On the other side of the building that Zero used as his temporary headquarters, Adela kicked in one of the closed doors and rolled inside. In a crouch, she quickly looked around, and then dropped all the way to the floor as something whooshed through the air where her head would have been if she hadn’t moved in time. “Adela,” a male nairue growled and grabbed her, pulling her to her feet. “What have you done?”
“Why do you always assume that I had done something?” she asked and drove a silver-tipped dagger into his side. With a strangled scream, he released her and staggered back a few steps. The only thing that stopped his fall was the wall. She, too, staggered, but it was for a different reason as red-hot agony sliced through her head, all but cleaving it in two. She honestly thought her brain was going to splatter all over the room a second later, because it sure as fuck felt like it was going to explode from her skull at any moment.
“Bitch!” he snarled and yanked the dagger free. The lunar dagger wouldn’t kill him, but it still had a painful effect on the victim. She smirked, even as she felt every inch of his pain. Moving her hands behind her back, and under the cover of her wings, she reached for a solar dagger. She held the cool hilt in a death grip and watched his every move as he gasped and groaned, looking about ready to pass out. Blue blood poured from his wound like a fountain, slowly creating a small pool on the grey-colored floor. Sadly, it turned into trickles as he healed. It was a lot slower than normal, but it was still too fast for her liking.
“Where is my daughter?” she hissed and bared her teeth at him.
“You’re an empath,” he snarled. “Sense her out yourself.” She would have, except for the fact that the emotions around her were chaotic, and if she wasn’t careful, she could fall into a catatonic state. If that were to happen, right then and there, she was as good as dead.
“You know full well that I cannot,” she growled and glared at him. “Tell me where she is.” With a hiss that grated along her every nerve, he pushed from the wall and lunged for her. She tried to move out of the way, but she wasn’t fast enough as he caught her arm and pulled her to him. Luckily, it wasn’t the one holding the dagger. His fangs flashed, and a scream ripped from her as he sank them into her neck and tore at it with a snarl. Pain suffused every inch of her, but she ignored it and hooked a leg around his own and pulled, sending them both tumbling to the floor. Air whooshed from him as she pushed away and stabbed the dagger into his chest with an enraged scream. His screams joined hers as she withdrew and stabbed him, over, and over, and over. She had no idea how long she was at it, because one second she was driving that dagger into him, and the next, someone grabbed her and lifted her bodily off him. It was a good thing, too, because he went up in blue flames a second later. Still, she struggled against whoever it was and screamed in both pain and rage. Since the person holding her was all but burning her, she knew that it was another nairue. His growls and grunts filled her ears as he carried her to… wherever they were going. The only thing that saved him from her murderous rage was the fact that she could smell Luna all over him, and it wasn’t because she had been near him for the past minutes. Her scent on him went deeper, more like claiming, possessing, and if she killed him—not that she could—she would have to deal with an enraged Luna. A pissed off Luna was not someone she wanted to go up against, as she painfully found out earlier in their encounter. The male set her on her feet and spun her around to face him. Light blue eyes met hers as he pressed her into the wall that was behind her.
“Be at ease, female,” he growled as she panted, gasped and wheezed for air. He dropped his hands from her and took a step back, eyeing her with curious interest. Her head pulsed and throbbed as red-hot agony continued to stab spikes into her brain. After a long minute, she gathered herself and took in a deep breath.
“Were you there the entire time?” she asked and looked around at the empty room they were in. It was nothing to be excited about. The walls and ceiling were the color of dull white, and as for the carpet, it was a faded grey. The only furniture in the room was a plastic red chair that had seen better days. There was also a small round table the color of pale brown. It was just barely being held up by the four metal legs the color of tarnished silver. Two of the four legs were broken, and she eyed them, wondering how long they would hold up in a fight. From the looks of them, not for long.
“I was,” he said and nodded to the dagger she still held in a death grip. “I would appreciate it, if you stop pointing that at me.”
Adela blinked and lowered her arm. “Sorry,” she said and made the dagger vanish. “Do you know where the captives are being held?” she asked hopefully, even as she rubbed at her temples.
“I don’t, but I do have an idea.” She nodded and eyed the hand that he held out to her. After a few seconds of hesitation, she stepped forward and took it. Darkness fell over her, and she groaned as the pain inside her flared to life. Damn, she felt like she was going to drop dead within the next thirty seconds if the agony that she was in persisted much longer. From the emotions battering at her psyche, it was nowhere near being over. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks, and she held on for dear life as the male nairue whisked her through the shadows.
Luna dropped from the ceiling that she was clinging to, driving two solar daggers into a nairue female from behind. She spotted Arild with Adela, and she had to blink at the endahlian female, who was completely covered in blue blood that was darkening into black as it dried. She grabbed a male endahli by the back of his neck and smiled, a scream tearing out of him as she drained him of his psyche. When she was done, she tore off his head and tossed it at a struggling trio. One of them quickly broke away from the fight as it made contact with the two unlucky ones, dazing one of them. Alessia gave her an exasperated look, before grabbing the nearest one to her and bashing his head against the floor. When he was truly stunned and on the verge of passing out, she stopped and pulled out a solar dagger, driving it into his heart. Luna flashed to the other nairue and slammed him into the wall, pleasure coursing through her in hot waves as she placed her hands on either side of his head. He let out a strangled scream, and the pleasure grew as she quickly drained him. As she drew her hands away, ten bluish-silver tendrils stretched from her fingertips to his head. Shuddering, she broke the connection and allowed him to drop lifeless to the floor, remembering vividly just how close she came to actual death. It was during a battle that took place a couple of moons ago, and it was one of the many lessons she would never forget. After all, she nearly got herself decapitated. Still, Zero continued with the kidnapping and enslaving of females and younglings. It was time to enact on her plan, and she wasn’t going to leave until he was, once and for all, dead. “Find the captives,” she said to her daughter and pulled on her magic. The cool feeling of it coursed through her like ice as she began to glow. Taking a deep breath, she willed herself to stop glowing, because if she glowed any brighter, she was going to end up lighting the entire hall that they were standing in.
