Patrollogs
(A battle in the Nightmare)
[Sun May 25 2025]
In the Parking Lot of the Elm Street Apartment Complex
It is dusk, about 75F(23C) degrees, and the sky is covered by thin white clouds.
"Mm. One of these, huh?" Cadence hums out into the Nightmare, more intrigued than worried. "Whose out there?" she wonders breathing out a sharp breath. "Psst psst psst psst psst," she noises, calling out for a cat that's likely not muddied in the distance.
Cadence looks here and there, trying to spot who she's been wrangled into the Nightmare with. It doesn't take her too long to spot William. "Hi," she says lowly, flashing her most winning smile. "Don't know who you are. Probably doesn't matter too much, right? Be gentle," she urges, making the trek over, unholstering her pistol, priming it with a click.
"Oh, it's you..." William says with a chirp "And without the demidemon this time..." He says clapping his hands together, putting the sword in the hilt for a moment and the bow to his back, before charging a bit closer "Doesn't really matter no, but I can definitely show you" And with that he reaches and starts adjusting the headwear to try and show his face
A quiet, understated laugh tries to bubble its way out of Cadence's throat, but she giggles into the palm of her heel, almost stifling it down. Almost. "What, you remember me?" Cadence asks, lifting one of her dark, arching eyebrow quizzically. "Weird. I can't really remember you. You're gonna have to jog my memory here," she admits drearily, squinting as the guy just up and disappears from her line of sight. "Where'd you go, Johnny boy? Kinda caught me at a bad time, you know," she adds, her words tensed with mild irritation as she grits her teeth. "Come a little closer, will you? I'm really outta sorts right now."
And moments after showing his face, the man starts contorting and bending, along with the sound of crashing bones and splashes of blood here and there. Soon enough, the shifting is complete, and within an instant, William(Gulo Gulo) is swiftly closing in the distance between it and Cadence
"There you are, I guess," Cadence says under her breath, chagrined. Her irritation grows, but so too does her smile. she grips the handle of her bloodied axe and takes the few steps needed to close the distance with William(Gulo Gulo), raising it high over her head for a hacking, downward motion aimed right for the centre of mass, relying on centrifugal force over any precision to mark her blow. "Can you talk like that, Johnny boy?" she asks, tilting her head curiously. She stumbles off to the side as the arc of her attack is deflected, pivoting with the motion to regain her practice. "I'm kinda rusty. I'm gonna try to have as much fun as I can though, baby." She talks, but she's not actually looking at William(Gulo Gulo), sort of staring right through him.
William stands back upstraight right as the attack misses its mark, the crunching sound returning as the animal turns to man once more, chuckling a little bit before saying "Nope, can't really talk like that..." And with that his hand comes back to the hilt of the previously pocketed weapon and draws it in a circular motion towards Cadence, hitting the shield she's holding with a loud thump, seemingly delighted by the response she's giving "Oh, lovely, I'll to try to enjoy it as much as possible then"
"That's a little better," Cadence enthuses, approval thrumming in her low, lilting voice. She tries to circle around William's left flank as he shifts into something more agreeable to her tastes. She gets a little bit of a shock when he retaliates, the blow on her shield rattling her down to her bones. Her smile momentarily drops as the dull ache resounds through her slight frame. "That smarts," she half-complains, half praises, smile returning in due time. "Though. If you wanna have more fun, you're gonna want to be a little more gentler with me. I'm like a flower, see?" She hefts her shield and rolls her shoulder, testing the range of her motion. Twisting the haft of her axe in her grip, she swings it in a reckless hewing motion, leaving herself wide open for a counterattack all in favour of getting a solid hit in. "With how things slowed in town, I thought it was safe to let my guard down," she murmurs, rhyming intentionally or unintentionally. "My mistake. Oopsie..."
