The final circle

Gorandis almost felt sorry for the lessers and Megas that went unnoticed as the armies went rolling out... But he did need to relieve some pressure and these small fry were more than enough to release just the edge to himself. That itchy want, it was scratched for just a moment. But being in the imperfect's presence, being with all these other occult users...

The itch was starting to throb. But he travelled in silence, his bag clinking and jingling slightly as he counted and recounted all of the reagents and ingredients. This should be everything he needed... Enough to finish the pathway, finish the ritual and set up for the final summoning... If only he could have worked with another one of the Necromancers...

Calliope, Ryan or even Valeria... they would have been a most excellent aid to him. But he had to make do with what he has and that was mainly just himself and the spirit. The spirit that had been locked away in the deepest darkest corners. Even now he could hear it's pathetic whimpering and he blocked it out. No need to bother with such a creature...

And now they had reached the outskirts of the city. His dark eyes looked out from under his hood at the gathered defenders... There was likely no way he could sneak away from them all. But once the clashes started... who knows what he could do then...
(Gorandis)

And so the fighting began and Gorandis saw the perfect opportunity to sneak by. well, sneak wasn't exactly the right words as the crimson streak of his hellstorm magic was an easily followable trail into the heart of the city. If his calculations were correct, and they most undoubtedly were, then this building to his left would be the right co-ordinates.

With another blast of crimson the doors to the building were shattered and the terrified occupants came running out. Gorandis ignored them and continued to stride inside, charring up the wooden floorboards with residual magic as his excitement grew. And along with it came his urges. He thought about turning around and striking down the fleeing people... but he held himself back just a little.

He found what he was looking for, a hatch leading to a dark basement. Another wave of hellstorm magic came out and burnt the candles alive. He held out his hands and began to work the preparation spell. A great circle of red lightning came pouring from his hands, setting down onto the ground as it began to flow around into the correct runes.

This was the last ritual he needed to perform in exactly the right place. He wouldn't get a chance like this again...
(Gorandis)

Despite her own nature, war was still among the few places where Oscuri truly thrived. Valeria's own blade was swift, and it was accurate, dealing with whatever being, yokai, soldier or whatever else, that dared approach too much, and that she failed to instantly recognize as an ally. The trio of Dolls would do their own thing, as well, mauling at their enemies without the inhibitions of mortal consience.

And upon every death at her hands, the woman would allow the remaining force of her foes to be taken by her, felt upon and utilized to fuel her own creations further, making the undead followers all the more formidable.

In few words... It would be quite a sight.

Her attention would be stolen, though, by the sight of civilians running from a building, as another person, one whom she had never seen before, made his way in.

That alone would be enough to catch her interest enough for her to actually follow! The Queen of New Alteros, followed by her small set of bodyguards, would slowly, carefully step into the home, not instantly noticing where her newfound target had gone, but most likely being noticed, as the sound of steps upon cracked wood would be hard to ignore.

The feeling of powerful magic, though, would be noticeable, and the Queen could not help but smile a bit to herself... Such power would be beautifully useful for her own goals.
(Valeria V. Kyros)

His head shifted under his hood as he heard the creak of shifting wood. Someone had followed him. He cursed under his breath before hurriedly finishing the circle. With a red crack he had shot back up from his working to stand before the intruder. He was most certainly surprised to see that it was royalty. The sneer on his face deepened into a grimace.

He stared at her for some time before finally speaking out, his voice was laced with poison and oozed uncomfortably. "You can't just leave well enough alone can you?" He let out a sharp mix between a sigh and a growl before flitting his attention to all of her body guards. He came to war not looking for a fight but it would seem like one has found him.

He held his hand up and the air began to shift followed by a deep, pained wailing sound. An almost human shape formed in the air and slumped down to the ground. It was a gross, misshapen form. It might have been human at one point, might have been. But now it was missing limbs, it's torso was oddly warped and elongated and it warbled gently, obviously in pain.

