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"Kallixenia, Kallixenia wait-"
Kallixenia dons her armor in the same terse silence she's held since Dione's messenger reached them.
"Kallixenia! Gods' sake, stop! This is a trap! You know it is!" Nephele berates her, snatching her helmet out of her hands.
Kallixenia closes her eyes and inhales slowly through her nose. "Nephele, give me my helmet."
"No! Not until you listen! Pherusa, tell her!"
"She's right. Give us some time to plan a rescue-"
"There is no time and we're not planning a rescue; this is my fight, give me my helmet."
"Oh, hold me back or I'll crack her skull with the damned helmet! Idiot martyr!"
"You stubborn fucker!" Athis curses, inserting herself between Kallixenia and Nephele. "If you do this then what was the point of it all!?"
"We're not surrendering. Our order will no longer send its sisters out to die." Kallixenia says quietly.
"Then what do you call this, Kallixenia?"
"This is none of your concern."
"Oh, you- you fucking-" Nephele hisses. "No, you know what? We don't have to listen to her. Wake everyone, we're rescuing a princess." She throws Kallixenia's helmet at her and storms out, leaving her speechless as it clatters to the ground and the others follow her lead.
"W-Wait!" She says, rushing after them as they all leave. "You can't just attack them with no plan!"
"Oh, now she talks sense." Says Pherusa, gesturing for everyone to stop. "So what's the plan?"
"Only I need to-"
"I was wrong, still an idiot." She sighs, and everyone begins to leave again.
"Wait!!!" Kallixenia cries. Gods, why must they be difficult about this, she just doesn't want to see them hurt over her problems. "This isn't your fight!"
"It is!" Athis snaps back at her. "Of course it is! They want to kill you! They have your wife captive! We're your fucking sisters, how could it not be our fight!?"
"I just..." Kallixenia takes a shuddering breath under the weight of her sisters' ire. "I don't want to see anyone die when I could prevent it."
"Nor do we." Pherusa says, softening. "That's why we'll take a chance that any of us might die over a guarantee that you will."
She hugs her, and everyone else joins in, crushing Kallixenia in their embrace.
"Tell us the plan, commander."
It's not the best plan she's ever had, but they're pressed on time. Their only shot is an assault under cover of darkness- hit them hard and fast, and then retreat back into the night sky before they can be overwhelmed by the inquisition's superior numbers.
There are barely fifty of them, ready and able, circling high above the inquisition camp. If they fail here they won't get a second chance- they won't even be able to defend the monastery. Everyone, not just her friends, are staking their future on this rescue.
Kallixenia prays for victory, and blows her war horn.
The paladins descend on the camp like a flock of vultures, ripping night watchmen out of their posts and dispatching them, tossing their lanterns down to start fires on the outskirts of the camp. Panicked inquisitors spill out into the snow and are struck down before they know what's happening, anyone with a bow or a wizardly look about them immediately targeted by the swarming angels to ensure they hold control of the skies.
It's brutal. Dishonorable. But if Dione wanted an honorable fight, she shouldn't have taken her fucking wife hostage.
The High Cleric is nowhere to be seen yet, but she can't keep hidden for long. The fires illuminate the inquisition camp, and the paladins retreat upward out of sight. A wizard tries to light up the sky with a spell and they dive upon him, his death returning it to inky darkness before they can be shot down. They take some arrows in the process, but nothing that can't be flown home from.
The second major attack is the tricky one, the inquisitors ready and watching for them to come into view. The paladins wait in a holding pattern, strike teams planning out their targets as they wait for Kallixenia's signal.
It doesn't seem like Dione intends to show herself yet, so Kallixenia blows the war horn again.
The paladins do nothing as the inquisitors tense and search for their approach.
Thirty wingbeats later, they split up and swoop down, teams darting in from every direction to swiftly eliminate their targets. Arrows and spells fly through the air, glancing off Kallixenia's shield as she dives in to dispatch a crossbowman. She lands for a brief second to bash him off balance and run him through, narrowly blocking a swing from another inquisitor before Achaia cuts him down and they both take off again.
The impacts reverberate through her, her shield vibrating on her arm. She isn't doing enough. They took injuries on that attack, she can see some of her sisters flying off-balance back to the monastery. She's supposed to protect people, and she isn't.
She watches the fires spread as everyone who can still fight gathers in the air. The inquisition can't repel them and extinguish their camp, and they've lost a lot of their ranged options. They can wait them out a bit, see if- There!
Dione storms out of her tent, dragging Lunaeris by her shackles. She throws her to the ground and draws her sword, screaming inaudibly into the sky. Kallixenia blows the war horn three times in quick succession, and dives down to meet her.
She lands hard, her sisters circling low to prevent anyone else from approaching.
"Dione!" She roars. How dare she treat Lunaeris this way, threaten to kill her right in front of her? Kallixenia can feel her heartbeat pounding in her shield arm as she stares the High Cleric down.
"Call them off, Kallixenia!" Dione howls against the deafening wingbeats, furious. "I'll kill her!"
She levels her blade at the neck of the Princess, who glares up at her defiantly.
"I don't take orders from you anymore!" Yells Kallixenia. She can feel something building inside her, her shield thrumming with energy in time with her racing heart. She can protect Lunaeris. She will.
"So be it!" Dione says, raising her sword to strike the Princess down.
She must protect Lunaeris, for that is her oath.
The energy bursts free, and Dione brings her sword down on a glittering holy barrier. Kallixenia can feel the blow on her shield; though it hardly jolts her arm, even unbraced as she is. She raises her shield in time to barely feel Dione's second strike, and then before the third she propels herself forward with all her might. The golden aegis staggers the High Cleric with a blast of concussive force, and Kallixenia follows it up with a shield bash that knocks her to the ground.
"Lunaeris!" She says, dropping to her knees and undoing her gag. "Lunaeris, are you alright?"
Smoke billows from the Princess' mouth as she releases her breath, her skin is hot to the touch. "Kallie..." She says. "Get these fucking shackles off me."
"Of course." Says Kallixenia, as she scrambles to swipe the key from the dazed Dione's belt. She unlocks the shackles and heat rolls off Lunaeris in waves, the fires throughout the camp roaring to life as she unleashes her magic in a wild burst. After a moment she slumps over, weak, and Kallixenia cradles her in her arms. "I've got you, Princess. I'll never let you go again."
Lunaeris smiles through panting breaths. "Cold." She mumbles. "Take me home, beloved."
Kallixenia blows the horn to signal a retreat, then holds Lunaeris tightly as she takes to the sky.
Back at the monastery she sets her down; removes her armor as quickly as she's able so that she can embrace her princess once more, let the exhausted pyromancer leech her body heat as she carries her back to her room. She draws her into bed and lets her crawl atop her, snuggled into her chest with wings and blankets draped over her. Lunaeris begins softly snoring almost instantly, lulled to sleep by the beating of Kallixenia's heart as it slows and she joins her in dreams.
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Date: 2024-11-29 07:38 pm (UTC)From:no subject
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