Isabella knew how to make an entrance, she also knew how to command all the attention in the room, whether it be by the promise of violence, her facial expressions or the words that fell from her mouth, the point was she knew just what to do to have all eyes on her. So when she sailed her whip into the air once more and the sound of it crackling was louder than before, her point was proven.
With that said, by sailing her whip into the air, several, bloodied individuals took the warning literal and broke away from their scuffling in an attempt to run. The woman saw this, tilting her head almost as if she was confounded about the audacity of these people to move without her permission. They must truly want to die, she said to herself.
After them she pursued, running through the vicinity, hopping over those stunned by her agility and prowess. They were also confounded by the startling realization of the golden beast circling above them, threatening a fiery grave at any second.
Isabella's speed so far that everyone had seen was unmatched. The woman bolted effortlessly, she made sure not to touch a soul who stood still as she gave chase. With preciseness, she swung her whip into the backs of these individuals who fled one by one. It tore at their skin, leaving flesh hanging from parts of the wounds. Cries of pain and shock sounded on this now quiet land as the woman applied fitting punishments to those who wanted to show that they were stubborn and had the gall to disrespect her presence.
The devil, on her final attempt at accosting a run-away, grimaced heavily. She gripped her whip tightly causing the muscles in her arm to flex as she brought it up into the air. The length of this thing was insane, for it seemed to touch the heavens. Countless jagged additives were fixed into its material, these little surprises were guaranteed to leave more than just a sting.
And then this majestic whip that danced in the air came crashing down.
The force it sailed with caused it to become invisible. The only thing the witnesses saw as evidence that it touched this person, was them splitting entirely in half. Their organs tumbled to the ground in a bloodied mess, sinking into the water. Like paint spilt in water, the person's blood swirled and stretched as it covered a significant portion of the surface.
Isabella had turned her back to them just before this happened so she stood without seeing what her motion had caused but she knew.
"Fucking hell," Some unknown person mumbled, placing the back of their hand to their lips to keep the vomit from spewing from them. In all the living years of the people combined on that battlefield, they'd never seen anyone die like that, by the slap of a whip. It was cruel, insane but no one said that. They simply watched the stern, slender woman sashay through them again.
Aksel, heaving as he observed his former lover couldn't help but adore her stealth and brutality. It was what had caused him to be attracted to her in the first place, her lack of concern for people and their bullshit. Yeah, she was absolutely cruel at times but there were moments where she contradicted that by being immensely nice. He thought at that moment that she was being nice for she hadn't swung at any of them, but the enemy, people she wouldn't have known were the enemy unless she was secretly aware.
The beast of a woman was resplendent.
She was dangerous and delectable, the personification of bad choices and violence— an amalgamation of all these things. She was beautiful but frightening and as the woman waded through the swampy estate, she gazed at the ongoing tumble with her siblings.
Frowning hard, she saw that Jez had stepped away from Adira. He hovered above the people, gazing at her with contempt.
"You lot are a disgrace," her tone was strident, her voice thick and unfriendly as she spoke. "Not just you two but all of you," she scanned the faces of everyone she could see.
"Fighting for nothing," she chastised. "Whatever these idiots promised was nothing but a fairytale, beautiful lies made to corrupt your minds and you let them do just that." She added in that thick accent.
Isabella inevitably scoffed, turning her attention to Jez.
"And you, you obsequious fool, going out of your way to please the other gods, doing their dirty work only to end up dead on this planet, it's a shame. Nevertheless, if it's a fight you two want, I suggest you try climbing a tree fit for your size."
She then gestured to herself. "I am that tree you could attempt to climb,"
The man frowned, his gruesome, bloodied face stared down at his sister.
"Our masters would be ashamed, annoyed even to see that you've come to fight with the lesser than,"
Jez flew down, his obscure, wounded wings flapped loudly as they stirred up a great wind. His eyes on both mother and daughter, he observed them.
"I've come to do no such thing," replied Isabella. "Choosing a side would show that I want one side to die less than the other, and that's not entirely true. I want everyone to die,"
Horror ran through the veins of all the survivors hearing that. Colette, in a state of shock and intrigue, listened to the woman's words. Was she always that extreme? Intent on killing? Angry? Hot? The girl shook the latter question from her mind. She couldn't tread down that road again, she risked many things by thinking of her mother-in-law in such a manner.
"Ah yes," drawled Jez. "I remember, fondly. You'd rebranded as an indecisive, an impartial being." He chuckled and imperious as it was and without shame, he cast his eyes to the dragon that still flapped its wings above them. The man knew what the sight of the beast meant. It was just time before she shifted and joined the fight too.
"I see, however, that you've rekindled the coal which was once your relationship with her, and now here lies the proof, the pathetic burning ember," Jez pointed to the dragon and at his condescendence, Isabella knew she was going to strike him, but doing that would mean she took a side; she didn't want to take anyone's side, both sides were wrong. And although she hated to admit it, Adira wasn't wrong for reciprocating, she only wished the girl knew how to plan and wage for war. It was anticipated for weeks, yet she was still caught off guard. That was another thing she needed to teach her pathetic child, thought the devil.