"I don't suppose I could ask you for your assistance could I? I could do with the help of a powerful Necromancer..." Even as he said this, he moved into an attacking posture, just in case.
(Gorandis)

"You're with the Imperfect." That much she could assume... The sheer feeling Gorandis exhuded was not one she would forget about, and she imagined that she had met all the magi of such caliber among the allied cities.

"You're working with a Heretic."

Her tone alone left it clear that she had no intentions to help. Once she had already spared the life of a heretic, that much had been enough of a 'good action' for a whole lifetime.

The neon-green glimmer on her laylines increased in intensity, and further reached her eyes, her gaze absolutely settled upon the man before her.

"You are being led by a dangerous being, unfit to live, even. Surrender, and you might live."

It was uncommon for her to be so serious... But this was an extraodinary event.

Her own stance was taken, and she stood ready to engage, if needed.
(Valeria V. Kyros)

"Ah yes, the incompetent imperfect. The one meant to lead all of the occultists to glorious victory... It disgusts me, that something so languid and idiot has that much power." Gorandis spat on the ground before returning his gaze back to her. His eyes scan her now glowing Rieka lines and he briefly sighs again. "I am still very much a worshipper of Azrael however."

"But I doubt you care to listen to such a 'heretic' as myself? I guess I will just have to shoo you off so that I can finish this ritual myself... But do remember that we could have skipped all of this incoming pain..." He gripped his staff and the Spirit stiffened awkwardly, as if it was a puppet that was having its strings harshly pulled about by an amateur.

"Very well then, come on Queen of New Alteros. Come fight this peasant from Nostvale, let's see just how this will end between us. I'm very curious as to how strong you really are... but even from here I can feel the sickliness of your holy magics just as you likely feel the sickliness from my own occultism. So let us see how they clash."

"Spirits versus the undead. Darkness versus Holiness. Royalty versus commoner..." His struck the base of his staff to the wooden floor and red lighting sot out to the trapdoor leading to the basement, slamming it shut.
(Gorandis)

"If you were truly an Azraelite, you wouldn't have joined forces with the Imperfect."

The Queen's beliefs are beyond simply faithful, she is utmostly zealous, and what Gorandis had done cannot be seen as anything but betrayal to Azrael. Perhaps not as bad as what others had done, and perhaps still not beyond forgiveness...

But still deserving of punishment.

"I came for my own rituals, but duty goes first. And it is duty to stop the Imperfect's forces, including you."

Every step the Queen takes, circling the male, leaves a firey footprint upon the woodden floor, a golden glimmer carried along with it for a few moments.

And before anything is said, she dashes forth, attempting to strike first!
(Valeria V. Kyros)

And so the pair clash in the small and cramped house. it was a good location for that pair of them. The hot flames licked at his feet while their golden edge burnt away beneath his clothing. It was hazardous but he powered through. The enclosed space allowed him to use his lightning magic to his advantage, having it arc around the room and strike more than once.

He just hoped that none of his actions up here would affect the ritual circle downstairs, he could feel it and likely so could the exorcist. A great circle of throbbing occultism. His first target was the undead, his crimson storm bringing them down, smashing their porcelain exteriors and blowing them away, not enough to snuff out their unlife, but they could no longer join in.

Not without any limbs at least. Valeria too, had been knocked down by a blast of his own rolling occultic electricity. His own spirit had run in with little abandon compelled by Gorandis' will and he was glad to see the tortured creature take more of the hits... He would soon be rid of the disgusting creature as soon as this final ritual was done... he could then retreat back and rejoin the others where he could truly get things done.

But he had this fight to worry about first... "You are indeed strong... no wonder you are the queen of New Alteros. I wonder how they would cope if you never returned their?" He grinned, it was not a pleasant thing to look at. "Though don't worry, I would never be so stupid as to kill royalty, I like my own head on my shoulders thank you very much..."

He took up an offensive position again and dragged the spirit to him as he waited for Valeria to get back on her feet.
(Gorandis)

Just as dangerous as her fire was for Gorandis, his lightning was not any weaker. While the fight itself would most likely destroy the building they were in, only one of them would actually fall.

