Improvisation.

If there ever came a time where we had to pick a word of the century, and they made us decide it in votes. Improvisation would definitely be my number one choice.

Adaptation.

That one would probably come in at a close second.

Third place? The runner-up in the contest... well that one was definitely -

“FASTER!”

The room, beset on all sides by the dazzling radiance of phoenix fire, had sent both sisters recoiling back by the blinding glare, Adalia especially, voicing her displeasure with an ear-splitting shriek.

Walls, floors - all for corners bestrewed by a lunging shadow in a blur. Adalia was relentless, clinging briefly to a surface, before springing to the air, swiping her claws at the phoenix in flight.

“Swerve, Ria!” I yelled again, feeling my voice grow hoarse. “Go left!”

Fire and light had significantly slowed Adalia’s momentum, searing away at her lightning-fast physique to the point where she was actually traceable to the naked eye.

If not for that… well, Ria wouldn’t have stood a chance.

A swift strike plummeting downwards was only narrowly missed, Adalia had only managed to swipe a couple of feathers, crumbling to ashes in her grasp.

Ria was doing her damnedest to avoid getting within striking range. Performing evasive maneuvers almost like a fighter jet. She dived, she looped, she veered - vertically, horizontally, diagonally - each time cutting it dangerously close.

“Front!” I shouted.

The inevitable finally happened. Ria was fast. It was just that Adalia was faster. A single slice that rended deep into her flesh as Ria swerved to evade.

It was a moment that lasted only briefly.

A piercing cry, a husky growl, and the two ended up at opposite ends. Ria still in flight, cascaded a heavy flow of blood that pattered to the ground. Adalia, on all fours, baring her fangs, her eyes still locked onto Ria.

That devastating blow definitely won’t be the last, Ria isn’t capable of handling her all by her lonesome. She needed help and she needed it desperately.

Little did I know, it was already coming.

Beyond audibility, but within sight, I saw Amelia muttering at Ash’s direction. Then, not even a second later, Ash was already bolting past scorched rubble and violent swirls of fire. The flimsy and battered sword she wielded in her hand was suddenly restored to pristine condition in a bright glow of light that encased it.

I saw Ash charge… saw her legs shift into a stance… and I knew immediately what she was about to do.

I turned my sights to Ria again.

“Charge her!” I yelled, pointing to Adalia. “Charge her now!”

An order obeyed without question. Off Ria went, hurtling herself deliberately into razor-sharp clutches.

Adalia saw her opportunity and lunged at her. Meanwhile, so did Ash. With a jump that shattered the concrete, with a blade striking with every ounce of effort, the Elf-knight sent the Matriarch plummeting to the ground in an explosion of dust and dirt.

I did not know what orders Ash was given, but she did not relent, immediately speeding to Adalia’s location but by the time Ash had reached her, she had already recovered, realigning her posture to a defensive one.

Soon sparks would fly, the shrill whistling of grinding metal would sound as her claws scraped against her blade again and again. Both of them taking turns going on the offensive with neither one able to wound the other, or at least not grievously.

But it soon became apparent that the tides were turning on Ash, more mistakes, more defense than offense, slowly she was being overwhelmed by the Matriarch just as Ria was.

Despite all setbacks, Adalia was still coming out on top.

“Help her,” I ordered Ria, who promptly began diving with her talons unsheathed, circling the skirmish from up above, waiting for the opportune time to deliver a blow.

Two of them, probably still wasn’t enough… we needed another.

Amelia was walking again, slowly, her expression brimming with pain… I doubt she could do much. I was about to yell at her to stand down. That was until I saw just where her feet were carrying her to.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

She stopped short. Her feet planted right alongside another. Her face, her eyes, her fangs fronting a shambling figure.

One of the victims, Amanda… frailing, barely even upright, was standing before Amelia’s gaze.

“I need…” Amelia huffed. “I need her blood. I need… to get stronger.”

“Not her,” I said immediately.

