Seven flexed her fingers, black veins pulsing beneath pale skin. The ground where she stood turned ashen, spreading outward in a slow circle of death.
Elena thrust both hands forward. Stone spikes erupted from the frozen earth, racing toward Seven with bone-crushing force. The decay master stepped sideways, her movents fluid despite the corruption coursing through her veins. Where the spikes passed, they crumbled to dust before reaching their target.
"Too slow," Seven taunted, raising her palm toward Elena.
Elysia reacted instantly, compressed air slamming into Seven’s extended arm and knocking it aside. The wave of decay energy shot harmlessly into empty space, withering a patch of snow into black sludge.
"Watch her hands!" Elysia shouted.
Elena pulled a wall of earth between them and Seven, buying precious seconds. "I know what I’m doing!"
"Clearly not, or we wouldn’t be in this ss!"
Seven’s laughter cut through their bickering. She pressed both palms against Elena’s earth barrier. The stone began to crumble, particles falling away like sand as decay spread through the solid rock.
Elena stepped back, sweat beading on her forehead despite the cold. "That shouldn’t be possible."
"Your elents are weak," Seven called through the dissolving wall. "Flesh, stone, air - all return to nothing in the end."
Elysia gathered wind around her fists, forming solid gauntlets of compressed air. She struck at Seven the mont the earth wall collapsed completely. Her punch connected with Seven’s shoulder, sending the decay master stumbling backward.
Black blood oozed from Seven’s mouth. She wiped it away with the back of her hand, staining her lips. "Better. But still not enough."
Elena raised spears of stone from the ground, launching them in rapid succession. Seven twisted and spun, avoiding each projectile by inches. One grazed her thigh, tearing through armor and flesh. More black blood flowed, but the wound began closing almost imdiately.
"She heals too fast," Elena muttered.
"Then we hit harder," Elysia replied, drawing air into her lungs before releasing it in a concentrated blast.
The wind struck Seven full in the chest, lifting her off her feet and hurling her backward. She landed hard, rolling across the frozen ground before coming to rest against a pile of rubble.
Around them, the battle between the armies had devolved into chaos. Moonlight warriors ford defensive circles, using air barriers to keep Luna’s forces at bay. But they were outnumbered three to one.
A Thornvale defender scread as an enemy blade found the gap in her armor. Blood sprayed across the snow as she fell. Two more Luna warriors converged on her position, weapons raised for the killing blow.
Elena split her attention between Seven and the dying warrior. She thrust her hand toward the ground, pulling up a wall of stone to protect her fallen soldier. The barrier saved the wounded woman’s life but left Elena exposed.
Seven had recovered from Elysia’s attack. She lunged forward, fingers reaching for Elena’s unprotected back.
Elysia caught the movent from the corner of her eye. She threw herself between them, air currents carrying her faster than running feet could manage. Her shoulder collided with Seven’s midsection, driving them both to the ground in a tangle of limbs.
Seven’s hand brushed against Elysia’s armor. The tal began to tarnish and flake away, but Elysia rolled clear before the decay could reach her skin.
"Too close," she gasped, scrambling to her feet.
Elena finally turned back to the fight, her face flushed with anger. "This isn’t working! Every ti I help our soldiers, she nearly kills you!"
"Then let them die!" Elysia snapped back. "We can’t save everyone!"
"Listen to yourselves," Seven said, rising slowly from the ground. Her armor was cracked and dented, but her smile remained unchanged. "Already turning on each other. How perfectly predictable."
Elena shaped stone into a massive hamr, swinging it toward Seven’s head. The decay master ducked low, the weapon passing over her silver hair by a hair’s breadth. She grabbed Elena’s wrist as the queen overextended.
Elena jerked back just in ti, leaving only her gauntlet in Seven’s grasp. The tal dissolved instantly, reduced to flakes of rust and corrosion.
"Where is Veilwalker?" Elysia demanded, using the distraction to position herself behind Seven.
Seven’s black eyes softened, taking on an almost maternal quality as she studied Elysia’s face. "Oh, sweet child. Always so protective, just like a mother hen watching over her chicks." She tilted her head mockingly. "Tell , does it hurt knowing you failed to protect everyone you’ve ever cared about?"
Elysia’s jaw tightened. "Answer the question."
"Veilwalker?" Seven laughed, the sound bitter and sharp. "Your precious son Eren is currently tied up in Kiran’s chambers, performing sothing called TUNA against his will. Though I prefer to call him mother now - he’s been so nurturing during my transformation."
The revelation hit both queens like a physical blow. Elysia staggered backward, wind currents flickering around her in agitation.
"Eren?" Elysia’s voice cracked. "What have you done to my son?"
