Chapter 196: Ambition
Gen disengaged from her opponent, flipping towards them.
They settled next to each other, each one in a fighting stance.
"I\'ll take the one in the middle." I announced. "Gen, take the right. Olivia, take the left."
With a nod, they took off.
Ezra dashed at his opponent and materialized feathers in his hand, throwing them.
The lady dodged, moving between the feathers like she was dancing.
Ezra grinned as the Blood Song settled in his veins.
There.
He twisted, materializing a giant axe mid-swing.
The vampire\'s eyes widened but she ducked just in time, slipping beneath the strike and reaching towards Ezra\'s face.
Ezra shot a web from his back and dragged himself backward, throwing sharp feathers at her and forcing her to leap back.
He shot webs at her, trying to stick her to the ground but she kept dodging, bending in ways that no human could mimic.
She gestured, shooting out the dark waves of the black zone at him. Ezra took a deep breath and yelled a long note.
Waves of red, green and blue appeared, destabilizing the zone before it could take form.
The darkness dispersed to reveal nothing. The lady was gone.
Ezra\'s eyes widened and dragged himself to the side with a web just in time to get out of the way of a giant sword. It cracked the ground, sending debris flying at him.
"Come here you rat!" She snarled at him as she dashed towards him.
Ezra reached out, his sword appearing in his hand, coated in vitality stealing darkness.
The lady yelled, descending upon him like a storm. Her sword whirled around, striking once, twice, thrice.
Sparks flew as he defended himself, parrying with his sword.
On the fourth strike, he sidestepped, slashing towards her.
She moved with the swing, bringing her sword up in time to block the strike.
Ezra dashed in, eliminating the long reach of her sword.
He attacked, not giving her a chance to disengage. She blocked with the flat of her sword, stopping each strike.
As he struck her on one side, he materialized a second sword, striking on the other side.
She dropped her sword, ramming into him with her shoulder.
Ezra grunted as he was pushed back. His wings burst out of his back, hooking to the floor and halting his momentum.
"What the?" The vampire looked down at the web on her shoulder, tracing the path to see it end at Ezra\'s stomach.
"Gotcha!"
Ezra his hand wrapped around the web, yanking it towards him. The lady stumbled forward, just in time to catch a fist to the face.
Ezra followed it up with more punches, not giving her time to get her bearings. He swung, cutting off her legs.
A few seconds later, he crushed her heart. She flopped to the floor, dead.
He turned just in time to see Olivia kill her opponent.
"No!" Gen\'s opponent screamed, distracted by the deaths of her fellow wives.
Gen went in for the killing blow and leapt back as an arrow shot towards her.
They all looked up to see Natalia walk in, three arrow notched. She released, sending them hurtling towards Ezra and his wives.
Ezra stepped to the side, the arrow sailing past his shoulder. An instant later, his hand shot out to snatch the arrow out of the air.
It had turned around, homing in on him.
He crushed it in his hand as Natalia snarled. "You all will pay for that."
Ezra took a step forward and paused as a hand settled on his arm.
He looked up to see Olivia smiling at him.
He blinked.
It wasn\'t one of her usual half smiles. Instead, it was an actual smile. He met her eyes to see the cold amusement in it.
"Don\'t worry. We\'ve got this. Take care of Griffin instead."
He met her eyes for a moment before nodding. "Alright."
His wives were strong enough to take care of themselves. All he had to do was make sure that the threat Griffin posed, ends here and now.
He turned just in time to see Griffin sever one of X\'s arms.
"Shit!"
Before another strike could land, he shot a huge pillar of darkness, forcing Griffin to block.
X leapt backward, taking his arm with him. He pressed it to the wound and it began sewing back together.
Griffin sighed, turning to face Ezra. "Why do you always have to interfere in my plans, you insect?"
Ezra could see that their battle had damaged the fountain, the stone standing in the middle, shattered and scattered in the small pool.
He stepped forward, moving towards X.
"You\'re too greedy, Griffin. Someone has to put a stop to your ambition."
"My ambition?" Griffin snarled. "All I\'m doing is following the mandate given by the progenitor to all princes. Find the throne and claim it! AND YOU CALL THAT AMBITION?!"
Ezra took a step back, eyes widening. "You\'re a prince?"
Griffin took a step forward, showing his fangs. "I am Griffin. Member of the Night Court and holder of the ninth relic, Imago."
"All you are is an upstart prince, trying to get in the way of your betters." Red chains snaked down his arms, tinkling as it trailed on the floor. "No more."
In an instant, he was in front of Ezra.
Ezra blocked just in time. He was sent flying by the blow, hitting the wall.
His eyes widened as Griffin flew towards him. With no time to dodge, he wreathed himself in darkness, taking the blow on his crossed arms.
Griffin ducked, X\'s chains flying over his head.
Ezra stabbed downward with one of Olivia\'s throwing knives.
"Stop." Griffin commanded and for a moment, Ezra was frozen, giving him time to slip away.
Griffin leapt backward, dodging X\'s kick. He raised a hand and a wall of lightning descended, giving him space.
Through the wall of dancing electricity, X and Griffin watched as he raised both hands in the air.
"I will call you and you will answer. Come forth. Imago."