A scream tore through the lips of the magi, watching as a rogue clamped it's yellow canines down into the jugular of her beloved. Her mind not catching up with her actions, she was barely aware of her hand raising and a beam of energy shooting out from her palm, striking the rogue in the face. It flopped back and she knew it was dead.
Barrier abandoned and retreating, she ran to her beloved, skitting to her knees in the red snow that surrounded the healer. "Zay - Zay," she sniffled, tears brimming to her eyes as she pressed her hands over the gaping wound on the young woman's neck. Zay made a discomforting choking sound, blood spilling out of her mouth. Her eyes were wider than Shia had ever seen them. "I can - I can fix this."
Memories flash behind her eyelids with every blink. A young man is on the ground, a man whom she loves. He stares up at her, terrified of what's to come. His head was split open and blood oozed out, warm beneath him on that hot summer day. Years and years ago and she couldn't save him then.
She refused to lose her now.
She lifts her other hand, shakily placing it over Zay's slowing heart. "I'm going to fix this, darling. I - I promise."
A hand, shaky and pale, pushes her away.
"Please, darling. Please don't fight this."
As best she can, Zay gives a small shake of her head.
"Please," Shia begs.
Zay grabs onto Shia's hand, her grip weak. 'I love you,' Zay forces through their link, letting out another anguishing choking sound as the blood drips down her lips. Her hand loses it's strength, her eyes still wide, as she takes her final struggling breath.
Shia's shoulders shake as she feels her bond snap, pain filling her body. She leans down, pressing her head to Zay's still chest. "Please," she whispers, "please, please, please." She doesn't know what she's asking for. For Zay to come back? For permission? It's all a blur.
A growl sounds from behind her. She turns to the ugly creature, anger filling her, curling her stomach and spreading to the tips of her fingers. She screams, loud and guttural. The sound fills the pack grounds and vibrates the barriers she had created until they shatter in a loud reverberation. Sharp blue shards fly around, ghosting through pack members with a shudder and landing harshly into rogues who gave a chorus of cries as they were struck down. The rogue winces at the crescendo, turning on it's tail and running for the treeline.
Shia looks around at the rogues dropping dead or running for the hills and an anger fills her. They did this. They don't deserve to escape.
"My darling," she whispers shakily, returning her gaze to the unblinking Zay. Her hand finds her cheek, staining blood across the pale surface. "I'll be back for you." She leans down, pressing her lips gently to Zay's. No breath leaves them; Shia's heart clenches agonizingly slow.
She stands, closing her eyes as she prepares to spend her remaining energy. She lets it start in her feet, a blue light surrounding her starting from her soles. She allows this energy to lift her up until she's above the tree line. "Spirits, guide me," she pleads to her universe. She sways, a wind pushing her [xxxx] and she spots them. A gathering of the rogues and Paramount Pack members outside the border by a mile or two. A vision crosses her eyes of one of the rogues in human form, a curious look upon his weathered face. "Is it he who has done this? This man who is responsible for my loss?" The wind sways in her hair, pushing her forward.
She pushes down towards the group, her hand immediately going around the throat of the leader.
Malum stares at the blue woman in front of him, seeing the fire in her eyes. His breathing quickens and The Paramount Pack watches on in anticipation. The rogues growl but are silenced with a look from the angry magi.
"My beloved is dead because of you," she hisses. A whine comes from behind her as Jared steps cautiously forward.
Xavier's eyes widen. "What?" He holds his hand up, stopping Jared from moving any closer to the tempered being. "Shia, is that true?"
Tears well in her eyes as she tightens her hold on the man's throat. "Yes." She speaks it shortly, her stomach churning as she admits it.
Malum brings his hand up to Shia's, trying to pry her fingers away from her skin. "I know your pain-"
"No-" she pulls him forward to slam him back against a tree "-you know nothing of my grief. You did this."
"I can fix this," insists Malum. "Join me. The boy - he-"
"I know about the boy."
Lycer's eyes her wearily. Just how much did his questioning give away?
"Then you know he could solve this."
"No." She tightens her hold until he chokes. The rogues growl again and her opposite hand comes up, a burst of blue energy striking down one of them, effectively silencing the rest. "The boy was never your solution." Her grip tightens again and Malum struggles for breath, pulling uselessly at her fingers.
"Xavier?" Celeste watches on in horror at the scene before her, her drooping eyes as wide as could be. He turns her towards him, blocking her view but maintaining his.
Lycer pushes away from the rogues, making his way to stand in front of Celeste. His hand reaches back, finding hers and squeezing tightly.
"I can fix this." Malum struggles to speak the words, his face turning redder and redder by the second.
"You don't seem like someone who ever fixed anything." She brings her other hand to his chest, a ball of energy forming at her palm. "But I'll forever fix the world of the problem that is you." She presses her hand to his heart, sending the energy forward. Malum gives a choked gasp and slumps in her hold. His experiments watch in horror as he's released to slump to the ground. Shia looks to the lost experiments. "Run." And they do.