Drastic measures - Printable Version

Livius had hoped to never hear that voice again.

And so, when it boomed out over Orion, the cocktail of emotions that swelled within their chest was... unwelcome. Their head jolted upright in an instant from where they had been resting, hidden as they resupplied their strength. Part annoyance, part dread, their quills trembled upright and quietly hissed.

They debated on what to do, frozen, their head spinning, listening to the pounding of their blood in their ears.

It was Pride's voice, a moment later, that brought them to their senses.

And at first, his words brought relief. There was time for them to get away!

...Then, the sense of dread thickened. What did she want? Why was she here?

Livius remained where they were, frozen. But then, slowly, shakily, they stood. One look couldn't hurt. Reseda needn't even know they were here. The weasel pattered out of their hiding place and quickly scaled a pile of rubble. Their green form rippled and danced, and soon they moved along a crumbled wall. Pride came into view shortly after, and then the... strangely twisted shape of the lizard who'd caused them so much trouble. Their eyes narrowed as they tried to pick out exactly what was going on. And then their expression turned, their jaws slightly opening. A sick feeling formed in the pit of their stomach.

It took them a few moments to fully process what they were seeing.

But then their blood ran hot with rage, and equally cold with horror. They stood frozen, pins and needles forming in the tips of their paws.

...Amazon...?

They blinked, but the image remained. The tiny lizard beneath Reseda's traitorous claws was as real as she'd ever been.

They tried desperately to gain control of their body, but they couldn't think clearly. They opened their mouth, as though to speak, but no sound came out. Finally, they pushed down the ice that bound their limbs and rose up, standing, their tiny figure upright with quills standing on end, as high as they would go. Green fur fluffed out, eyes icy. Golden crown glistened in the chilly light of Orion.

Anyone looking at them would have seen, not fear, but anger. Their expression was carefully guarded, even though they felt as though their stomach was full of maggots.

They didn't know what possessed them, suddenly, but squashing their fear in favour of anger felt oddly empowering. Livius reached for their magic... not knowing, at least not consciously, what it was they were searching for, but feeling some kind of instinctual pull guiding them. Rather than trying to take from others, they instead forced their magic on Reseda, taking the strings from her.

"Let her go, you bitch."

It was as much a magical command as it was a physical utterance. And the words only cemented their will.

They felt their magic take its hold like fishhooks into the Komodo Dragon's muscles, and, with all of their strength, began to pull the strings. They tightened their jaw as they started to drag Reseda's claws from Amazon's hide and tried to force her away from the lizard, step by forced step.

She couldn't do much, stuck under Reseda's claws. She struggled, sure, but pain started blossoming where the claws were touching and she stopped, fearful that she'd do any more damage. She shivered there, terrified, but furious. Humiliated. Captured again, totally helpless. She hated this, she hated being weak. She'd gone to the trials so she could live, so she could become stronger, but it seemed that that hadn't really happened. She got to live, yes, but she was as useless as ever.

At first, there was hope. Reseda's claws began moving away and she was scurrying right when she could, sprinting away towards Livius, when that magic, that terrible, unfair magic grabbed her again. She squeaked as dark and warmth engulfed her again and the light was shut out. She was inside the lizard's mouth again.

She wasn't going to stand for this. She wasn't going to do nothing. She was getting out, because Livius was there, Pride was just outside, and she wanted to get back to them. And she feared that they'd attack without a care for her. Why wouldn't they?

She launched herself forward and began scratching at the dragon's teeth, screeching and hollering as she tried to smash her way right out, but her attacks didn't do much. After a few hits, she missed her mark and her poor little hand came crashing down right on the top of one of the points. She squealed and flinched back, slipping on the lizard's tongue as blood began dripping from the little wound. Shit.

Livius's stomach shook with rage as Reseda defied them, again. Using magic to bring the little lizard back towards into her mouth. They were deaf to her words, the venomous slime that dribbled out of her mouth.

Livius' blood ran cold as they heard Amazon's scream.

Livius peeled back their lips to reveal red-stained fangs, their quills letting out a quiet hiss.

"I said... let her go," they said, their voice not wavering. They tried to keep a hold of their magic, tried too keep it going, to wrench open those treacherous jaws.

...But the magic didn't come. Perhaps Amazon's agonized cry was too much. Or perhaps it was the faint feeling of energy crackling from Pride's failed spell, bringing them back to terrible reality. But they felt their hold slip, the power drain fro their limbs, and the hooks they had on the lizard slide loose.

It was too much, too much. They hated this.

It was as though they were watching the happenings through someone else's eyes, using magic that wasn't theirs.

Still, they wouldn't let themselves stand down.

"Or... or else. You've seen what I can do, Reseda. You've seen what Pride can do, and you're outnumbered," they said, in a voice that didn't feel like theirs. "I've killed before, Reseda. And I'm not afraid to do it again."

In truth, they were afraid.

But what else could they do?

Amazon went quiet. She could hear them, right outside. They were close, so close. Both of them. And Livius...they were terrified. Was that for her? Or from the prospect of killing again? She was frozen there as Reseda's voice whispered, just loud enough for her to hear. And she decided that she was going to be a victim anymore.

Reseda should have kept her in her claws. In her mouth, well, she was made to make some pain if anyone tried to eat her. She slipped around, facing the revolting inside of the dragon's mouth, the end of her throat. She hesitated for a moment, wondering if this was a good idea at all, fearing what was going to happen. If this worked...she'd be a murderer too. She would have killed someone. If it means staying with Luster, giving my daughter the life she deserves, I would do anything. And I'll do anything so I can stay with you. Right. She would do anything.

The thought of returning to the people she loved, not because they helped her, but because she fought through herself, that was enough. She dived forward, straight towards the back of Reseda's mouth, and pushed herself at the dragon's throat. Immediately, the muscles flexed around her and faint light illuminated the dark as Reseda gagged, but she didn't stop, scrabbling against her tongue, feeling blood well beneath her claws. She pushed herself through, her sharp scales scraping against the edges of Reseda's throat, before, at last, she began to dig in and tear at the soft flesh with everything she had.

Immediately, blood began welling from the wounds she made. It wasn't exactly in her throat, but it was close enough. The entire mouth lurched as Reseda stepped back, a horrible gurgling noise coming from her throat, but Amazon ignored it. She scraped and scratched and dug as best she could, but within moments there was way too much blood for her to even hold on. She managed to get one last attack in before Reseda keeled forward and vomited, dumping Amazon, torrents of blood, saliva, and bile all over the stone in front of her. The cold air hit her scales and light glared into her eyes, freezing her for a moment as the horrible knowledge of what she had just done washing over her.