The Creation of Furore - Part 4

[Dark Emporess of Fury]

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Katya's lifeless body floated face down in the pool of blood. Pearled silk was now the color of deep crimson.
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"Next."Once more the single word of the beast rang out over the caverns.
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Valianna drew in a deep breath and rose shakily back to her feet. Moving forward, she came to rest in front of the hideous beast, bowing slightly out of begruding respect. Crimson pools uplifted to lock with coal-black lifeless eyes that stared back at her. She spoke strongly, completely sure of herself and her abilities. "I am next, dear sire." With that, she sank to her knees, withdrawing all of her vials and powders, her staff laying carefully by her side. She began to move quickly, knowing her time to act was short and she withdrew the dagger that was kept strapped to her inner thigh. A flick of her wrist and the forsaken object was launched upward to land smoothly in the creature's larynx, withdrawing an ear shattering shriek of pain, the beast lowered its head down slightly and she used it for her own good. A vial of azure liquid was shattered upon the floor and a powder of ebony thrown on top to create an explosion of smoke that drifted upward to blind the creature. A taloned claw batted the area where she knelt and she screamed in pain as her back was ripped open from her neck down. Fighting the tears that threatened to blind her instead of the beast, she reached for yet another vial, a larger one this time, filled with a clear liquid. Prying the cork out, she threw it upwards, splashing the beast with the acidic formula. Her hands were thrown over her ears as once more it roared out its pain and retaliated by wrenching its hands together and letting its blood seep into the open wounds of her back, burning her as though it had lit a flame and held it against her flesh. She held out, refusing to give him the satisfaction of hearing her scream back. She would not give in and once more grabbed for a powder. She jumped upward and flung it at the creature, literally causing his fur and flesh to melt off revealing his bones, charred black from centuries of torturing victims. Another select vial was in her hand as she started shouting out symbolic words, each one igniting his bones on fire. She stood, watching as the bones turned to ash, bringing this magnificent beast down to her size, or as much as it could be. Without her friends, she knew she would have been no match for this thing. She stared upward at it, continuing to shoot out her spell components. Her hand broke forth to grab for her dagger and the beast grabbed her wrist, easily snapping the bones within it. A howl erupted as it yanked her forward and grasped her hair, yanking her by it, pulling free strands as it swung her delicate body around like a whip and slammed her onto the floor. She laid there, gasping as pain coursed through her, her fragile bones almost shattering with the impact. She reached out weakly, feeling around on the ground for her spell components. She found one and threw it blindly, the vial exploding over the beasts face and permanently rendering him blind as his eyes were gouged out by tiny hands that erupted with the explosion. She struggled, reaching for her staff and drawing on its power to rise to her feet, she stood there broken and almost in a heap as she shouted a single word. "Cristahl!" The gemstone upon her staff once more glowed with an amethyst light. She continued to shout up at the creature as she moved towards it, her body shuddering with horrific pain. "This time, I end your life and I end it for good. This staff wields my own life force and with it, I will destroy you!" The last words were shrieked as she used the staff as a spear and shoved it through the heart of the creature. She collapsed, near death, as this Raczmont threw back its bloody and beated head to yell with enough intensity that the very walls would shatter and collapse. Daggers of rock from the caverns ceiling would fall down to spear the beast once more and then an explosion of brilliant blue light would fill the gigantic space. And there, within its place, sat an ancient tome, leather bound and shining like new. For those who proved worthy, there was the key.
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In the distance Myst laid, irregular gasps of breath struggling through the broken ribs that bore down upon her. Bloodied grin formed upon her tiers, pink muscle slipping out to remove the beast's & her own vitae from her lips. She rolled to her side sending ripples through the puddle of blood that had gathered around her near dead form. She clawed her talons into the dirt flooring, pulling herself to the pool's edge. Claws shrinking back inward she wrapped her digits about Katya's wrist, struggled pulls brought the lifeless form to the edge. She collapsed completly, fingers grasp dropping from Katya as cough expelled the growing blood from her lungs. She turned to the fallen beast, to Katya, then to Vali as soft golden flicker of the Light within her danced faintly in her orbs, they had prevailed. Or had they? She looked to the ancient tome that replaced the Raczmont's entity, then to her fallen allies. Was it worth it? Was it worth their loss? Sigh was given as she dropped her headwhile she stretched out for Valianna, her eyes closing as conscience slipped away her hand dropping palm spread only inches from where she tried to reach.
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Barely conscious, but lifeless to the point where she appeared dead, Katya had been floating in the pool of blood, too weak to get herself out of it. Her blood was draining from her body, she was dying. Yet she knew this, and she accepted it. She had not seen the final battles of her friends, and she cried silently until she felt herself being pulled from the pool. Laying there, on the pools edge, she managed to spit up her own blood, coughing enough that she could breath. She inched her head to one side, searching for who pulled her out, and her gaze fell to Myst who lied there unconscious. An inch or two more and she saw Valianna, breathing shallowly and dying as well. She choked back another sob, and she too wondered if it had been worth it. For now, she did not think so. Hints of regret over came her and she forced them into something else, focused on her anger of dying this way and let out a blood curling scream of desperation.
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Valianna could feel her heartbeat failing as she laid there. Almost every bone in her body was broken, cracked, bruised or simply unuseable. She could not move and she did not try. She felt Myst, rather than seeing her come closer before her body failed her as well. As for Katya, she did not know. She presumed her dead until she heard the scream that erupted from her friend. A wail so dreadful, she was reminded of a banshee that tortured in death. It terrified her enough that she was able to turn, to look at her friends for the first time since her attack on the Raczmont. Before she could help herself, she began to laugh, a slow laugh that diminished into a cry as she spoke barely above a whisper. "We won."
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Harsh breath ripped into Myst's lungs sending her into a spasm of coughs. Her vitae flowed free from her mouth, the sweet nectar of red life was draining from her. She lifted upwards on one arm, shaking she slowly crawled her body back against the wall. She lifted a palm, sending her tenticles out with a river of blood to take hold upon the wall. Pulling herself up she stood exposing the gaping wounds that ran the length of her body. She stood dangling like a broken puppet, as she tried her best to speak. "Valianna. Katya. We must finish what we came for. It cannot end like this, it just can't."
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"You both live." Katya's words were choked out around the blood that filled her throat once more. To think, once upon a time she relished in that action. She forced her shredded body to sit up, leaning back on shaking arms as she looked at the two of them. Golden hues flashed with her coming in and out of consciousness. She spit out the blood once more as she forced herself to crawl weakly over to them. "We will finish. I refuse to go like this." She hissed out the words as anger over came her once again. She reached out to gently touch Valianna. "Get the book and finish this!"
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She heard her friends' words in the back of her mind, but refused to acknowledge them for the time being. Crimson hues swirled with gold within Valianna's eyes as she stared longingly at the key that laid just inches from her head. Determined to win further, a single hand once creamy white, but now stained deep red, shot forward to grab the book. Her flesh burned as the book fought to protect itself from her grasp. She hissed with fury as she clutched in, speaking firmly as she held it. "I won and it is mine." She clutched it to herself as the burning eased from her fingertips. She threw it open and read silently the instruction encased within its bounds. "We must lay before the pool, all of us together, holding hands as we speak the words written here, as we ask for the same thing. Then together we must drink until our blood is restored. We must wait though until we have only but a drop of our own left. We must, in essence, die first."
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[Continued in Part 5]