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Certainly- her former suppression of the Primal gift she had was a mistake, as was her willing infection with Sanguinism. But the capstone of this misstep was her convincing her Archblood lover to do the same, her own fangs infecting him while she was still Void-Blessed. She could blame it on the curse's warping of her mentality all she'd like, but her scorching return to Archbloodism when she was denied the cleansing therapy had shunted her mind back to its senses. It was at her behest that he suppressed the Primal gift of resurrection he had been given, returning to his vampiric ways. And now? She knew it would be nigh impossible to get him to revert without forcing him to miss the therapy. Iranela needed a group of friends and trusted allies to ambush and restrain him, hopefully at a time close to his next dose… Which would have been this day. But it was likely too late to stop the suppression from being extended this week, and so she had time to think. She needed to get him to trust her again, despite the recent fight regarding their relationship status. Just enough to be the bait…
The Archblood pulled herself out of her thoughts as she heard footsteps approach, panning her gaze up to see a grotesque being of ink and blood. Speak of the voidling and they shall appear, she thought, halting in her path and offering forth a small wave. The silver-skinned individual's features were obscured by a glitching, flickering mass of ink and misty blood, pooling at their feet and tendriling up to his form. Clawed hands held two blood-made axes, tipped towards the ground as three red eyes bore into the woman at his approach. With a few uttered words she convinced him to stop and speak- and though his mouth didn't move his dislocated and staggering voice reached back to her.
Iranela reached out to him, baring her heart to him once more. What she said was true, she did want to make amends. Dragons, did she want to make amends. To try to keep the relationship they had, even if he was just trying to throw his life away. She didn't lie to him despite trying to set the hook, to lead him to his own harm. It hurt to do- and it hurt more when he didn't believe her. When Briareth simply threw it all back in her face, insulting the weak hold she still had on her religion and explaining to her his planned end. The miserable woman wouldn't let him see her cry in this state, turning to quickly mop at tear-pricked eyes before returning to look at the horrifying vampiric visage of her lover. More than anything in the world, she just wanted to hug him, to hold him close and know that everything was okay… But she couldn't have that yet.
And then… He did something unexpected. Almost as if a switch was flipped, the Sanguine stepped forward with echoing static screams crashing around him, the blood mist coalescing and darkening around his face. Lifting his blood-red axes, he stepped forth to her- raising the rightmost with an intense focus. Iranela backpedaled a step, eyes widening as her throat began to glow and spark in shock, purple mist ebbing into her hands as panic set in. He wouldn't hurt her. Briareth would never-
The first slash came to her left shoulder, axe arcing through flesh as the creature's maw cracked open, exhaling a mist of red blood and revealing sharpened, blood-stained teeth. Drops of red and black ichor pearled down to their chin from their now-opened mouth- a wicked snarl sent to the woman. She cried out in pain, the pulse in her throat fading out as she was caught off guard. It was in that moment she knew- whatever this… Thing was? It was not her lover. Not truly. Certainly it wore his face, much like the blood mimic that killed her and caused her to become Archblood in the first place. But this wasn't Briareth. Her face hardened into a grimace, wrapping her hands around those ghostly tendrils of purple energy and yanking two shortswords into existence. They burned into her hands, purple glass flecked with red flakes from the lingering voidal energy in her system- just another reminder of her mistakes. She pulled them up in a defensive stance, glaring down the creature opposite of her.
Laughter, scattered, glitching and strained would echo around her as the Sanguine stepped forth, it's voice reaching out. "You can give a fight, unlike the Cahal, how- s̶a̴t̷̞̩͊i̷̝̅s̵̬̟̄̃f̷̡̣̓̍͘y̵̻̐ḯ̷͉͈̰̖̝̕n̶͉̪̞̹̦͚̜̓͌̿́g̴̢̛̭͍̦͈̞̙̦̓͛́̅̇̚͝." With a flick of his axe a few drops of her blood would scatter to the pavement, as he sent a kick for her knee.
