Arwen watched her go flying, a sick sort of pleasure rising up within her. Those who crossed her would be punished, and it was nice to see that sentiment actually becoming a reality. Maybe she was foolish for continuing, but then again, she was a narcissist, thinking that of course she would win against this short blue elf (short compared to her 11-foot tall self, at least).

"No more," she said, "I will not allow anymore insult to me. Not from those stupid, pathetic gembound, not from you, not from anyone!"

She was a Queen, everyone ought to respect her like she deserved!

Arwen made a fist, her magic once again coming to her call. It mimicked her movement once again, wrapping around Aethril like a warm embrace, only to try to squeeze and once again throw her, this time straight into the ground.

"You were a fool to challenge me!", she shouted, "No longer am I a weak, pathetic little worm! I am a Queen and you shall fear me as those who've opposed me should!"

She didn't exactly know who the hell Aethril even was, but she'd never give up the opportunity to monologue.

@Aethril

Round: 2/5
Attempt: Just slam her into the ground like the hulk did with Loki
Defense: N/A
Injuries: Singed back

Aethril was not listening to a word Arwen was saying; it fluttered into one ear and then right out the other. Aethril was more occupied with her body coming into contact with the courtyard ground multiple times. There went another rib, with a crunch, and she was fairly certain that was blood dripping down her face, coming out of a broken nose.

She hated feeling helpless, but after the last incident, she knew that she'd have to call for help when she needed it-- and boy, did she fucking need it.

A flash and corrupted magic swathed her like a blanket; lurching from her body and to Arwen's, enveloping her and sending her back to the place of darkness, where the silence went so deep it was too easy to hear the sound of blood running through your very veins.

The Hand was stumbling up in this brief moment of solace; sucking air into her lungs. "ISRA," she bellowed, voice breaking between syllables. "OBIETH."

It didn't matter which one came, or if they both did. It just mattered if they were on their way in the same instant that Aethril lost her grip on the void she kept Arwen in and sent her tumbling back into reality.

round: 2/5
attempt: banish arwen to the shadow realm (so she can summon isra and/or obieth)
defense: none
injuries: broken ribs, broken nose

@Arwen @Obieth (also gm tagging for isra)

Arwen screamed as she was dragged back into that dark, endless abyss, thrashing about once again and yelling, "PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAUMA IS CHEATING!!"

She thrashed, moving every which way, trying to figure out how to get out, only for a different idea to form. If she could turn into a deer using that nifty spell she had, specifically an ivory one, perhaps she'd be able to confuse Aethril enough and be able to flee! Or, even better, merge in with the herds and attack from afar!

Arwen cackled, for she was brilliant, readying her magic. In an instant she turned into the stupid thing and stretched out her long legs, wiggling them gently before waiting ever so patiently to be let out into the open again. She really should have thought of this sooner! If she'd just turned into a deer, walked over to where some others were grazing and just spit all over the ground, then none of this would have happened.

But then again, she wouldn't be having so much fun, so...

@Aethril

Arwen is glamoured as an ivory deer for 3 rounds.

Round: 3/5
Attempt: turn into an ivory deer, hopefully confusing whoever happens to be out there
Defense: stuck in the shadow realm, can't be hurt
Injuries: singed back

Her head snapped up, tongue lashing the last flecks of meat from her whiskers. She was in motion almost before the Hand's call had fully registered: there was something to be said for cat-like reflexes. Well, catlike-like reflexes.

Paws sped her over tile and then soft earth; she bolted toward Aethril's voice as fast as she could move. It would, however, take her a bit of time to get there. She wouldn't show herself straightaway, though--she wanted to see what it was that was the problem. Part of her strength was her stealth; most likely, she would need it.

She swathed herself with shadows as they came, an effortless cloak that allowed her to plunge into the shade between rows of plants and palace columns, slipping forward as though she wasn't there at all.

@Aethril (for whenever)

Content Warning
This post contains potentially sensitive material:

strong language

Hell. Fucking hell. Fucking shit hell fuck. Where the fuck were they?

Aethril took a sharp breath, but her focus-- for now, seemed stable. Stable as far as corrupted magic went.

She barely shifted; but Arwen was kept firmly inside the void. It somehow grew darker in there, blacker and blacker still, and the silence almost made a ringing sound sharp in her ears.

The pain, meanwhile, was throbbing in Aethril's chest, stabbing up the underside of her arms. The Hand wasn't particularly certain how long she could hold the spell for, but the beads of sweat running down the back of her neck and laboured breathing told her, not that long.

@Arwen

round: 3/5
attempt: keep arwen in the void
defense: none
injuries: broken ribs, broken nose

Arwen sighed softly, quickly growing very tired of this wretched space. It was uncomfortable and choking. She could reach out and touch nothing while still feeling like she was being crushed and it was not a feeling she very much enjoyed. Not to mention the lack of air and constant suffocation. She wasn't dying but it felt like it.

Maybe she'd spit on Aethril and hope she got the mange-plague she'd tried to give those damn deer once she was out. Maybe.

She tilted her head back, still a deer, and let her magic flow over the wound on her back in an attempt to at least distract herself. It stung a bit, but at least she wouldn't suffer an infection.

@Aethril @Obieth

Arwen is glamoured as an ivory deer for two rounds

Round: 3/5
Attempt: cleaning her wounds
Defense: stuck in the shadow realm, can't be hurt
Injuries: singed back

Obieth was capricious in some ways--she followed her own whims, pursued instinct and aesthetic satisfaction, wherever that might lead her. But she was well aware that Aethril was the key to that happy life: that Obieth had successfully inserted herself into a station that was well above befit her perfectly, as a feline queen, and that to risk Aethril was to risk herself.

