Dimhollow Crypt, Skyrim…
Both dressed in the light, brigandine armor of the Dawnguard, Arlene and Jenassa crept their way through the dank, foreboding crypt. Isran had told them to investigate the ruin after they learned that the same vampires who sacked the Hall of the Vigilant were after something here. Glancing to her side, Arlene looked at the body of Tolan, the last Vigilant of Stendarr and the warrior who gave them the intel. The fool had charged into the dungeon ahead of them, and wound up getting slaughtered by vampires.
"I must say sera, you take me to the most interesting places." Jenassa whispered behind Arlene.
"Best part of being a mercenary. See the world, meet new, interesting people, kill them." Arlene shrugged as she crouched low and moved to the shadows. "Now come. I smell blood and death ahead of us."
Continuing forward, the two advanced slowly through the crypt. Arlene pulled out her crossbow, gifted to her by Isran, which she then placed a fire enchantment on. Barely above the level of novice mage, the enchantment Arlene placed upon it was weak and did not come with many charges, but it was good enough for now. Vampires were particularly weak to that element, and Arlene was never one to fight fair.
Going through the main gate, Arlene found that the dungeon she crawled through was rather standard in comparison to many of the others she'd explored throughout Skyrim. She'd sneak through some ancient Nordic tunnels, ambush a few vampires and draugr to clear the room, and rinse and repeat until she reached the end. She even felt more than a little pride that her training with the Thieves Guild let her sneak up on the vampires despite their enhanced senses and death hound guard dogs.
Once Arlene and Jenassa pushed into the deeper parts of the cavern, they were greeted by a large series of ruins that were in fact unlike anything Arlene had seen before. They were definitely not ancient Nordic, which were robust but often more crude designs. These were beautiful ribbed arches in a circular pattern and protected by vicious looking gargoyle statues. The ruins were placed upon a stone island in the middle of a cave lake, and almost reminded Arlene of the Imperial Colosseum. Whoever made this area of Dimhollow Crypt, built it after the Nords had abandoned it.
She and Jenassa were on a raised balcony of sorts, looking down onto these ruins. And directly below her, on a platform that acted as something of an antechamber for the main ruins, Arlene could hear conversation. Peeking down above the stone railing of her balcony, Arlene, saw three figures on the platform below her. Two of them were vampires, judging by the red armor and black robes they wore, standing above another dead Vigilant, while the last was an armored warrior, either some kind of mercenary or a thrall, guarding a bridge that moved to the circular ruins.
Silently, Arlene gestured to Jenassa to come beside her. The Dunmer did so, her own flame-enchanted crossbow raised as well. At this point, the two elves had worked long enough together that they could communicate orders with simple gestures, and with a flick of her fingers, Arlene commanded Jenassa to strike the left-most vampire in sync with her. Once the two lined up their shots, a nod from Arlene was all that was needed as they both loosed their flaming bolts.
The bolts struck true, Arlene's sinking deep into the neck of her target while Jenassa pierced the torso of her's. The two vampires barely had the time to suck in a surprised breath before they collapsed into dust. When the thrall turned at the noise, confused as to what happened to his master, Arlene loosed her second bolt, which struck him between the eyes.
With them dead, Arlene neither saw nor smelled any other threats in the area, so she descended down a nearby staircase to the platform below. After pocketing what gold and treasures the vampires and dead Vigilant had, the duo then advanced towards the main ruins. Crossing the bridge, they passed under the ribbed archways onto what looked like some kind of ritual circle in the center of the circular ruins, where there was a single pedestal with a button.
Her adventurer senses tingling, Arlene pressed the button. She then screamed as a spike shot up from the pedestal, stabbing through the palm of her hand.
"Daedra's Blood!" she cursed, and she pulled her hand back. When she did, she watched the blood from her wound sink into the pedestal, and soon enough the furrows in the stone around her began glowing purple, feeding into nearby braziers.
