A savage roar ripped from Roul's throat until it ran raw and ragged. Blinding red rage consumed him. The beast he kept cage within him gnawed at the bars of his will. And as he watched
Keres burn he found no reason left to keep it locked up. He let that slavering beast come loose. Adrenaline and hunger and power pumped through his blood.
Surprise flitted across Asturias' face at Roul's surge of absurd strength. The wrist holding the burning sword twisted painfully, tendons protesting, bone straining.
Roul snarled, a pain in his jaw only mirrored by a rabid desire for flesh. He leaned forward, teeth snapping, strings of saliva dripping down his beard.
The surprise turned to outright fear on Asturias' face. He knew what a bite might mean.
"Dog," gasped the Paladin.
"Wolf," corrected Roul, his voice a barely recognizable growl.
Their blades clashed together in a flurry of silver blurs. Steel rang. Sparks flew.
They locked up again and Roul felt he could overpower the man, when suddenly a pain blossomed in his gut. He looked down to see a dagger buried in his stomach, held in Asturias' off-hand.
"Predictable, friend," Asturias shook his head and shoved Roul away, jerking back the dagger as he did so. Roul stumbled, smoke curling from the wound, the smell of monkshood thick in his nostrils. Asturias twirled the dagger and held it up, its length streaked with scarlet ichor. "You never did watch for the off-hand. Glad some things haven't changed. That's a silver blade, coated in aconite."
Roul stepped backward, holding a hand to his gut. Smoking blood streamed between his fingers to patter on the ground. Asturias advanced, confident, unhurried.
"You won't be able to heal now. It's over. Let me put you out of your misery. I'll give you a quick death. Can't say the same for your witch," his lips twisted in derision.
Roul's gaze flickered to where Keres stood sagging against the wall, then back to Asturias.
"No," he bit out, then began to draw on memories of what he learned at
Elbion. The aconite mixing with his blood, staining his fingers. He could use that. A dark offering.
"Hmm, terse as ever I- what are you doing?"
Roul plunged two fingers inside his wound, eyes bulging and shifting to a wild amber as he muttered in a wicked, forbidden tongue. He brought the fingers out of the wound and streaked them across the air, causing it to shimmer.
"Fuck. Off." Roul slammed his bloodied hand against the air, palm flat.
A torrent of invisible energy blasted from his hand and everything in its path wavered like a heatwave until it struck the shocked Asturias in the chest and sent him hurtling backward. The spell sent Asturias crashing through the wall of the building behind him, then the spell itself met the building and tore it apart. Wood splintered, mud bricks shattered. The entire two-story structure collapsed in on itself and onto the dazed Asturias.
Roul rocked, unsteady, and nearly fell over as he felt the toll. Blood still poured from the hole in his belly, running in a stream that soaked his shirt and the pant beneath. Grimacing, he made his way to Keres, thankful she appeared to still be alive.
They needed to get out of here and find somewhere to heal, somewhere to hide.