Time seemed to stop as the black fingers of crackling, evil energy burnt through her snowy midriff. It felt absolutely terrible; the pain was unbearable of course, but within it was an icy chill brought forth by the pure evil of the caster. There was no blood as the intensity of the energy had cauterized the wound. All that was left was a gaping hole as she collapsed onto the ground.
Salem was everything they had expected to be and more: extremely powerful, driven, and above all, she was remorseless. She didn't care that they were barely twenty. She didn't care that they were fighting her in the name of peace and justice. All she knew was that they stood in the way of her plans and must be eradicated immediately.
But they were a good team, she would give them that. The ashen-skinned woman had to resort to her reserves of power just to deal with them. The team's apparent leader, a spunky young woman with familiar silver eyes, had made a miscalculation and approached her at an angle that was supposed to be blind.
But I didn't live this long just to be outwitted by some hyperactive child with an oversized weapon thought Salem as she reached out with a finger without looking and blasted several bolts of dark energy. She turned around just in time to witness the bewildered expression on the Huntress' face; she was traveling so fast the momentum wouldn't allow her to change direction. Ruby was as good as dead.
That is, until some glyphs appeared beneath her feet and seemed to dilate the motions of the space around it. A streak of stark white sliced into the narrowing space between the bolt and the girl with the red hood, which saved the latter, but mortally wounded Weiss.
Her broken body seemed to freeze in space for a moment, partly due to the dilation, but tumbled sharply onto the ground as her power faded. The silver-eyed huntress, which couldn't believed what happened, rushed to her fallen comrade's side, boots scrunching on the corrupted ground and petals whirling in concentric circles.
'L-looks like you really w-were a hazard to my health...' gasped Weiss as a trickle of crimson slid down the corner of her mouth. Ruby had laid her head on her lap, which momentarily made her feel better. The red huntress was too in shock to say anything, she could only stare on with misty pools of silver. They were in that position for what seemed like an eternity, neither saying anything as the inevitable was about to come and they could only take comfort in each other's company.
Salem was amused at such a scene, but could not intervene as the furious blonde was keeping her busy. The other one had just came in for a brief exchange and blinked back into the shadows again. Not that it mattered how they fought, the blonde's strikes were becoming more powerful, perhaps due to her friend's condition, but it was no cause for worry as the overlord blocked them with nonchalant ease.
'W-Weiss...' Ruby muttered finally. At the sound of her name the heiress' icy orbs seemed to be invigorated, but her short, panting breaths said otherwise. 'I-I am sorry...' said Ruby as rivulets of water ran down her cheeks and dampened her friend's charred dress. 'It's alright...' struggled Weiss as she grasped at the vestiges of her ebbing life. There wasn't a great exchange of words, but their eyes had met and both knew what the other was thinking.
The ice princess really did cherish their friendship. And all of that was about to be gone forever, just like a melting snowflake on someone's palm. Ruby's heart throbbed with pain as she cradled Weiss' feathery white head in her hands. The dreadful feeling had paralyzed her vocal cords and all she could whisper was a soft goodbye. Weiss reached up and caressed a rose petal that had settled on her chest. She smiled as her azure eyes grew ever dim- she was in her last moments now. 'D-don't touch me, you dunce' grinned Weiss as her being faded away. The remains of her aura seemed to activate her glyphs, which started spreading frozen tendrils up her body. She was still holding on to the petal, which would remain inanimate with her corpse for all eternity.