And it was Valeria.

The loss of her dolls had been enough to distract her, even if for a brief moment, and that was all it took for a burst of lightning to knock her off her feet, and against a wall.

"If I never return, someone else would take my place." Even though there were clear hints of pain and exhaustion on her tone, there was no fear.

Mortality was so feeble, after all... Death was not something she had never expected to see in a war, even her own, if it came to that.

The undead would not stand again, but the Queen did, her grasp on Armadyl tightening, as her stance was taken yet again. She was a clear disadvantage now, but backing down at that moment would not be acceptable!
(Valeria V. Kyros)

Another brutal fight, and Valeria had been quite astute, the building around them was barely holding up, but hold up it still did. From the streets it was likely that someone else would have seen the fight, but no longer. With another hellish blast of lightning Valeria was thrust to the ground and Gorandis was quick to run over this time.

Before she could resist nor react his hand went around her neck and left behind a collar of thick crimson lightning. It ran down her back and whipped out at her arms, binding her wrists together, burning them heavily as they were forced behind her back. She would be his captive for the foreseeable future. Though however long that would be is unknown.

She was roughly grabbed at as he marched to the other end of the room and gathered the shells of what remained of the dolls. He dragged them all with him and descended back into the basement where the red circle still lay there. "Now sit still and watch for now... Don't do anything stupid and nothing I'll regret will happen to you..." He turned his attention away and marched the spirit into the centre of the circle.

"Just be glad it's him going in there and not any of you..." His hands came out again and more crimson energy poured into the circle. The bolts struck his bag at his side and pulled out various trinkets and effigies. A skull, some stones with carvings, things of that sort. They were gently laid out over the circle at specific spots and the circle itself began to glow a deep purple.

Unlike the past ones it stayed this solid colour and the spirit was squashed into a single point before being stretched out into a narrow white strip. The purple energy rose up into thick purple vine like tentacles that began to probe into the other side of reality where the ritual was taking place. His gaze switched back to Valeria and he spoke softly. "You know we could've avoided this. But I mean you no real harm..."

"In the future I would actually like your help... but for now you just need to sit and watch the show..."
(Gorandis)

Azrael's blessings had apparently forsaken her for the time being.

Once more would the Queen fall, finding herself without the aid of her undead servants, and without the morale that her previous confidence brought. Lightning would course across her body, and her vitality was taken away, finally taking the Oscuri down to her knees, unable to get up.

And before anything could be said, the man would place his binds upon her, leaving her absolutely unable to do anything, and just as he said... Forced to watch.

"What... What are you even trying to do...?" Messing with spirits was not too different than necromancy, but the way he was using... It could not help but arise questions in her mind.

"You beat me... So I at least admit you're strong... But I don't sympathize with you..."

Her aid would not be given so easily.
(Valeria V. Kyros)

The dark tendrils continued to worm they way through the cracks in reality, shifting, squirming and altering the other side. "Well I suppose there is no harm in telling you..." His voice was harsh and almost patronising, but he never went so far as to sneer at her or anything like that. "All I am doing is turning my useless spirit into something far better."

This time he did sneer, but it wasn't directed at her, it was directed towards the crack floating in the circle. The effigies surrounding the circle began to crumble slightly as the ritual proceeded. "You might have wondered what exactly that spirit is. But he's human, as human as they get, actually. An old soldier that died in the north in one of the battles..."

"When I first contracted him, he was to help me overcome my occult madness, my urges for destruction..." His eyes flitted back to the discarded dolls, the turning of their heads was the only sign that they were still alive. "But, I needed him for other matters. I took pieces form him, large chunks of his being and scattered them around the spirit realm as I am doing now."

"A difficult task as you might imagine and a slow one. This is the fourth such ritual and it will be the final one for setup. And it will be the final moments that this spirit will be under my control. Because after this there wont be enough of him left to manifest." The tendrils ripped their way at the crack between worlds and it opened ever so slightly.

