Lucine moved to Aiden's side and rolled his body over. He was barely conscious, letting out weak, ragged breaths. The poison was seemingly fast-acting, something she was sure Rhylance would have appreciated working on. The thought of her lover brought her to Aiden's arm. She wasn't much of a doctor, but she'd been exposed to many of her Chiss's experimentations.
Ripping open the Proconsuls shirt, Lucine examined the claw marks. The skin around them bubbled from the poison.
"Rhylance, where are you when I need you?" she asked under her breath. Aiden was in too much pain to fully notice.
Placing her hands on his arm, Lucine called out to the Force. She channeled the energy into Aiden's wounds, hoping to stall the poison, even for a short time. Anything to give her Proconsul a better chance at survival. It wasn't a matter of caring for the man. She just didn't have the patience to train a new one.
Exhaustion began to wash over her. She could see the bubbling flesh settle, the wounds beginning to close. As her hands began to shake from overextending herself, she let go of the man's arm and exhaled a breath she didn't know she was holding. Sweat dripped from her brow, a feeling she didn't gladly take upon herself.
Aiden's breath was less ragged. His chest rose mostly naturally, and he seemed to be in less pain. Lucine dropped to a sitting position. She wasn't sure she'd be able to stand without a rest. Using her abilities had left her in a state worse than she'd hoped. She brought her arm up and initiated a link with her wrist communication device.
"This is Consul Vasano, requesting immediate evacuation. Repeat, we need immediate evacuation."
There was no response on the other end. All she got back was static.
"Blast it!" She didn't like this. They were out in the open. Exposed. And the mastiffs could be back at any time. "Come on, Deshra, you have to get up. We're like sitting wamp rats out here."
Aiden weakly opened his eyes and tried to push himself up. The poison was obviously still in his system, even if weakened. Pushing himself up, Aiden grasped Lucine's hand, and she helped him to his feet. He wobbled slightly but took a few steps with her help.
"The job... it's not over yet." He wheezed.
"For us, I think it is darling. Neither one of us can do much as we are, and if we don't get out of here, you won't be around much longer."
"Heh…" Aiden chuckled slightly. "I didn't realize that you cared so much."
"Trust me, darling, if I thought I could run this clan without a Proconsul, I'd have left you back there and gotten myself out. Unfortunately, not everyone trusts me. And the ones that don't, well, they seem to trust you. As much as I hate to admit it, I need you." Lucine was not happy to make that admission. She looked as though she'd just swallowed soap, and her narrowed eyes betrayed her steady voice.
"Getting to hear you speak such lovely words... it's a perk of the job," Aiden replied sarcastically as he struggled to keep walking.
The two kept moving, stopping every few minutes to let Aiden catch his breath. Soon enough, they found the hole they had come through. Lucine tried again to call for help.
"This is Consul Vasano, Requesting immediate evacuation. Repeat, we need immediate evacuation. Can anyone hear me?"
"Lucine...can you... what's your position?"
The voice that came through was barely intelligible. There was interference on the comms, but she could make out part of the message. She used her wrist communicator to send out a message with her location on it. Her only hope was that the message would be received.
"Come on, Aiden, we're almost there."
Aiden took a few steps towards the opening before turning back to Lucine. As he did, his eyes went wide, and he pushed his hand out with all the strength that he had left. Lucine found herself knocked to the ground by an invisible push just as a phalone rushed past her and tackled Aiden out through the opening.
The second phalone jumped at her prone form, but the Consul pulled out her trusted dagger that was strapped to her leg. As the beast reached her, she thrust the blade into its chest and twisted. The phalone let out a pained wail before dropping prone onto the woman. Pushing against its body, Lucine crawled her way out from beneath it, blood covering her clothes.
"Oh crap, Aiden!"
Standing up and breathing heavily, she walked towards the opening. Looking through it, she saw the mastiff standing above Aidens prone, unmoving form. Its beak dripped with fresh blood. Lucine was angry, angrier than she'd been in a long time. Her teeth gritted as a near growl left her throat. The mastiff crouched, ready to charge. The Consul could feel the power in her fingers building. Electricity buzzed at their tips.
As the creature dashed forward, aiming to kill this last pest, Lucine threw her hands up, lightning bursting forth as her eyes blazed yellowish-orange. The mastiff shook in pain, screeching loudly as the electricity coursed throughout its body. The lightning lasted only a few seconds before dying at Lucine's fingers. The alpha phalone mastiff looked absolutely terrified by the attack, and though it shook from the residual charge within its body, it turned tail and ran into the swamplands.
Lucine collapsed to the ground, well and thoroughly drained. Her body rolled down the ramp-like bridge Aiden had created earlier until she came to a stop next to him. Through blurry eyes, she couldn't see if he was breathing or not, but the growing puddle of blood was not looking well for the Proconsul.
"Lucine, can you read me. We are almost at your position."
The only thing that she could think before passing out was that it was about time for them to get there. Darkness took her. When help finally arrived, they found her lying next to the lifeless corpse of Aiden Lee Deshra.
Positive Takeaways
Awesome start to this match.You named the creature and started some good action. Can’t wait to see where this all goes. The details of the environment and the chosen creature really helped to bring the reader into the world with Lucine and Aiden.
Can Be Improved
A few small Syntax errors, a few missing punctuations, and the inconsistent capitalization of the word “Clan” in your post. Overwise a really good solid post.
Not docking you for this, but there was some confusion as to which word, “that” or “which”, worked best in the above sentence. Just something to look for in future matches.