Moving slowly to a side, William manages to get the blade of his longsword in between Cadence's axe and himself, smirking a little bit in her direction and adding a little "Ah, like a flower? Is that your way of telling me you're already crumbling?" And after holding the parry for a couple seconds, he lets the blade slide past, moving along with his weapon to punish her attack with a solid blow against the shield once more "I could stop attacking... Let you fumble around for a little bit, is that what you want me to do?" And along with the physical attacks, comes shortly after some magic trick, his ring lighting up right as the woman catches motion in the corner of her vision, maybe normal so deep in the nightmare, but distracting all the same
"Mmyeah," Cadence murmurs in affirmation, stepping forward into the clash of axe and sword, trying to gain some leverage over him. When he lets his blade slide forward, her reckless abandon causes her to stumble forward, instinctively raising her shield to receive the brunt of William's counterattack. She rights herself and essentially preens briefly before someone, running her elbow over her face to fix her hair as best as she can, getting the dark tresses out of her line of sight. Her pupils dilate when she sights her target. Her smile all but fades now. "I'd rather die then be toyed with," she admits, a cold grimace affecting her pale visage. "Maybe I should have taken that deal. Then I might be crushing you underfoot," she wagers, pouting. "Price of being a good girl." She click her tongue and shoulders forward, raising her shield at the very last second in favour of her axe surging forward in a long stroke, aimed for William's trunk. Her aim is off target, as if she might be seeing an apparition who she figures is William instead.
"Mmyeah," Cadence murmurs in affirmation, stepping forward into the clash of axe and sword, trying to gain some leverage over him. When he lets his blade slide forward, her reckless abandon causes her to stumble forward, instinctively raising her shield to receive the brunt of William's counterattack. She rights herself and essentially preens briefly before William, running her elbow over her face to fix her hair as best as she can, getting the dark tresses out of her line of sight. Her pupils dilate when she sights her target. Her smile all but fades now. "I'd rather die then be toyed with," she admits, a cold grimace affecting her pale visage. "Maybe I should have taken that deal. Then I might be crushing you underfoot," she wagers, pouting. "Price of being a good girl." She click her tongue and shoulders forward, raising her shield at the very last second in favour of her axe surging forward in a long stroke, aimed for William's trunk. Her aim is off target, as if she might be seeing an apparition who she figures is William instead.
William cackles a little bit, lowering his longsword slowly before bringing it back into his hilt, and he instead reaches within his clothes, bringing out a small knife "Oh, a deal? And you think you would be crushing me with that?" He asks with a tilt of his head, pointing the knife at her, but not really throwing any blows, simply approaching a tiny bit "Say, I've heard you might be a tiny bit demonic... Can you not heal? Make this a bit more fun?" He asks waving the weapon a tad closer, probably looking to make her uncomfortable if she truly is demon blooded, given the quartz that is tainting the entirety of the knife's blade
"Demonic. Me?" Cadence asks, her eyes widening her lips doing the same, tongue raking along the bottom lip. She feigns ignorance with some surprise garnishing her tone. "Not a chance. I'm a pure angel," she insists, but on the contrary, she gives William a wide berth after lashing out clumsily with her axe and seeing what's comprising the knife he brandishes. It's like he's suddenly anathema. Her expression fades, growing dark and unkind, any facade of playing nice and having fun erased from existence. "Nah. Why don't you just..." she moves to the side she perceives as him not favouring so well, launching another quick strike with her axe to get another blow in. But she's already showing signs of fatigue. "I'd be real nasty if I took it. Not very nice..." She appends, spitting into the ground. "Now just. Die."
"Oh, I am a long way from dying... I am barely breaking a sweat" William replies with a chirp to his british accent, seemingly delighted at the command and the attack that comes with it, dodging the weapon to a side and with an arc to his arm, grazing her arm with the shorter blade, smirk on his face and eyes glued to her face to see the reaction "Come on, you said you'd make this fun, didn't you? You don't want to be seen as a nasty liar, do you?"