"Surprised?" Seven’s smile turned cruel. "Let tell you a story about mothers, dear queens. Mine died screaming while your armies burned my village to ash. Thornvale and Moonlight forces, fighting over so aningless border dispute. The flas didn’t care which kingdom lit them."
Seven’s voice grew venomous as she continued. "After you all decided to kill my people, you decided to beco friends. How convenient. How noble. Two queens, shaking hands over the graves of innocents."
Elena hurled chunks of stone and ice, forcing Seven to dodge and weave. Each projectile that missed shattered against the ground, adding to the debris field surrounding them.
"Is Seven really your na?" Elena asked suddenly, her voice cutting through the sound of battle. "At least we should know the na of the person who’s going to kill us."
Seven paused mid-dodge, her head snapping toward Elena with startling intensity. For a mont, her confident mask slipped, revealing sothing raw and vulnerable beneath.
"So you’re really the last of the seven warriors," Elena continued, pressing her advantage. "Kaida must hate you that much to give you such a degrading number instead of a real na."
Seven’s hands clenched into fists, jealousy flashing across her corrupted features. The ground around her feet withered and died, spreading outward in all directions. "I earned this position! I proved myself worthy when the others failed!"
"Did you?" Elena pressed, recognizing the crack in Seven’s composure. "Or were you just the only one desperate enough to accept corruption? The last resort when everyone else was too smart to trust Kaida’s promises."
"Your master is lying to you," Elena pressed, recognizing the crack in Seven’s composure. "Whatever she promised, whatever she told you about power or purpose - it’s all deception."
"You know nothing!" Seven’s voice rose, losing its earlier calm control. "She saved ! She gave strength when your kind left to rot!"
"She’s using you," Elena continued, dodging a wild swipe from Seven’s corrupted fingers. "Just like she used everyone else. You think she cares about you? You’re just another tool."
Seven’s attack beca frenzied, lacking the precision she’d shown earlier. "She loves ! She chose from all the others!"
"Love?" Elysia joined the verbal assault while launching compressed air at Seven’s legs. "Is that what you call this corruption? Look at yourself! Look at what she’s turned you into!"
"I am perfection!" Seven shrieked, but tears of black ichor ran down her cheeks. "I am beyond death, beyond weakness!"
"You’re dying," Elena said bluntly. "That corruption is eating you alive from the inside. How long do you have? Months? Weeks?"
Seven’s movents beca erratic, her careful dodging replaced by desperate lunges. She reached for Elena with both hands, decay energy crackling around her fingers.
Elena backpedaled, pulling up barrier after barrier of stone and earth. Each wall slowed Seven’s advance but couldn’t stop her completely.
"It was because of your elental wars!" Seven scread, her composure finally shattered completely. "Your precious kingdoms and their endless fighting! My village was caught between Moonlight and Thornvale forces! Burned to ash while you all played your political gas!"
Elena faltered, the accusation hitting ho. "We never ant-"
"You never ant anything!" Seven’s voice cracked with genuine anguish. "My mother died calling for help that never ca! I watched her burn while your soldiers argued over territory!"
The pain in Seven’s voice was real, cutting through the corruption and madness. Elena felt a stab of guilt, rembering the border skirmishes from decades past.
"She found in the ruins," Seven continued, advancing step by step as Elena retreated. "She held while I wept. She promised the pain would end."
"And has it?" Elena asked softly. "Has the pain ended?"
Seven hesitated, her advance stopping. For a mont, the black orbs of her eyes seed almost human again.
A Thornvale warrior chose that mont to intervene. She leaped from behind a pile of rubble, sword raised high, aiming for Seven’s exposed neck.
Seven’s hand moved faster than thought. Her palm pressed against the warrior’s chest, and decay spread instantly through armor, flesh, and bone. The woman’s scream died in her throat as her vocal cords liquefied. She collapsed into a puddle of organic slurry that stead in the cold air.
The brief mont of humanity vanished from Seven’s features. She turned back to Elena with renewed fury.
"The pain never ends," she whispered. "But now I can share it."
She lunged forward with desperate speed. Elena tried to dodge, but her foot slipped on the icy ground. She fell backward, throwing up her hands to protect herself.
Seven’s fingers closed around Elena’s wrist.
Elena’s scream tore across the battlefield as decay raced up her arm. Flesh blackened and sloughed away, revealing bone that imdiately began to crumble. The corruption spread past her elbow before Elena managed to tear free, leaving most of her forearm behind as liquefied tissue.
Elena collapsed, clutching the ruined stump of her arm against her chest. Blood poured between her fingers, steaming in the frigid air.
"Elena!" Elysia’s anguished cry echoed off the surrounding ruins as she rushed to her fallen friend’s side.
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