The sky split open from thunder, spilling rain in sheets over the jagged cliffs. Atop a worn stone ridge above the mouth of an ancient cave.
Lucian body had been moving in a smoke like form, he was high alert. He knew if two of crimson sanctum patron was dead they rest was aware and nearby and the question was who took Halcyon's and Asher as all their trace was erased.
Suddenly, Lucian body was pulled up into the air through the stone cave onto the top he was unhurt but dirt.
He didn't notice at thr time was ground was made up of hair. As despite being able to control hair it never had any energy just was like a part of your body example and arm.
Ontop it was two predators facing each other two prensce clashing on weaking that the other but Netherlands they seemed to fairly matched.
Opposite him, Kora stood barefoot on the rain-slick stone, lips curled in a predatory smirk. Her long black hair whipped and slithered unnaturally, moving like a nest of serpents in the wind.
"Lord Reaper," she said, voice almost a song.
Lucian eyes narrowed. "kora."
"It is good to see you," she said sweetly.
Lucian's voice dropped like thunder. "It really isn't. Especially knowing you have Halcyon. And Asher."
Kora shrugged. "My lord, it isn't my fault. Someone disrupted Lord Morbidus plans… Someone needs to answer for it."
"A shame. If you hadn't taken Halcyon," Lucian growled, "we wouldn't be here."
Her eyebrow rose, her hair all around wrapped the tree tightly. "My, do you always bring up her name before battle?"
Lucian's stare sharpened. "Do you have Halcyon. Or not."
In answer, Kora raised a single finger. The forest behind her shifted, trees bending like curtains. From their midst, a cascade of hair parted like water… and there, suspended midair, was Halcyon. Her body limp, her throat encircled by thick coils of hair. Surrounding her were vampires crouched like feral dogs, awaiting a command.
Lucian's heart thudded once… hard. "So you do have her…" His tone dropped. "Then I'll only say this once. You still call me seeing you still call me 'Lord'… release Halcyon."
"I can't," Kora said with a sigh, as if she were tired of the game. "Simply because… she's in the way. Like always."
Lucian surged forward like a bullet the ground cracked beneath his feet, his first punch was a blur. Kora leaned back, her hair catching his arm mid-swing, yanking it off-course before three strands lashed across his chest like whips, carving bloody ribbons into his flesh.
He grunted, grabbing two strands mid-air, and yanked… hauling her toward him.
However it seemed she was ready.
Her hair twisted like ropes, anchoring to the stone as her body flipped sideways. Her foot slammed into his face with brutal grace, sending Lucian staggering back. Before his boots skidded to a stop, her hair coiled around his ankle like a chain, pulling his feet out from under him.
He hit the stone ground hard, but rolled… just as a lance of hair slammed where his head had been.
He sprang up and drove forward, launching a devastating uppercut. Kora's hair blocking it only partially. The sheer force split the ends of her hair and knocked her back. Lucian followed up with a savage combo… two gut punches and a roundhouse that sent her spinning.
She slid across the ledge, blood dripping from her mouth.
Her smirk faded.
Rain fell harder, washing away little blood they both had.
Kora screamed… and her hair erupted like a nest of vipers. Dozens of strands rose, extending outward, each tip needle-sharp and humming with cursed energy. They lashed out in a flurry, surrounding Lucian from every angle.
He roared and charged into the storm of hair stands.
Hair stabbed at his arms, wrapped around his legs, sliced his cheek, but he kept movin… tearing through the strands with raw force. He grabbed handfuls of her hair and snapped them with twisting force, ignoring the deep gashes they left across his skin.
She tried to skewer him from behind… he spun and kicked upward, his boot colliding with her jaw and lifting her off the ground.
As Kora twisted midair, her hair flared like wings… catching the wind, stabilizing her as she sent four thick braids hurling like spears toward Luz. He ducked, but one grazed his side, tearing through his ribs.
Blood splattered the stone. Still he leaped into into the air, bringing both fists down like hammers. She crossed her arms to block.
It was too late it impact cratered the ridge.
Kora was driven into the ground. A spiderweb of cracks spread around them, the edge of the cliff trembling. Lucian landed beside her, one knee down, panting, but ready to keep going.
