The dappled mare arrives in shadow and deflects the wave as if it is an afterthought, and it's a simple thing for Beryl to see that she will quickly be over-powered no matter what she does. There's frustration in that impotence. She wonders how much time she could buy Brennen if she threw herself at the magicians and knows the answer is probably "almost none" but what are her options? Die or run or join. She does not want to do any of those things.
"I had not considered what would happen if you came with me at all." She answers, after a pause. The truth, and likely why the painted mare had not, but there is no opportunity for her to say anything further. She cannot know why Breach attacks her. She cannot know what has befallen Sochi, or the rage, and panic, and the witch's magic that adds just that extra bit of feral fervor. She does hear the charge, because Nerine's beaches are gravel, not sand, and because the tigress that flings herself against Beryl's side is taking no steps to hide her attack. The golden mare shies away, but not quite quick enough. Those wicked teeth miss her jugular by centimeters, cutting grooves into skin and muscle and the smell of blood bursts into the air like copper flowers. Beneath those claws, she falls back, falls away, though they cannot pierce all the way through the shadow armor on her skin. They prickle against her skin like cactus spines but find less purchase than they should. Somebody else is speaking, but her eyes only graze over the tusked grey form, barely seeing him, barely hearing him. A familiar voice shouts No! Beryl drops beneath the tiger's weight and the shadows darken around her, for a moment solid as black smoke, and then she is gone with it, leaving Breach to fall to the earth alone.
It's a growl that announces her reappearance, lion-shaped and bristling, but distant enough that one leap will not bring the tigress upon her, and her eyes focus more easily on the immensity of the elephant, swinging his tusks in the air, ripping at the tall grasses around him. She bares her teeth, crouching low in the dry grass, tail lashing side-to-side angrily. Shadows grow up around her again, but when she reappears, there is red skin beneath her instead of grey. Her weight barely settles on Lilliana's back when she snarls and disappears again.
That hasn't happened in ages.
It's wrong. The magic is wrong. She reappears above them on the cliff she has sat watching Brennen all this time (And for what? What good has she done him today?) and thrusts a dark spear into the air for the elephant. The thing flies straight, whistling through the air, but for Brennen instead and she only just manages to pull back, frantically reeling the wayward magic off course so that it pierces harmlessly into seawater instead.
"What did you do?" Her voice is a furious roar as she remembers, just barely, the sing-song words as she disappeared beneath the tigress's grip.
Blacken your heart and destroy your home. Whether because of his inexperience or because she had already been teleporting away from their attacks as he said it, the magic has not fully gripped her, yet she cannot make her own attack where she wants. Destroy your home. The low growl in her throat is little more than rhythmic clicking, slow and angry.
Destroy your home. Lilli's echoes trickle in. Darkness. The void. There are no eyes in it, this is Lilliana's memory, not Beryl's. She remembers the ease of killing in the painted mare's dream world, how she had done it without a second thought, without fear or sadness, without even caring if she was right or successful, it had just been a thing that needed to be done, and she had done it. She remembers all the places that darkness hides.
"Destroy my home... I hope it crushes you." Beryl spits, barely audible above the chaos around them, but she pulls at all that darkness in the pores of the rocks around them, every crack and every hidden cave - and oh, there are so many in Nerine. The land is bright but there is so much darkness underneath it, and it erupts out into the daylight with the ancient fury of any wild thing awoken against its will. It explodes upwards, sending granite shrapnel and enormous boulders into the air above tigress and elephant, above Lilliana, perhaps even as high as the flaming dragon in the sky. The cliff crumbles beneath her and she leaps aside, hooking a ledge with exhausted claws and only just barely pulling herself onto the narrow outcropping, bleeding and bruised, as the sea wall collapses in a rush of tumbling rock, in a rush of sharp and heavy edges, crashing towards the encroaching sea.
"I had not considered what would happen if you came with me at all." She answers, after a pause. The truth, and likely why the painted mare had not, but there is no opportunity for her to say anything further. She cannot know why Breach attacks her. She cannot know what has befallen Sochi, or the rage, and panic, and the witch's magic that adds just that extra bit of feral fervor. She does hear the charge, because Nerine's beaches are gravel, not sand, and because the tigress that flings herself against Beryl's side is taking no steps to hide her attack. The golden mare shies away, but not quite quick enough. Those wicked teeth miss her jugular by centimeters, cutting grooves into skin and muscle and the smell of blood bursts into the air like copper flowers. Beneath those claws, she falls back, falls away, though they cannot pierce all the way through the shadow armor on her skin. They prickle against her skin like cactus spines but find less purchase than they should. Somebody else is speaking, but her eyes only graze over the tusked grey form, barely seeing him, barely hearing him. A familiar voice shouts No! Beryl drops beneath the tiger's weight and the shadows darken around her, for a moment solid as black smoke, and then she is gone with it, leaving Breach to fall to the earth alone.
It's a growl that announces her reappearance, lion-shaped and bristling, but distant enough that one leap will not bring the tigress upon her, and her eyes focus more easily on the immensity of the elephant, swinging his tusks in the air, ripping at the tall grasses around him. She bares her teeth, crouching low in the dry grass, tail lashing side-to-side angrily. Shadows grow up around her again, but when she reappears, there is red skin beneath her instead of grey. Her weight barely settles on Lilliana's back when she snarls and disappears again.
That hasn't happened in ages.
It's wrong. The magic is wrong. She reappears above them on the cliff she has sat watching Brennen all this time (And for what? What good has she done him today?) and thrusts a dark spear into the air for the elephant. The thing flies straight, whistling through the air, but for Brennen instead and she only just manages to pull back, frantically reeling the wayward magic off course so that it pierces harmlessly into seawater instead.
"What did you do?" Her voice is a furious roar as she remembers, just barely, the sing-song words as she disappeared beneath the tigress's grip.
Blacken your heart and destroy your home. Whether because of his inexperience or because she had already been teleporting away from their attacks as he said it, the magic has not fully gripped her, yet she cannot make her own attack where she wants. Destroy your home. The low growl in her throat is little more than rhythmic clicking, slow and angry.
Destroy your home. Lilli's echoes trickle in. Darkness. The void. There are no eyes in it, this is Lilliana's memory, not Beryl's. She remembers the ease of killing in the painted mare's dream world, how she had done it without a second thought, without fear or sadness, without even caring if she was right or successful, it had just been a thing that needed to be done, and she had done it. She remembers all the places that darkness hides.
"Destroy my home... I hope it crushes you." Beryl spits, barely audible above the chaos around them, but she pulls at all that darkness in the pores of the rocks around them, every crack and every hidden cave - and oh, there are so many in Nerine. The land is bright but there is so much darkness underneath it, and it erupts out into the daylight with the ancient fury of any wild thing awoken against its will. It explodes upwards, sending granite shrapnel and enormous boulders into the air above tigress and elephant, above Lilliana, perhaps even as high as the flaming dragon in the sky. The cliff crumbles beneath her and she leaps aside, hooking a ledge with exhausted claws and only just barely pulling herself onto the narrow outcropping, bleeding and bruised, as the sea wall collapses in a rush of tumbling rock, in a rush of sharp and heavy edges, crashing towards the encroaching sea.
ooc: Beryl teleports out from under Breach's attack instinctively, so Spirit's charm only sort of worked. She can only attack her home but is aware that something is wrong, so instead of attacking THEM, she draws out the darkness hiding beneath the beach, causing a massive eruption and collapse, and essentially hollowing out the beach and cliff they are all standing on. This should create a massive hole, so the sea is rushing in to fill the space.