They kept coming like waves crashing on brittle rock as the sunset suddenly faded into night, much to Ghost’s preference. However, it had all gone a little too far for the young Czarina who was left to bear the brunt of a force far too mighty for her small family. She took some comfort in being surrounded by those of her herd who bravely stood and defended. The wounds on her sides burned with pain, her flight slowly beginning to waver under the stress and suddenly she began to realize there was a chance she could die here. It was a profound thought, a frightening thought and yet a liberating one. On the one hand, she would no longer feel any pain and yet, on the other, the banshee was terrified of what lay beyond the call of life (despite the terribly misleading name). Was it fair that her life could lie at the feet of these pompous bastards? Yet, as she swallowed in discomfort, Ghost finally began to realize that fairness was a beautiful word too fine for this world. She should’ve known this from her own rough trodden past, but for some reason the banshee had forgotten her own life lesson and in her desire to find a shoulder to lean on, she had unknowingly searched for this quality in others.

Foolish little sprite, the world is far more convoluted than that.

Still, it was too late to regret a wisdom she had only just learnt. Her efforts to escape the rampaging King of the Edge were left to nought as still he chased her. The only reply he gave to her anger strewn words was his own scream of a single accusation… coward. It left a sardonic half smile on her dark lips as she thought of the hypocrisy of it. He was a mammoth, an armoured mammoth at that who possessed strength far greater than her own and yet, here he was, hounding down a young mare of skin and bone. Her lips remained sealed, however, she had already said too much of her mind and the sprite had other, far more pressing issues to deal with. Like that of her rapidly shrinking body and the childlike thoughts. What was this?! She fumbled around in mid-air as shock came over her once again. Why was she a child? Magic? Her body suddenly became heavy as well! Too heavy to hold in the air with just her wings and, combined with the pain from her injuries, turned into a futile battle.

Ending the struggle, she fell.

Her cloven hooves reached frantically for the floor below and, once there, fought to keep her upright. The banshee was also still reeling from how she was going to fight as a child with stone bones; it would surely only take one crushing stomp to end her miserable tussle.

There was a thundering of hooves, the ominous heralding of a charging monster and the shuddering feeling of danger. She knew she had to move, even if just a little, she had to move away from him. Yet, the disorientation that plagued her mind that was stuck in some childhood era and her bones of stone meant she was very slow to react, she managed to slightly turn her rear end to the right, leaving the rest of her body glaringly open to a new searing pain that trailed from near the middle of her stomach, across her neck and cutting her nose. It was too painful for even a noise to leave the mouth of Ghost, but she was brave enough to bare her horn towards him as he had charged past in hopes that the close proximity would help her pierce his flesh where his armour might allow, in the small corners where it didn’t protect. Her bones were far too heavy to do much more than this, however, and her injuries left her clinging at life's last strands as she breathed heavily. Yet, with little movement and little chance to fight back, she had only one weapon left in her arsenal. She concentrated on the pain, its sharp relentless torment and the way it seemed to pulse through her body. There was enough of it to fill her mind and clear it of everything else, but pain. With her dark gaze trained to where she thought Archibald was, Ghost reached for the last of her abilities and the remaining scraps of magic she had left in her body.

It might not be real, but (if it worked) at least he'd get a horrifying sight of a blood-soaked battlefield as it burned. Ghost just hoped she had grasped enough of her power to send the illusion forth, praying it would find its way into the mind of the King.

-----------------------------------------------------------

WC: 799 (wordcounter.net) || 1/3

:: [Magic: DarkxLight | Ability to create an illusion of raining blood that has a burning sensation, but causes no physical damage.]
:: [Restrictions | Takes immense concentration. Lasts 15-30 seconds in battle.]