"It's too late, boy!" Elijah screamed in glee. "Now, why don't you fight the love of your life!"
Jaxsin emerged swiftly out of the rushing smoke from the explosive destruction, flames of red and orange dancing around him, his hair an eerie black that glowed menacingly.
He was seconds from Elijah as he created a sword in his grasp, but at the last second, it was countered by a thin golden one.
No one moved then. The others, who had previously been rushing to their feet, were frozen in place by the new scene unfolding before their eyes while Elijah's hysterical laugh boomed all around.
"Yes, my puppet! Protect me!" he declared as he took a few jumps back to make more space between the two fighters: Jaxsin and Brianne.
It was like she was a living silhouette, her body cloaked in complete black that clung to her skin like a bodysuit. Her hair was black like Jaxsin's but instead of having a molten red glow, it burned of orange and gold while her aura rushed around her in waves of amplified power.
Her sword was thin enough to be a rapier, but it held its weight with ease against Jaxsin’s sword, which he held with two hands.
One look at his face and I knew this battle wouldn't end well. He wouldn't dare be a victor in this battle of darkness versus darkness. The love he carried for this woman was enough to let him be the victim of circumstance and lose to the sharp point of her blade.
She pushed against him with the slightest movement, and it sent him flying so swiftly that I worried the impact would break his bones. Connor somehow managed to catch him, the two of them flying into debris. Finnick cursed as he had no choice but to rush to their aid.
"Yes, yes, yes! My dark beautiful puppet! Finish them while they're down! Get rid of my nuisances!" Elijah cheered from afar as more rounds of manic laughter escaped him.
Brianne seemed to hesitate then, her body moving almost like a robot trying to calculate what their next move was. This was my chance to fix things, but with how furiously beautiful Brianne's aura was, I worried even I wouldn't have a chance.
Swallowing my fears, I decided to go with my gut for the first time in a long while. If death was my portion, so be it, but I knew that I wouldn't perish by the hands of Brianne. No matter the darkness that stole her light, there was a confident flame within me that knew she'd never make the finishing move.
With one step, I moved like air, and it was enough to catch Brianne's attention in time as she readied herself in defense to brace for my attack as I clashed my two swords against hers.
Her eyes were black, but emotionless. The were completely void, unlike the moments where Marianna would take her place and come out to taunt us in her malicious ways.
This was literally a sign that Brianne was struggling with this battle, and I needed to find her. To help her find the exit sign to the surface world again.
"Brianne," I whispered to her to try and get her attention, but her expression still remained heartless as she fought hard against my blades.
We were at a standstill, but I knew we wouldn’t be for long as her aura began to grow in enormous amounts. With a deep breath to get rid of my nerves, I zoned my mind into battle mode, as if this were now a tournament and I was on the final fight.
We pushed away from each other, using the tactic to give us the momentum to start the next wave of attacks that happened like shockwaves of wind as we pushed off the ground and began to clash.
Our speeds were somehow equal - every slash either hitting flesh or metal. I could feel the cuts beginning to break through my combat attire and leaving marks upon my flesh, but I was doing the same to Brianne, in hopes the pain would somehow cut through the endless flow of darkness and retrieve her from the shadows.
The loud sounds that came from our clashing swords were nothing like the aftershocks of energy bouncing all around us, making more debris and shattering glass left and right. We'd be lucky if this training room survived the impact of this intense battle, but I couldn’t care less about this structure.
My goal was to save Brianne the only way I knew how.
We fought long and hard. Elijah had no choice but to watch, as did Jax, Finnick, and Connor. Our speed was so tremendously fast and dangerous, interfering would be like a death wish.
"Brianne," I called her name again as I sought some sort of emotion within her, but it seemed like I was hitting a wall. I bit my lip before I got the upper hand to spin my body around to avoid her attack before connecting my foot into her ribs and sending her flying into a wall.
The crash was a little harder than my expectation, leaving me to curse before I debated whether to check if she was okay. Maybe the impact would knock her down, or even get her out of that dark shell.
Instead, I double cursed and lifted both swords to crisscross in time for the massive golden spark of electricity that surged at me with so much force I was literally sent flying across the room into the opposite wall.
I'd be lying if I said the impact didn't hurt like a bitch. I wasn't sure if I'd broken a damn bone or two, but I'd definitely be sore in the morning. I had to force myself to recover quickly, worried she'd go right in for the kill, but when I got up to assess my options, I noticed how Brianne's body shook with so much charged power, I was worried it would kill her before it destroyed me.
I bit my lip hard, enough to taste blood, but I had to do it to help me think outside the box. I had to reach her somehow. She needed to see that light at the end of the tunnel. I knew I could get to her if I just found a key clue, and then it suddenly clicked.
When I moved with force, her heaving body grew rigid as she prepared for impact, but I stopped a second early. The action landed me right in front of her before I let go of my blades for a brief moment and pressed my hands upon her cheeks as she tried to ready her sword to stab into me.
Without a doubt in my mind, I allowed my magic to soar into my lips as I unlocked my gift and slammed my lips onto hers.
The world seemed to still entirely as the searching kiss pulsed with so much magic it almost felt like my lips were on fire. My lips may have been scorching hot, but Brianne's were ice cold. The combination made the connection sizzle with streams of steam.
I didn’t care as I did what my gift was always able to do – retrieve what I wholeheartedly desired at the peak of the moment.
Brianne. My lovely Brianne. Our Notorious Queen. Red. You're free now. Run to the light. Run to me. Come back to me. To us. Come back home.
It felt like the kiss was eons long, but it was only a few short seconds before I pushed back in time to avoid her sword.
But she spun her body around, moving swiftly as I landed on my feet. I mentally cursed as my body froze. Brianne's blade reached my neck, the very tip touching my flesh.
I stared into her eyes at that very moment, the stillness of silence rushing through the room as my heart beat rapidly against my chest. My eyes caught onto the trickle of tears that began to pool in Brianne's eyes as she stood there. The clear droplets escaped their lair and rolled down the black surface of her cheeks.
My eyes grew wider as the dark shell around her body began to crack, little by little, until pieces fell to the ground beneath us. The cuts and bruises across her skin were obvious as the scent of our blood and sweat drifted through the air.
Neither of us moved, like frozen statues in time, but I could see fragments of emotions begin to leak into those loving orbs of hers while she began to blink rapidly to clear her vision.