"I do thank you for helping me with this though, you are so very kind..." Momentarily he turned, grabbing what was left of the dolls and throwing them into the circle. They didn't even touch the ground, the tendrils already grabbing them and dragging them into the air. The dolls' bodies cracked further under the pressure but they weren't altered any further... yet.

"As for you... You can always try and help if you want your dolls to survive. Unless you want them to end up like the spirit you saw earlier... But as for how you would help... you'd have to step into the circle for that."
(Gorandis)

The sight of his ritual, with unsettling, and somewhat nasty, was undeniably... Intriguing. The scholar side of the woman unable to take her eyes off the matter as a whole.

"... What would happen to me if I did...?"

Watching her dear dolls, the ones she had gifted with eternal life, being broken, being used like that, after they had been defeated due to her own weakness... It was beyond saddening for the Queen.

"What do you even intend to do...?"

While she was still quite hostile... There was a rather clear feeling of curiosity hiding in her tone, and at least for the time being, she was not trying to escape, or fight back anymore.
(Valeria V. Kyros)

The dark tentacles continued to writhe and tug at the doll's forms, snapping them, forming great cracks along them but not breaking them just yet. Gorandis still wanted to have Valeria step in willingly. "You would lose a piece of your spirit. A piece of yourself. Possibly some memories, possibly you'll lose being able to move one of your body parts..."

"Who knows really. As for what I am doing, well... I want to replace my lowly spirit, but I don't exactly get to choose the spirits floating around in the spirit realm. So I am going to attract all of them. Every single spirit in and around the borders of Valmasia all drawn to a single point. Near the Citadel in this case. I've been threading the spirit throughout the other realm."

"Stringing him out and creating a trail throughout valmasia from one coast to the other, a thick line of empowered spiritual energy... It will act as a conduit for the power I plan to send through and it will drag through the spirits with it and have them converge. But I am not looking for just any plain old human spirit, oh no... No I plan for much more than that."

"I plan to attract a great hoard of non-human spirits, dark creatures, demons if you will. And when they are all gathered I will have them fight one another... fight to the death and the victor will be mine... mine to control." His eyes gleamed madly. This might be what he planned but whether or not it would occur like this is another thing altogether.

"But, if you step into the circle I wont need to use your dolls as fuel anymore... And I will use a living magi spirit instead."
(Gorandis)

Her memories...? No, those were too valuable to be lost. Her body? As an Oscuri, she would become absolutely unfit to lead if she was maimed. No... She could not become fuel for Gorandis' experiments, even if that meant she would have to lose some of her Dolls instead.

But there was another way, perhaps...

"If... If you bring me dying or dead beings..." She would begin to mutter between gasping breaths, still wounded after the battle, but clear enough to be understood.

"I can directly pour their essences in your circle..." Anonymous souls, about which she did not care at all... Souls that she had not put her effort in bringing back to life...

Those were expendables.

"There are only three dolls... But if you let them leave, I can give your ritual much more..." She hated having to aid him... But she could not deny her interest in the subject.
(Valeria V. Kyros)

"Hmm, the souls of the dead are parley for your own? That is... agreeable I suppose. Well there are plenty of soldiers dying on the streets around us. Plenty of Magi too... yes, yes this would work..." He brought his hands up and the dolls were ejects, causing their forms to rolls along the stone floor. Still intact and still mostly alive. As alive as the undead could be anyway.

He gestured over to the bound queen and unbound her hands, allowing her to move them, though the red lightning still clung to her neck and down her spine, letting her know that if she tried anything, she wouldn't be doing so for long. "I only wish to finish my own ritual what goes into it is of no real concern to me. So then, gather up these souls, I need to adjust the circle to direct them.,,"

He turned his back to her, pulling down his hood so that he could hear even the faintest shift from her as he began to shoot more lightning down into the circle itself. It shifted, lines rearranging, widening as more and more was being added to it. The purple energy turned black and the white void, the portal to the spirit realm, if it could even be called that, widened too.