One healing potion and one convoluted puzzle later, Arlene had the moved the braziers in the correct positions, spreading the purple flame throughout the ruin's ritual circle's trenches and activating whatever the puzzle was hiding.
Without warning, the ground beneath Arlene began to collapse, stone receding and folding in on itself through unseen machinery. In the very center, was a single, towering stone monolith. Rightly wary of traps, Arlene and Jenassa slowly approached the pillar. When the stone began to shift, the two jumped back, ready to evade any spikes, flames, or arrows which would assault them.
However, when the front of the monolith fully receded into the ground, there were no deadly traps or nefarious ambushes. Instead, in front of Arlene was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. With snow pale skin and high cheekbones, the woman's face was framed by dark brown hair trimmed into a neat bob decorated with nordic braids atop it. She wore a red tunic covered by a black leather corset, as well as a matching pair of black leather trousers.
Her hands were laid over her chest, almost like a corpse or a daugr, and her head was rolled over to the side, atop what looked like some kind of golden scroll on her back. Arlene had no idea how long this woman had been in this… tomb, but it was impressive at how well preserved she was.
"Uhn…" The woman groaned as her head began to move. Her eyes fluttered open, revealing the most stunning pair of orange eyes Arlene had ever seen. The woman looked at Arlene, blinking confused. "Where is… who sent you here?"
Arlene blinked back. Apparently she was even more well preserved than Arlene had initially thought. "A man named Isran. But I'm more interested in you. It's not often that I meet someone sent directly by Dibella."
The woman just stared blankly at Arlene while Jenassa only groaned and facepalmed.
"I don't know any Isran." The woman said, glazing over Arlene's comment. "Is he like me?"
"Beautiful?" Arlene asked. "I mean he is a very handsome specimen of a man, huge in more ways than one probably, but I wouldn't say he's beautiful."
This time the woman sighed, seeing where this was going. "No, I mean a vampire."
"Oh." Arlene said, only now noticing the elongated fangs. "No he's not. In fact he'd want me to kill you." The woman's eyes narrowed on Arlene at that statement, causing her to panickedly wave her hands in front of her. "Not that I'd do that! You seem like a rather fine person."
The vampire just stared at Arlene for longer, before shaking her head. "Well, look. If you kill me, sure you've killed one vampire. But if there are people after me, I have a feeling something a lot bigger is going on, and I know where we can go to find out what it is. My family's home."
"Great! We can go there! Together!" Arlene said immediately, drawing another exasperated groan from Jenassa, who was now staring daggers into Arlene's back.
The vampire blinked at Arlene once more, trying to wrap her head around this strange elf. "Right. Good. My family lived on an island west of Solitude. Hopefully they still do." The vampire then pulled herself fully out of the coffin. "By the way… my name is Serana, good to meet you.
Anima, Present Day…
Arlene swept Dragonbane up, the edge of her katana biting into the edge of Raven's own sword. The logic of Raven's attack was smart. She had no idea what Arlene was capable of, so taking her down with a swift, surprise attack before Arlene could pull any tricks was the best way to secure a quick victory. Unfortunately for the Maiden, Arlene was just as fast as her.
But unfortunately for Arlene, just because she blocked the attack, didn't mean she could stop all of its force. Raven was powerful and skilled, her Aura bolstering her sword technique which was already executed perfectly. Arlene was knocked back by the power of the sword swing alone, sending her several feet away from Raven.
With her initial gambit failing, Raven took advantage of the distance opened up between her and Arlene by summoning a volley of ice spikes around her. With a flick of her wrist, half a dozen foot long icicles shot forward to impale Arlene. Like a dancer, Arlene spun and pirouetted, weaving between the ice spikes as they missed their target.
When she finished her last spin, Arlene decided to test Raven's defenses as well, and fired a handful of Fire Bolts right for her. In stark contrast to Arlene's fey movements, Raven opted to merely cut apart the Fire Bolts with her red-bladed sword, dissipating them into minor wafts of heat.
