I'm your Queen, you're my Ruler.
With every seal that dissolves she – and the others probably too – feels his anger rising. And with every dissolved seal she can also feel him getting weaker. When he leaves her alone, his attention focussing on another who tries to stop him, she is left behind panting. There isn’t a single part of her that thinks of moving, as breathing does already hurt terribly. Esileif is groaning softly, gasping for breath every now and then too. The cracked ribs make her trying to breath shallow, but it are the wounds on her withers and rump that cause the slightly burning feeling.
The burning intensifies and it’s like the time stops for the bay and orangey white mare as the wounds burn up even more. She’s holding her breath as the pain consumes her. And then she’s suddenly able to breathe again, gasping for air, without her ribs start to protest. The pain slowly oozes away and with every breath she takes Esileif feels herself getting stronger. Her wounds have stopped bleeding, but it still leaves her coated in blood. The curst is thin and the wound still tingles a little, and Esi is sure that it wouldn’t take much to reopen the wounds again. Her ribs are approximately the same, stable again for now, but snap with the littlest pressure.
By the time she looks up again she finds Conquest standing a few meters away and War is lashing out to a dappled mare. She vaguely remembers having seen her before, but honestly Esileif doesn’t really care much. ”You'd better be prepared.” She shares a look with Conquest, but doesn’t say anything, as the flickering world and the small gathering of horses near the seal catch her attention. She blinks, trying to see through the flickering, trying to ignore the lushes of green as they appear. As the seven eyed and seven horned lamb touches the third seal, it shatters once again.
The white demon had left her to join the black one and although they are both weakened, they are gone rather quickly. She can still hear Conquest laugh, but this time he doesn’t stay around to watch. Their beasts gather, blocking their path to stop them from going after the demon pair. Other than moving her weight upon another leg Esileif doesn’t move. The pretended queen just watches, ears pricking forward and slightly holding her breath, waiting for who would come next.
”Hunger” she mumbles underneath her breath, eyes slightly widened as she looks at the dark creature. He flashes green, but not the green she now desires. Even when she is only looking at him from afar her stomach is growling, signalling her to eat. But that’s all for now. He’s waiting, just like she does. He intrigues her, just like Conquest had, and her blue and brown eyes don’t leave his form while her head tilts a little to the side. Her white demon had been right, he is different and perhaps even more dangerous than Conquest and War were. Yet he doesn’t charge towards them and even the beast seem a little hesitant.
Then it strikes her that he is looking for something, something he and both other demons desire. ”The way out.” Esileif doesn’t know how she knew this, but she was pretty sure that that was the case. Why else would they all have been called here, if not to stop them. By touching the seals they had become the seal, the thing that kept their world safe from them. The Spanish girl is humoured by how the events had turned out, how she had first decided to help them, before she accidentally became the seal. Then she had changed her mind, but that wasn’t something Conquest needed to know. Him thinking Esileif was still their ally would be far more profitable.
Before she realises it the tobiano mare finds herself approaching him. Her eyes have never left him and it is only when she is half way towards him that her stomach starts gnawing more heavily. ”God, what’s wrong with me..?” Her tone is soft as she speaks to herself, not too amused by the fact that this hunger was able to disgrace her like this. That, combined with her still sore and bruised side and torn skin upon her back. But it didn’t stop her.
The pain becomes more prominent though and the urge to kick her stomach and lie down on the ground to roll grows too. Esileif is not so secretly cursing Conquest again, muttering his name underneath her breath together with some more curses and snarling words. She had been relieved when the colic had disappeared again, but somehow that white demon had managed to get her infected again. Or, that was what she thought, mistaking the hunger for colic. ”Well, well, that isn’t how you greeted me before.” Her head jerks up as she hears Conquest’s voice, eyes widening in surprise.
He stands in front of her, War is there too, blocking her path towards Famine. She’s surprised, taken aback by their sudden appearance, and for a moment her mask cracks. Esileif stumbles backwards, almost tripping as she steps in a shallow hole, looking bewildered. And then she takes a deep breath to calm herself and the mask reappears. ”Should’ve thought about that before you got me this disease” she answers in a calm voice, trying her hardest to net let discomfort and fear. ”And I don’t mean the baby. He only laughs – that now annoying victorious laugh – as his gaze travels across he frame, before he turns to look at War. Then he’s gone, leaving them to find another victim himself as Esileif had done against him.