"Whenever you're ready..." He locked his legs as he began to put his effort in. The way between worlds did not want to stay open by any means. ANd although nothing physical could cross this way, it was more than enough for energy to get directed through. For the souls of the recently departed. "Let us damn all the dead for the sake of your own creations... And my creation too."
(Gorandis)

"Souls fallen in war are easier to grasp, anyway..." Or perhaps it was because her own Azraelite faith grew stronger at the presence of carnage. But as the Queen's shackles were released, she slowly rose upon her feet, and breathed in deeply.

The rieka across her laylines was somewhat weakened, due to her defeat, but still clearly powerful enough to do their job: A small burst of energy ensued, followed by a rather powerful feeling of depravity, messing with souls always caused such things, even if the Oscuri did not feel it at all. Soon enough, small, but constant ghostlights would come floating towards the Queen, only to be redirected towards the circle: Lifeforce, just as she used it for necromancy, but guided to something quite different.

"Luckily I had been working on doing things like this..." She mutters to herself as she works, her whole body trembling a bit on her spot as the energy is moved around.

Needless to say, this went beyond mere necromancy, being much closer to actual soul manipulation, sheer and clear... Very complex to understand, and evne more to use... But it was getting the job done!

"I'll help you out of respect, but I won't go beyond just that." A warning of sorts... But at the same time, she finally admitted a certain level of interest on his work.

Very slightly, her eyes opened again, eager to gaze upon the results...
(Valeria V. Kyros)

The black tentacles writhed as the motes of soul-like energy began to get diverted towards the circle. The tendrils began to split and multiply and grasp about at the advancing energy. With a great greediness the energy was driven into the gate, more tentacles rose up and Gorandis had to put more energy in, the crimson lightning around Valeria's neck flared along with his efforts.

The souls were affixed onto the work on the other side. The great, thick rope that was once his old spirit. Even now he could feel its personality still intact, even in this form the thing still kept its humanity. But Gorandis had apparently lost his own. The souls were crushed and fused into the thick rope, energy accepting energy. But in this quantity, Gorandis could feel things slipping.

He wasn't as death magic user nor a necromancer. He had never worked with souls before to any extent and now, thrust all upon him at once, he couldn't handle it. He worked his best but the ritual circle began to crack and split, he hadn't designed it for this much power nor strength. And it was beginning to wane. "No... No no no..."

He worked frantically, feeding the ritual as much power as he could, strengthening the tether in the spirit realm as much as he could. But he couldn't hold on for too long and the ritual finally snapped. The red lightning arcing up and striking at the white void, collapsing it instantly and sending out a sharp shockwave that would knock the pair to the ground.

Gorandis fell heavily but he wasn't too harmed by it all. The ritual was done, it went better than he thought it would but it could have been so much more with the Necromancer's help. He muttered a curse before rising to his feet. He dusted himself off and he could feel the link to his spirit being dulled and muted, just as he wanted.

Now when he gave the taut rope of spirituality a good tug... he should bring along everything he needed. "As for you, Valeria, Queen of New Alteros... I don't see why you seem to despise me so much. Yes, I may have aligned with that creature but it was only ever to get what I wanted." The lightning stayed firmly around her neck as Gorandis bent down, gently stroking her face.
(Gorandis)

The task was just as hard for herself as it was for Gorandis, manipulating a single essence was already rather complex, but moving as many as she was doing right now, even if there was no set target to where she could focus them, was quite tiresome.

And as the male failed to do his own part, the shockwave would easily send her stumbling backwards again, making her fall flat upon her rear on the ground.

"You could've gotten anything you wanted without having to side with that heretic." That alone was worthy of punishment in her eyes...

But in her current state, there was nothing she could do, other than move her face away from his grasp.