Cadence blows a wet raspberry into the empty space before her, where she thought William was lurking. It ends up just being a figment of her imagination, and for her trouble, she gets a sobering reminder of her ilk when the quartz edge runs along her shoulder blade. A pained, but more indignant squeak sparks from her and she whirls around in alarm, eyes widened like William just did something very untoward to her. There's even an out of place reddened flush over her pale countenance. "Never told a lie in my life," the compulsive liar spits, her feathers ruffled. "I'm having fun," she bites back at him, in spite of the affair that's turning quite one-sided. "I think I needed this actually," she sniffs, a touch despondent. She shifts her axe blade to point away from her, lifting it over head, then bearing it down for William's head. It's a fruitless ordeal now. Her weapon looks as if it's gained far more weight than it initially had in her hands, and her target would need to deliberately stay in place to get properly cloven in twain from the laboured arc and its trajectory, hitting the floor heavily.
William simply steps out of line from the descending axe, glancing down at it, and then, improperly slow for a fight, back up at Cadence's face, smirking at her, enjoying it almost like he had forgotten what they were doing, and that this was a combat in the first place "You probably don't want to do that..." There is a feint of an attack, but the real thing never comes, simply trying to give the woman the impression that it is coming, before chuckling a bit to himself "I am having fun, and it's a good meal... But I have a feeling you want me to end it now... Maybe I should stop toying around- Thoughts?"
CadenceWilliam's antics manage to earn him a small, fleeting smile, a low, understated chuckle rising from her chest to go along with the gesture. She readily meets his gaze, and if she weren't anchored by the axe embedded into the Nightmare's influence, she might have just bumped face to face with him, however that would have gone can only be left to the imagination. There's a sick, slick gurgle as she frees the axe from the Nightmare's bowels, an unfathomable, sickening gash left in the wake. It's something she'd rather have made on someone. "I don't like being toyed with," she clips quietly, taking a deep breath before she clumsily swings her axe in a wide sweep, looking for the bare minimum in nicking William for being so close to her. "Not like this, anyway," she appends after stumbling forward with her swing, turning to meet someone. "I got no knights in shining armour to come this time," she laments, a long,-drawn out sigh leaving her lips. Her knights come in the daemonic variety, many would know when dealing with her.
CadenceWilliam's antics manage to earn him a small, fleeting smile, a low, understated chuckle rising from her chest to go along with the gesture. She readily meets his gaze, and if she weren't anchored by the axe embedded into the Nightmare's influence, she might have just bumped face to face with him, however that would have gone can only be left to the imagination. There's a sick, slick gurgle as she frees the axe from the Nightmare's bowels, an unfathomable, sickening gash left in the wake. It's something she'd rather have made on William. "I don't like being toyed with," she clips quietly, taking a deep breath before she clumsily swings her axe in a wide sweep, looking for the bare minimum in nicking William for being so close to her. "Not like this, anyway," she appends after stumbling forward with her swing, turning to meet someone. "I got no knights in shining armour to come this time," she laments, a long,-drawn out sigh leaving her lips. Her knights come in the daemonic variety, many would know when dealing with her.
CadenceWilliam's antics manage to earn him a small, fleeting smile, a low, understated chuckle rising from her chest to go along with the gesture. She readily meets his gaze, and if she weren't anchored by the axe embedded into the Nightmare's influence, she might have just bumped face to face with him, however that would have gone can only be left to the imagination. There's a sick, slick gurgle as she frees the axe from the Nightmare's bowels, an unfathomable, sickening gash left in the wake. It's something she'd rather have made on William. "I don't like being toyed with," she clips quietly, taking a deep breath before she clumsily swings her axe in a wide sweep, looking for the bare minimum in nicking William for being so close to her. "Not like this, anyway," she appends after stumbling forward with her swing, turning to meet William. "I got no knights in shining armour to come this time," she laments, a long,-drawn out sigh leaving her lips. Her knights come in the daemonic variety, many would know when dealing with her.
