Aramith's lifeless eyes were fixated on Mozrael's huge figure as she was attacked from all sides. A sharp pain went through his body, causing him to shudder. The spikes attacked her with more ferocity. He gripped his chest where it hurt the most, shaking his head as if to try and clear something. His mind was constantly flashing with uncomfortable thoughts and images.
Aramith clutched his head, his scream ripping through the chaos. Images—disjointed, vivid—flashed in his mind. A soft laugh, a warm touch, the gentle glow of someone he couldn't quite remember. 'No!' he roared, as if fighting off the memories, but the pain only sharpened. The harder he tried to push them away, the clearer they became.
Mozrael's scales rattled at the sound and a chill ran down her spine. His eyes changed from black to a bright purple which disappeared right after. He fixed his gaze on Mozrael and flew to her. His small figure landed on her back and he raised his good arm to the sky. Tendrils shot up, morphing into chains with sharp hooked ends. They rose a few feet into the air and arced down rapidly, multiplying as they descended.
Noticing his figure on her back, Mozrael tried to shake him off, forgetting about the spikes. A few pierced through her wings, drawing her attention to them. She roared and charged lightning about her body and dispersed it. The last of the spikes attacking her vanished, and more than half of the spikes disappeared but Aramith stubbornly clung to her. Steam and smoke rose from his body, but he didn't budge.
Get off! Mozrael thought, but he was too stubborn.
The chains pierced through her body, the scales deflected a few. Aramith jumped up and shot back the moment she was pierced and pulled the chains, ripping flesh. She bled in many parts now but was slowly healing. This angered her greatly and she decided to attack Aramith.
He Saw her oncoming attack, noticing her body light up with lightning. She roared and lightning shot at him from below. As he fell, he maneuvered skillfully, dodging others and absorbing some with the tendrils in his left arm. The moment he got close to attack, Mozrael slashed her spiked tail at him. He didn't see it coming and was about to be pierced. Within a split second, His lost arm regrew and he crossed hands and parried the attack downwards, grunting as his healed arm broke and he was shot up by the force of the attack.
He screamed again and healed his hand.
Mozrael was furious and with a strong flap of her wings shot up at him. They were once again engaged, exchanging blows. With every clash, a loud boom would resound, making it look and sound like lightning and thunder. Shockwaves and attacks kept floating everywhere. Some buildings were destroyed, and others were set ablaze. In one swoop, Aramith was shot upwards again. he started to descend after going up several feet into the air, charging towards her and ready to strike, a vortex of darkness forming around him. Mozrael's eyes glowed blue and bolts of lightning crackled around her body, growing in size and number. THey clashed mid-air, waves of energy rippling through the air with lightning and darkness mixed within, a sound so loud and life-threatening it made bones rattle. Through all this, the two engaged in a ferocious battle. The fight became more serious as they descended, fighting like enraged animals with no one having the upper hand. Aramith was fast, but Mozrael in her huge form wasn't slow either.
In one attack, Mozrael shifted and Aramith swished past her. Just as he was about to pass her, her tail just spawned before him and he was impaled in the chest. He screamed out loudly and one could see the waves of sound rippling through the air from his mouth. He frantically beat at her tail and broke off some spikes. A bellow of pain escaped Mozrael's throat and she swung her tail to swat him aside. Aramith gripped her tail tightly and was not thrown off.
A black mist covered his entire body and he disappeared into the mist. an assortment of weapons could be seen in the mist. Aramith couldn't be seen at all. All that was visible was the mist and weapons that moved randomly within the mist.
MOzrael had no time to react before the odd figure moved onto her body, THe mist moved so quickly and kept appearing at different spots, leaving blood and scattered scales wherever it appeared. Mozrael couldn't get him off no matter how she moved. He kept wreaking havoc all over her body and within a short time, she was riddled with uncountable wounds but he was not done.
Mozrael released the lightning all over her body again, but Aramith didn't stop there. He could feel the lightning coursing through his body but didn't mind and kept attacking. burn marks appeared on his skin, but he didn't stop there. Mozrael doubled the defense, setting her body on fire. Aramith screamed once again but didn't stop there. Mozrael increased the force of the flames till her figure was invisible. Aramith was shot off with steam leaving his body as he fell to the ground in a heap. The flames around Mozrael were so thick it was like a wall.
Aramith's eyes changed to purple and the whites of his eyes started to reappear. He breathed heavily, but difficultly, feeling the aftermath of everything.
"It hurts" He croaked with a dry throat.