"L̶̨̢̬͈̺̮͎̠̗̮̫͕̯̈́̽̓́̀̚e̸̮̙̙̯͉͌̓̉͆̕͘͝͠͝t̵̛̹͛̽̓̂̔̂̈̅̃̈̇̒̒̽͠'̸̘̰̼͔̞̪̿́͐́̊͝s̷̡̺͈͕͇̬̜̮̙̥̿̌͐͋̾̐͛͐̊̓́̐̅̄͊̕͝ͅ ̷̡̢̛̘̫̬̜̼̫̙̩͉̜̪̳̘͍̹͕̱͇͔̋̈̀̑͆͊̀̾͐̈́̿̕̚͝͠ś̴̡̧͎͇̠̜̭̟̭͇͎͚̝̫̦͈͓̪̱̬̘̑̈̅̓̅̽̂͗͒̕̚̚͘͝ẻ̶̡̜̜̜͓̣̮̇̓͗̏̂̑̈́̽͝e̸̛̲̮͕̲̞͎̤̖̞̣̤͒̄̑͂̊̒̂̀̿̇̽̀̈́̈́́͝͝͝͝ ̶̢̧̛͎͚͙͚̻̞̖̹̤̻̰͈̍̾͛̀̊̔͗͌̔̏̋͂̓͘͝ͅh̷̨͉̦̦̬̻̣̤͍̪̙͉̟̑̑͜͝o̷̢̢̫̭̻̫̮̝̩̩̪̫̟̗͌̓̔̾̃̽͘͘̚͜͜͠ẅ̵̥͎̩̻̀̈́̀̍̈́̓͆̕̕̚͠ ̵̧̧̰͚̮̪̞͈̹̭̟̞̜̹̘͎͚̪̳̯̊̽̑̉̍͒w̷̨̡̯͕̤̖̬̙͆̾͂͂̂̂̏̕͘̚ę̸̧̛̗̘̳͇̫͙͍͕͉̟̯̦͔͉̉̓̀͑̉̐̏̀̈́͆͝͠ļ̶̛͎̱̭̪̠̺͔̫̭̳̪̗̞̽͗ͅͅl̴̨̛̛̩͓̭̮͎͉̫̼͖̪͚̭̄̓̀̌͑̍͐̂̉̊̓̕͘͠͝ ̷̪̜̺͙̤̜͖̭͍̖͎̟̮̰̬̯̣͂̋͜y̶̢̜̣̺̪͊̐̈̒̀̓̀̾̈́̾̎̂͗͂͆́͜͝͠ǫ̸̨̛̛̛̥̩̲̘̤͚̱̰͖̙̝̩̤̫̽̑̍͒͐̂̐̇̓̉̅̉̐̿̚ͅu̶̘̠̖̬̇̿̈́͂ͅ ̴̧̨͚̪̣̳̟̪͕̺̩͖̺̟͙͋́̊̃̏̇́̊̽̓̍̑̚͘̚d̴̢̛̛̥̲̫͚̣̺̝̯̯̩̈́̑̔̀̎͜ͅͅó̸̜͖̯͇̮ ̸̨̢̧̛͎̜̬̱͉̫̣͔̯̙͉̬̞̻̠̫͔͑̔̔́́̈́̈͗͂̎͌̌̆̇̈̔̚̕͠͝ͅḁ̷̙͔̲̯̂͌̽͛̎̚g̴̢̧̩̩̲̽̾̔̇͗̓̎̂̊͂͂͌́̏̽̔͗͝à̸̧̧̧̧̗̱̞̙̺͈͉͔̻̬͎͉̘̗̮̜̿̌̔͐̆̓̀͋͝ͅì̷̛̥͍͙͌̉͛̽̉n̸̨̖̞͚̬͓̣̤̞͉͇̓̽̓͆̾̚ṡ̷̨̢̨̘̞̤̲̺͚̹̞͚̗̘̙̂͊͂̔̽͑͜͝t̴̨̮̺͕̩̹͕͌́̾̒͊̀̇̒̂͐̋̊͘͠ͅ ̶̛̖͚̯͚̱̘̪̇͋͆̀͗̑̅͆̓̚̕͜ͅm̴̛̰̞̣̙̯̓̊̇͊̽̂̄̋͒͛̒̚͠͠e̶̡̡̡̛͔̞͍̦͚͙̞͈̺̠͔̣͓̰̻͉͋̀̿̊̀̽̄͑̊͆̾̅!̷͉̠͔̲̪͕͉̞̯̒͑́"
With a hop back the woman avoided the kick, barking a quip back out as she honed her focus. Well- at least at this point she could truly test her mettle- he was going all out on her without her even having to ask. But Iranela knew this was dangerous- potentially a life or death situation for the both of them. She sent a slash towards his left shoulder with one sword, keeping the other defensive. The goal? Wear him down enough to escape, or hope someone else comes along to help. The Archblood didn't know if she could win- especially in her weakened and sleepless state.