"Oh, I know, the demidemon left town, I think I've heard" William comments, getting out of the way of the axe just in time, the blade grazing his armor minimally due to the closeness, but that's about it. And just as quick as he got out of the way, he comes straight forward once more, going for her extended arm once more, after the wide swing, and marking her once more with the short quartz-imbued blade. Smiling at her from up close "You boss in the Hand thinks you're a good for nothing... And I think the previous knight killed himself? Who else could be left? I might be forgetting people..."
"Probably. I've hardly worked with the current President," Cadence permits, uncaring about the current state of affairs regarding Haven's branch of the Hand. "I worked real close with Sam and Elam. Even Siofra. Edith? We may as well not know we exist," she breathes out, her shoulders sagging with the effort to keep her upright. Those nicks and cuts from the quartz appear to be affecting her more than anything else, taking the wind out of her. "There's no one left. No one of real import," she bluntly needles into William with more force and ire than she can muster with her axe at this point. The fire is still strong in her voice, the last bastion of her defiance and energy in this little game between herself and William. "I don't blame her too much. Old people are like that," she says offhandedly, doggedly pressing forward, one step after the other, insurmountably aiming to get closer to William. She abandons her shield, gripping her weapon with both hands, delivering an extra bite into this ragged strike she devotes solely for William.
"Oh, I don't blame her either, I think she even has a point... Specially if we consider it's the Hand" William replies to Cadence, and, instead of ducking away this time to avoid the incoming attack, he reaches with one hand to grab at hers, not only using a bit of unnatural strength but also the disparity in their exhaustion levels to halt her attack before it can properly to connect to him. "Why bother with someone who can't stand without the aid of another, you know?... She's far above those things, and I would guess far above you, I mean, look at this, she's stronger than me, and you're like a toy right now" He replies with another loud chuckle, but without giving any room for her response, the hand holding the knife approaches the one holding her, and without much hesitation he drives the blade augmented with her bane into her limb, properly stabbing her in hopes of having her truly feel that burning sensation "This was fun... A little, could have been better... Next time I might even shift and ruin your hair with the moisture..."
Cadence fades out of the nightmare.
A Battle In The Nightmare 250526
(A battle in the Nightmare)
[Sun May 25 2025]
In the Parking Lot of the Elm Street Apartment Complex
It is dusk, about 75F(23C) degrees, and the sky is covered by thin white clouds.
"Mm. One of these, huh?" Cadence hums out into the Nightmare, more intrigued than worried. "Whose out there?" she wonders breathing out a sharp breath. "Psst psst psst psst psst," she noises, calling out for a cat that's likely not muddied in the distance.
Cadence looks here and there, trying to spot who she's been wrangled into the Nightmare with. It doesn't take her too long to spot William. "Hi," she says lowly, flashing her most winning smile. "Don't know who you are. Probably doesn't matter too much, right? Be gentle," she urges, making the trek over, unholstering her pistol, priming it with a click.
"Oh, it's you..." William says with a chirp "And without the demidemon this time..." He says clapping his hands together, putting the sword in the hilt for a moment and the bow to his back, before charging a bit closer "Doesn't really matter no, but I can definitely show you" And with that he reaches and starts adjusting the headwear to try and show his face
A quiet, understated laugh tries to bubble its way out of Cadence's throat, but she giggles into the palm of her heel, almost stifling it down. Almost. "What, you remember me?" Cadence asks, lifting one of her dark, arching eyebrow quizzically. "Weird. I can't really remember you. You're gonna have to jog my memory here," she admits drearily, squinting as the guy just up and disappears from her line of sight. "Where'd you go, Johnny boy? Kinda caught me at a bad time, you know," she adds, her words tensed with mild irritation as she grits her teeth. "Come a little closer, will you? I'm really outta sorts right now."
