Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Asterin hears her blood rush in her ears as she gets closer to the tower, Narene roaring out definitely below her. She swung her sword and struck true, blue blood spattering over her face and neck. 

The witch cries out in agony, falling to the ground and Asterin almost cringes at the splat she can barely hear over the roar of the enemy witches around her. Another witch replaces the one she struck down and Asterin meets her snarl with her own as she dodges a swipe of iron nails. 

She leads Narene into a roll, falling to the ground before Narene opens her wings and they glide underneath the hoard for a moment. Asterin spares a second to find the thirteen and relief floods her as she sees them injured, but not dead, fighting off their own enemies. She looks towards the tower and curses as she sees the witch a bit closer to the pit. 

They don’t have much time left.

Asterin brings her hand to her mouth and whistles twice, high and clear. The thirteen respond with their own as Asterin leads Narene back up into the hoard, above it, to join the thirteen in formation. An arrow, aimed at the heart of the tower. 

It’s a comforting instinct to lead the thirteen down towards the tower, her blade swinging true as witches try desperately to stop them, only to be cut down like wisps of clouds. 

Asterin tastes blue blood and cannot tell if it’s her own.

As they get closer to the tower she leans down to rest her hand on Narene’s neck. She feels her beast, her beautiful beast, purr and dangerous tears cloud her vision. “Pull up when I jump.” She calls to her beast and Narene rumbles in acknowledgement. Smart girl. 

She calls out to the rest of the thirteen, to have the wyverns pull up when they jump, and Asterin prays that the wyverns are quick enough. She doesn’t think she could stand it to have Narene go like this. 

The tower is a few meters away and Asterin unbuckled the straps holding her to Narene, gripping the twin swords from her back and she crouched on Narene. 

6 meters. 

The witch is 7 feet from the pit. 

5 meters. 

Asterin throws her one of her swords as the witch takes another step. 

4 meters. 

Her aim runs true and blue blood gushes out of the witch's neck, staining the floors as she falls to the ground 5 feet from their doom. 

3 meters. 

The Matron whirls and Asterin revels in the horror she sees bloom on her face once she sees the thirteen, glorious and dark and coming for her . 

2 meters. 

Asterin leans down to kiss Narene’s head. 

A few feet left. 

Asterin jumps from Narene’s back, using all the strength she has in her immortal legs to make it to the inside of the tower. She feels the rush of air from Narene pulling up, from all of the thirteen’s wyverns pulling up and she hears the sound of the thirteen landing beside her. 

The witches in the tower still for a moment to gawk at them and it is all the time the thirteen need. Asterin lunges for the closest one and punches her blade through her gut, tearing it from her to whirl at the next one. 

She meets the Matron’s gaze and she feels a wild sort of hunger burn through her at the fear in her eyes.

Sorrel is beside her, one arm hanging broken, but the other is swinging her blade with an accuracy the oldest and most skilled warriors would envy.

Only a few witches left between her and the Matron, a few more barriers that the thirteen cut down like grass, until Asterin is standing before a cowering, pleading Matron. Asterin licks her lips and tastes the acid, sweet taste of blood on them. 

“Asterin, please-“ the Matron begs but Asterin doesn’t hear her, doesn’t want to. She grips the bitch by her hair lifting her up as she readies her sword. The matron begs, one final time. 

Asterin had never heard a greater sound than when her sword cut through the Matron's neck. 

The bitches body falls away, but her head remains held up by Asterin’s grip. Asterin looks down at it for a moment before she throws it down with the body. 

There’s no noise for a moment and Asterin revels in it, the sweet silence soothing her. 

Then Vesta spits blue onto the Matron’s body, kicking at it. “Thank fuck.” She declares before she winces, moving her mouth a bit before she spits blood and spit again, though Asterin can hear a dull thud as she reverberates off the Matron's body onto the ground. 

“Was that your tooth?” Imogen asks. 

Vesta nods. 

“A iron or normal one?” 

Vesta shrugs. 

Lin steps up and spits at it herself, with much less blood, to reveal pearly white. 

Vesta curses.  

“That's going to be a bitch to grow back.” 

Asterin smiles, then chuckles until she’s bent over with her hands on her knees laughing. She doesn’t know why, she has no real reason to, but it feels so good, so freeing to just laugh . 

The thirteen just stare at her for a moment before Sorrel shakes her head and begins to laugh too, and then Imogen and Ghislaine until all of them are laughing. Asterin stands to her full height and leans against Sorrel, earning a hiss when she wraps an arm around her. 

“I think my arm is broken.” Sorrel groans and Thea chuckles. “You think?” She teases, gesturing to the limp, bloody arm hanging at Sorrel’s side. 

“Bitch.” 

Asterin smiles for a moment before she hears the roar of battle start again behind her and turns.

