Ingrid felt lost. Her head swam as she struggled not to fall over. It was just too much to take in. She needed to slow down before she felt motionsick. Berith refused to give her that chance.
“Gotta say, it took a bit. Finding everything, I mean. You did a damn good job covering your tracks. I blew so many favors trying to piece everything together,” he chuckled, twirling a finger through the braindead dark elf’s hair. “I ended up following Alviss’s nose. They thought they saw a connection to a certain mage from Ebrak. Do you want me to keep going? Or do you want to try to come clean on your own?”
Alice looked frantically at Ingrid, lips twitching with a million words unsaid. The terror in her eyes made Ingrid take a step back. Her balance left her, and she crumpled to the floor. She needed to slow down. She desperately needed to slow down.
“I–I need to tell her,” Alice croaked, “I want to tell her–”
“Yeah I bet you do. Anyway, dear little Adelheidis’s story doesn’t start with her, it starts with a bright eyed and bushy tailed young mage named Siegward,” his smile was terrifying. He was enjoying this way too much. He looked at Alice’s horror like it was a warm meal. “Y’see, they don’t really like dark elves here in Amalthea. They call ‘em subterranean elves. They’ve lived underground since Karolos ran ‘em out. Siegward though? He had big dreams. He wanted his people to live on the surface again with the other uplanders. He thought the first step to proving that was by proving himself. He came up top, turned himself in, and went to the King of the time with a proposition.”
Ingrid covered her ears. It did nothing to block out the sound. For the love of the gods she needed him to stop. She needed to think, she needed to process. The lid was on the pot but the pot was boiling over and she wasn’t permitted to remove it. She wasn’t permitted to let some of the thoughts out to calm herself and be in a position to address the bigger things later. She’d found Mattias, but barely had enough time to even say hello before they were fighting for their lives. They’d just gotten here. They barely even had a plan. Her head felt like it was going to explode.
“Brother, this is meaningless,” Lilith growled, crossing her arms as she glared at him. “We should kill them and be done with it. The others may be here soon.”
“And leave you to explain their deaths yourself? Definitely not. Besides, Sister, weren’t you the one who said that I should break my enemies?” he chuckled, “Or are you going to fault me for the one time I actually take your advice?”
Lilith glowered at him, but said nothing. She stared daggers at Ingrid, as if focusing hard enough would set the elf on fire.
“Anyway, he wanted to use magic to improve the lives of people. People didn’t buy it, of course. Hell, not even Lilith vouched for him. But an up and coming court mage decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. An esper named Vivienne.”
Ingrid saw Alice freeze, looking like she’d been punched in the stomach.
“Now those gears are turnin’ eh? Vivienne and Seigward got real close. He specialized in illusion, her in divination, plenty of knowledge, but plenty of gaps to fill until he started filling her gaps if you catch my drift. Not important. They worked together, made some big ass strides. They worked on their own little magnum opus: topographical maps that could update in real time. Three dimensional maps where you could see the area. Would revolutionize exploring and expansion. You know, for territories like Reach.”
Pieces clattered into Ingrid’s mind. They stifled all other thoughts, refusing to let her abide by her normal strategies. She couldn’t just let them drift by when they demanded to be seen. How was she supposed to think about anything else when the woman she loved more than anything was having her pages torn out before her eyes?
“Berith! Berith, please,” Alice was starting to sound like her. Tears spilled from her eyes, her breath ragged and uneven. Ingrid could tell it was taking everything in her lover’s power not to be in hysterics. More than anything, Ingrid wanted to say or do something to calm her down, make her feel safe. Her mind was empty. She didn’t know where to even begin. She couldn’t help.
“I’ll tell her! I’ll spill everything, I promise, please just stop doing this!” Alice gasped, “I didn’t know how! How was I supposed to? I’m not even close to ready but I’ll do it anyway–”
“NO!” he boomed, earning a yelp from Ingrid. He laughed. “You had a million chances to. You didn’t take a single one. You aren’t ready, and you never had any intention to be, did you? You just wanted to ride this out as long as you could. All you ever thought about the whole damn time was when you could get your next emotional fill up like a goddamn drug addict! You just wanted her to sit there and bat her eyelashes, bein’ all pretty so that you could pretend someone actually gave a shit about you–”
“And what the fuck is wrong with that!” Alice shrieked. The amount of desperation in her voice made Ingrid’s throat feel hot. “You made your fucking point! I’m lonely! I’m a liar! Holy fucking shit just tell me what the hell you want!”