And moments after showing his face, the man starts contorting and bending, along with the sound of crashing bones and splashes of blood here and there. Soon enough, the shifting is complete, and within an instant, William(Gulo Gulo) is swiftly closing in the distance between it and Cadence
"There you are, I guess," Cadence says under her breath, chagrined. Her irritation grows, but so too does her smile. she grips the handle of her bloodied axe and takes the few steps needed to close the distance with William(Gulo Gulo), raising it high over her head for a hacking, downward motion aimed right for the centre of mass, relying on centrifugal force over any precision to mark her blow. "Can you talk like that, Johnny boy?" she asks, tilting her head curiously. She stumbles off to the side as the arc of her attack is deflected, pivoting with the motion to regain her practice. "I'm kinda rusty. I'm gonna try to have as much fun as I can though, baby." She talks, but she's not actually looking at William(Gulo Gulo), sort of staring right through him.
William stands back upstraight right as the attack misses its mark, the crunching sound returning as the animal turns to man once more, chuckling a little bit before saying "Nope, can't really talk like that..." And with that his hand comes back to the hilt of the previously pocketed weapon and draws it in a circular motion towards Cadence, hitting the shield she's holding with a loud thump, seemingly delighted by the response she's giving "Oh, lovely, I'll to try to enjoy it as much as possible then"
"That's a little better," Cadence enthuses, approval thrumming in her low, lilting voice. She tries to circle around William's left flank as he shifts into something more agreeable to her tastes. She gets a little bit of a shock when he retaliates, the blow on her shield rattling her down to her bones. Her smile momentarily drops as the dull ache resounds through her slight frame. "That smarts," she half-complains, half praises, smile returning in due time. "Though. If you wanna have more fun, you're gonna want to be a little more gentler with me. I'm like a flower, see?" She hefts her shield and rolls her shoulder, testing the range of her motion. Twisting the haft of her axe in her grip, she swings it in a reckless hewing motion, leaving herself wide open for a counterattack all in favour of getting a solid hit in. "With how things slowed in town, I thought it was safe to let my guard down," she murmurs, rhyming intentionally or unintentionally. "My mistake. Oopsie..."
Moving slowly to a side, William manages to get the blade of his longsword in between Cadence's axe and himself, smirking a little bit in her direction and adding a little "Ah, like a flower? Is that your way of telling me you're already crumbling?" And after holding the parry for a couple seconds, he lets the blade slide past, moving along with his weapon to punish her attack with a solid blow against the shield once more "I could stop attacking... Let you fumble around for a little bit, is that what you want me to do?" And along with the physical attacks, comes shortly after some magic trick, his ring lighting up right as the woman catches motion in the corner of her vision, maybe normal so deep in the nightmare, but distracting all the same
"Mmyeah," Cadence murmurs in affirmation, stepping forward into the clash of axe and sword, trying to gain some leverage over him. When he lets his blade slide forward, her reckless abandon causes her to stumble forward, instinctively raising her shield to receive the brunt of William's counterattack. She rights herself and essentially preens briefly before someone, running her elbow over her face to fix her hair as best as she can, getting the dark tresses out of her line of sight. Her pupils dilate when she sights her target. Her smile all but fades now. "I'd rather die then be toyed with," she admits, a cold grimace affecting her pale visage. "Maybe I should have taken that deal. Then I might be crushing you underfoot," she wagers, pouting. "Price of being a good girl." She click her tongue and shoulders forward, raising her shield at the very last second in favour of her axe surging forward in a long stroke, aimed for William's trunk. Her aim is off target, as if she might be seeing an apparition who she figures is William instead.
"Mmyeah," Cadence murmurs in affirmation, stepping forward into the clash of axe and sword, trying to gain some leverage over him. When he lets his blade slide forward, her reckless abandon causes her to stumble forward, instinctively raising her shield to receive the brunt of William's counterattack. She rights herself and essentially preens briefly before William, running her elbow over her face to fix her hair as best as she can, getting the dark tresses out of her line of sight. Her pupils dilate when she sights her target. Her smile all but fades now. "I'd rather die then be toyed with," she admits, a cold grimace affecting her pale visage. "Maybe I should have taken that deal. Then I might be crushing you underfoot," she wagers, pouting. "Price of being a good girl." She click her tongue and shoulders forward, raising her shield at the very last second in favour of her axe surging forward in a long stroke, aimed for William's trunk. Her aim is off target, as if she might be seeing an apparition who she figures is William instead.