That leaves her and War again. Things had changed since their last encounter. With all the pieces of the seal dissolved he’s less powerful now, less agile, less strong and his stamina would also be less, or she hoped that at least. Esileif herself had become stronger, now carrying two of the seals with her, but she had paid her price too. She was still incredibly sore and although she tried not to show it, moving was painful. On top of that she was confronted with this colic – no hunger – too. It is only now that she realises what has been bothering her, not the colic, no. Something else instead. ”Famine..”
His fellow demon’s name was for War the clue do dash forward again. Her scream is shrill and as she dances out of his way her eyes are flat against her skull once again. Just like before they dance together. Teeth snapping, hooves slamming and a bay, black, orangey white and red mess. She lures him towards the trees, towards the forest Famine has disappeared in to, trying to avoid taking any more damage. She uses them in her benefit, as she is more agile than he is. Her injuries limit her movements and her speed, but War isn’t unharmed either. He’s weakened and had fought all of them. So when she zigzags through the trees he is quick to give up.
Esileif only slows down when she’s sure that War has lost her trail, finally taking time to breath and take in the newest addition of wounds. It’s not much, their first encounter had been far more destructive, but enough to leave her more sore. Her ribs hurt and some of the wounds around her withers burst open again. In addition her left hock hurt also, due to it meeting War’s hoof in a rather unpleasant way.
In an attempt to satisfy the hunger, which became worse quite fast now, the Spanish girl had pulled out some grass. In this grayish world it didn’t seem just as tasty, but it would have to do for now. It didn’t stop her from going after Famine though, she wouldn’t let the demon like creature escape into her own world to have him steal all nutrition for her precious baby. It had to become strong, and therefore food was needed. Letting Famine roam into their would be a disaster.
As she tries to catch up with the demon – who doesn’t rush, but is also in good health and strength – her eyes never stop looking around. She needs a seal, or a piece of it. Esileif knows she needs it’s strength, it’s power to heal herself, even if it would only be a little. The gnawing of her stomach gets worse, painful even, and acid burns down her throat. She’s hungry, starving even and the weak feeling that comes with the hunger almost makes her give up. Almost. Nobody was going to take her prize away from her. Conquest and War couldn’t, and Famine surely wouldn’t either.
As she keeps pushing herself forward she finds herself nearing the end of the forest again. She can see him in the distance, out in the field, watching the chaos silently. Conquest and War aren’t in sight, but she can see some of the mutated beasts engaged in a fight with other horses. They don’t seem to notice her since she’s still hidden from sight by the forest and Esileif uses that to her advantage. Groaning and moaning softly she let herself be pulled in a certain direction, following the strange feeling that seems to call out to her.
Upon touching a part of the magical stone it dissolves, just like the first two, and absorbs into her. She can feel its power right away, just as the extra weight that is put on her shoulders. Now she formed a seal that prevented three of those demon like creatures from escaping and although she still feels hungry and her body still feels sore, Esileif steps forward with renewed energy. With a light trot she nears the end, but doesn’t step out of her shelter just yet. Her brown and blue eye roam around, taking in the battlefield before she would strike.
The world flickers again and the world stays green for a longer time now. The bay and orangey white mare mutters some more curses underneath her breath, fearing it might be too late already. ”You’re not going anywhere” she suddenly snaps, loud and clear, as she barrels forward. However, the pain in her stomach – burning acid and feeling of stones – forces her to slow down, gasping for breath when some nasty jolts of pain rush through her. It doesn’t stop her from moving closer to Famine, but the tears that signals the pain she finds herself in are appearing in her eyes. Taking a deep breath she stops in front of him, dozens of meters away, Esileif lifts her head to look at him firmly. ”I’m not letting you get past me.”
Her voice might have been firm and clear, her posture surely isn’t. Esileif tries, she really does, but the gnawing feeling make her legs tremble and sometimes the heavy pains have her gasping for breath. The hunger is slowly eating her away, yet she refuses to admit that and give up.
Esileif
Soo. Esi encounters both Conquest and War again and ends up in a second fight with War. She loses him in the forest where she finds another piece of the seal. In the end she confronts Famine, refusing to let him get out of her sight to slip away and escape to their world.