A grin crept across his face as he glanced at his sister. For once, she didn’t look irritated. She looked almost impressed. She flicked a finger towards Alice, and a small bubble appeared around the dark elf’s mouth. Alice clawed at it, trying to remove it like it was about to explode. It took Ingrid a moment to realize that her friend was screaming. She was shouting at the top of her lungs and it was completely silent.
“I want to finish my story,” Berith said playfully. He turned to Ingrid, a satisfied look on his face. “Now, where was I? Ah right. Siegward ended up putting in most of the work. Vivienne was good, sure, but he was inspired. Everything he’d ever dreamed of was coming true. Pretty soon, he and Vivienne were going to present their project to the Archmage. He got real surprised when she did it alone and accused him of trying to steal her work. But who would you trust? The proud fugitive that people took a gamble on, or the well respected mage who just unveiled one of the greatest magical devices ever made? Yeah, that was a real easy way for him to get locked in a cell for a little over a decade.”
“Get to the point!” Ingrid cried. The fact that she’d even managed to speak surprised even her. Berith actually interrupted his tirade to give her a curious look. “I don’t know how you found any of this out, or if it’s even accurate information, but I won’t stand for this! This is her story to tell, and I won’t have you treating the woman I love like some piece of living garbage!”
She didn’t know how much of her own statement was true. Everything she knew about that woman was being thrown into question. How much of who she loved was actually real? Was she still the same Alice? All Ingrid knew was that above all else, right now she just wanted all of this to blow up in Berith’s stupid, smug face.
He gave her a disappointed look. “You know what? Fine. I wanted to break her, not you. I wanna restate that that took some work to get together. Your girlfriend is pretty good at her job. Not better than Alviss, but good. You? You’re much easier. I only need to worry about two things. One is a sniveling mess on the ground, and the other is behind that pillar.”
Ingrid froze. She glanced to the side, meeting the eyes of her brother, stock still. He gulped, looking at her in fear. She could practically hear him asking her what to do. What could she even say to that? She had no idea. Things were working in their favor to an extent. They needed to stall for Natalia and Kallen. With any luck, maybe Malori and Colette were on their way too. Having a healer in the wings was never a bad thing, and an Archmage would certainly be of some kind of help.
None of that was going to matter if Berith simply picked them apart psychologically. She gritted her teeth. How much of a piece of shit was he? Alice had been holding on for longer than Ingrid even knew, and Berith took it upon himself to give that one last push to reduce her to… this.
Ingrid clawed at the ground, fingernails splitting against the hard stone. All it did was make her angrier.
I’m going to kill him.
“How much of it was real?”
Her brother’s voice pulled her out of her trance. Her eyes locked on him as he stepped into Berith’s view, clenching and unclenching shaking hands.
“Elaborate,” Berith deadpanned.
“Don’t play dumb,” Mattias spat, “Everything you said to me, everything we did. I told you things I’ve never told anyone. I trusted you with them. I told you that you reminded me of Ealadha. Right now, saying that makes me want to puke. So answer the question, asshole. How much of it was real?”
As horrifying as her brother’s statements were, all Ingrid could do was furrow her brow. For the first time since meeting him, Berith faltered. It was small enough that she barely caught it. For the briefest of moments, he looked conflicted. He quickly replaced it with his signature shit eating grin, but it was unmistakable. A small chuckle echoed throughout the chamber as he shook his head. He opened his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by the sound of a door being flung open above them.
Angry footfalls could be heard as Natalia came into view on one of the balconies. Ingrid’s heart leapt into her chest. It would have been in poor form to call the illian a savior, given how much she hated that kind of title, but it felt more than applicable. However, the winged woman didn’t even look her way. Her wings drooped as her mouth hung open in shock. Despite their lack of pupils, Ingrid could tell that her eyes were locked on Lilith.
“You…”
“What are you–”
“YOU!” she screamed. Her hair and feathers burst into white flames, the heat beginning to scorch the stone around her. Lilith took a step back, Berith opting to sprint under the nearest balcony. Ingrid wasn’t even sure if Natalia noticed.
Natalia roared in anger as she launched herself into the air. Lilith leapt back as the illian slammed into the stone where she’d just been standing. A burst of light came from the impact, incinerating any of the rugs and cloth in the nearby area. She didn’t seem to care about the charred husk that had once been the guard Berith called Reyes as it crumbled into ash.
