Blood And Stone

Chapter 55: For Hyboné

"Peace, evacuate the catacombs." She had begun moving before her sister's words ever crossed her mind. Spirit's warning only pushed her faster. She pushed through the throngs of people, yelling for them to clear the way. As she did, her clothes began to change. Her white and gold gown shimmered in the light of the torches, slowly transforming into her battle armor. Black plate armor wrapped itself around her chest and arms, the pauldrons coming to a sleek crease at her shoulders. Ornate yellow designs flowed across her breasts like her blond hair, thin lines spiraling around her waist and disappearing beneath her bright yellow cloak. Black plate gloves covered her fingers as chain mail fell around her thighs and down her legs. The legs of her plate armor were tight against her skin, squeezing as if to give her a comforting hug. A thick leather belt fell around her hips but held no weapon.

As they rushed toward the door, the room around them began to shake. Peace was thrown off her feet, crashing loudly against the stone steps. Screams echoed into the darkness as the sound of rubble took over. Raising her head to look back at the room, a large black head burst through the wall. The scream died in her throat as the creature's mouth opened. A large black tongue forked at the end and flicked out to wrap around a group of the Sithaurians. She could only hope that their deaths were sudden and painless. The massive jaws closed and the sickening snapping of hundreds of bones filled the too-silent chamber. It echoed, coming back to assault her ears again.

People dashed in her direction. Peace ran forward, her hands pushing upward toward the ceiling as it crumbled. She couldn't stop the sound from emanating from her throat. She was too late. She hadn't moved fast enough. The ceiling of the catacombs fell. The terrified faces of those who disappeared beneath the rubble were forever burned into her memory. The fear in their eyes squeezed her heart, her stomach twisted and she fell to her knees retching. It took only a few moments for the sorrow to be replaced by rage. Her head rose and brought her feet with her. She was moving before she could register what was happening.

Ascending the steps in a rushed silence, her palms began to glow with yellow light. The light grew brighter as she approached the steel doors. The rush of particles in the air was so sudden that all sound around them was replaced with a deep groan of power. With one great thrust of her hands, the steel doors flew from their mounts and shot through the air. She watched as Neri tackled Rissa, throwing the two to the ground, barely escaping the flying doors. Several of the enemies were too slow and found themselves kissing their lives goodbye as they met with the edge of the doors. Blood sprayed out across the battlefield.

"Torvir!" Her voice boomed louder than anything any of them had ever heard. Spirit and Lyric slowly rose to their feet, their eyes locked onto Peace. Neri and Rissa rose as well, their eyes wide with surprise. Another crack from the sky shot purple light around the sky as Fate came hurtling toward the earth. She landed so hard that the stone street cracked in all directions.

Peace's small frame emerged from the entrance of the catacombs, her eyes glowing a heated blue. The battlefield stood still, entranced by the intensity of her fury. Sithaurians spilled out from around her, dashing into the closest buildings they could. Her eyes turned to look at the fallen Great Oak that had served as the majority of the support in their hiding place. The tree lay dead, the leaves curled in on themselves and released their hold on the branches. Fury built within her chest and she turned her glowing eyes on the battlefield once more.

Spirit stood, her hand reaching down to pull a tired and ragged Lyric to her feet. Blood dripped down them both in various places, their skin torn by their rough landing. The side of Spirit's face was torn worse than anything on her body. War circled the air above the battling wolves and dead, diving down to take out as many as she possibly could. She set them ablaze if she was able but even then, their bones gathered again and kept fighting. Noir snapped and bit at the bones, her eyes filled with worry as she searched for her master. Rissa and Neri helped one another to their feet, reaching up to wipe the blood from their eyes before clutching their weapons once again. Raven cut her way through the crowd, her daggers slowing slightly as fatigue began to set in. A deafening crack split the sky as Fate emerged from their sacred home, abandoning her duty of weaving the tapestry together.