In continued contrast to Arlene, Raven didn't seem interested in testing or playing with her opponent. Without pausing, Raven followed up by extending both of her hands forward, creating a massive gust of hurricane-force winds that swept Arlene off her feet. Arlene was flung backwards, out of the tent along with the coffee table and half of Raven's belongings. She tumbled through the air, flying several dozen feet before she was able to regain control of her momentum, back flip, and land feet first in the middle of the Branwen encampment.
As Arlene got her bearings, the sounds of gun hammers cocking back and swords being drawn drew her attention. Looking up, she saw that her little duel with Raven had gotten the attention of the entirety of the Branwen camp, and the bandits did not look happy with her at all. As the number of bandits surrounding her continued to grow, Arlene felt her dragon's blood boil, raging in excitement at the possibility of such a slaughter.
"Sheath your weapons!" Raven's commanded her minions as she exited the tent as well. "She is out of your league."
The various bandits all looked at Raven before warily glancing between one another. Slowly, they began to sheathe their weapons and back away, obviously not wanting to get between their boss and a person she considered a threat.
"That's awfully nice of you." Arlene commented as she stood straight up, dusting her armor off. "You really do have a heart somewhere underneath all those layers of angst and choler."
Raven scoffed. "Don't think too much about it. They're no match for you, and I don't want to waste the resources and manpower."
If Raven's words were meant to intimidate Arlene, they failed as Arlene leaned forward with a savage grin on her face. "Callous and sexy. By the Divines you're attractive. I know you have a daughter, but are you single?"
Raven's only response was a raised, unamused eyebrow. But that slight moment was enough of an opening for Arlene to exploit. "WULD NAH KEST!"
With her Whirlwind Sprint, Arlene practically teleported right next to Raven, Dragonbane poised to strike. Raven's eyes widened at the revelation of Arlene's speed, and she barely had time to raise her own sword to deflect the strike, a downward slash aimed right for Raven's head.
Pressing her advantage, Arlene unleashed a flurry of rapid fire strikes at Raven. But Raven was just as fast and skilled as Arlene, parrying and deflecting every strike, hunting for a point where she could counterattack. Unfortunately for Raven, the chance wouldn't appear as when the two women clashed swords against one another, the blade of Raven's katana shattered.
Arlene's eyes widened slightly, surprised for a split second at the sudden sundering of her opponent's weapon. Raven on the other hand, was able to take advantage of that brief moment of hesitation to retreat, summoning a gust of wind that carried her up and away from Arlene, flying about 30 feet into the air.
Raven moved as if the destruction of her weapon did not matter at all, sheathing the hilt of her sword back into her oversized scabbard. When she did so, the mechanisms within the scabbard began to move and rotate, and to Arlene's surprise, when Raven drew her hilt, it had a brand new yellow blade attached to it.
"Oh that is so cool." Arlene said through a wide grin as Raven meteored towards her, fire jets streaming from her feet adding onto the force of gravity.
With a helm splitting cut, Raven brought her blade down onto Arlene's head as the Dragonborn raised her own sword to block. When the two blades contacted, Raven's sword exploded with a burst of lightning which sent pulses of electricity through Arlene's arms and into her body. Unprepared for the attack, Arlene spasmed with the shocks, leaving her open for Raven to then strike her in the head with a flame-augmented spinning hook kick.
The kick sent Arlene rocketing away from Raven's tent, out of the Branwen camp, and into the nearby forest, body ragdolling and crashing through a thick pine tree before she was able to recover. Arlene twisted her body, and with her Aura enhanced agility, grabbed onto the branch of a second tree she was about to crash through. Changing the backward momentum into rotational momentum, Arlene spun around the branch once before she dismounted with a flip and landed on the ground.
Spitting out a glob of blood, Arlene really appreciated having an Aura now. Back in Skyrim, hitting a tree like that would've probably broken her back. Here, it drained her, but it didn't kill or cripple her.
