Moon's Rite

A Noble Ending

Tony took a settling breath as she and Alistair stalked down the front walk to the little house Biron had holed up in.

"Just want you to know, ma petit chou, it's been a hell of a ride the past few days."

Alistair chuckled. "Same, Princess." They shared a grin. And then Alistair stomped forward to kick in the door. Shattered frame flew across the entry floor. Alistair strode purposefully in, claws flexing. Tony slid in right behind him, just as eager for a fight.

They split up, senses sharp for where Biren was hiding. They met back up in the kitchen and Alistair poked his nose in a door, finding a staircase down into a basement. Tony was more interested in the stairs going up to the second floor but she shadowed him down and around the musty basement just so they wouldn't be split up. Nothing of interest showed itself, so they climbed.

Tony padded down the hall, peeking into three bedrooms and two bathrooms. She frowned when they continued to find nothing substantial. She had spotted a new suit laid out and a rumpled jacket tossed over a chair back. Toiletries laid out for easy use.

Just no Biren.

Alistair shot her a confused look from across the hall, apparently finding nothing either. He scowled in irritation, heading back down the hall for a second sweep. Maybe to touch base with Sonya just in case Biren had managed to give her the slip. Tony was about to follow him when she happened to glance up.

She reached up for the cord to pull down the attic access.

The rickety ladder folded down and Tony climbed up. Up into the mess that was her uncles mind.

Photos were pinned all over the slanted walls. Crimson thread tying them all together in a tangled web. She grit her teeth at the photo of her and her sisters in the middle of the mess, a giant red X across Katty's face. A handful of others were crossed out in red. Others had been crossed out a second time in black. Second death.

Scrawling notes had been added around many of the photos, though Tony didn't feel the need to try and decipher any of them. She just had to kill the spider sitting in the middle of the web to render the whole trap inert.

Biren looked over his shoulder at her as she eased off the ladder. He sighed deeply, turning back around, hunched over his folded legs, arms propped on his knees. His shirtsleeves were rolled up his forearms and his tie hung loose, hair disheveled. He just looked tired. Unassuming.

Tony knew it was a trick, and she didn't intend to be fooled.

"It's over Biren. End of the road."

Biren got to his feet, reaching up to brush aside a bit of thread. "I'm afraid it is my dear. Such a shame you wouldn't join me on my road to the throne. We could have made quite the team." He rushed her, face twisted in rage. Tony caught him and twisted, tossing him down through the trap door. He grabbed her tight, taking her along, but that worked out alright for Tony. She landed on him, knee going into his gut and elbow going across his face right after.

Biren snarled. Tony hissed right back. They scuffled and scrapped, Tony's fancy martial training traded for wrestling. Skills learned early on scuffling with her sisters rather than honed from years of practice. She struggled to put him into a headlock but he was a slippery devil. Biren managed to kick her off, the wrestling apparently not to his liking. Tony used the distance to pull her sword, speaking the word to expand it to full size. "No more peons to throw at me?"

Biren drew a pair of daggers, baring his fangs as they squared off. "They're continuing my work. They'll see my vision come to fruition even if I'm not here to govern, and a proper queen will rise to take the throne." And then the battle really began.