But she wasn't finished.
Her hair burst upward from the rubble like a coiled beast. Dozens of strands shot out, wrapping around His arms, legs, throat… lifting him off the ground. She rose from the dust, her expression twisted in rage.
She slammed him down once… twice… three times. The stone cracked with each impact.
Then she pulled him close… her hair tightening like a cocoon.
"Burn."
A searing charge ran through the hair… cursed fire ignited across it, flames licking up Lucian's arms. His body trembled.
He suddenly laughed? As the flames parted.
His eyes glowed with hellish fury, fangs bared.
He flexed muscles bulging and with a guttural roar, tore the hair bindings apart. Shredded strands burst outward in a cyclone. Kora eyes widened.
Too late… Lucian drove his fist into her gut, flowing her forward.
He followed with a spinning backfist to her jaw, then slammed both palms against her chest, launching her across the ridge.
She bounced once before coming to a stop near the cliff's edge, coughing violently, her hair limp and charred in places.
The storm crackled above.
Lucian stood, blood-soaked mostly by hers, but upright. His skin steamed from the burns, bones groaning under the strain.
"You're gotten weak Lord Reaper. But you're not like me. I am evolution. I am control."
She thrust her hand forward, and her hair surged like a tidal wave. Lucian vanished again, appearing behind her… but she had expected it.
Her hair twisted around, slamming into him mid-step and sending him flying through the cave ceiling and back down again.
Halcyon who woke up watching thrpught rhe hair strands whimpered.
Kora turned her head toward Halcyon, holding her suspended above the rocky abyss below. Hair wrapped tightly around her neck.
"Now watch, Lucian," she said coldly. "Watch as I erase your last weakness."
Lucian bloodied hand reached out weakly, fingers twitching.
"No… no, dont…"
But Kora's hair began to constrict.
His eyes zoomed like a hawk into Halcyon pain filled wide eyes.
"Ahh!"
Suddenly, Lucian screamed that echoed far and wide.
It wasn't a word, nor a shout of pain… but something deeper. The storm above responded in kind. Thunder boomed so violently the ground cracked.
The air pressure inside the cave collapsed.
In that moment, a blast of red-black energy erupted from Lucian's chest, pulsing like a second heartbeat. Shadows warped. Stone shattered. Every strand of Kora's hair suddenly halted mid-air, shaking violently.
Her eyes widened in horror.
Lucian rose to his feet, his silhouette aflame with raw power. His cloak incinerated in a flash. Crimson energy poured from his veins like liquid wrath, swirling in violent arcs around him.
"You hurt her," Lucian said softly… dangerously. "You shouldn't have hurt her."
With one flash-step, he closed the distance.
A wave of red energy followed his punch as he drove it into Kora midsection, cracking her armor of hair, splintering the very air. She was launched backwards, smashing through the cave wall. Her hair tried to retaliate… but it was burning away on contact with Lucian's energy.
He struck again.
And again.
The cave exploded outward… columns, ceiling, stone… obliterated into dust. Lightning lanced through the gap, illuminating the fury on his face and the shock on hers.
Kora let out a choked scream as her entire body was consumed in the spiraling energy. Her hair unraveled, screaming as if it were alive, thrashing before dissolving.
When the smoke cleared, Lucian stood in the epicenter of a crater. Rain poured down on the scorched stone. Around him, the earth had been shredded, the cave reduced to ruin.
Kora layed there her body slowly turning into ash with a final smile on her face.
For he didn't care he despite he knew her feeling for him, as they year around rhe seven blood shadows.
He focused on Halcyon, she lay unharmed, as if the chaos had curved around her.
Lucian appeared beside her in an instant, his power dimming, body shaking. He knelt, hands trembling as he cradled her gently in his arms.
Her eyelids fluttered.
"…Noct?" she whispered.
He looked into her eyes, tears mingling with the rain on his face. "I'm here… I've got you."
She suddenly wrapped her arms around him, burying her face into his chest. Her body trembled as she sobbed softly. He held her tighter, as if anchoring himself to the only thing left in the world that mattered.
Two hearts beating as one, beneath the ashes of battle.
They was always something a new soul could change was a person characteristic.