I'm your Queen, you're my Ruler.
She had meant to take the seal in between her lips – after inspecting it with her nose of course – yet she hadn’t decided yet if she would indeed bring the piece back to Conquest. Yes, that’s correct, the sickness, the colic, that he had given her had made her wonder if it really had been the best choice. Esileif didn’t like the fact that he had done this to her, especially because she had come to him voluntarily. She had even given herself to the demon, and this would be his way of repaying her? The sickness had made her doubt, wondering if she should bring the piece back to Conquest or not. But when the seal dissolves upon her touch it makes the decision for her.
The utter silence is filled with her thoughts, or more the acknowledging of the thing that had just happened. With every breath she takes she can feel it, the weight of it now lies upon her shoulders, figuratively spoken of course, and those of the others. Then the silent gets broken by Conquest’s angry screams. Esileif cannot help to flinch, the sound just hits her right at the core and it scares her. Especially because his anger isn’t only directed to those who stood against Conquest, but to all those who now stand between him and his freedom. And that included her, ánd the baby.
By the time she gets back to the clearing – still coping with some of the last bits of the colic, but the cramps are slowly dying down – Esileif has decided that Conquest isn’t the best option anymore. She can feel that his anger wouldn’t stop him from hurting her – and the others who have helped him and merged with the seal – and there was absolutely no way that the Spanish girl would risk the life of her child. Fynnegan might not like it that she has made a deal with another man, but the child is hér trophy and nobody would take it away from her. Momentarily she observes the fight, the bodies of the horses and beast that dance together in a deadly rhythm.
On the side, way from the fight, there is a flickering filly, but in the short moments that the world around the flickers the filly isn’t the one to disappear. As the world returns to its normal color and shading and then return to the grayish inbetween she notices the absence of some. Esileif can’t really pinpoint who were gone, all she knows is that they are with less now. Their chances are more slim now.
The bay and faintly orange white mare only catches a glimpse of the lamb as a second explosion occurs. Another seal has burst in different pieces to be thrown into different ways. Within moments after the explosion Conquest’s mood changes and the beast pull back. It is then that Esileif moves forward, yet she doesn’t join either side. For now it was better for Conquest to believe in the little pact they made, maybe it would become handy later on. The little girl inside of her trembles, trembles with each step of pounding hooves in the distance. She wants nothing else than to run and flee, to leave it all behind her, but she know she can’t. On top of that her mask, the taken personality, doesn’t allow her too. Esileif has to keep the façade up.
She knows it, she knows him, before he even arrives. Esi doesn’t know why, but she can feel it. And she is pretty sure the others do too. The little flickering filly from before is already gone and all the others seem to be ready to move out too. And that before he has actually arrived. ”War” she whispers, once again repeating the creature’s name. Esileif needs all her will to stop herself from trembling, forcing herself to stand still and observe the situation. ”Conquest.” She calls for the white demon’s attention, hoping to see him side with her. Her eyes flash to him, he seems delighted with the appearance of War, before she looks away to lay her eyes upon the second demon creature.
Red eyes. Her own widen in shock. Sure they had all met Conquest’s ghostly eerie yellow ones, but the bloody red of War’s eyes even get to her more. They scream bloodlust, just like the whole stallion himself. ”Fuck.. This is no good” she curses and mumbles underneath her breath. Negotiating wouldn’t be an option this time, unlike Conquest War wasn’t out to conquer them, no, he was here to kill them. And there was no way she would let that happen to herself.
While the black beast seems to busy himself with one or two of the others, accompanied by a feral snake like creature, Esileif finds herself approaching Conquest again. Her step is calm, although her heart and mind are at war, and she tries to look at him in an unaffected and slightly angered way. ”You bastard, first you poison me with some disease and now you’ll just leave me to be at hís mercy?” she hisses, with a frown upon her features. ”This child is not only mine, it’s yours too. And you promised me something!”
Without speaking a word he steps aside, revealing a part of the seal that lies beside him. Hesitant and a little held back she glances from the white demon stallion to the piece of the seal and back again. Esileif then spurts forward, brushing past him – making sure to not touch him again – and without hesitating she reaches down for the part of the seal. Just like the first time it dissolves and becomes one with her. Now there is another weight upon her shoulders, she feels it deep within the core, but for now it’s still the white demon which she had to deal with.