Lilith didn’t look particularly concerned at the sudden entrance, only slightly bewildered. Ingrid couldn’t help but notice that her armor didn’t make any noise as she moved. She glared at Natalia with disdain. “I’m sorry, am I supposed to know you?”
The illian’s laugh was borderline psychotic. “What’s wrong? Don’t recognize me? Were you too busy forcing my mother to watch you kill her wife to notice me? Too busy turning my brother into a red paste? You may have forgotten me, but I will never forget you.”
Natalia hurled an orb of light at the dark elf. Lilith raised her hand, snapping her fingers. There was a deafening boom as the orb crashed into her hand, splitting and exploding into fragments that melted any of the stone they struck behind her.
“I don’t make a habit of remembering feral animals,” Lilith scoffed. She snapped once more. It sounded less like a snap and more like an explosion as Natalia was sent hurtling into the stone wall, a gouge in the floor leading up to her.
Ingrid’s heart sank. The silent armor, silencing Alice. A sonikinesis sorcerer. How were any of them supposed to face that?
Natalia wasted no time throwing herself back at Lilith, fueled by rage. She threw beam after beam of light at the woman, melting anything unfortunate enough to be hit after each blocked attack. The dark elf glared at her in disgust, deftly blocking or dodging each one as she approached her. Natalia didn’t let up. She slammed her hands into the ground, wings flared out as a pillar of energy erupted from under Lilith.
As if tearing a curtain out of the way, Lilith swept its edge aside and closed the gap, grabbing Natalia by the throat and slamming her into the ground. All she had to show for the attack were a few small burns and singed feathers on her cape. She placed a metal boot on Natalia’s chest, digging it in.
“I think I’d remember meeting such a disgrace, as much as I’d love to forget this encounter,” Lilith deadpanned.
Natalia snarled at her, her own face contorted in pain and fury. “I did something new with my hair,” she spat.
The dark elf raised an eyebrow. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Do you really not remember? I would have thought the beating that dickhead in the mask gave you would be something that sticks with you. Or maybe you’re so used to getting your teeth kicked in that it was just another Tuesda–GAH!” Natalia yelled in pain as Lilith dug the boot heel into her sternum. The illian clutched her ankle with one hand, bringing the other up to incinerate her from point blank. Lilith snapped. It wasn’t as loud, but there was another boom as Natalia’s hand slammed back into the ground. Several of her fingers were missing.
“Learn how to speak to your betters, trash,” she growled. Natalia spat a glob of blood onto her otherwise immaculate armor. Lilith glanced at the stain, then at Natalia. She snapped, shaking the room with another explosion. Then another, and another. Each blast was directed straight downwards, right into Natalia. Every single one blew away stone, some followed by splashes of blood as she magically assaulted her opponent. By the time she was done, she was panting, glaring down at the center of the crater she’d created. She spit downward, wiping her mouth on her gauntlet as she stepped out of the depression.
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The grisly sight hit Ingrid with a wave of nausea. Lying in the middle of the blast zone was Natalia, though the golden hair and wings were the only real giveaway. Bones were twisted and shattered throughout her broken body. Her left leg had been completely blown off, blood gushing from the stump. Her chest looked concave. She wasn’t moving. It sure as hell didn’t look like she was breathing. Somehow, some way, Ingrid could still sense life from the illian.
“How in the name of the gods is she not dead?” she muttered under her breath. Hopefully neither of the siblings heard her. Alice was completely dumbfounded, kneeling slack jawed in the center of the room. Berith was next to her, a smug grin on her face as he gazed upon his sister’s work.
“Love her, hate her, she knows how to put someone in the ground,” he said casually. He sounded almost carefree. “You know, so long as you don’t mind collateral damage. For the leader of the ‘Shadows’ she isn’t exactly known for subtlety.”
“That was the one you struggled with? Gods, you’re pathetic,” Lilith huffed, touching a few of the burn marks and scowling.
“No, I said the one with the glaive was the most trouble. Guess we can add ‘attention span’ to the list of things you lost with your magic.”
“I do things efficiently. I’m not an overconfident windbag obsessed with the sound of his own voice.”
“Well, soundwaves and glass houses,” he shrugged. A smile crept across his face. “You do remember her though, don’t you? At least, you remembered after she struck a nerve, huh?”
Lilith glared at him. “Did you miss what I did to her?”
“Did you miss Moloch telling us not to attack each other?”
“I can say you were a casualty.”
