Meanwhile, at Lucien's building, Davina was working her magic to get them inside.
Above, in the penthouse suite, Alexis stood in front of Kol with a hand on his head and the other on his chest, where his heart was, with her fingers digging into his flesh. Kol was silently screaming as her magic invaded him, learning all it could, including what made an Original tick.
When the building's protections fell, she stopped what she was doing.
Lucien perked up, "Finished?"
"Nearly, but I felt someone break my protection spells. We have uninvited guests," informed Alexis.
Lucien went over to a wall, clicking a button, where the whole wall opened up, revealing multiple camera screens.
His eyes widened in shock, "Sage! How is this possible?"
Alexis joined him, looking over his shoulder, "Interesting, you should capture her for me."
"Not necessary. Keep working on the Original, I'll deal with this," said Lucien, alerting his men to the intruders.
He wasn't above using more mundane means to get what he wanted, eager even to try some of the tactics he saw the hunters employ throughout the city.
.
Sage and her group stormed the building, catching the first-floor enemy vamps off guard, taking them out quick, fast, and in a hurry.
"Stairs or elevator?" one of her men inquired.
"Stairs," said Sage, pushing open the stairwell door before quickly ducking back and shutting the door as a foe on the other side lunged at her.
Kicking it back open, she hit the fool against the wall, sped in, and finished him with a quick stake to the heart.
Her men, following her in, took care of the next few that came charging down the steps.
They progressed up two floors when smoke grenades were thrown.
"Vervain!" the front man hissed as it engulfed them, causing them all to cough tearfully as it burned.
"Give me a sec, I got this!" said Davina, coughing after inhaling a lung full of smoke, but otherwise unaffected.
The smoke soon cleared as she magically waved it away.
Just when they thought that was the worst of it, the front man yelled, "Grenade!" And they all dashed for safety to the nearest floor.
Sage instantly took Davina out as the first explosions went off, the entire stairwell crumbling behind them.
"Thanks," Davina replied, though she felt assured in her ability to survive.
"Did we lose anyone?" asked Sage.
"I don't think so, but a few of us went to different floors; that might have been their plan," said one man.
"Smoke bombs, and grenades, what's next, guns?" asked another.
"Don't tempt fate, Lucien's despicable enough to do it," said a third.
Sage snorted at that, "Come on, we still have a sniveling coward to snuff out."
"So then, elevator?" asked the first man.
"Elevator," another agreed.
"Wait a sec, what if they destroy it while we're in it?" questioned a third.
Sage looked to Davina and asked, "Can you do anything?"
"Yeah, give me a minute and I'll have us going back up those stairs before they know it," said Davina.
"Okay, but first take care of these cameras if you can," said the third, pointing them out.
"No problem," said Davina, sending out a magical EMP.
Davina then bent down in front of the destroyed stairwell, taking out a specially made chalk, and drew a magic circle, meticulously placing all the runes in their appropriate spots.
Looking over her work with a satisfied grin, she put her chalk away, dusted off her hands, and said, "I'm ready."
"Do it," said Sage.
"Right, here we go," said Davina, licking her lips. She placed her hands on the circle and began her chant, activating the runes in their proper order, feeding the circle before unleashing it at the target location.
"When she's done, we move," said Sage, getting nods in return, and readied themselves.
"It's done," said Davina, when the magical show was finished.
"Move!" ordered Sage, rushing up the repaired stairs, straight to the top.
"No, don't wait up, I got it," Davina muttered to herself while jogging up the stairs once they had vanished. After a few flights, she glanced up to gauge how much further she needed to go and sighed; then, facepalming, she remembered a spell that could enhance her physical abilities.
Above, Sage and her group were clearing the way when they made it to the penthouse floor.
Zooming in, Sage enters first, pushing the vamp blocking the entrance against the wall and staking him in the heart.
Her companions came up from behind and swiftly took down the foolish comrades, who turned to her, leaving their backs wide open.
They then turned to face the last eight vamps standing between them and Lucien's penthouse suite's double door entrance.
When Davina finally made it to the top, they were finishing the last of them.
"I see you didn't need me," said Davina, taking in the carnage.
"Still might, the witch is inside," said Sage.
"Hmph, leave her to me," said Davina proudly.
"It's spelled shut," informed one of the men.
"Not for long," said Davina, strutting over.
Emboldened by her earlier feats of magic, but still wishing to do more, Davina heavily drew on her magic and blew open the entrance, destroying the doors and sending more than one unlucky enemy vamp flying.
Inside, they spotted Lucien shirtless with blood runes drawn all over his body, kneeling, eyes closed, with one of Alexis's hands on the back of his head while the other was on the front of another similarly shirtless marked man chained up behind him, chanting with eyes closed.
Surrounding them were the guards, standing over the bodies of those whom they had separated from earlier.
Spotting the witch using one of the Originals to cast something, Sage immediately called out, "Davina!"
"On it!" said Davina, drawing upon as magic as she could to stop her.
The guards attacked, intending to stop her, but Sage and her men weren't going to let that happen.
Ignoring the fighting vamps, Davina struck out at the ritual, overpowering it with sheer overwhelming magical might, disrupting and outright demolishing it as Alexis let out a horrifying scream, the instant backlash taking its toll, causing her to bleed from every orifice and collapse dead.
"No, no, no, no, NO!" shouted Lucien upon opening his eyes to find they had failed, his witch dead.
"I was this close! this close! YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!" he yelled furiously, charging at Davina, the only one here who could have stopped Alexis.
Sage came in from the side, cutting him off with a heavy fist to the face, knocking him away, "You should worry about yourself."
Lucien slowly got back to his feet, glaring at Sage. He had always hated how much she reminded him of Aurora, but now it was even worse.
"Must we fight? You and I are a lot alike," said Lucien, trying to appeal to her.
Sage sneered, "We're nothing alike. While you were kissing up to your betters, I was fighting for every scrap I could get."
"And you think I wasn't? You have no idea how difficult it was to pretend to care about what the pompous bastards think, to laugh at their sick sense of humor, to smile as they belittle you to your face," Lucien spat.
"Who the fuck do you think you are complaining to?" asked Sage, thoroughly irritated by the gall of this man.
"No one that matters!" said Lucien angrily, attacking her.
Sage took him head-on, beating him back little by little as he barely managed to avoid a stake to the heart.
"You're not a fighter, you're nothing but a glorified servant, and there's nothing I despise more than a servant who thinks they're better than others. You're still the same dog serving the same master," said Sage, hitting him right where it hurts.
"I'm nobody's dog!" Shouted Lucien madly, wildly swinging his fists with everything he had. A lucky hit, knocking the stake out of her hands, "If it weren't for you, I'd be the master!"
"Not even in your dreams," said Sage coldly as she fell back on what she knew best, using her boxing moves to dodge everything and then utilizing her footwork to maneuver around, allowing her to land the perfect straight body shot, sending his body flying out the window.
At this height, even if he was lucky enough to land where his head didn't explode, he wouldn't be getting up anytime soon, giving her plenty of time to get down there and finish him off.
Though it didn't look like she had to worry as she looked down.
Turning her attention back to the mess inside, where the men had already won theirs and now helped those who fell in battle.
"Where did you guys come from?" Davina asked one of the defeated survivors who was already inside the room when they arrived.
"Fire escape," the man grunted through pain.
"Oh," said Davina.
"Should have waited for us to show up before making a move," Sage admonished, walking over.
"Yeah, sorry, boss. We stupidly worried you didn't make it," admitted the man, feeling guilty.
"It's okay. Rest up and heal. There's still plenty of fights left for you to prove yourself," said Sage.