Plus... she rather liked the Hand, by now; the gentle touch and thoughtful words, the careful lessons and, well. The free food and the bed, most of all.

So when she came rushing in, it wasn't head-on, but it was fast: a dash into the bushes, cloaked in shadows, around the edges of this clearing. She kept to foliage, to darkness, but teal eyes darted and jerked, nostrils flaring.

She smelled-... flames, again. Charred flesh, perhaps-? Blood--she smelled blood. The scent of a stranger strong in the air. Her gaze took in, quickly, the dishevelled state of the Hand, the blood on her face, but... Aethril was alone? Hackles, short as they were, rose along black velveteen back as Obieth searched with all her senses for the enemy. It was one thing to come in as the confident predator, to spot the prey before it saw her--but an invisible enemy, nowhere to be seen?

She prowled as close to the open as she dared without exposing herself, her shadows falling away, and reached her mind for Aethril's.

I'm here, she told her, the mental voice a strong message: In the bushes. Across the grass. Where is it?

Heart raced in her chest as she continued to search for whatever had done this--where was the enemy? Black talons unsheathed, cutting into the dirt as she skulked along the edge, and sent another brief message (and perhaps Aethril would scold her for this later--but right now it seemed to be the best thing to do)--I am ready. If Aethril knew where the enemy was, she had but to direct Obieth, and Obieth would strike.

Patrolling, as usual; Aethril had been busy and Isra did her best to either stay clear of her path or tend as needed, but mostly it was Eggbert that attended the needs of the Hand the most. Not because Isra did not want to, but the little butler seemed to greatly enjoy it. The others that Aethril had invited in had been well-behaved, although she did not think Aehtril the type to suffer fools, and was grateful for that.

Days had been mundane, in a good way. Back to feeling like the old normal instead of the dull emptiness that stagnated them while the nest was dormant. It was also good to feel like her purpose was still worth it. Though Lord Dhracia had started to visit again, it was nice to have a resident Hand to look after.

The ear-holes of her skull picked up some kind of commotion in the gardens. Her head lifted as she focused on it, trying to determine if it was worth her time or if the patrolling swans were taking care of it. She slipped into a nearby room to peer from the open window—and at the same moment, Aethril called for her. Isra could see them in the short distance, but no details. Without hesitation, she leapt over the window sill and landed heavily in the grass, breaking into a hard sprint to reach them.

It was the tone of Aethril's voice that fueled the adrenaline in her blood. It had cracked—her voice—and Obeith was already arriving. Isra erupted with a bellowing roar, scattering any near, gentle lessers and hopefully summoning the hellswans to her, wherever they were.

Behind her, Ba, Si, and Ra were flailing themselves in a fury of hisses and spits.

She had not felt the anticipation for danger and battle in so long, not on this scale. To be called to aid the Hand in such an endeavor... Flames rose along her back and began to spit embers. Isra couldn't remember the last time she felt this alive.

Arriving next round!
* Hellswans arrive in 2 rounds.

@Aethril (i think is next?)

Obieth wouldn't have needed to pry into Aethril's mind to feel the relief that washed over her that the Valkhound's presence brought, reinforced by the distant, furious roar of Isra. Scolding the cat for peering in was, perhaps, the furthest from her mind at that moment.

Instead, she was showing her companion what had happened in a few flashes-- Arwen spitting on an apple, the instinctive knowledge that she'd intended to kill the ivory deer. The creature attacking Aethril and Aethril hitting the ground hard, the taste of blood strong in her mouth, and managing to incapacitate it before calling for help.

A beat went by. Obieth was ready, she'd said. Aethril took a moment to brace herself before she released the spell, but was going for another immediately after-- though, it'd failed.

Unsurprising. She was exhausted and her breathing was uneven and laboured as it was, and it was difficult to take in breaths deep enough to satisfy her without irritating her cracked ribs.

And what fell out of the Void was another ivory deer-- but this wasn't enough to trick her. Aethril knew who she'd trapped in there, and even if, somehow, this were a fluke, the deer were replaceable. This was particularly important.

"Kill it," she ordered Obieth in a vicious snarl, blood still leaking down her sweat-slick face.

@Arwen

round: 4/5
attempt: stun arwen with lightning (failed)
defense: none
injuries: broken ribs, broken nose

Arwen appeared out of the void and reared immediately, hooves pawing at the air as she tried to flee. She saw Isra in the corner of her eye and felt hope dwindle, her chance at escape quickly falling.

’Blue, my love,’ she cast along the bond they shared, ’I don't think I'm coming home. They might kill me, my dear.’

She hoped they heard as she tried to use her wings to simply fly away, her greatest asset as she rose into the air as if hovering.

’Tell everyone I loved them, and that I'm sorry I was reckless,’ she thought, ’Tell everyone a blue elf killed me, and a creature named Isra. If I die, don't let the Court die too. I beg of you.’
Arwen tried to fly away, flying as fast as she could and rising into the sky. If she could gain some height and head towards the tunnel, she could hide somewhere within the branches and hopefully be safe. Though that might just bring danger to the others, and she would only be able to hide in Pegasus if they pushed her out.

To Ursa, then. She would fly for Ursa.

@Obieth

Arwen is disguised as an Ivory deer for 1 round.

Round: 4/5
Attempt: fly away
Defense: disguised as an Ivory deer
Injuries: singed back