“And you think he’d believe you?”
She stayed silent, her gaze never flinching. Berith didn’t seem particularly bothered as he stared back. The silence made it worse. It forced Ingrid to think about Natalia’s pitifully weak heartbeat and wonder if it was going to stop. Lilith cracked first, scoffing as she looked away.
“I’ll explain later. This takes precedence.”
“Hmm, fair enough! Now, I have a few ideas for you, little Adelheidis…”
Colette felt a chill go down her spine at the sound of the explosion. She recognized that sound. Lilith was working. Hands shakily gripped the side of her tunic. She turned to see Malori looking up at her, terrified. The explosion sounded close. This was planned, it had to be. Eurytus and Eurydice were greeting Stamatis and making sure he wasn’t bothering her. Medea was accompanying Gertrud to discuss supply lines with General Rhene. That left Lilith and any nearby Shadows. She gulped. Gertrud was strong, but she was reckless. She didn’t see much of a need to have heavy defenses when she could personally deal with nearly anything someone could throw at her. One of the few things Colette resented about her. She could break an assassin’s spine with minimal effort. Ivar couldn’t.
Not nearly as strong, and just as reckless, she grimaced, thinking back to what he’d said.
They probably figured out about this, think it’s an easy way to get me out of the picture, he told her.
Or he’s in on it, and you’re walking right into a trap!
That’s why I’m bringing Castor. Colette, I can’t just say no to this. It was him. I heard his voice. I don’t care what risks I–
But why? Why risk everything like this for a father that was never even there! Ivar, this is insane. You don’t even know if it’s actually–
It’s him. I’d bet my life on it.
…There’s no way I’m talking you out of this am I?
Would I be able to talk you out of risking your life for Malori?
Watch it. You better not prove that bet, or I’ll find whatever afterlife you end up in and drag you back myself.
The warmth of his smile was still fresh in her mind. I believe you.
“W-Was that Lilith?” Malori stammered.
“Yes. One of the upsides during situations like these; it’s not hard to find her,” Colette grimaced. She took Malori’s hand in hers. “I need to go help. I’m not generally a combatant, but I can support. Xander is with her too. Go back to my study. There’s a safe room in there from when I was younger, it’s still more than big enough to fit either one of us. I’ll come get you once the coast is clear.”
The little esper looked at her with wide, scared eyes. “N-No.”
Colette wanted to wail in despair. “Malori, please. Not you too…”
Malori shook her head. “I won’t. Colette, I have a home here. I-I’m not going to lose that t-today,” the words were laced with terror, but held a surprising amount of resolve. “I’m a h-healer. M-Maybe even a good one. If anything bad happens to you, I-I can fix you. I can fix Lilith, or Xander. Please, let me help.”
Colette’s heart pounded. “What if something happens to you?”
A tiny, yet luminous smile touched Malori’s face. “I-I know you won’t let that happen. I t-trust you, Colette.”
The Archmage knew Malori could probably sense her emotional turmoil as her heart leapt into her throat. Gods, why did she have to say things like that? She carefully picked out one emotion, shoving it to the bottom of the pile to hide it like she had so many times before. Swallowing her heart and her pride, she smiled at the other girl.
“Okay. Let’s go,” she said weakly. With a hopeful nod, Malori followed her through the halls.
More explosions rumbled through the halls as Lilith continued using her magic. Colette winced with each one. There was definitely going to be a mess for her to clean up if they got through this. When they got through this. It was only the third or fourth time she’d seen actual combat. The nerves still hadn’t gotten any easier to deal with. Having Malori at her side somehow managed to make it better and worse at the same time. The thought of Malori getting hurt was beyond terrifying. What were her defensive options? Stone walls would likely be her go to. Stronger spells like changing or adjusting gravity took time to set up. She’d been so focused on the teleportation network since becoming Archmage that she hadn’t been able to reconstruct the defensive runes that faded with her grandmother’s death. Supposedly, she could use her telekinesis like a shield. Covering a wide area of something as chaotically moving as air though? That was something far beyond her capabilities. Solids would always be magnitudes simpler to affect than liquid or gas. Despite all of that, Malori’s mere presence had a way of easing Colette’s worries. She couldn’t help but smile a bit.
Following the noise was certainly easy, but gods was it terrifying. Hearing the explosions get closer and closer and continuing to move towards them felt like it went against every instinct she had. She steadied her breathing, trying to calm herself. The two of them came skidding to a halt as they rounded the corner, nearly slamming directly into someone.
