The first drop of blood hit Damian's tongue, and it burned like liquid fire. His body seized, muscles alternating between a locked state and violent spasms. Pain became his entire world, but he never stopped glaring furiously at Elias.
'T— This fucker is going to kill me!' he cursed inwardly, still desperately struggling against his bonds. He'd never felt this helpless before, and he hated it from the very core of his being.
Some panic finally started to get to him, as even the consequences of survival didn't seem particularly appealing. 'I— I don't want to become a moonkin! It was supposed to be Mom who awakened me!'
But his objections went both unheard and unheeded. As more and more blood dripped down, Elias' words filled the room with power, and Damian only spasmed harder.
Pain started ripping through his body, as he twitched harder and harder. Molten ice dripped through his veins, and his vision swam with colours he didn't recognize.
The awakening wasn't supposed to be this difficult. He could feel part of his body fighting fiercely against it, even as another part seemed to embrace it a little more readily. The conflict was tearing his body apart.
Somewhere along the way, he realized Luna had recovered from her daze and was once again standing on her own two feet. He wanted to tell her to stay away, but even if he could, she likely wouldn't have listened.
"Father, stop!" she screamed before a pair of futuristic handguns appeared in her hands—a paired, ranged catalyst.
With a steady hand and determination, she pointed them at her father… and pulled the triggers. Two large projectiles made of pure myst surged at her father, but she didn't even look at the effects they had. Instead, she started running towards Damian, hoping her attack would have distracted her father.
But it was, of course, useless. And intellectually, she'd known that.
Perhaps it was merely an act of frustrated defiance, born of the simple reasoning that she'd rather do this than nothing at all. Perhaps, just for a moment, she thought she could actually save him. Whatever the case, there was no way for her to even scratch her father's skin, let alone rescue Damian.
Without even looking in her direction, Elias shrugged off the projectiles before he sent her tumbling off to the side. Unbothered, he continued the awakening.
For Damian, the situation was going from bad to worse. His bones and muscles were now breaking and wriggling under his skin, causing him extreme agony. After trying for several minutes to simply grit his teeth, he eventually realized someone was screaming… and that it was him.
Yet, when all hope seemed lost, something changed. Through the pain, Damian suddenly heard something new.
A massive explosion.
Like the sun parting the sky, the dimly lit hall was illuminated by a flood of light, and a fierce, deafening screech filled the air. "ELIAS!! GET YOUR FILTHY BLOOD OF MY SON!"
Suddenly, from one moment to the other, a huge, dark form crashed into Elias' body, smashing him into the wall with a pained roar. Through his hazy eyes, Damian could see the massive, incarnate form of his mother, Lavinia.
Her usually beautiful face had turned into a snout, her large eyes were blood red, her leathery skin pitch black, and large batwings sprouted from under her armpits and lower arms.
She screeched at the unwounded Elias, who was laughing loudly. "You're too late, Lavinia! It's already done! Your boy is mine now! But then again, he was never really yours either, was he?! Hahaha!"
At the same time, he activated his incarnate form as well, rapidly transforming into the humanoid-wolf-like creature that previously attacked Damian's car. Both incarnate forms were at least three meters tall, even as their backs were slightly hunched, and they stood on bend hock joints.
Lavinia's eyes flared with fury at Elias' words but still shot a grief-stricken, anxious look at her suffering son. Yet, there was no time to do or say anything. She was almost immediately forced to refocus on Elias, who quickly retaliated. She couldn't get Damian out of there while Elias was still prowling around.
Destructive moonlight shone on the Moonkin's claws as lighting ran across his fur. Lavinia screeched again. Dreadful, bloody light radiated from her talons, and shadows twitched around her.
They clashed. Lightning raged against shadow, claws raked across leather, and sharp teeth bit into fur, but it wasn't long before they crashed through the wall and ended up outside again.
There it quickly showed the entire Lykos compound had become a battleground. Partially transformed Blood- and Moonkin were doing furious battle with each other, as blood started soaking the ground.
Unfortunately, it made little difference for Damian anymore. Pain continued wracking his mind. His bones continued to snap, his blood continued to burn. He felt glad his mother was there but felt forced to wonder if she wasn't too late.
Yet, it wasn't long before his vision started blurring even more. Slowly, a white light started filling his vision. Strangely, he felt like the light was observing him. But then, gasping, he fell unconscious..
***
Meanwhile, a few steps away from him, Luna and Damos were looking at the devastation around them with miserable expressions. A little while away from them, up in the air, they could see the powerful explosions of Elias' battle with Lavinia, even if the combatants themselves moved too fast to see.
Meanwhile, screaming and smaller explosions carried over from the rest of their compound as a horde of Bloodkin invaded their still-unprepared estate. Elias had acted entirely on his own, and only warned his family of the likely impending attack at the last moment.
Smoke choked the air, the sky flickering with moonlight and blood-red shadows as dozens of figures clashed amidst the burning buildings. A Moonkin, half-transformed and snarling, hurled a Bloodkin into the wall with bone-cracking force before collapsing under a barrage of crimson talons.
Luna's gaze was fixated on Damian, however. Slowly, with shaky steps, she made her way to the awakening altar he was placed on. She could see the flesh under his skin was still wriggling furiously, but his eyes were closed.
Extending a trembling hand, she checked his pulse and breathed a sigh of relief when she found a rapid heartbeat.
"I'm so sorry…" she muttered softly, grief-stricken, before quickly starting to remove the gag and straps binding him to the altar. "I— I don't know what got into my father, or what's going to happen now… but let me take you away from here, at least…"
Carefully, she took Damian in a princess carry and turned around. There, she found Damos looking at her sombrely. "Uncle…" she muttered softly, but Damos raised a hand to cut her off.
"Just go," he sighed helplessly, before pulling his weapon-type catalyst from his body and turning to the hole in the wall. "I, however, am going to stay… Someone will need to try and get our family through Elias' madness, after all."
Luna opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, Damos had already disappeared to engage the Moroi forces and try to minimize losses among the Lykos fighters.
For a moment, Luna looked at the place where he disappeared with grief in her eyes… but then looked down at Damian, whose body was still wriggling, his fate unknown. Quickly, her gaze hardened, filling with determination.
Knowing Lavinia wouldn't be able to do anything but fight Elias, she realized it was up to her to get Damian out of there…