"I'll respect my honor, and I won't do anything dishonorable, but I'm no docile woman, dear. Don't touch me."
(Valeria V. Kyros)

"Oh, don't touch you? And what exactly would you do if I carried on, eh? You have lost, that ring around your neck signifies as much. And I can do anything. I. Want. To you. My little Queen..." His hand continued to stroke her cheek, moving down before it gripped at the rind around her neck. He tugged at it harshly, charring the skin on the other side.

He stared into her eyes. His own were wide and so very very mad. Their dark pits stared into her own for far too long, long enough to get uncomfortable and go beyond it. With a growl he shoved her away again, pacing around the room, kicking at the discarded dolls though not really damaging them any further. He faced the opposite wall for just a moment, breathing heavily.

"You know what it is like, with you being an Oscuri and all... Having a nagging voice at the back of your mind, telling you to go and do things. Go and war and destroy, maim and kill... Always going on and on right in the base of your skull like pieces of discarded glass scattered into your brain. Urges you can't ignore. But not ones I can accept either..."

He turned slowly. His face had gone pale and had a sweaty sheen over it but his eyes... they looked... normal again.He closed them, sighing, mainly at himself. "Look, I... I don't know what to do with you now..."
(Gorandis)

No response was given at his threats, but a small gasp ensued as her skin was charred, but other than that, the Oscuri held back any sort of expression of pain. Defeat did not mean she had lost her pride, after all. Her own eyes manage to gaze back at his, still glimmering with green rieka, covering their natural cobalt hue.

"I do know. But I know how to control myself." And that much was true. Among Oscuri, perhaps even among Azraelites as a whole, Valeria could be probably recognized for being among the more calm of the Oscuri, or at least one of the least bloodthirsty.

His own hesitation was clear... She could so easily try to take advantage of it, to decieve him, and take her leave.

But that much was simply disgusting.

Instead, she stood in her place, hearing his rambling, and crossing her arms before her chest, her rieka finally coming to a rest, and her visage losing it's glowing-green tones.

"You can kill me, you can leave me, I don't care. You defeated me, so I'm at your mercy."

In the very least, she had some dignity.
(Valeria V. Kyros)

"No... No no no no NO!" He strode over to her, his voice rising in volume and aggression as he did. "No! Not like this!" He grabbed at her collar and yanked her downwards to the ground. "I am not trying to kill you! But I can't just let you go! Do you hear me!? That's the problem here! You!" His foot came down to press onto the side of her temple.

"You're just mocking me. That's all you're doing. You're just seeing me as some throwaway person and you don't care what I do to you! You're just ignoring me!!!!" His foot came back and booted her square in the face, breaking her nose and spraying blood onto the cold stone floor. "I've had it with people seeing me as nothing!"

He grabbed her by the hair and lifted her head off the ground staring down at her once more wide eyed. "You, you're worse than all the rest. I have you here at your mercy and you're practically yawning at me!" He threw her onto her back and dived onto her, the lightning collar dissipating only to be replaced by his hands as he wrapped them around her throat.

"I should do it! I should kill the Queen of New Alteros. And I will make your toys watch as I--" His head turned around to look at the fallen dolls and his grip loosened. He wobbled over, almost drunkenly towards discarded creations. His boot came to rest n the side of one of their heads and he pressed down, crushing the porcelain beneath his weight.

"I'll just crush the things you love instead, one by one until you start to take me seriously..."
(Gorandis)

"Unf!"

Her weakened form was tossed around with ease, and the kick landed indeed squarely upon her face, bringing another gasp of pain as her blood was shed, a hand moving quickly to press itself against the bleeding spot, a frown appearing on her face.

Before she could voice out her own opinion, Gorandis' hands would grasp at her throat, choking her for a few moments, then he pulled away, and finally would manage to get a reaction from the Queen.

"W-Wait..." She tried to mutter, but her tone came out muffled due to the bleeding nose, and the hand that was pressing against it.

Seeing her dear creations being destroyed with such hatred... It was quite the terrible thing for the woman to be forced to watch.