The way he looks at her makes her feel like a small child that throws a tantrum and she knows that she doesn’t like that at all. The snarl upon her lips grows as her ears turn back to press against her skull. ”But you did get your price, right?” he answers with a triumphant smile upon his lips, obviously meaning the child that would grow within her whomb. Esileif doesn’t back away when he steps closer, but when he reaches out to brush his muzzle against her neck she snaps at him. He’s weaker now. ”Quit playing. I helped you, I’m on your side, and this is how you repay me? Tell him to leave us alone!” But even before she’s able to finish her sentence she can feel his presence.
Cursing herself the tobiano mare spins around, backing down a few steps as her eyes land on War. For a moment her eyes glance past him and she sees how the flickering filly – Elve – puts her hoof over another part of the second seal. It is impossible to not notice how the child is covered in blood, limping and obviously in pain. Yet Esileif doesn’t get much longer to observe the child, as War stomps forward with a loud roar. She’s too preoccupied to notice that War left another victim behind, simply not noticing Hickory’s brave attempt to save the child.
Conquest walks away, keeping himself out of the fight, and goes to watch over the battlefield silently. Not that Esileif has eyes for him any longer. She’s only just in time to spurt out of the way and in his uncouth way of moving he just barrels forward. Although her own build – strongly Spanish influenced – is quite sturdy she instantly realises that she should use her agility in advantage. If she would be able to dodge him he might get bored of the chasing game. And so she does. Soon she’s panting, breathing heavily to fuel herself with enough oxygen to keep herself up and moving. ”Is that all you’ve got?” she hisses, head low and ears pressed again her skull. Baring her teeth she shows him her own anger and furiousness. It wasn’t her life that was at stake, but her child’s too. And there was no way that anybody would take this price, this way to achieve her goals, away from het just like that.
Thing is that Esileif still had a lot to learn when it came to battling. Her attention gets pulled away from War once she hears a feline growl, one too close for her liking, but she finds the creature only looking at her. By the time that the black demon is moving forward again she knows it’s too late to move out of his way. ”Fuck.” She cannot avoid his knees from roughly slamming into her, but she was able to decide where to take the blow. His aim had been her unprotected belly, knowing all too well what had happened between her and Conquest. She can feel her ribs crack under the force and instantly the raspy groan gets pulled from her lips. Second there are the sharp teeth that sink into her flesh, tearing skin and muscle with each bite; tainting her neck, withers and shoulders red. Esileif screams, shrill and obviously in pain. She doesn’t hear it herself though, as silence is all what’s around her, engulfing her.
In an attempt to get him off her back she swirls around, her bared teeth aiming for his throat. At the same time she kicks her left hind leg out to him, hoping that he would be too distracted by her teeth to notice the blow directed to his right hind leg’s knee. Like she anticipated War dodges her teeth, but to her own dismay her hoof only brushes past the skin of his knee. Not enough to break, but she does hope that it will at least bruise his muscles for him to be hurt. Maybe even start limping from now on. Esileif doesn’t hesitate another moment and puts her weight on both her hind legs as she rears. Her hooves lash out towards him, aiming to hit his shoulder, but the unpredicted sharp pain at her side causes her to only bump into him with her chest against his shoulder. It’s still with enough power to force him away from her, but the Spanish girl finds herself gasping for breath as a result of her action too. The pain makes her willing to curl up, to make herself a small as possible, but War’s snapping teeth and dangerously close hooves prove that that won’t be an option.
By the time he leaves her – probably looking for another victim – she’s a panting and bloody mess. Her body is trembling, but other than that Esileif is able to keep herself standing. Next to the wounds on her shoulders, neck and withers a few more are adorning her skin now. A cut across her head, painting the white of her face red from a not to well-aimed hoof, scratches on her legs and front knees from the times she collided with the ground and some more cut skin on her sides, back and hindquarters. Esileif got tainted by him, her bay and orange-white tobiano coat now also spotted with dark red spots. She only vaguely notices War walking away, leaving her behind without sparing her a last glance. Not that she minds that, but the silence and emptiness overtakes her right that instant and she just stares ahead blankly while trying to take in everything that has happened.
Esileif
So. Esi moves off to talk to Conquest in an attempt to have him help her. He gives her a piece of the seal. Then, after Hickory fights War he comes to her - I edited that one in, because I was 'replying' to what happened with Elve too, but Hickory was quicker to post. She's left behind wounded a little struck, trying to process what is happening. Involve her, just don't kill her, or hurt her too badly.