Steady aim and sharp eyes, that was what her mother had taught her. Always on guard, a split second to make it or break it. Her mother had smiled proudly when she shot her first target under duress, clasping the cool gold pendant around her neck as reward.
She lets loose an arrow with one hand on the trigger, her other hand reaching for the magic in her bones. More, her mind rages, she needs more of it. But her other hand is too busy readying another arrow. Eyes on the target, only half a second to steady her hand, the trigger releases with a soft puff and a click.
Her second arrow finds its home in the ground.
"Shit," Caroline hisses, throwing her crossbow on her back now that she realizes it's useless. Her arrows can do no more to the Shades than a gust of wind. Blindly grabbing for the walkie strapped to her arm, she hisses a warning to the others without realizing that the lines are dead.
She can't alert the rest of the guard without attracting attention to herself, but she'll need back up if arrows pose no threat. Guns had never worked quite right here, but she doubted they'd be of much use either way. Even a rocket launcher wouldn't do them much good now.
"Forbes," Brady hisses, "go get the General, I'll hold them off." Caroline hesitates, Brady has no magic and clearly whatever these things were, no mortal weapon could hold its own against them. "That's an order, Forbes," shooting her a wink, Caroline isn't sure if Brady is that cocky or welcomes death with open arms.
She doesn't question him a second time though, turning on her heel and stepping as quickly and lightly as she can through the fog. It had started up just before nightfall, setting everyone on edge. They'd all gone to watch the main gates though, leaving Caroline and Brady on the East portion of the Wall.
They hadn't exactly been expecting Shades.
Making her way toward the main gate, Caroline realizes that backup won't be of much help, the Shades are here too. Flimsy representations of corporeal forms, the pale Shades were more ghost than threat so long as their gangly limbs didn't touch you. The necklace is so cold, it freezes the blood underneath whenever a Shade steps too close.
She ducks a long, pale arm, plowing right into her General.
"Shit, Forbes," he groans, rolling immediately to stand back up.
"Just trying to help, General. My crossbow…"
"Bloody useless," he agrees, "they're coming at us from every point on this damn Wall." She wondered if her sword could hold its own against the Shades, the glinting ancestral symbols might give her some leverage in this battle. Drawing it, she swings an arc at the closest Shade.
Thanks Gods, she wants to pray, the sword finds its mark. Her arrows had gone through the Shades like smoke, but whatever powered her sword was able to clear one of their heads.
"Alright then, Private, we might win this one yet. Form a line, make the connection and bloody hold them off!" General St. John has disappeared back into the mist and meelay before he's even done speaking and Caroline is off to the East Wall, sword swinging freely. She can feel the other witches, part of a special force on the guard already touching her mind, begging entrance one by one.
Letting them in, she finally slows, drawing her marks. A star for the North, the guiding light home. The fork to her 6, a choice in the midst of chaos. To her right, she draws the sun and her left the moon, all creatures bound by ever changing nature. Despite her mother warning her the magic would only ever bring her pain, General St. John had insisted on all of his capable guards to be trained in at least the basics. It was her own curiosity that had lead her to learn more, despite the biting cold the pendant emitted.
Swinging her sword, she draws a quick line to each point, connecting them. She could do it all with her mind, draw her marks and connect them, but her magic is sluggish and she finds ease in drawing the marks with the tip of her sword. She goes to connect her moon to the guiding star, her final line, when Brady falls.
Glassy black eyes and flailing limbs, the creature he now is pulls himself from a heap on the ground, reaching clawing hands toward her. Caroline can spare Brady no thought, no last ritual. A split second, steady aim, and sharp eyes. Caroline draws the last line, the piece of gold burning ice where it sits just above her chest, and lets the darkness claim her.
On either side of her, the eternal flames flicker out, never to be relit again.