“K-Kallen?” Malori said, bewildered. “What are you d-doing here? H-How did you get here?”
Sure enough, the tall human had nearly bowled them over. Her glaive was drawn, and muscles tensed. Ready for a fight. Although, she looked just as confused as they were.
“Oh, hello! I can explain all that later, which way to the throne room?” she asked. She sounded far too casual, like there wasn’t some sort of fight to the death happening there.
Colette’s mind raced. Malori was right, how in the world did she get here? Why did she need to go to the throne room? Where was the rest of the group? Her heart pounded as questions that desperately needed answers screamed in the back of her mind, all compounded by the fact that this was Kallen. A woman who either wasn’t concerned with or wasn’t even aware of the ways she hurt Malori. She wasn’t obligated to return her feelings, but seemingly refusing to even acknowledge her existence was another matter.
“C-Colette?”
The Archmage turned to Malori.
“I know that th-this probably seems bad, but she’s trustworthy. I p-promise,” Malori assured her, “We can w-work out everything once this whole situation is d-dealt with. R-Right?”
Colette bit her lip, glancing between the two. She cursed under her breath. “This way. Follow me.”
The moment they started moving again, a series of explosions reverberated through the halls one after the other. Colette had to stop for a moment to keep from falling over. Just as soon as the rapid fire eruptions had started, they stopped. Colette could feel her ears ringing. She ignored it and continued on, helping a disoriented Malori to her feet. Kallen, for her part, didn’t look particularly bothered by it. They rushed through the halls, passing guards and servants alike. They all knew the protocols. If Lilith could be heard using their magic, they were to stay in reserves. The woman was effective, but struggled to avoid collateral damage, be it structural or from allies.
Over half the guards in the castle were gathered at the various entrances to the throne room, while the others were likely scattered to defend points of interest that may have been secondary targets. Or primary ones, if this were just a distraction. All eyes turned to Colette, briefly glancing at Malori and Kallen behind her. They were awaiting orders.
She took a breath. “Maintain position! If it hasn’t already been, send word to the King! If anyone you don’t recognize exits this room, detain them. If you’re unable to, cut them down.”
“Yes, Your Grace!” the echoed chorus of soldiers left her taken aback for a moment. If she didn’t sound confident, they weren’t particularly concerned.
“Are you two ready?” she asked, looking back at Kallen and Malori.
They both nodded. Malori looked much more worried. Colette marched past the wall of soldiers. Using her telekinesis, she latched onto the massive wooden doors, urging her companions through before entering herself. She slammed the doors shut behind her. They’d at least provide cover for the soldiers outside.
Inside was mayhem.
Deep gouges and molten stone littered the ground, while support pillars of balconies lay as piles of rubble. She recognized everyone in the room aside from one. It was the first time she’d ever seen Xander without his mask on. Around his calves and forearms were spiked, heavy looking pieces of armor. As he maneuvered them around, locked in combat with Alice, they seemed almost malleable. Liquid. Alice sprinted around him, frantically trying to dodge in and out of his range. Was she teleporting?
Further behind them, Lilith held Ingrid up by her breastplate. As she was about to snap her fingers, a young, scruffy elven boy materialized next to her. He grabbed Ingrid, causing them both to vanish as Lilith decimated the pillar that she’d held Ingrid against. In the far corner of the room, a bloody mess lay unmoving in a deep crater. She recognized those wings. Natalia.
Her stomach turned as she realized what was happening. She looked at Malori, whose face was plastered with shock and fear.
She had no idea, did she? Colette thought. Before she had a chance to say anything, Kallen hurled herself forward, swinging her glaive down at Xander. He crossed his forearms, catching the blade on his gauntlets before kicking her back. Wordlessly, he rushed her, slipping past the outer range of her blade and closing the distance. The two were a blur of motion, the sound of ringing steel almost as loud as one of Lilith’s spells.
“Help Ingrid!” Kallen shouted. Alice nodded, flicking an obsidian knife towards Lilith. She vanished, appearing with the handle gripped tight as she tried to bring the blade into the back of Lilith’s neck.
Lilith tried to move, but still found the blade thrust into her collarbone. She whirled around, snapping her fingers and sending an explosion towards Alice. The other woman was no longer there. Instead, she was behind Lilith, bringing the dagger up to the side of her neck. Colette reached out, grabbing the knife with her telekinesis, stopping it in its tracks. Lilith turned and slammed an open palm into Alice’s chest. The ensuing burst sent her flying into the far wall.