Raven didn't seem interested in letting Arlene recover her energy as she relentlessly pursued the elf. Now using wind magic to fly towards Arlene, Raven cut the distance almost immediately as she unleashed her own series of devastating attacks against her. Within the span of seconds, Raven performed dozens of attacks, every cut, slash, and thrust perfectly aimed to bleed and cripple Arlene. And every parry and riposte Arlene would counter with, Raven was able to follow up with her own.
Arlene grit her teeth as she was put on the defensive. With Raven pushing her so hard, continually nicking away at her Aura, Arlene came to an unfortunate conclusion. Raven was a better fighter than her.
This wasn't a huge surprise for Arlene. While she was definitely no slouch with a blade, and her own skills having grown considerably since joining the Companions, in Skyrim she often found herself outclassed by the immortals and warriors who devoted themselves wholly to the study of the sword. A certain Ebony Warrior came to the forefront of her mind when she needed an example.
And Raven was a more than devout student of the blade. If this were a fair fight in the Imperial Colosseum, with nothing but a pair of swords, their Auras, and their fighting skills, Arlene had no doubt Raven would eventually cut her throat.
But Arlene never fought fair.
"FUS ROH DAH!" Arlene shouted at point blank range, catching Raven with the full brunt of the Unrelenting Force.
Raven, having no way of anticipating or knowing about Arlene's shout, was caught completely unawares and was blasted backwards with a thunderous splitting of air. As Raven flew back, Arlene turned around and began spriting further into the Hinoki forest. As she ran, Arlene held out her off-hand and cast the Invisibility spell, vanishing from sight.
Arlene then began climbing the nearest tree, sheathing Dragonbane and requipping her Nightingale bow. Nocking an arrow and patiently waiting, Arlene eventually saw Raven approach her general area, flying above the forest with her magic as she tried to get a bead on Arlene's location. That's when Arlene fired.
The arrow was a perfect shot, flying right for the back of Raven's head. But Raven must've had a finely honed danger sense as, without even looking, she extended her offhand and caught the arrow. Raven then turned and smirked towards the direction of the arrow's origin. But that was when the magic of the Nightingale Bow triggered, activating the Ice Dust arrowhead and creating a massive burst of lightning and frost magic.
The explosion sent Raven crashing out of the sky as she lost focus on her magic. And unfortunately for her, Arlene was not also not feeling like letting the pressure up against Raven. She loosed one, then two more arrows which flew with unerring accuracy, both striking true on Raven, hitting her with additional bursts of frost and lightning.
When the smoke of the explosions cleared, Arlene saw that Raven continued to fall like a chunk of old masonry off a castle wall. Arlene grinned, wondering if her attacks were enough to knock out Raven. Those hopes were dashed however, as right before Raven slammed into the ground she twisted, righting herself as a tornado of wind jetted out from beneath her, stopping her fall completely.
With a savage snarl, Raven then rocketed herself towards Arlene once more, her katana moving so fast it was leaving streaks of yellow blurs behind it. Arlene bit back a curse, stepping back and raising her blade to parry the attack. The two swords struck, causing both Raven's and Arlene's arms to bounce back with the force of the attack alone.
Both women turned with the momentum of the recoil, flowing with it into another attack. With one sword clash after another, the exchange of strikes, parries, and ripostes echoed through the night air as Arlene was once more slowly but surely being pushed back. For every cut Arlene landed, Raven landed two. Arlene needed to stop getting locked into the battles of pure blade skill if she wanted any chance of actually winning this.
After parrying one of Arlene's slashes to her left, Raven turned and smacked the elf across the face with a spinning back fist. When Arlene stumbled back, Raven then extended her hand and created a small torrent of fire, not unlike the Flames spell or a flamethrower. Extending her own offhand, Arlene cast a Lesser Ward, blocking the burning flames from scorching her as she continued to back up. The flames splashed all around her like a waterfall smashing down on a rock, the splashback obscuring her from Raven's was the opportunity Arlene needed.
"TIID KLO UL!" Arlene shouted, and time itself bent to her will.