The sword smashed into a summoned crow, missing Briareth as he continued to press forwards towards her and send two slashes towards her chest. She responded with an overcharge just as the blades began to carve into flesh, a screeching cone of purple lightning erupting from her mouth which sent the sanguine back a few meters and onto the ground. He tried pushing himself up, rising to a seated position and holding one of his axes up- but she took the opportunity to quite literally jump on him, lashing her draconic tail and slamming her foot on the grounded axe while digging a shortsword into his shoulder. Maybe she could render his arms useless, prevent him from attacking her further? It was worth a shot- she certainly couldn't take many more hits before she would be down-
THWACK! The woman cried out in pain as the remaining axe chopped into her thigh, dropping her to a knee despite the effort to stay standing. The laughter of the Vampire's twisted form would reach her ears as his voice echoed from afar, taunting and beckoning her demise. Biting through the pain, she twisted the sword stuck in his shoulder and sought to stab her remaining weapon into the other- only to be interrupted by a shrill and echoing screech the creature emitted. It gave her pause, and she winced as the world around her was replaced by static and the thrum of adrenaline in her ears. Bystanders were accumulating now, but neither could hear them as their desperate fight continued.
With a roar Iranela spiraled her head forward, smacking into the creature's face and allowing her the opportunity to stab her other sword into his shoulder, successfully forcing him to his back. She could feel the energy at her throat accumulating once more, pulsing and crackling, almost ready to surge forth again. Iranela had won the upper hand- but for how long? A mote of hope sparked as her other leg was kicked out from under her, bringing the woman to kneel over the violent shell of her lover. Swords twisted further into his shoulders, seeking to pin him to the ground. And still the sanguine pushed forward, cracking his head against her nose and further damaging his pierced shoulders. Both individuals were bloodied and battered, but somehow Iranela had maintained her superior position over the creature. And still it thrashed, screeching out at her.
"Y̶̡̢̛͉̼̰̟͓̲̩̙̥̱͚͉̩̞͖͕͔̾́̅O̴̥̻͙͚̮̭̠͎͍̣̲̬͖̮̅͑̿̄̍̌̇̋̅͒͝͝ͅŪ̸̦͇͕̎̽̈́̎̽ ̷̡͙̳̮̣͇̜̮̇̇̑̍͐̄̃̎͆̏̐́̀̀̊̏͝Ẅ̴̺̙̪́̎̀̎͐͆̔́͐̒͑͜͠Ô̸̰̘̳͈͌́͆̐͜͠ͅN̶̨̨̛͎̰͙̭̬͎̭͚͕͚̱̭̙̗͚̗̣̬͎̎̽̃̈̂͗̿̋̃̍͝͠T̶̡̧̢̛̜̼̹͖̘̮̯̘̯̪̈́̇̎̈̾̾͆͛̓̑̌̊̋̐͗̇̈́̕̚͝ ̴̗̻̰̜͖̑̌̈́̊̐̚W̶̦̗͖̾̈̈̍͑̐̒̒̎̈́I̶̡̝͚̞͔̩͍̦̯̳̍̆̄̒̓̂̀̓̊̆̿̒͆̄̅̅̅͒̄̕N̸̨̛͍̫͙̲̗̲͇̘͔͇̘̾͊͛̾͗̀̉͌̉͋͂͗"
She could feel the pulsing in her throat become strong enough now to surge forth. And so, with a cold glare she pushed him back to the ground, lording over him as blood trickled down from her injured nose. With an inhale, she would let all of her emotions surface. Her rage, sorrow, and anguish would culminate into an agonized and mournful roar as she let the lightning surge straight to the man's face. With nowhere to go but down his head would smack into the pavement with a cracking noise, pooling crimson underneath the vampire as the woman uttered a single commanding word: "Yield."
Still the sanguine deigned to writhe underneath her, inky mass keening out as it attempted to cover the man, a futile attempt at protecting his half-conscious form. Once more the woman stabbed down, piercing swords into stone to keep her opponent down as she reared back a fist. With a final screech, she bellowed out a "SLEEP!" as she sent her fist to his face, connecting and cracking against his head once more. Finally- he was out. The danger was over.
Only a few beats would go by before the Archblood realized her victory, revelling- and then panicking. Her bloodloss was severe, as was the other's. But while she would be fine- her head was still in-tact, she could survive… She knew the creature that puppetted her lover's body could still die- alongside the one she cared so much for. Shaking hands pushed into the satchel at her side, pulling three clacking vials. A small one brought to her lips- concentrated Avant leaf oil, and then scattered to shards against the pavement once it was emptied. She knew that it was too much- likely a risk of overdose on the drug, and it wouldn't mix with poppy's well. But she didn't care, desperately clawing against the lull of beckoning slumber to ensure that she could at least stabilize and sedate the sanguine. Rubyflower and ogrebait intensoid were fed to the unconscious individual, panic setting in as she panned the surroundings with ragged breaths. Friends- the bystanders were friends.
Willing her anguish away, she croaked out one final word.
"Help."
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"You can fight, unlike the Cahal, how- satisfying."
"Let's see how well you do against me!"
"YOU WONT WIN"
[\SPOILER]
"Let's see how well you do against me!"
"YOU WONT WIN"
[\SPOILER]