The crochans. 

A sea of red cloaked and brooms charge into the ironteeth legion that had been shocked into inactivity, taking advantage of that and the fact that the tower is no longer a threat.

Hopefully Asterin thinks, turning to the stairs at the opposite side of the room when she hears rushing footsteps and snarls. She looks to the thirteen and they nod, getting into position. Fallon throws Asterin the sword she had thrown at the witch before the pit, apparently grabbing it while she didn’t notice. 

Asterin nods in thanks before she turns to the stairs. They will keep the tower from becoming a threat again. They have to. For the corchans, for the ironteeth witches who will one day learn to love, that they do not have to fight for survival. 

For Manon . 

Chapter Text

Asterin contemplates bashing her head against the rock in the corner of the tent, if only to get away from the raging headache she currently has. 

She supposes she is better than Sorrel is, groaning on the mat next to her. Her arm was most definitely broken and the thirteen had had to hold Sorrel down while the crochan healer set it right. She pats Sorrel’s stomach and earns a hiss.

Vesta laughs before getting a solid smack in the back from Ghislaine. “Stop moving.” She says and  Vesta grumbles, but obeys. Asterin takes stock of the tent and the miserable witches in it. 

Vesta is getting her mouth looked at by a grumpy Ghislaine, Edda and Fallon are curled together in a corner, Thea and Kaya are mending to each other and whispering, Sorrel is laying next to her, And Briar, Lin and Imogen are asleep in next to Vesta and Ghislaine. 

Asterin sighs and lays back down, humming as she feels Sorrel wrap her hand, on the unbroken arm, around hers. “Are you alright?” Sorrel murmurs and Asterin chuckles. “Says the witch with the broken arm.” 

Sorrel smiles and rubs her thumb over Asterin’s hand. “Still.” Asterin smiles and leans over to kiss Sorrel’s forehead. “I’m mostly alright, my head hurts like a bitch.” Sorrel frowns and Asterin lifts her free hand to smooth out the frown with her fingers. “Don’t worry, love, I’m fine .” 

Sorrel still seems unconvinced but she leans towards Asterin to kiss her cheek. Asterin moves closer to her and sighs, letting the soft sound of Sorrel’s breathing and the conversations on her coven around her lure her to sleep. 

*** 

Asterin is awoken by shouting and for a moment she fears that it was all a dream, that the tower isn’t a broken heap outside the walls, that it’s coming for them. 

But instead of terror and death she hears. “Let me though!” 

Manon .

Asterin stands, stepping over a half asleep Sorrel  and a startled Vesta to open the flap of the tent, revealing a worried, angry Manon and a healer keeping her away from the tent. 

“They need their rest, if you don’t-“ the healer starts but Manon has seen Asterin now and side steps the healer, marching towards Asterin.

As she gets closer anger very quickly replaces the worry and Asterin expects Manon to yell, maybe punch her for leaving her on the walls of Orynth, only able to watch the thirteen fly away. Manon instead grabs her by the shoulders and pulls her closer, resting her head on her chest. 

Asterin’s hands hover over Manon for a moment and she notices Manon begin to shake. “Don’t,” she mutters and Asterin’s heart breaks a bit at the pain in Manon’s voice. “, ever do anything like that ever again.”  

Asterin smiles and wraps her arms around Manon. “No promises.” 

Manon makes a noise between a sob and a laugh. Asterin meets the eyes of the healer over Manon’s shoulder and smiles sheepishly, gesturing with her chin to the crying Manon in her arms. 

The healer just shakes her head in amusement and walks away with a word over her shoulder of having more patients to see and leaves them alone. Asterin leads Manon into the tent and they are met with the very awake thirteen staring at them. 

Asterin wouldn’t be surprised if they had heard the shouting and just let Asterin take care of it, the bitches. 

Manon looks at them all, eyeing each of them in silence. Then she sighs and says, “I’m going to beat the shit out of you all when you're better.”

Fallon laughs loudly and grabs at Manon, pulling her to the floor so Fallon can wrap a very flustered Manon into a hug. “ Aw , the big bad queen cares!” Fallon teases and Manon grumbles but she doesn’t try to wiggle out of Fallons’s grip. 

Asterin smiles and flops onto the floor next to them, wrapping an arm around both of them. “I was wondering where that shriveled heart was.” 

Manon rolls her eyes and the thirteen chuckles around them, scooting towards them to make a half pile-half hug around Manon. Now Manon is wriggling, loudly complaining about getting their ‘fat bodies’ off of her.  

Manon is lovingly ignored. 

Asterin looks at them all, this mess of a coven splayed out half on top of their leader, injured and hurt, but alive. Alive . 

Asterin smiles, wide and wild, and feels the world smile with her.