric chagrin, all across Heloise’s face and very expensive outfit.
“Inexcusable… Inexcusable! Gross! Totally fucking gross!! This shit is everywhere! And it smells just as bad!” The witch’s tantrum echoed among the trees as another quick blizzard kicked up all around her, serving only to annoy her further. Stamping down on the snow as hard as she could, Heloise fought the urge to remove her jacket entirely. Try as she might, she could no longer keep her cool. “I’m going to burn this whole fucking mountain to the ground! The trees will grow back at least, but anything else living in this godforsaken forest will turn to cinders! The snow will regret falling down here!” She glared hatefully at the wooden prison still oozing with the Caladrius’s vile discharge. “Mais d'abord, je vais prendre ce putain d'oiseau et lui tordre le cou !”
Heloise gripped her staff in hand and thrust it down in front of her, the base digging deep into the ground. Tapping the large red crystal atop the staff with the underside of her ring, the prison of roots unclasped from itself and began to open up. Before she could even glance at the avian foe inside, a murky silhouette shot up towards the sky at an unnatural speed.
“Hrrn. You think a little gunk on my face is going to stop me?” she growled. “It never has before!”
Solis Fulmen Concurro!
Her staff’s crystal burned red hot, releasing a barrage of brightly blazing bolts of fire. Each one zoomed in an arc toward the sky where the Caladrius once again lay floating, and one after another exploded prematurely in a fiery inferno as they were all blown away by an enormous torrent of blood erupting from the blighted bird’s mouth.
"Je vais te faire regretter de ne pas pouvoir mourir...," mumbled out the witch through the grinding of her teeth. Another uncontrollable sneeze caused her nose to run. “Ach!”