Didn’t take a professional to know that Amanda wouldn’t be able to handle losing even just another drop of blood. From the way she looked, from the way her skin had that unhealthy greyish hue, and how her skin clung and draped over her bones. Life was barely flickering in her sunken, hollowed eyes.

So nearly dead.

Amelia was back to glaring once again. “I need it to be her. She has just the right blood… for me. It will fill me with enough strength, enough to be able to forge on at least.”

I looked to the sidelines at the rest of the victims mindlessly at wander, though they were gaunt-looking, their condition was still miles better than Amanda’s.

“There are others,“ I said.

“The others aren’t enough!” She snapped. “Stop trying to stop me!”

A roar of agony rang out from afar. Adalia clutched the side of her face where a large vertical gash had emerged, spilling blood that blinded half her sight, causing her to violently flail about to fend away any chance to seize an advantage on her.

Ash cautiously circled her, Ria did the same from above - a talon coated in blood.

If anything, it bought us more time. Time that should have been spent more wisely. Precious time that shouldn’t be spent having this stupid pointless argument.

“Do not feed on her, Amelia,” I warned, hobbling a step towards her direction.

Needless to say, my words of warning were left by the wayside just as I was. Amelia had a hand clasping firmly on Amanda’s shoulder, her other hand shifting her head to the side.

Amelia split her lips wide open, inched herself closer to Amanda, fangs ready to plunge.

“You bite into her and I’ll tell Ria to stop at once.”

Mere inches from piercing skin, Amelia froze in place. Slowly, she withdrew herself… turning to face me again with a hatred that had surpassed all limits.

“You do that and I’ll order the Elf to kill herself,” she said furiously.

“I’m not falling for that one again,” I told her directly. “You wouldn’t do that. Not now, not here.”

“You don’t think I will?” She challenged me.

“Yeah,” I said calmly. “I don’t.”

I hadn’t a clue where this sudden burst of courage in me originated from nor did I care to find out. All I cared about right then was not losing it, not giving in, not at the most crucial moment. But if there was one thing I learned tonight, it was that Amelia was every bit as stubborn as I.

Unstoppable force, please meet immovable object.

There had to be some signs, that was what I was waiting for. Something to tell me that I was winning. A twitch in her brow, indecision flurrying in her eyes… a tremble of lips, a flicker of hands, anything that will indicate that -

“Okay!” Amelia shouted out loud, her enraged expression softening to something a bit more… unexpected.

It was a mask, I realized. The anger, the hostility, the abrasiveness. Layers stacked on layers hiding away what was within plain sight. The bloodied tears streaming from her quivering eyes reflected back to me the truth.

There, I saw myself mirrored in her eyes. Saw a powerless person, desperate, frightened, and helpless.

“I just want to save my sister…”

I realized just then that I wasn’t the only one putting on a front.

“I know,” I said, feeling for the first time, an inkling of empathy for her.

Amelia’s expression was a painful one to bear, it was strained, looking utterly defeated.

“I can’t… please… I’m not strong enough,” she admitted, staring at me… pleading at me. “I need blood. Please! Just let me do this!”

As much as I understood her right then, as much as I wanted to answer her pleas, I felt myself slowly shake my head. I couldn’t let her do it.

“What am I supposed to do?!” She yelled.

My silence expressed more than any of my words possibly could. There simply wasn’t an answer I could give.

Then that’s when it happened, darting away from the corner of my eyes. Behind Amelia, there it was… I felt my heart lurch in my chest, felt my eyes widen in surprise and felt my libido spike up to a hundred.

Barging in at first simply as a whiff in the air, before amassing as one collective haze of red vapour hovering like a small cloud of blood.

Second time tonight, I saw it take solid form. Second time, gleaming red eyes stared back at me in the dissipating smog. Second time emerged, horns, tail and stark red skin.

“Simple,“ spoke her ever mesmerizing voice, “Drink my blood instead.”

For the second time tonight, Irene had appeared.

And for the third time since I met her, better late than never.