A Court of Blood and Glory

War

"Ruining the ships did nothing. Vallahan has other means of transport, and most of Rask's troops have winnowed into Hybern. They are almost ready to attack, but they expect us to make the first move; they have prepared for it, actually. There are many traps and spells in place, too many for us to unravel in time, even with Helion's power. Even with the monsters allied with us, we don't have enough." Azriel said to the High Lords, and we all looked to each other, trying to figure out our next move.
"Where does their power come from? How do they have so much in so little time, and how have they created those beasts?" Helion said, looking for a way to undo Hybern from the inside.
"The Cauldron, it gives Hybern a seemingly endless supply of troops, and it gives the King more power, power which he uses to strengthen his armies. If we could take out the cauldron, the monsters that Hybern has created with them will die, but we can't do that, not now. We already tried." Azriel responded, and I saw Thesan slump down in his chair, Tarquin immediately losing whatever composure he'd regained.
"I can do it." I said. "I can nullify the cauldron's power, and that should give us a chance at survival." I looked to Rhys, but he didn't look at me, instead at the tattoo inked onto my arm, the one that meant he couldn't sacrifice himself, but I'd said nothing of making my own sacrifice.
I don't care if it kills me, if it will keep you alive. I told him, and he looked at me with raw pain in his eyes.
I care, and I won't let you do this. He sent back, his eyes lined with silver.
"But what is the cost?" Tarquin asked, finding his voice. "Everything has a price." He said, and looked to me. "That is why you haven't done it already, because it would kill you." He said, but it had sounded so silly, that we were willing to go to war and risk losing, but we wouldn't sacrifice one life in exchange for thousands.
"I am willing to die to save you all." I said.
"You couldn't have done it earlier, couldn't you?" Eris snarled, and he burnt his handprints into the table. I didn't blame him. Too many had died.
"She won't die." Amren said, walking into the room. "She won't die because we can share the cost, and that will allow both of us to live and take out the cauldron in one go." She looked to me, and I realised that Amren had just found a way to turn the tide of the war. Hope shined in all our faces, and I could see my future, a future with my family and my mate, as if it was almost in front of me. Almost. We had a war to win first.
"I can go with Feyre to the cauldron, the... monsters can carve a path for us, if you give the order, Rhysand, and Mor can come for protection whilst we do the spell."

The Weaver had cut a path down the left of the battle, and we followed her, killing all that tried to attack us. Where Amren pointed, death followed, and if that wasn't enough, Mor and I killed with both our magic an dour blades, blood splattering our faces.
I obtained a deep cut on my arm from one of the attor, and a huge beast managed to bit into Mor's leg, but we kept going, kept fighting, kept killing our way through the battle, until the Weaver stopped fighting, and sat on a large boulder, her eyes hollow, but her face one of the most beautiful I had ever seen. She smiled at us as we drew closer, and I recalled what Rhys had said, that she would have free reign on the battle field to kill whoever she wished, but she made no move to come for us, and I was grateful to her. We began to climb up a cliff, using rocky outcroppings to haul ourselves up without being seen by Hybern on the other side, but from that height I was able to look out over the whole battle field. Cassian and Azriel were still fighting, and so was Rhys, but our armies were barely moving, because where one Hybern soldier fell, ten more took their place. We had to get to the cauldron, fast, but I felt a shift in the world, as the caldron rallied its power, and my eyes were drawn to the pale warrior that felled our enemies in mighty swings of his sword, only to find him looking up at me, smiling, as I felt the cauldron ready it's power, and it slashed through the armies, both enemy and ally, until it slammed into the Carver's chest, wiping him from the battle field. I could have sworn that I saw him smile as he died.

Rhysand

We were not gaining any ground, were barely making a dent in Hybern's forces as we fought, even as the High Lords pushed everything they had into killing. We were overwhelmed, and were running out of options. I had one left, one option that I hated, but was willing to try. So I did, looking to the gleaming metal of my wings one last time.
I dug deep inside me, into the core of my power, summoning talons to my fingers and feet, and scales replacing skin, my teeth sharpening into fangs. I felt my muscles grow and shift as my body contorted, the metal wings at my back being destroyed as I shifted, their magic unable to keep them a part of me in that form. Pain laced every movement as the beast I hated was unleashed. I was a monster of nightmares and death, and all that came before me either fled or died.
Noticing what I had done, Helion began to shift as well, golden feathers and shredding claws and feathered wings joining the battle, along with two Illyrians that came to my side. Cassian and Azriel, the latter of which's wings were limp at his back, with Cassian's torn up enough that he was unable to fly at all.
I tore through muscle and bone, blood dripping from my maw as I battled. I didn't care if Prythian feared me as they watched me battle, if I became the monster that I was expected to be, because I would save my family, I would save my home. I would save my mate.
I kept fighting, kept slashing and killing my way across the field, trying to hold out until my mate could stop the cauldron, but I didn't think that I was going to survive that long.