"What's going on, I can't move," He thought out loud and tried to figure out what was happening. His vision was blurry and everything looked dark, he couldn't see anything. His body was covered in cuts and burn marks on several parts. His clothes were burned and torn as well and he could feel a deep gash in his chest.
A bright blue flame appeared in his line of vision and as he tried to figure out the blurry flame, he felt his body being set ablaze.
"AAAAAHHH!!!!!!!!!!" He screamed and sat up, scratching at his body. The pain was intense and he couldn't bear it. He beat himself, trying to get rid of the flames that remained untouched. Black blood vessels appeared in the corners of his eyes, he was rapidly losing consciousness and forced to stay awake.
Mozrael watched Aramith as he thrashed about on the ground, trying to get rid of flames that didn't exist THat was the effect of her illusory flames. He was in the illusion and didn't know what to do. Meanwhile, Mozrael was constantly losing energy.
She would have stopped if she knew what was going on. Her goal had been achieved, and Aramith was back to normal. But she didn't know and kept the attack. This was going to push him to his dark self again.
She watched as he fought against the flames and when he became still, she descended, thinking he was back to his normal self. She moved to his side. Aramith remained unmoving and Mozrael moved closer. She poked him with a claw but he remained unresponsive. All of a sudden he raised his head and looked at her with dark eyes and an expression filled with seething anger. The black sword reappeared in his right hand and he vanished, reappearing next to Mozrael. She felt a sharp pain, noting a clean cut in her limb. It fell and the pain spread through her body. She was weak from the constant energy she kept using up and Aramith took advantage of that.
He leaped up and came down with force, stepping on her head. She couldn't resist and smashed into the ground with a boom. Her body was covered In a blue light and she started to change shape, reducing till she was back to her human form. Aramith's foot was on her back which was covered in cuts. He grabbed her by the hair and lifted her.
"Stop! Please! " A shout stopped him. He looked behind and saw Lia.
She gripped her chest as she stumbled forward on wobbly feet.
"Don't hurt her! Pl...se," she begged.
Aramith looked at Mozrael, threw her into a wall, and then disappeared. He reappeared before Lia and grabbed her by the neck with one hand. She coughed up blood, but he didn't care about the red color on his pale hand. He pressed tightly against her throat, squeezing what little breath she had out.
"Aramith...this isn't...you" she rasped "Don't...don't do this...please..." she tried again as tears rolled down her cheeks. He heard nothing and lifted her above the ground, making it even harder for her to breathe.
"I thought you cared..."
An image flashed in his head and he grunted in pain, clutching his head with the other hand.
"Hnnnn!" He shook his head, but the image persisted the more he looked at Lia. He would have stopped, but he wasn't himself.
Mozrael felt the air knocked out of her as she smashed into the wall. A silent scream of agony escaped her lips and she fell to the ground. She was on the verge of passing out and everything was blurry. She saw Aramith standing in the distance, but couldn't see what he was doing. She kept fading in and out of consciousness, forcing herself to stay awake. That's when she heard a high-pitched sound of agony. Her heart burned when she noticed the sound was just like Lia's voice.
She forced herself awake, concentrating all her energy in her eyes to see what was going on. She saw Aramith, then everything faded to black. Using her little strength, she forced her eyes open again and checked again. This time, the shock she felt from seeing the whole picture drove away some of her weaknesses.
Aramith held Lia by the neck and raised her, pointing a black sword to her neck. Maybe she was imagining it, but she saw blood coming down from her neck.
Aramith...this isn't...you.' Lia's voice was barely a whisper, but it cut through the haze of his rage. Her palm, glowing with an ethereal white light, pressed against his cheek. For a moment, his grip faltered. 'I thought you cared…' Her tears shimmered like stars in the chaos around them. Then the light exploded outward, a blinding, consuming force that swept through them all. Mozrael's eyes widened as she felt the energy surge, stronger than anything she'd faced before.
"No," Mozrael's eyes widened in disbelief when she noticed what Lia was about to do. She tried to scream for her to stop but her voice failed her. She wasn't going to allow Lia to sacrifice so much because Aramith lost control.
Using the very last of energy in her, she forced herself to act. Blue wings sprouted on her back and she turned into a blue streak of light as she flew forward. She hugged Aramith from behind to move him aside with her speed but was too late. Particles of light around Lia suddenly burst into bright light which spread outward, engulfing the three of them. It spread out wide, growing higher and higher and spreading energy. The shield covering them all couldn't hold on and exploded like glass. The light shot up into the sky and people all over could see it.
The last thing Mozrael saw was Lia's body swaying to the side as she fell.
In the palace, some people who knew what this was felt their hearts drop as some rushed to inform Henndar, Kethra, and Gebreth.