“I-I-I don’t know what’s h-happening… Those gauntlets…” Malori choked, looking frantically around the room. “C-Colette! What do I d-do?”
That voice felt like a vice around her heart. Everything was moving too quickly, it made her head spin. “Stay close to me! We need to help Lilith!”
“I-I can’t! That’s Alice! A-And Ingrid! Why are they d-doing this?” she cried, her chest heaving. “B-But Berith–”
Colette held her shoulders as gently as she could. “I don’t know. I have no idea what they’re doing or why, but they’re hurting people I care about. They’ve already hurt you. I can’t let them hurt you or anyone else physically too,” she cursed herself for bringing Kallen into the fight. At the very least, Xander seemed to be an even match for her. They continued clashing, neither able to fully get a leg up on the other. “If this is too much, hide. Regardless of what happens, you weren’t here to fight, you wanted to heal, right? When the dust settles, help everyone that’s hurt.”
Malori cast another terrified look into the melee. Alice was struggling to get back into range of Lilith, any attempts to throw the teleportation knife in being met with a burst of sound that knocked it flying off course. She was nursing her side too, the blast from Lilith clearly having done damage. Ingrid slammed a wooden staff into the ground, causing pillars of stone to try to encase the sorcerer. Another explosion sent the rubble flying around the room. Colette grabbed Malori, hauling her away as a large piece slammed into the doors behind them. She helped the smaller girl up, rushing her to a corner of the room.
“Stay here, stay safe. Please don’t get hurt,” she pleaded. Malori gave a terrified nod. Colette smiled, leaning forward to give her a kiss on the forehead. Whoever this ‘Berith’ was, they could be talked about later. She sprinted around the outskirts of the melee, spellbook in hand.
Xander and Kallen were too fast and too strong to grip for telekinesis. She cursed again. She wasn’t going to be much help there. Lilith seemed to have the situation handled for the most part as well. The best she could do was try to help Xander as he danced around the room with his opponent.
Another swing of the glaive was blocked by his gauntlet. He brought his free hand up for a punch, only for it to be knocked away by the shaft. In that same moment, he tried to kick her in her blind spot. As the human read the attack and went to block it, Colette thrust her hand into the ground. A pillar of stone erupted from behind Kallen, slamming into her spine before smashing her against a balcony. She couldn’t tell what emotion was on Xander’s face past his mask, but he nodded in what she was fairly sure was approval.
Kallen came bursting from the cloud of dust like a missile, again at Xander. He nimbly dove over her blade, sweeping his legs back to take out hers. She leapt over him, bringing her glaive up to slam it into the ground. He rolled out of the way, barely avoiding finding himself at the center of a newly formed crater. Before she could recover, Colette brought another pillar up. It smashed into the human’s forehead, sending her reeling. Xander dashed forward, delivering a kick to her side that sent her tumbling across the room. She left a trail of blood behind her. Colette wasted no time channeling her magic into the stone around her. She shaped the bricks like clay, planting restraints around the human’s limbs and torso, locking her to the floor.
“W-Wait, Colette!” Malori’s words were barely audible over Lilith’s magic. Colette was in no position to respond to them either.
Ingrid noticed what she was doing. The elven boy teleported her into the balcony just above Kallen, avoiding another explosion from Lilith. She swept her staff to the side. As she did, the bonds holding Kallen cracked, leaving a scant few in one piece before she was teleported again. The balcony erupted with a wave of magic from Lilith, erasing the space the elves had just been.
Kallen’s muscles tensed, her teeth gritted with effort. She tore herself free of the restraints, throwing herself out of the way of falling rubble. Her grip on her glaive tightened. As she looked up, her eyes weren’t on Xander, they were on Colette.
“Kallen, don’t!” Malori shrieked. It was loud enough that even Lilith stopped for a moment. Kallen was already moving. Xander threw himself towards her, trying to block her dash, but only succeeding in slashing her across the back with the claws of his gauntlet.
Colette panicked, slamming a hand down and erecting a stone wall in front of her. For a brief moment, she couldn’t see anything. The shield blocked her view of the chaos. The only thing she could make out from the corner of her eye was the most viscerally horrified Malori she’d ever seen. The two espers made eye contact. She didn’t even turn as Kallen barreled through the wall like it was nothing.
I messed up.
It was all she could think as the blade raked through her chest.