William cackles a little bit, lowering his longsword slowly before bringing it back into his hilt, and he instead reaches within his clothes, bringing out a small knife "Oh, a deal? And you think you would be crushing me with that?" He asks with a tilt of his head, pointing the knife at her, but not really throwing any blows, simply approaching a tiny bit "Say, I've heard you might be a tiny bit demonic... Can you not heal? Make this a bit more fun?" He asks waving the weapon a tad closer, probably looking to make her uncomfortable if she truly is demon blooded, given the quartz that is tainting the entirety of the knife's blade
"Demonic. Me?" Cadence asks, her eyes widening her lips doing the same, tongue raking along the bottom lip. She feigns ignorance with some surprise garnishing her tone. "Not a chance. I'm a pure angel," she insists, but on the contrary, she gives William a wide berth after lashing out clumsily with her axe and seeing what's comprising the knife he brandishes. It's like he's suddenly anathema. Her expression fades, growing dark and unkind, any facade of playing nice and having fun erased from existence. "Nah. Why don't you just..." she moves to the side she perceives as him not favouring so well, launching another quick strike with her axe to get another blow in. But she's already showing signs of fatigue. "I'd be real nasty if I took it. Not very nice..." She appends, spitting into the ground. "Now just. Die."
"Oh, I am a long way from dying... I am barely breaking a sweat" William replies with a chirp to his british accent, seemingly delighted at the command and the attack that comes with it, dodging the weapon to a side and with an arc to his arm, grazing her arm with the shorter blade, smirk on his face and eyes glued to her face to see the reaction "Come on, you said you'd make this fun, didn't you? You don't want to be seen as a nasty liar, do you?"
Cadence blows a wet raspberry into the empty space before her, where she thought William was lurking. It ends up just being a figment of her imagination, and for her trouble, she gets a sobering reminder of her ilk when the quartz edge runs along her shoulder blade. A pained, but more indignant squeak sparks from her and she whirls around in alarm, eyes widened like William just did something very untoward to her. There's even an out of place reddened flush over her pale countenance. "Never told a lie in my life," the compulsive liar spits, her feathers ruffled. "I'm having fun," she bites back at him, in spite of the affair that's turning quite one-sided. "I think I needed this actually," she sniffs, a touch despondent. She shifts her axe blade to point away from her, lifting it over head, then bearing it down for William's head. It's a fruitless ordeal now. Her weapon looks as if it's gained far more weight than it initially had in her hands, and her target would need to deliberately stay in place to get properly cloven in twain from the laboured arc and its trajectory, hitting the floor heavily.
William simply steps out of line from the descending axe, glancing down at it, and then, improperly slow for a fight, back up at Cadence's face, smirking at her, enjoying it almost like he had forgotten what they were doing, and that this was a combat in the first place "You probably don't want to do that..." There is a feint of an attack, but the real thing never comes, simply trying to give the woman the impression that it is coming, before chuckling a bit to himself "I am having fun, and it's a good meal... But I have a feeling you want me to end it now... Maybe I should stop toying around- Thoughts?"
CadenceWilliam's antics manage to earn him a small, fleeting smile, a low, understated chuckle rising from her chest to go along with the gesture. She readily meets his gaze, and if she weren't anchored by the axe embedded into the Nightmare's influence, she might have just bumped face to face with him, however that would have gone can only be left to the imagination. There's a sick, slick gurgle as she frees the axe from the Nightmare's bowels, an unfathomable, sickening gash left in the wake. It's something she'd rather have made on someone. "I don't like being toyed with," she clips quietly, taking a deep breath before she clumsily swings her axe in a wide sweep, looking for the bare minimum in nicking William for being so close to her. "Not like this, anyway," she appends after stumbling forward with her swing, turning to meet someone. "I got no knights in shining armour to come this time," she laments, a long,-drawn out sigh leaving her lips. Her knights come in the daemonic variety, many would know when dealing with her.