With time at a near standstill for her, Arlene took a second to admire the splashes of fire around her ward before she dropped it. Walking around the flames, she took a moment to inspect Raven's raging face, focused on incinerating her alive. It was cute, and Arlene thought she was more of a bird of prey than a raven.
Leaning forward, Arlene placed a kiss on Raven's cheek, before she then requipped the A Close Shave, the mechashift karambit knife Serana gifted her, which was then enchanted with a Soul Trap effect. Arlene drove the dagger into the meat of Raven's thigh, tearing through several muscles as she completely bypassed Raven's Aura.
"Don't worry, we can fix this later." Arlene whispered into Raven's ear, before she then turned around and disappeared into the forest once again.
After a few moments passed, time resumed as normal, and Raven's cry of pain echoed into the night sky. No longer able to support herself on the shredded leg, Raven collapsed to one knee, stabbing her sword into the ground to support herself.
Gritting her teeth, Raven's palm glowed red hot as she focused her fire magic into it, and pressed it down into her thigh. Stifling back another scream, Raven cauterized the gash in her leg over the course of several, agonizing seconds. When she was done, Raven pushed herself back up, focusing her Aura on the wound to heal it further.
Hidden in the treeline almost a hundred feet away, Arlene smiled at Raven.
"Oh that is hard core." She whispered while pulling out a magicka and healing potion.
Arlene chugged both down before she prepared her next move. Arlene channeled her magicka in both of her hands, and created a perfect illusionary doppelganger of herself.
With a smile and a nod, Arlene sent her copy forward, Dragonbane raised high as it charged headfirst towards Raven. Meanwhile the real Arlene moved to the right, flanking around to Raven's back. When Raven spotted the illusion rushing at her she raised her blade in preparation for a strike. However, as the illusion was about to reach melee distance with Raven, the real Arlene simultaneously loosed an arrow at Raven's back.
As the illusion leapt forward and slashed at Raven and the arrow was about to strike true from behind, Raven felt a prickling on the back of her neck. Thanks to her Aura's highly developed danger sense, Raven once again felt the arrow flying towards her blindspot at the last second.
So rather than just striking at Arlene's duplicate and receiving an arrow in the spine, Raven leveled her sword horizontally. The yellow blade crackled with Dust lightning as Raven spun, creating a rotating vortex of energy which destroyed both Arlene's illusion and her arrow in one move.
Arlene, unable to hold herself back, barked out a laugh as she popped out of cover. "That was a beautiful maneuver!" she shouted to Raven while clapping her hands.
Raven however didn't seem to share Arlene's enthusiasm, only grinding her teeth as her eyes flared with the scarlet energy of the Maiden's power. Arlene could feel the magicka in the air flow into Raven as once more she began to levitate off the ground. All around her, the clouds swirled and darkened, the echoing rumble of thunder reverberating through the air and into Arlene's very core.
As she looked down upon Arlene, Raven's face transformed from an animalistic snarl, to an almost impassive look of tranquil fury. All the while, Arlene just continued to grin at Raven. With an almost derisive snort, Raven decided to unleash the full extent of her Maidenly power down on Arlene.
Winds picked up to tornado-force gales, threatening to tear Arlene off her feet as lightning bolts struck down from the heavens. Raven was summoning the full force of a hurricane to destroy Arlene, and Arlene couldn't be giddier.
Diving to the side, Arlene dodged the first lightning bolt, which split the tree she was hiding behind in half. She quickly stood and backed away as the smoldering tree collapsed, almost crushing her. Arlene wanted to draw her bow and counterattack, but she was forced to jump away once more as a second lightning bolt tried to strike her. Arlene was put completely on the back foot as she was forced to evade lightning bolt after lightning bolt as Raven tried to smite her like some kind of angry god.
"Wuld!" Arlene shouted, dodging another bolt as she moved so fast it looked like she teleported onto a nearby tree. With swift, Bosmeri dexterity, Arlene then climbed to the top and shouted, "I haven't had a fight this good in years!"
