A Court Of Shadow and Blood

☆ Beginning of the End ☆

"You will pay, Reneau!" She shouted to herself, to the halls, to the male listening from her mind. "You will not reign for much longer, you Queen of Nothing!" No, the throne the Queen sat upon had never been hers.

Anger bubbled in her mind, a sluicing cut of power into her barriers as Reneau's fuse grew shorter. A small group of soldiers gathered before her, standing in fighting stances she'd taught their superior who had taught them. When one moved, she knew exactly what they would go for, for it was how she fought.

She whirled around the first with a snarl befit a beast, her anger palpable as she stared the male in the eye. She dodged him masterfully, leaving him stumbling without a target.

Eblis slammed the pommel of her sword against the second guard's wrist, his weapon clattering to the ground. As if bouncing off the male's arm, her sword jumped forward and stabbed the third through the throat. Blood sprayed.

From her front and back, two blades scythed through air at her legs. She pitched forward, blocking one and dancing out of the way of the other. Eblis quickly threw a dagger at the fifth man waiting behind them for an opening, the blade going all the way to the hilt in his eye.

Her breath rushed out of her in controlled pants. Many more swarmed the hall, all gathered by Reneau, she knew.

The one with the injured wrist held the sword with his other hand, if a bit clumsily. He tried a lunge towards her, but she knocked the blade away with her left forearm, right arm slicing down and into his neck. On her side, a female cried with fury and leaped towards her.

She dodged and punched her in the face, bone crunching beneath her knuckles. She was out cold in seconds.

The final one from the frontmost group breathed heavily, but watched her with careful eyes. Their fear was palpable. Enough that they'd managed to break through Reneau's hold with it.

"Run."

And, with a clatter of their sword to the ground, they did.

She faced the rest of them. She could see uncertainty in them, strangely enough, and some of her anger abated. They weren't being controlled anymore, for there was no mind-numbing bluntness in their gazes she noticed. They would still fight. But she had bigger prey coming if Reneau had released them.

She grinned, and unleashed herself in a whirlwind of steel that sent her senses singing despite how dampened they felt without her magic. Indeed, every time she reached for the shadows, she left herself open, but that normal instinct dissipated soon enough as need required her to focus on her blades slicing through flesh and air first and foremost.

Eblis allowed anyone who wanted to run to go free. It meant less adversaries for herself, and also weakened the resolve of the remaining warriors.

She twisted around a blade, her cloak long since abandoned and freeing her movement. She grabbed the female's wrist, snapped her elbow against her knee, and moved on as the soldier fell to the floor with a cry. Her throwing blades had disappeared into other's flesh, and in the flare and swirl of all the other long swords surrounding her, she found herself favoring her curved knives. With them, she would catch a blade mid-stroke and twist it around, leaving her attacker unbalanced. A quick, sluicing stroke forward would down them.

She did whatever would conserve her strength the most, her blood broiling with the awaiting pleasure of killing Reneau and leaving the Queen one weaker of loyal daemati who would serve her.

Before her, the male faltered. She snarled a command to them almost unintentionally, and he retracted for only a moment before another soldier took his place with more fervor. Eblis continued to fight, right up until she felt a lull in the guards. As if a cloud had passed over their heads, they drew away from her.