Sinephilim and Veronica arrived at the battlefield. Exactly where Aucteros said.
But nothing could have prepared them for what they saw.
"Gods above, what-" Veronica whispered.
"What is that?" Sinephilim said in disbelief.
Sinephilim stood beside her, stunned.
Veronica turned to her. "Gods above… gods below… is that-?"
The words wouldn't come.
Above them, two figures clashed in the sky like living calamities. Black flame met violet fire. The air screamed of a haunting echo.
"To think Rhenvar was holding back this much…" Sinephilim murmured. "I had no idea."
Neither did I. He acted like a jester, but he was a devil.
The sky cracked with a loud sound again, but it wasn't thunder.
Rhenvar plummeted, blood trailing behind him in a crimson spiral.
And following him, no, hunting him was a bird woman.
She landed hard and mounted him, pinning him to the ground with her thighs.
Then-
"…Is she kissing him?" Veronica blinked.
Sinephilim squinted. "…I think she's kissing him. What in father's name is going on."
"Fenrus!" Sinephilim called out, already moving.
"Syrethe!" Veronica echoed, darting forward.
And then they heard her.
"My love! My king! My crow of crows!"
She bit his neck and tore a piece of flesh off. Then she swallowed.
She wasn't just insane. She was obsessed.
Corvessa was cradling his face now.
Stroking his jaw with bloodstained fingers. Humming a tune only the dead would recognize.
"My beautiful King Crow," she whispered, pressing her forehead to his. "You bleed just for me…"
Rhenvar was weakened. But he was still alive. Barely. He looked like death.
Corvessa started peeling his flesh with her violet flames, drawing runes in his flesh.
"Do something!" She snapped at Sinephilim. "You have the blessing of purification!"
Sinephilim didn't answer. Her eyes were glowing white, and she was already mid-sprint, Fenrus charging at her side when she hopped on the wolf.
I need to do something.
"Syrethe, now!" She flung her arm forward, and the serpent spirit coiled from her sleeve like a whip made of emerald, slithering through the air toward the love-drunk lunatic.
Corvessa looked up.
"Oh?" She said softly, smiling wide. "More crows? Oh! No, bridesmaids!"
She raised her scythe lazily, like she was toasting them with a wineglass.
"Back off, freak," Veronica spat. "That's our friend!"
"Aw," she cooed, licking blood from her lips. "Sorry I don't share."
Sinephilim didn't wait for more nonsense. She landed with a pulse of divine pressure; wings light flaring from her. Her hand shone with purifying energy.
Corvessa's eyes widened slightly. "Oh. You're her. The Goddess. The rot."
"And you're in my way," Sinephilim said flatly.
She thrust her hand forward. A burst of white light erupted.
But Corvessa was gone.
No… not gone.
Feathers.
The air filled with them, black and oily and burning with unnatural heat.
"Damn it!" Veronica said, shielding her face as Syrethe hissed beside her.
"She turned to smoke?" Sinephilim asked.
"No. Crows," Veronica corrected.
The feathers dissipated.
Silence.
Then,
"You'll never understand," her voice echoed from the trees. "He's mine."
"Like hell he is," Veronica growled. "There's a fire mage I think would disagree."
A groan came from the crater.
Rhenvar was trying to sit up. One arm dangling. One eye bloodshot. Covered in kiss marks, bite wounds and talon gashes.
"…I fucking, kinda liked it," he rasped.
Gods above he is an odd one.
Sinephilim crouched beside him, immediately shifting into purifying mode. "Don't move weirdo. You're bleeding, can't you heal?"
"I'm trying," he muttered. "She bit a chunk of my neck and ate it. Just purify the curse so I can heal myself."
"Oh gross," Veronica gagged.
"She said it was part of her love or marriage, I don't know."
"Okay I'm done, no more villainesses with wedding themes."
Sinephilim's hands glowed with soft white light as she began purifying the soulfire damage etched into his skin.
No wonder Aucteros chose this woman to fight Rhenvar.
"How'd you get beat up so bad?" Sinephilim asked.
Rhenvar winced. "Her soul magic is similar to mine. Countered Souleater."
"Of course she did," Veronica muttered. "This was set up by Aucteros."
"I see," he said. "Of course, even now we play by his rules."
Then, there was an explosion of feathers behind them. Crows forming a figure.
Corvessa reappeared, hovering a few feet off the ground now; her wings full and outstretched, a deranged queen. Her face was twisted with grief and want.
She was not smiling anymore.
"You're taking him from me," she said coldly.
Her voice cracked.
"I found him. I watched him. I walked across worlds. I love him!"
Sinephilim stood, shielding Rhenvar with her body.
"You don't love people like him," she said. "He's a monster."
Corvessa screamed.
It wasn't rage.
It was excitement.
Then the trees trembled. Something big had come from the cave.
A gold dragon.
"Eater of worlds. I sense you fool."
Corvessa hovered above them, ignoring the dragon. She looked like a broken deity, violet fire curling from her wings, her scythe dangling through the air as if it hungered for a second round.
"I'll carve you all into bones," she whispered, twitching. "And with them, make a cathedral. I'll-"
"Enough," said a voice, smooth, low, and instantly infuriating.
They all turned.
Aucteros stepped from the tree line, pristine robes unrumpled, expression unreadable. The moonlight touched the edges of his white-and-gold coat his ember orange eyes narrow.
"Corvessa," he said, as if speaking to a child throwing a tantrum, "Do you not see that dragon?"
Behind him came Prince Charles, arms crossed, mouth curled in that arrogant smirk that made you want to punch the dimples off his face.
Corvessa didn't move.
"Don't tell me what to do, book mage," she said, voice trembling with obsession. "He knows me now. We danced. We bled. He let me in."
"Corvessa, there is a huge damn gold dragon," Aucteros replied, not kindly. "We need to retreat."
"You're ruining it!" She shrieked. "I almost had him!"
"And next time," Aucteros said, stepping forward, eyes sharp, "you will have him. But not today."
Charles sighed. "You were supposed to watch, not get all feather-freak in love."
Corvessa slowly turned toward Rhenvar again, her expression slipping from fury into longing.
"I'll be back," she whispered.
Her gaze softened.
Her turquoise eyes soften but it was some what terrifying.
"Next time, I'll bring rings."
Rhenvar stared up at her, bruised, bloodied, entirely unimpressed.
"Next time, bring some alcohol." Rhenvar shot back.
Corvessa laughed, it was wild and excited.
"I adore you," she said.
Then Aucteros' book glowed.
A white portal shimmered open behind her. Aucteros entered first, hands at his book. Charles paused long enough to throw a wink at Veronica, who immediately raised her hand and flipped him off.
Corvessa lingered at the edge.
"Till next time, my King Crow," she purred, pressing her fingers to her lips and blowing a kiss. "Dream of me."
Then she stepped into the void.
Gone.
Sinephilim stood slowly, breath heavy.
"Just how bad is your luck?" Veronica said, smiling.
"She's kinda hot though... right?"
He's insane... he's really insane.
They looked at the gold dragon. Fenrus and Syrethe bowed.
"Urithax, ya know you came too soon." Rhenvar mocked.
"The Worldeater was not there when you were fighting that witch; there was no need." He growled. "Do you really think I cared about your death?"
"Just a normal God…"
Sinephilim approached Rhenvar.
"We need to talk. It's about Willow." She looked sad.
"What happened to Willow?"