CadenceWilliam's antics manage to earn him a small, fleeting smile, a low, understated chuckle rising from her chest to go along with the gesture. She readily meets his gaze, and if she weren't anchored by the axe embedded into the Nightmare's influence, she might have just bumped face to face with him, however that would have gone can only be left to the imagination. There's a sick, slick gurgle as she frees the axe from the Nightmare's bowels, an unfathomable, sickening gash left in the wake. It's something she'd rather have made on William. "I don't like being toyed with," she clips quietly, taking a deep breath before she clumsily swings her axe in a wide sweep, looking for the bare minimum in nicking William for being so close to her. "Not like this, anyway," she appends after stumbling forward with her swing, turning to meet someone. "I got no knights in shining armour to come this time," she laments, a long,-drawn out sigh leaving her lips. Her knights come in the daemonic variety, many would know when dealing with her.
CadenceWilliam's antics manage to earn him a small, fleeting smile, a low, understated chuckle rising from her chest to go along with the gesture. She readily meets his gaze, and if she weren't anchored by the axe embedded into the Nightmare's influence, she might have just bumped face to face with him, however that would have gone can only be left to the imagination. There's a sick, slick gurgle as she frees the axe from the Nightmare's bowels, an unfathomable, sickening gash left in the wake. It's something she'd rather have made on William. "I don't like being toyed with," she clips quietly, taking a deep breath before she clumsily swings her axe in a wide sweep, looking for the bare minimum in nicking William for being so close to her. "Not like this, anyway," she appends after stumbling forward with her swing, turning to meet William. "I got no knights in shining armour to come this time," she laments, a long,-drawn out sigh leaving her lips. Her knights come in the daemonic variety, many would know when dealing with her.
"Oh, I know, the demidemon left town, I think I've heard" William comments, getting out of the way of the axe just in time, the blade grazing his armor minimally due to the closeness, but that's about it. And just as quick as he got out of the way, he comes straight forward once more, going for her extended arm once more, after the wide swing, and marking her once more with the short quartz-imbued blade. Smiling at her from up close "You boss in the Hand thinks you're a good for nothing... And I think the previous knight killed himself? Who else could be left? I might be forgetting people..."
"Probably. I've hardly worked with the current President," Cadence permits, uncaring about the current state of affairs regarding Haven's branch of the Hand. "I worked real close with Sam and Elam. Even Siofra. Edith? We may as well not know we exist," she breathes out, her shoulders sagging with the effort to keep her upright. Those nicks and cuts from the quartz appear to be affecting her more than anything else, taking the wind out of her. "There's no one left. No one of real import," she bluntly needles into William with more force and ire than she can muster with her axe at this point. The fire is still strong in her voice, the last bastion of her defiance and energy in this little game between herself and William. "I don't blame her too much. Old people are like that," she says offhandedly, doggedly pressing forward, one step after the other, insurmountably aiming to get closer to William. She abandons her shield, gripping her weapon with both hands, delivering an extra bite into this ragged strike she devotes solely for William.
"Oh, I don't blame her either, I think she even has a point... Specially if we consider it's the Hand" William replies to Cadence, and, instead of ducking away this time to avoid the incoming attack, he reaches with one hand to grab at hers, not only using a bit of unnatural strength but also the disparity in their exhaustion levels to halt her attack before it can properly to connect to him. "Why bother with someone who can't stand without the aid of another, you know?... She's far above those things, and I would guess far above you, I mean, look at this, she's stronger than me, and you're like a toy right now" He replies with another loud chuckle, but without giving any room for her response, the hand holding the knife approaches the one holding her, and without much hesitation he drives the blade augmented with her bane into her limb, properly stabbing her in hopes of having her truly feel that burning sensation "This was fun... A little, could have been better... Next time I might even shift and ruin your hair with the moisture..."
Cadence fades out of the nightmare.