Alone in the Dark

Volleys

"No, you idiot, it's not me they want." Kannein looked up to her, his eyes fierce for a moment as she met them with her own gaze.

Then she heard the laughing growl only half a heartbeat before she was tackled from behind by a giant mass of blackness.  She tumbled along the ground, trying to fight back, rolling in a chaotic battle with a shadow itself.

She kicked and slashed with her free blade, feeling the familiar sensation of being picked up and tossed across the room as easily as if she were a children's toy. She hit a stone pillar with a hard crack, gasping for breath as she fell to the ground, her head swimming as she tasted blood. Still, Nerini forced herself to roll out of the way and to her feet as the monster came after her again.

She danced to the side and brought up her sword, causing it to withdraw with a growl of pain as she deflected a slashing claw. It slowed and circled her, its movement filled with predatory confidence, red eyes locked on her. Its movement caused her to spin in a circle to try to keep watch on it, even as she spat out a mouthful of blood.

As she moved, she noticed Keana, Thaner and several other fighters come stealthily down the stairs, trying to take up positions to join in the fight. She stopped spinning and backed away, trying to keep the creature's back to the group as they moved to her brother.

Nerini hoped that she could give them a chance to get him to safety, somehow.

"How about we have a fair fight, just the two of us?" Nerini put as much swagger in her words as she pulled out her second sword and spun her blades.

She needed to keep it distracted with her sounds and movements. Nerini was unnerved by how solely focused on her it seemed to be, as if it had no care in the rest of the world. The thought caused her to shudder involuntarily, remembering Kannein's words.

"Our father has been waiting for you." The creature growled before it launched at her, sending her back pedalling with her blades slashing clumsily in defence. But she wasn't fast enough, not against one of these things, and not with no sort of surprise.

One claw caught her stomach, raking through leather and metal and into her skin, the force sending her stumbling to the side, rolling and slashing out with her sword. She caught one claw with her blade, though her sword was merely ripped out of her hand and sent flying into the darkness as its other clawed hand caught her around the throat, lifting her up into the air.

Nerini felt darkness and emptiness behind her, and glanced down reflexively. The darkened part of the room wasn't merely bathed in darkness because it was out of the light. It appeared that the castle was crumbling into an underground cavern, and she was now being held out over it.  Suddenly, its face was right beside hers, its breath moving over her cheek as the creature purred.

Nerini yelled in surprise, turning and spitting at the creature as she struggled to break its grip on her throat.  "I'm going to kill every one of you!"

She felt blood on her lips, could taste it on her tongue, not knowing if it came from the pain in her chest, her stomach or from biting her tongue when she had been tossed around. Nerini told herself not to worry about it, that all she needed to do was keep breathing and survive right now. Everything could heal up all on its own, as long as she made it out of this battle. She wanted to survive, but she silently hoped that Kannein had been brought to safety by now.

"No..." The creature murmured, jerking back from her before it froze and let out a purr. There was a grin that spread over its shifting features.  "No, our father. He didn't tell us about this. Why shouldn't I keep you for myself?"

Nerini blinked at the creature, frowning at it as it continued to hold her, barely allowing her to breathe. "Fuck you!"

She kicked out at it, though its arm was too long, her legs too short, and where her feet did land, she barely brushed its arm. Nerini reached up her hand and grabbed at the thing's claws, trying to pull them from around her throat.

It shook her, hissing at her angrily,  then purred once more, its face coming closer to hers. "He's found us, the father sees you, and he knows who you are now."

Before Nerini could contemplate its words, the thing screamed, and she felt blood splatter over her face. For a moment, she hung in its claws as it arched, and she saw a sword blade protrude through its chest. Then the darkness dropped from around the creature in a sudden explosion of magic that sent Nerini flying backwards in a tumble.

For the briefest of moments, she was afforded the sight of Keana scrambling up from under the body of the creature.

She smiled at the weirdness of it all, her floating mid-air and him pushing himself away from the dead body in slow motion. The room started crumbling around them and she saw one last glimpse of her brother being carried up the stairs by Thaner and one of Keana's lieutenants. Then she fell into darkness, hitting a sloping ground and rolling deeper down into the darkness. Even as she slid and toppled down the rocky slope, an avalanche of stone and dust followed Nerini as the castle seemed to collapse on top of her.