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“On it,” she said and ran off. Luna sighed and touched the dead male. A split second later, he was nothing more than a pile of ash on the floor. She straightened and groaned as she looked down at herself. Rolling her eyes, she brushed the bits and pieces of her clothes to the floor. Completely naked, she pulled back on her magic, until she was no longer emitting moonlight. She looked around and followed the sounds of screaming and wet things smacking into walls. She held her wings tight against her back as she came upon Evanna, who was completely covered in a mix of silver and blue blood. She was gleefully biting and clawing into one of the endahlians, who was missing a head and very much dead. Piled all around her in a bloody mess were intestines, organs and bones. She pulled back and blinked up at her, her eyes glowing red in the semidarkness. “Hello, Evanna,” Luna said and smiled down at her. “What are you doing, sweetheart?”
“Playing,” she said and giggled as she licked blood from her fingers.
“I can see that. How many have you killed?”
The youngling frowned. “Four?” She blinked. “Maybe five?” She stood and stepped from the circle of bloody innards and walked toward her. “Luna is nakey again.” She laughed softly and picked the youngling up into her arms.
“Let’s go find your mother.” Evanna nodded and snuggled into her with a happy sigh. She melded with the shadows and moved silently and invisibly through the building. She found Estoria a few minutes later, growling and snarling at three of Zero’s sentinels. In her arms, Evanna stiffened, a low growl emanating from her. She lowered the youngling to the floor, putting a finger to her lips as she pushed her slightly behind her. She spread her wings, and she smiled as the youngling wrapped an arm around her leg. Evanna slowly solidified and peeked out at them. After a moment, she took a few steps forward, creating a tingling sensation as the youngling passed through her. One of the sentinels turned and smiled.
“Well, well, look who we have here,” he drawled. The youngling bared her teeth and would have lunged for him if Luna hadn’t placed a hand on her shoulder. She couldn’t actually feel the physical weight of her hand, but she could sense it all the same. “Did you come to watch the show?” Estoria hissed, snarling as she lunged for the nearest sentinel. They went down stabbing. She got him in the gut as burning pain lanced down her left arm. She opened her mouth and struck, snapping her jaws around his throat and crunched through skin, tendons, muscles and bones. She dropped the dagger and clawed her way inside him as she tore into him. Hot blood coated her hands and arms as she crushed bones and turned organs that weren’t his heart into pulp. She was careful not to chew his head completely off as she pulled back, leaving his spinal cord intact. She quickly snatched up her solar dagger and drove it into his heart, killing him almost instantly.
Luna solidified into view mid-launch, and the second sentinel only had time to widen his eyes before she was on him. Growling, she punched her hand through his gut and ripped into his neck. She gasped as something cold stabbed into the side of her back. Snarling, she released the sentinel that she was struggling with and spun, in time to get a lunar dagger buried in her gut. Hissing, she gripped the dagger and yanked it free of the smirking sentinel’s hand. With a snarl, she pulled it out and spun, driving it into the one behind her, who was struggling to his feet and glaring at her. The third sentinel—a female—grabbed her by the hair and pulled. “I have him,” Estoria growled, and she nodded as she let go of the weapon. Turning to the last sentinel, she hissed and bared her teeth.
“Hair pulling?” Luna growled at her, ignoring whatever was happening behind her. “What are you, fifteen?” In answer, she took a step forward and was on the assassin, knocking her to the floor. Luna wrapped her arms around her and flipped them before she even knew what was happening. Grabbing her by the hair, she began braining her. She kept at it, until she was sure that she was good and stunned. “One question,” she said conversationally and smiled. “Where might I find Zero? I am pretty sure that he is not in his room. If he is, then he is the most stupid nairue that I have the displeasure of ever meeting. And that is saying a lot, because I have met plenty of stupid people during my long, long life.” As she came around, she grabbed her head and bashed it against the floor for the fiftieth time. Once again, stunning her. “Can you say the same?” She sat back and waited. As she waited, Luna breathed through the agony that still raged through her like an inferno. Yes, the lunar dagger wouldn’t kill her, but it still had a profound effect on her. For one: it slowed her healing ability, and two: it slowly drained her of her strength. Also, it was agonizing beyond belief. When the sentinel came around for the second time, she resisted the urge to splatter her brain all over the floor. “Where is Zero? Tell me, female, and I will end it quick.”
“Somewhere in the tunnels,” she gasped and swallowed hard, resisting the urge to puke up her guts.
“Thank you,” she said in a whisper, and with lightning speed, she pulled one of her silver shortswords from her air pocket, unsheathed it, and decapitated the sentinel in one smooth move. The head rolled, coming to a stop at Evanna’s feet. The youngling picked it up by the hair and studied it with interest. Then she began gnawing on it as her mother walked up to them, looking satisfied with herself.
“Shall we, sister?” she mused and tried to take the severed head from her daughter. The youngling growled and hugged it to her chest. Estoria smiled.
“Mine!” she hissed and glared at them. Her mother held up her hands defensively, and then she bent, plucking her off her feet, head and all. She looked to her sister and arched a questioning eyebrow.
“Let us finish this.” Luna smiled. “Once and for all.” Nodding to herself, she turned and walked down the hall.