Casting her attention back to Jez, she saw that he had conjured his spear again. Though it laid motionless in his hand, she recognized the subtle threat and gripped her whip tighter.
"It's a shame, you would've made the masters so happy, you did make them happy until you swayed in your integrity, ultimately siding with the creators' pets, opening your legs to that disgrace," Jez said. He kept his eyes on Aksel who had found his way closer to the conversation.
Isabella saw him out the corner of her eye. He looked rugged, his dark hair had fallen out of place, spilling over his forehead. Blood and dirt clung to his being, leaving his pretty clothes stained, something she knew he endured simply for Adira. Despite all these things, the man still looked like the person she remembered from many years ago. She still adored his prowess and intelligence but that was about as far as her adulation went.
With her amber gaze back to her brother, Isabella accepted that she was going to be the one to take the man's life. It was necessary. A new error would be forged due to this war, not only physically. The heavens were moments away from crowning their victors, the same as the earth. But if Isabella knew anything as a gambling woman was that a game was never truly done with so many players left on the board.
"You've finally mustered the coverage to say these things to my face," she chuckled. "Finally your balls have dropped," she cackled and at the insulting words, Jez twirled his spear around before tossing it at Isabella.
She swung her whip almost immediately and it collided with the weapon, thrusting it out of view before it could even touch her.
And so the fight resumed but not nearly as many people lived because as Isabella apprehended her brother, she whipped people out of her way and without regard. These were precise whipping, for they severed heads, cut bodies in half, splitting chests.
Jez tried to warp from his sister, but the older devil caught him. Her whip curled around his neck and he gasped. She yanked him out of the air, slamming his body to the watery ground. Once he was pulled from the sky, she warped in front of him, headbutting him and smashing her horns to his and a portion of the man's horn shattered.
Adira, seeing that the fight had resumed and that her mother and Wolf had the other deal devils occupied, her majesty detoured to try and get to Colette. The girl was surrounded by strange faces who blocked her from view. They tried to usher her away from the tension and despite seeing that, the woman was still overprotective. She wanted no one to be that close to the girl not even if they were there to give up their lives for her but as she advanced to her love, she was caught in her steps.
For the second time that evening, the woman noticed Edas but he did not see her, no, he was too busy sinking his fangs into the neck of a man. His victim tried to pry him away but as the vampire turned around to display his kill, her heart sank in her chest.
Isaac laid in the man's arms and like those who witnessed this horrific scene they wondered when it had happened. Where was Sam? Oliver? The others?
They watched the man as he grappled onto the life that receded from his body. The wound on his neck was what stunned him much thought but it was the moment they saw his chest cradled a blade that caused all their throats to tighten— Adira's eyes watered and her resolve crumbled.
Edas had only turned so that he could show his kill to Petra and across the battleground, she observed her brother's killing, hysteria slowly permeating
"Isaac!" She exclaimed, dropping everything and immediately sprinting after the man.
She was knocked down by her own potentate, Lady Angela. Slammed to the ground, water seeping into her nose and mouth, Petra felt cold hands curl their way around her neck. She fought against them though, thrashing around, but was held beneath the water by the woman who was much stronger than her.
It was as if Angela came out of nowhere; she did come from out of nowhere because since the fight had started she was nowhere to be seen. It was almost as if she was a secret weapon, the last resort just in case they needed someone or something as a distraction for a profound act.
In that awful second with the death of the man settling, Adira had a chance to choose between apprehending Colette, who was safe or trying to save either Petra or Isaac. But when she saw Edas toss the man, her friend, her family aside like garbage, her heart shattered into a million more tiny pieces.
The cocky bastard wiped his lips, his ruby eyes observing Petra as she and the lady tumbled. With a smirk on his face, the imp tried to saunter away from beside Isaac as if nothing happened but as he spun around, planning to flee the ground with his paramour, he walked right into Adira who warped in front of him.
She grabbed him by the throat and as tight as she could. At the unexpected grip, the man's eyes bulged as if he'd seen a ghost. He grunted, trying to pry the strong hand from him but failed miserably. The rings Adira wore scorched him too, and he sizzled like meat.
Amber eyes burned to an extent no one had ever seen her eyes glowed before. The cracks in her body, especially on her face and arms expanded as heat emitted from her. She was a walking furnace, a furnace seeking restitution for her grief and the sabotage.
Slowly she crept forward and inside of her hand, the man sat, dangling like an ornament. She never expected him to be that light, although he was a thin man it was still amusing and infuriating. Such a tiny excuse of a being had caused her immense turmoil, so much pain she'd never felt before and she finally had him. It was too easy, the way he was caught. He was so unsuspecting, so filled with pride, so excited from that stick up his ass that he didn't see it coming.
