Scarlet

We'd Live Before We'd Die

They appeared before a field of fighting men where black and white clashed. Dark clouds hung above, covering the sun and casting a melancholy tone. It was a perfect drear for this vain battle.

The added weight to her being told Emma that the Queen had dressed them for battle. Her eyes immediately honed in on the brunette beside her, curiosity taking her as she thought of the woman's own preparation, and was not disappointed in what she found.

The Evil Queen was clad, shoulders to toes, in black plate armor. Her raven hair was pulled back, but still spilled into the heavy metal that encased her being and the blonde shuddered, her blood racing southward. There was something both dangerous and arousing about that brunette woman as she stood there, the lines in her face hard as she lifted a double-sided axe topped with a spear point and smirked, as if she were showing off a mere plaything.

A very barbaric part of her could not wait to see the ebony blades sink into delicate flesh.

"Shall we, my knight?" The question came as a primal growl and when those exploring eyes lifted, she saw the beast in the Queen's eyes, waiting to be unleashed.

It was in no place of hers to hinder its escape, thus she dipped her head and the two started, Emma drawing her sword for the first unlucky victim.

She saw a man break from the rest, surging toward the two women when he caught sight of their forms, and yelled something incoherent in allegiance to Queen Snow White, wielding his silver blade. Before Emma could cut him down, she saw the Evil Queen, moving like a shadow as she swept across the dull green plain and buried her axe in his neck.

It looked seamless the way she had completed the act, as if it were no different than swatting a fly. As the blonde approached, Regina was wrenching her blade free from its temporary hold, and his body fell, gushing crimson from the gape.

"Impressive," purred the blonde knight and a scarlet smirk was flashed her way, though the moment did not linger as they were pushed into the thick of the battle.

It was deafening, the way voices shouted in both pain and allegiance, and the horses' hooves pounded against the ground around her or screaming as they were struck, and the sound of steel-on-steel, reverberating thunder throughout the open field. The air was thick, heavy with the stench of blood and death, and the distant moisture of a storm and its earthy scent. It felt surreal, as if she had stepped into an image from a war book, each movement numb as her brain settled into fight mode, swinging that ebony blade.

She made sure to keep close to the Queen – it was her duty, after all, as the Black Knight to protect the royal woman. Though, as her jade eyes fell momentarily to the brunette, she knew Regina could take care of herself. It amazed her the way her blades swung without missing a beat, slicing into the exposed flesh of knights that had approached, staining their pristine armor with red death.

She had to shake her gaze away from the glorious dark sorceress as she was thrust into the midst of men and horse. Like a shadow, her blade moved as she did, whipping silver-clad knights as they approached her, their cries and shouts filling her head. Her blade slashed across a silver plate, knocking a man off his horse as he passed, falling hard onto the dirt.

As she rushed forward to finish him off, her Queen was a step ahead, the silver end of her blade stained red as it opened his throat. Green eyes fell to his convulsing form as she passed him and she expected to feel ill as she had before, but an emptiness settled her brain numb. It scared her, this feeling, this coldness.

"For Princess Emma!" shouted a poor sap dressed in his signature silver plate armor, his matching sword flashing like lightning toward the blonde. It roared like thunder when she parried and aimed for his neck – some place that seemed the most effective. He stood for a moment, stunned, until his sword dropped with him.