While Arlene didn't mean that as a taunt, it appeared that Raven took it as one as her impassive countenance broke once more into a vicious scowl. "Take this fight seriously!" Raven shouted as she raised her left hand to the sky.
More and more magicka coalesced towards Raven, focusing on her palm. Within her grasp, an orb of fire formed. It started off the size of a torch, but then began to rapidly grow, swelling to the size of a wagon wheel, then a boulder. It grew so large that the orb itself had to be at least 20 feet in diameter.
Memories of Helgen began flashing in Arlene's mind as Raven threw the meteor-sized fireball right for Arlene. And for the first time in a long time, Alrene stopped smiling.
"FEIM ZII GRON!" Arlene shouted, taking on a transparent appearance as she used the Become Ethereal shout.
The massive fireball then crashed into the forest, creating a firebomb conflagration that enveloped all of the trees around Arlene. Once the explosion dissipated, all that remained of the nearby area was a seared clearing of charcoal trees and burnt grass nearly 50 feet wide. A cloud of smoke and ash rose into the air as the fire began to spread through the rest of the forest, and Arlene was nowhere to be seen.
Raven remained aloft for several moments as she looked down into the Hinoki forest. She saw no sign of Arlene, but did not let her guard drop for an instant. She knew Arlene was a wiley one, and Raven would assume she was alive until she had a corpse beneath her feet.
But at the same time, Raven couldn't let this fire spread too far. Not only did it threaten her camp, but it would also broadcast their location to anyone for miles away. Raven slowly levitated downwards, summoning a storm of rain once more to smother the inferno before it became a full forest fire. And the rain continued to fall, smoke and now steam rose from the remains of the conflagration, creating a mist that further obscured Raven's vision.
"So, you want me to take this fight seriously…" Raven heard Arlene's voice growl out through the smoke.
Arlene's voice was strange to Raven. Deeper, more resonant, and seemingly coming from everywhere at once. Raven stepped back, looking all around her for the source of the voice, trying to find out where Arlene was hiding in the fog. In an action that was unnoticeable to all, including Raven herself, Raven's hands gripped her sword tighter as beads of sweat formed on her neck. She was feeling scared.
"Fine then." Arlene growled out. "I'll take this fight seriously."
An instant later, a gray blur flew out of the mist and slammed into Raven. The attack was fast, faster than anything Raven had seen before. And not only that, it was strong. Whatever hit her sent Raven flying backwards, through the charred remains of several trees. By the time she shed all of the momentum, Raven was out of the ashen wasteland and slammed into a healthy tree not destroyed by her attack.
Raven groaned as her body slid to the ground, landing on her butt. Her Aura was still up, but that one attack took a huge chunk out of it. Slowly, Raven tilted her head up, her vision slightly fuzzy as she saw the gray blur in front of her casually approaching. When her sight finally began to clear, what she saw terrified her to her very core.
She could tell the monster striding towards her was Arlene solely by that annoyingly confident gait. The pointed ears, bright orange eyes, and general facial structure only served to reinforce that conclusion. But the rest of her was something out of Raven's nightmares.
Arlene was taller, growing to at least 6 or 7 feet tall. Her skin had shifted from an almost tropical tan to a corpse-like pale gray, which was layered over a body of rippling muscles. And that's where the similarities to normal humans and Faunus ended. Arlene's hands and feet had become large, taloned claws, with ebony-black nails that looked like they could tear Raven apart in an instant. Her face had extended, causing her cheeks to narrow into an almost semi-snout with a flat nose that made her look more like a bat than a human.
And finally, out of Arlene's back were a pair of unfurled bat-wings, though they almost appeared too small for Arlene's body. However it seemed that Arlene cared little for the laws of physics as these stunted wings flapped and Arlene began to levitate, flying towards Raven at a casual pace.
"What the fuck are you?" Raven muttered as Arlene grew closer and closer.