What should she do with this man, the beast in her majesty questioned as she wound her fingers even tighter around his neck? What should she do to Edas for all those weeks of him torturing her and her revenants? What should she take as compensation for him and his cohorts massacring a bar filled with innocent humans and her revenants? For showing up to the council hearing only to accuse her of harbouring animosity for him, as a way for the council to chide her instead so the attention would be taken from him? What should she do for Mclean? She knew it was he who orchestrated everything. Even if he wasn't the culprit, it sounded better in her head accusing him, he deserved it.
"You know, Edas," the woman drawled as she observed his panicked expression. He looked like a frightened puppy, just waiting, hopeful that his friends might've intervened to save him in the final second, but they were too busy to even give a damn. No one was coming and she wanted him to see, so she carefully turned around so that her back was to his entourage who fell further back from them.
"You should be careful around here, danger has a way of lurking in the dark or crawling up behind you, so unsuspecting, sometimes so familiar, so chaotic," the woman said and at that second, the vampire realized she'd used his words against him. He remembered uttering something along those lines to her when she'd showed up at his house the day after he'd attacked her people, it didn't sit well with him though and he tried to attack.
Edas tried to swing an arm into the woman's face, he did land a punch but it didn't faze her at all. Adira counteracted by smashing her forehead into his face repeatedly. She didn't stop until she saw blood dripping down his brown skin and falling onto her rugged hand. She kept going, headbutting him until his nose was busted, even his infamous diamond crusted teeth shattered from the front of his mouth to which he swallowed several.
"No," he pleaded, trying once more to pry himself but the queen caught his arm with her free hand and twist until his shoulder popped. She then crushed every single finger on that hand. Bending his wrist back, with no mercy, Adira dislocated it while Edas begged for her to reconsider.
No one around came to his rescue, they weren't brave enough nor willing to take that risk. So they watched, all the revenants, what was left of his entourage, a few werewolves who had shifted back to their human bodies, everyone witnessed the man's demise.
Adira tried to change her grip so that the hand that choked him would be the hand that destroyed the other limb but as she let go the man tried to dash from beneath her. She struck him, hard across the head and he fell and she went after him.
Forcing her hand into his mouth, Adira gripped the top half of his face while the other gripped the bottom half and she pulled them apart. He groaned at the feel of these massive hands pulling his face apart and he could do nothing but lay there with wide eyes.
The woman took her time as she ripped his face. She listened with gratification as his jaw snapped, causing it to loosen beneath her hold. Keeping her fiery eyes to the man who bleed incessantly, she pulled and pulled until both halves of his face came apart in her hands.
The inside of his mouth dangled as blood spurted everywhere. The man still was alive after that, so she reached in, using her fingers to yank what was inside of him, tossing it away. She did this until she had torn his throat out.
Dragging him to his feet again, the revenant queen, the beast queen, tore his chest open and wrapped her palm around his now beating heart and squeezed. She tossed him to the side like a ragdoll once she had crushed everything out of his heart.
Adira was filled with a rush of adrenaline and hatred, but she was in such a drunken state of grief that she was incapable of moving. She found that her gaze was focused on the lifeless body of Isaac. Some revenants had gone to his side, hoisting him onto the back of a wolf who carried him out.
Her body shook at the thought of having lost the man. None of her revenants knew this but she still was not able to bring any of their friends back and she knew they must've realized this but no one approached her about it. Now, however, she knew the pressure would be on her to rescue their souls and it would then be exposed how useless she was to them.
And it came to light that while she ruminated, the few beings left as witnesses weren't the only ones to observe Adira's strange behaviour. Ouza had broken away from Wolf, and he used that sliver of a chance to leave a mark as he too saw the woman as she appeared lost.
Warping away from his sibling, the devil made a moment's decision to attack the queen. His weapon had been discarded somewhere, knocked from his hand during the scuffle but his brother's laid unattended, just waiting to be held. And he reached for it.
Grabbing hold of the spear, Ouza stretched his arm as far back as his body would allow him. Death would be the result and he knew it wasn't just reserved for him. Many in the heavens would thank him for discarding the one thing they fought over for centuries and he would be praised. His masters would probably honour him by bringing him back and that was a thought he could die with.
This spear went sailing over to Adira. It came hurtling towards her with vengeance and most people were unaware. Isabella was seconds away from killing Jez, so she couldn't have seen. Wolf laid in the grass, eyes up at the winged creature that came closer to them, and he prayed that she did intervene unlike what she spoke against. Colette stood with a myriad of emotions after seeing what her love had done, but was so thrilled to see that after months of torture, Edas was dealt with. Aksel and the merpeople assisted the revenants in rounding up who they could. Petra had finally gained the upper hand during her tussle with Angela and was moments away from doing the unimaginable.
But then the spear struck flesh. It struck Adira from behind, going through and through her chest. She didn't feel it at first because it felt like someone had simply hit her back but then an unfathomable amount of pain scattered through her body and she gasped. Her breath caught in her lungs and she stumbled. Everyone was too busy doing whatever it was that they did to realize what had occurred, but Colette saw. She saw the light in Adira's eyes go out instantly and she screamed, startling the people with this haunting bellow.