Moon's Rite

Companion

Tony watched Alistair disappear over the edge of the ringfort but couldn't spare more attention than that. She redoubled her efforts to end Noble however, and he realized the deprivation of her companion had not been the crushing blow he had been hoping for. She noted the furtive glance he shot towards his mage and readied herself to move before getting hit with a spell in the back. The evaporation of all confidence in his face had her reevaluating.

Noble bared his teeth at her, leering grin traded for absolute irritation as he put space between them. His gaze swung over the ringfort and the chaos in the center, taking in the shambles of his would-be slaughter. Tony did her own scan.

There were dead and dying. Celebrations had given way to mourning. But it wasn't the blood bath it might have been. Noble's little band were dealt with; dead or captured. If they hadn't fled completely. People were organizing and making arrangements for wounded. The frantic panic had given way to a worried bustle.

"If I had known how much of a hindrance you and your sisters would be, I would have arranged your deaths much earlier on."

Noble's sharp musing pulled Tony's attention back to him. He lifted a hand to idly rub his chest where she had elbowed him earlier.

"What I just can't understand, is how you three seem to just...stumble, upon my plans. Weeks or years, even decades, in the planning and execution. And then you or one of your sisters' swoops in to dismantle everything."

Tony couldn't help but smirk at the frustration in his voice. "Sophia and Silence?"

"Sophia and Silence," Noble confirmed. "That Russian demon-born boy. The girl-child twice. Once right after I turned her and again when I sent her useless brother to find out where your sister had sent her out of my reach."

Tony blinked in surprise. She didn't dare speak Anita's name, lest she give Noble any clues to find the hacker extraordinaire. She hadn't had any idea that Anita was even connected, though it certainly cleared up some of the mystery of how and why she had been turned so incredibly young. Tony huffed in feigned amusement. "Gotta hand it to you Noble. You've got more patience than me. You've been after the throne for that long, and still have nothing to show for it? I'd have given up by now."

"If the fate of the Vampires is doomed to follow your sister's foolish ideology, I can't afford to give up. I won't see our great race fall to breeding with Humans and indifference." Noble snapped, temper flaring for a moment before he composed himself once more. "I was hoping you girls would take after your mother. Or, your mother before your father gentled her. Your father ruined your mother, and then ruined you girls from ever reaching your full potential. Such a pity."

Noble sighed, shaking his head. He took a considering look at his mage, then turned back to Tony with a gleam of determination in his eyes. Tony rushed him when she realized what that determination was centered on, but it was too late. Noble shifted into a colony of bats and took to the skies, fleeing.

For a moment, Tony was sorely tempted to follow him. But there were other concerns. She turned and stalked towards the mage, eyes narrowed. Anger and frustration were only minorly diverted at the sight of the woman struggling to stay on her feet. She lost the battle as Tony's approach startled her, sinking to her knees. Tony raised the tip of her sword to the mage woman's throat.

"I was beginning to like my companion. I'll be most displeased if you have deprived me of his continued existence."

The woman grimaced, one hand curling around her middle while the other shoved her hood off to reveal her face. "Not for lack of trying. I wasn't expecting him to fight back quite so hard." She grimaced, taking in a shuddering breath as she sagged a little further. "Serves me right I suppose. Never should have gotten involved." With that, she fell back with a sigh, eyes closing and going limp.