Arlene only smiled, revealing her maw of razor sharp fangs. "Love, I am what you asked for." The smile then morphed into a scowl. "Serious."
With an inhuman burst of speed, Arlene lunged right for Raven, her claws aimed at her throat. Gripping Omen tight, Raven flung her arm at Arlene with a panicked slash, releasing a crescent blade of lightning Dust that flew right for the monster.
Unfortunately, just as the energy slash was about to hit, Arlene's form burst into a cloud of bats. The crescent slash passed harmlessly through the bats as they sped towards Raven, coalescing and combining into a humanoid shape once more. To Raven's horror, the bats reformed into Arlene right in front of her.
With a mighty swipe of her right hand, Arlene's claw moved to decapitate Raven in one fell swoop. Despite her mind being paralyzed by fear, Raven's body was still able to react as she raised Omen up to block the blow. However, the raw strength behind Arlene's claw caused Omen's lightning Dust blade to crack, and then shatter as Arlene punched through it and into Raven.
Raven felt Arlene's talons tear into her Aura, almost shattering it as once again Raven went soaring with the strike. This time, Raven didn't crash into a tree, but instead landed on the hard forest floor.
Acting fast, Raven sheathed Omen and tried to draw a new blade, but was stopped when blood-red magic began to envelop her. Raven struggled to move,to kick and flail as she tried to escape. She even tried to use her wind magic to propel her away.
But whatever magic Arlene was using on her was too strong. The telekinetic grip then dragged Raven through the air, crashing through branches and leaves until Raven was once more right in front of Arlene. Arlene smiled.
Raven was unable to react as her body was then telekinetically slammed into the ground so hard her Aura finally shattered. But Arlene wasn't done. Gripping Raven by her left forearm, Arlene raised her into the air, letting her hang by the limb. Twisting hard, Arlene then swung Raven into another tree.
Raven couldn't even scream as she felt her arm dislocate from the swing and her ribs break from the impact. She couldn't even talk as Arlene then raised her up by her crippled arm again and brought Raven face to face with her.
But Raven didn't need to scream or talk as she opened her mouth and spewed out a torrent of fire, not unlike a Dragon's fire breath. Arlene screamed in the inferno, her skin boiling and blistering under the heat. But the monster didn't let Raven go.
If anything this only served to incense Arlene further as she pushed her face through the fire and latched her teeth onto Raven's neck. Raven sucked in a breath, no longer able to maintain her magic as she felt Arlene's teeth tear through the meat of her neck and into her jugular vein. She then only made a gurgling sound as Arlene then tore her head back, ripping a chunk of skin, flesh, and blood vessels out of Raven.
When Arlene let go of Raven, the bandit queen dropped to the ground like a ragdoll, no longer able to support herself. Raven felt herself growing weaker and weaker by the second, as darkness began to encroach on the edges of her vision.
"You know, I actually prefer not to use this form." Raven heard Arlene say while she licked her talons clean of blood. "When I first gained this power, I thought it was an amazing gift." Arlene then focused on Raven, looking down at her. "But then I learned it was a curse. Want to know why?" Arlene then kicked Raven in the stomach, sending her flying back into another tree. "Because it makes fights too fucking easy!"
Raven felt something in her back break when she hit the tree and fell to the ground again. She tried to move, to get away from this monster, but her body no longer listened to her commands. She didn't even feel the pain anymore. Everything just felt so heavy. At most, she could only flick her heavy-lidded eyes up towards the approaching Arlene.
"Puh… please." Was all Raven could mutter out.
Arlene smiled as she looked down on her. "Ah, so you aren't above begging. Good." Arlene then kneeled beside Raven. "You know I could just enthrall you. Make you a slave to my will. But that would be a waste." Arlene then sat Raven up, placing her back against a tree so they were face to face.
