Snippet #2776172

Red quirked an eyebrow. She wasn't familiar with the nickname Sam used.

Must be another of their pre-shattering references. She found that the so-named ancients certainly adored speaking of their history. While she understood the origin behind the term it would be apt to call them ancient for much like their great ruins they too were relics of the past clinging desperately to that which was lost. In a way it was a curse in it's own right.

Alas, mortal combat was no situation to be idly pondering the more philosophical quandaries posed to her. While in the secluded safety of waters now virtually opaque with the stain of blood she continued to extend her powers through the network she had fabricated. With all the pieces in place all it took was a few shallow motions to set things into motion. The impact of the blows being traded cast shock waves which brought ripples to the fountain water even this far off from the main conflict so the slow minute motions of her hands and the silent mouthing of words spoken into liquid produced no visible disturbance. The water shuddered gently ever still as off on a different street earth shattering strikes were traded back and forth between the three.

The blood which flowed in the air like streaming shocks of uneven crimson ribbons traced about like veins leading out from the hearts. Upon the field surrounding the three bodies were plentiful, all thoughtfully sewn by Alexia in her little music video just prior. Women's bodies were strewn about in varying degrees of physical integrity, all ripe for her control.


With unheard incantation the blood traveling between the hearts started splitting into forks in their paths. While one line always led on to the next heard the rest flowed into the holes littering the dispatched bodies, threading through them like thin ribbons of red silk.

In a macabre display these former members of the crusade staggered slowly to their feet like jerky marionettes being forced to rise by the strings which control them. Each dead body that rose began to slowly shamble on unsteady feet towards Mira, dead lifeless eyes and loose hanging jaws fixed towards their former general.

They came towards her in greater and greater numbers. Animating them was easy. Controlling them was even easier. The spell used to give them motion was very basic, barely any effort at all. The blood spent to give them rise was distributed very frugally and their built-in command was very simple. All they had to do was walk towards Mira.


This was naught but the first part of Red's hand in this little road bump. The reason she had made these weak shambling corpses stand and move like some form of common necromancy was simply so they could set up the stage for Mira's grand fall. Each and every body brought to it's feet by this method packed a certain quantity of blood left within it.

Her plan? To use the zombies as cheap distractions until one of them gets close. Once close enough Red would use these bodies as essentially living bombs. With a separate spell Red can manually explode those under her sway. Not only does the force of the blood erupting out pack carry potent impact but the blood can be brought to a boil resulting in a shower of excruciating agony. Such was the fate of those who stood between Red and her book.

Of course that was not to mention how the shattered fragments of the skeletal structures would serve swimmingly as impromptu shrapnel. This way she could turn this battle from a small skirmish into a battle of attrition, a battle she was fairly confident a dull witted foe like Mira wasn't likely equipped to withstand. If she left the bodies alone they would eventually close in on her before exploding. If she shot them to keep from being caught in melee range of these hollow husks of those she once considered friends then she'll have wasted her spell stone projectiles wiping out these reanimated shamblers.

The expenditure of blood lost for each destroyed body was so low as to be almost negligible. All the cost for this particular magic combo largely came from the explosion and all the while she patiently waited, surveilling the field through the blood that stained it, awaiting the moment Mira gets too close to one of these shuffling corpses so she can detonate it before Mira gets the opportunity to dodge or shield herself behind her sword. This would be all while at the same time attacking on the mental battlefield as the wholly unnatural gait of those she once cared for brought these cherry sharp dead ever closer to her, the bloody deceased approaching with no remorse.

The smile on Red's face held a cruel tinge to it. Her inner sadist was positively beaming with new ideas for how to tackle this.