Kintsugi

The Conflict

With a roar, Eveirdo sent a lightning bolt arcing towards Simm. His chair was blasted to splinters. But the man was no longer there. In less than a second, he had crossed the room to stand before Anson and Sable. Sable went to slash with her claws and Simm flicked his fingers at her. She was tossed across the room to crash into a huge vase, shattering it. Simm grasped Anson by the throat and the wolf's growl was strangled.

Simm hissed in Anson's face as he struggled to breathe. "I'll deal with you, after I've controlled your friends."

Anson disappeared and Eveirdo ground his teeth as he stopped straining to stand and started to force a shift instead. Aisling had reversed her charge when Simm had teleported, redirecting to come in at a full sprint. Her blades were brought into bear with every ounce of her strength and momentum. An awful hissing screech and flying sparks as she glanced off a glowing shield was all she managed. But then she whirled to one side, clearing the way for Rebecca to blast away with a high-powered beam of light.

Simm's shield shattered under the punishing blow. He sneered and lifted a hand towards Rebecca, stopping the beam before it could reach him. Aisling came darting back in, lunging into the opening with a snarl. Simm shifted his attention, forced to deal with the more immediate threat.

Eveirdo had to grin as scales went sliding over his skin. The Vampire Princess and her Witch companion had obviously practiced together. They knew how the other fought and worked in perfect concert to keep Simm on his heels. Sable picked herself up out of the broken pottery and added to the dance, both Vampires bearing in hard with punishing attacks before opening up to allow Rebecca room for a spell.

Rolling forward, Eveirdo's back arched as his wings flung out. Gold jewelry clattered around him, twisted and rent where the soft metal hadn't been able to contain his growing form. His tail whipped across the room, smashing furniture against the wall. The dining table groaned under his claws, cracking down the middle as he raised his head to find Simm. He would swallow the ancient, entitled prick whole. But the grin that flashed across the man's face as he took in Eveirdo's true form had him hesitating.

"Oh, how impressive!"

Simm caught Aisling's blade in his bare hand, apparently unconcerned as blood welled and went running down his arm. Aisling blinked. Beneath Simm's hand, her blade turned black. Brittle and glossy. Transmuting into obsidian. The transformation flowed down the knife. Over the hilt. Across Aisling's hand. She yelped, attempting to drop the blade as she backed away. Her fingers wouldn't open. Obsidian flowed over her wrist and up her arm. In a panic, Aisling dropped her second blade to grasp at her forearm, clawing at the flesh turning to stone as her wild eyes found Rebecca.

A harsh scream ripped from her throat as she spread her feet. The transmutation swept her body in its entirety, turning her into a statue. Sable threw herself at Simm with a screech, claws drawing blood across his face as she leaped onto his back. Eveirdo was already lunging in as Simm let out a blast of power. Daylight blinded him and burned Sable, but he didn't need his eyes to find and kill Simm.

His teeth snapped, closing on air. He whipped his head towards the sound of Simm laughing and Rebecca choking. The sound of water splattering in a torrent onto the floor instilled horror. Blinking the spots from his vision, he stiffened at the sight of Rebecca vomiting and coughing up endless amounts of water. She was drowning where she stood. Simm grinned, one hand on the obsidian Aisling. As Eveirdo watched, he gave her a shove.

Sable slid in, cushioning Aisling with her own body so she wouldn't hit the floor to shatter into a million pieces. Eveirdo called down lightning. Simm batted the bolt aside like it was nothing, and when the diverted electricity cracked into the floor and arced along the water to throw Rebecca across the room, Eveirdo felt fear. True, all consuming, fear.