"Your ambition, your cruelty." Arlene continued. "They're something to be admired. To be grown and developed into something better." Arlene then leaned in close to the point where their faces were only inches away. "So I make this offer to you once more. Join me, Raven Branwen. Become my vassal, and I can grant you power. The power that will make you goddess amongst men. The power to make you like me. Immortal."
Despite how heavy Raven's eyes were, she felt them widen as Arlene gave her offer. Immortality. Like Ozpin and Salem. If she was telling the truth. Though it's not like Raven had much of a choice. She was dying, she could tell that much. There was only one way out of this situation. In a world where only the strongest and fittest survived, in a world of monsters like Salem and Ozpin and now Arlene, Raven had to become a monster as well.
With the last of her strength, Raven locked eyes with Arlene, and nodded.
Arlene's smug smile returned in full force. "Atta girl." She then dove forward and sunk her fangs into Raven's throat once more.
When Raven opened her eyes, she realized she was back in her tent, in her bed. Furthermore, she realized she was naked. Scowling, Raven sat herself up and pulled her blanket up with her to cover herself. It took a moment for her to realize that she had done so with her left arm, the same arm which Arlene had so savagely dislocated.
Images of monstrous Arlene flashed through her mind as she shuddered.
"Now there's a reaction I'm very familiar with." Arlene's voice echoed through to Raven's side.
Turning her head, Raven saw Arlene, fully dressed in her black leather armor staring at Raven's map of Remnant. As soon as Raven laid eyes on Arlene, she felt a swirling mixture of emotions. Part of her hated the woman for so thoroughly defeating her. That same part also feared her and her power and screamed at Raven to get away. But a new, very loud part of her screamed at Raven to bend the knee to Arlene. To respect and obey her blood-sire, the undisputed alpha in their relationship.
Even with all of this going through her mind, the first thing Raven asked was, "Why am I naked?"
Arlene snorted. "Don't worry, I didn't assault you. The first reason was that I had to make sure I was healing everything I broke. Hard to do that through clothes. Second of all…" Arlene then turned to look at Raven. "Hmm, your irises stayed the same, though your sclera are now orange. Interesting." Arlene shook her head as she refocused. "Regardless, first transformations are always the hardest. You have no control over your form, your instincts are going wild, and with all of your wounds, you practically went feral. The first thing you destroyed was all of your clothes. For a second I thought I'd have to put you down as nothing more than a ravenous beast."
Raven just blinked at Arlene. "I… became like you?"
Arlene smiled. "Indeed you did. It'll take some time and practice for you to learn how to transform at will, but I have confidence in you."
Not sure what to say, Raven just nodded. Keeping the blanket up, she then sat on the side of the bed and said, "So, with this, I suppose the Branwen Tribe is yours." Raven then moved off the bed and kneeled, bowing her head through instinct alone. "What is it you wish for us, my Lady?"
Still smiling, Arlene put a hand on Raven's shoulder and bid her to rise. "With this, the first stage of my plan is complete. We have the intelligence, the connections, and now… the army."
"What is this plan of yours?" Raven asked. She knew Arlene was building up her organization, but not what the end goal of this group was.
Arlene locked eyes with Raven's. "Some time ago, I was given a choice. To become empress of the most powerful nation in my world. I chose to not take it. At the time, it was the most pragmatic choice, and I still had great influence in the Empire through the shadows. But part of me always regretted that decision." She then gestured to the map. "Here though, in this world of new opportunities, I could rectify that error."
Raven looked at Arlene, wrapping her head around the sheer magnitude of the task Arlene was committing herself to. "You want to take over the world?"
Arlene's smile turned manic with how wide it was. "My love, I want to Dominate the world. To unite it underneath the banner of a single tyrant. Me." Arlene's smile then fell away as her countenance became serious. "But to do this, I need to know, Raven. What else has Ozpin been hiding from me?"
A/N, 3/22/22: This was a fun chapter. The confrontation between Raven and Arlene was something I was excited to write when I first started this story, and I hope everyone enjoyed it. Don't have much else to say in this Author's note, so everyone stay safe and I'll see you in the next one.