"What... What do you want from me...?" The question came one more time, this time with much more weakness, and even perhaps submission.
(Valeria V. Kyros)

The destroyed head was ground into the stone by his heel. Gorandis began to breathe heavily through his nose as his head began to flit between Valeria and her discarded dolls. Finally, his gaze settled on the next doll. "Now you seem to care, eh? Now it's finally gotten through to you that you shouldn't ignore me? That you shouldn't try to shake me off as some commoner..."

"I should have used you. I should have thrown you into the ritual and done away with you there. but now..." His hands clenched into fists and he pressed them against the side of his head in frustration. "Now i don't know what to do with you... If I let you go you'll send all of New Alteros after me. But if I kill you then the very same will happen with your successor..."

He shifted his head to the side and looked at her. One of the dolls was now, for lack of a better term, dead. And there were two more left to go. "So what do we do with you then? If only I could make you care!" He began to stride over again but caught himself halfway there and spun around snarling at himself more than anything else.

"If only I could make you care..."
(Gorandis)

He was not kidding. If given the chance, and at least at the time being, the Queen would most likely send everything she could to deal with whoever had ashamed her like that; but she could not deny that she was at least glad that she would, apparently, not die at his hands.

"... You need more souls to do your ritual, yes...?" Before he could reach her second Doll, the Queen started to speak again, not moving from her spot at all for the time being.

"Leave my Dolls alone, and I'll fuel your circles as much as you need."

That much he seemed to need, and she could do.

"I'm the most skilled necromancer you'll find willing to aid you." Ryan would most definitely refuse, and she had a quite bad feeling regarding Calliope's current status.
(Valeria V. Kyros)

His hands covered his face as his listened quietly. He stayed silent and breathed heavily as she finished, his breathing picking up the pace to become frantic once more. "No! No... I don't need that anymore. That was the final one, that is all there was to do. Now all I need do is pull tight at the thread I have already woven throughout the lands."

"So you can offer me nothing then? You can do nothing to help with this situation. There is absolutely nothing you can do for me?" His hands clenched into fists again as he slowly made his way over to the next doll. Staring down at it while it, too, stared back at him with a cold, expressionless face. Gorandis could only feel like it was mocking him to.

"What can you do to stop me? What can you do to prevent me from doing this? What are the lives of your dolls worth to you?" He stepped away slowly and moved to the entrance to the basement. He blasted the ceiling above and slammed the hatch shut and with a red spark he melted the latch closed. With the stone piled above the entrance on the other side no one was going to be getting out of here anytime soon.

And more importantly, no one from the outside would ever stumble across them while they were here.
(Gorandis)

"... I..." The lives of her creations were of utmost importance for the Queen... Their very existances were her pride, the result of all her work.

Seeing them being destroyed so easily was akin to a mother losing her children.

The woman's arms fall across her sides, no longer covering her bleeding nose, and allowing her blood to simply run down her face and onto the floor, or her equally scarlet outfit. By all means... She seems defeated.

"I don't know what you want from me..."

She had no strength to fight back, nor any desire to simply give her life away with a poor attempt at resistance.

"But I'll do whatever you ask for... Just don't harm my Dolls... Please..." Finally, she seemed defeated.
(Valeria V. Kyros)

"I don't know what I want from you either... But there is no way of getting out of this in one piece... for me and perhaps for you too..." He walked back over, pacing around her slowly, occasionally staring down at her as he continued to talk. "What can you possibly offer me? There has to be something. A queen such as yourself must have gathered quite the number of things, yes?"

"Artifacts, things of that sort..." He looked down at her. "That sword for example, yes? I've seen you with it publically. It must be powerful indeed. But I can tell... it is not something I should touch, no..." Yes, he had felt it, during the ritual when spirits and souls were being manipulated and controlled. He had felt more people in this room than there were...

"But surely there is more you could offer? Even if not artifacts or weapons or anything of the sort..." He stopped his pacing and knelt down infront of her. From his pocket he pulled out a handkerchief and began to gently and rather oddly mop up the blood coming from her broken nose. "You know you had such a beautiful face..."
(Gorandis)

"... Crowns? Weapons? I don't have them with me..." She muttered, simply remaining on the ground as she stared at Gorandis walking around the place.

Armadyl's presence would indeed be felt, but the sword would apparently remain silent... She was alone, in all the meaning of the word.

And there was no resistance as he kneeled before her, and started to clean her face. She was too broken, too weakened for such things.

"... What do you want...?"

She had seen many men seeking things that were absolutely unfit for the battlefield... Was he one of them? She could not tell... But as far as she knew, Gorandis was as unpredictable as he was dangerous.

"Just... Just say it..."
(Valeria V. Kyros)

His hands that were gently mopping up the blood suddenly moved to grasp at her cheeks. With one hand he squeezed down and wrenched her face to look at him. "Stop asking me what I want!" his voice came out in a harsh, hushed growl. his eyes scanned her face for a moment before gripping harder and dragging her face to his own where he forced her to kiss him.

It was a long and horrid thing but he let her go eventually, pushing her back down on the ground. His face was angry and yet still somewhat impassive. "If you can't offer me anything then I will just take you instead..." He forced himself upon her, his hand moving to her neck once again and pinned her to the ground underneath his weight.

"Your face really was beautiful before I broke it. I wonder if the same can be said for you body... Because I already know how much I have broken your spirit. Some queen you are, you know? To have lost so utterly and so completely to some commoner far beneath your notice. Someone who had to force you to even recognise him..."

"And now I shall be a face you could never hope to forget..."
(Gorandis)

It all happened a tad too fast... Before the Queen could even try to resist, she felt the forced pressing of lips against her own, and her whole body pinned below his.

And as she tried to resist, she would find herself completely weakened... The ammounts of rieka she needed to bring out to fight, and what she had used to aid him beforehand, had been far too much... She was spent.

"You... You pig..." She would manage to mutter, trying to shove him off her body, but probably to no avail.

She would do pretty much anything... But this was too much for the formerly sexually generous Queen... She was powerless, though.
(Valeria V. Kyros)

Any weak struggling was quickly taken care of and her hands were pinned ove her head as Gorandis began to, well, have his way with her. Her clothes were brutally torn off and scattered around and he was far less than kind as he used her. Any mutterings from her just brought him to bring his hand down again, to choke her back into silence.

He seemed to avoid looking at her. At her face at the very least. He either stared straight ahead or down at her body as he continued to just use her as if she was less than a person. He didn't want her to talk, he didn't want any sounds, he just wanted to do what he wished to her in silence. His face stayed stony and silent himself, almost eerily so.

To Valeria's relief Gorandis did not do this for long and as soon as he was finished he seemed to discard her. Standing up and not looking back at her as he redressed himself fully. For a long while he stood with his back to her, staring at the far wall. What had he done? He didn't want anything to ever get this far and yet he'd...

He looked down at his own hands before clenching them tightly. He strode over to the broken hatch to the upper floors and with a surge of power he shattered it and the rocks beyond with a powerful strike of the crimson lightning. He didn't turn, he didn't even acknowledge the Queen as he left her there and without a word he began to snake through the battered city.

The recent events ate at his mind as he tried to block them out. He had done his ritual that was what he needed to focus on. not the Queen and what had been done. Just not...
(Gorandis)

How many times had she taken men and women into her chambers for an act just like this one? Valeria did not want to remember... The mere thought of such things was enough to absolutely disgust her.

She made no sound, as much as she could help it, as Gorandis simply had it her way with her body, allowing no warmth to be exhuded, and blocking her own emotions as far as she was capable of.

And finally, it would end... The woman simply laid on the cold floor, her face bleeding, her body broken, and her pride shattered... But her eyes made sure to follow Gorandis' every movement, taking in every detail of his face, and burning them into her mind.

Perhaps just as he wanted, he would not be forgotten...

But for the time being, she was unable to pick herself up, and so, she just waited... Rested. It would be a while until anyone could see her again.
(Valeria V. Kyros)