Harriet spun on her heel, looking around the room. It had erupted into a frenzy of movement, officials and guards trying to calm everyone down. She could hear the shouts of dozens of guests demanding to know what had gone on, and the shouts of people trying to find each other.

No one would notice her.

She looked back at Caleb, who, in the dim light only looked slightly drunk. Except she couldn't bring him with her. Cursing again, she turned away and ran towards the door, pulling it open and slipping outside.

She had no idea what she was doing, but finding the source of the disruption would be a help.

Outside the ballroom, the castle was near silent. The lights were out here, too, and she mourned over the loss of her vision. This person knew their stuff.

And she was in a dress. Which was kind of shit.

Harriet grimaced; her luck was also shit. She had absolutely no weapons, and she couldn't really fight in this dress, of all things. Impracticality aside, it really was beautiful.

The silence was broken by the sound of heels clicking hurriedly down the hallway, and Harriet drew into a doorway, hoping the person didn't see her.

The person, no, the woman rounded the corner. She recognized her from the party. Some Lady or other. The half-moon cast some light onto her face, which was contorted in anger? Worry?

She could see her pull her phone out, and the light from the screen seemingly pooled around the woman. Deciding that staying hidden wouldn't do anything, Harriet steeled herself and stepped out.

Without looking up, the woman said, "I was wondering how long that was going to take, darling."

She saw me?

Harriet's eyes widened, and she tilted her head at the woman. She was tall, but spindly looking. her fifties?Harriet could probably win in a fight. Unless the woman was a mage or something, which, knowing her luck, the woman probably was.

"...Hi." Harriet said, cautiously. She took a step forwards, suddenly wishing she had anything other than a knife. Which didn't really count.

"No need for that, now." The woman replied, fiddling with something on her phone.

Jesus. She was getting kind of pissed now. What was this woman doing? She had a knife, and she would not hesitate to drive it into the woman's stomach. If she needed to, obviously.

"What're you called?"

"Lady Coulter." Seemingly sensing her annoyance, Lady Coulter's head snapped up as she stowed her phone away. From where Harriet was standing they were almost eye to eye.

Going for her legs would probably be easier.

Harriet stopped herself from using some... Impolite... Language, instead opting to say. "Well, uh... You're meant to be back in the ballroom." She gestured weakly to the door. The woman looked distastefully at her arm, and then back at Harriet.

What was her problem?

She spun around, aware that the corridor was steadily getting darker, if that was even possible. And then she looked back at Lady Coulter, raising an eyebrow. The other woman paused, before shaking her head. Even so, Harriet glanced down at her hands to check if that was where the darkness was coming from. It wasn't.

Lady Coulter pulled her phone out again and turned on the flashlight, highliting the fact that it was indeed the work of a dark mage. She would say it was Abigail, but she wasn't really sure what she did, to be honest. Probably just murdered people.

She seemed the type.

The darkness seemed to close in, black smoke smothering the light on Lady Coulter's phone. They were left, standing in the middle of a blackened corridor. Harriet grasped her knife more tightly, and looked around, her eyes narrowed even though she couldn't see anything.

Footsteps. They were making their way towards her, somewhere between silent and audible.

Harriet stopped herself from calling out, even though she so, so wanted to. She reached a hand out, trying to find Lady Coulter, but failing. She stepped forward, reaching further and further out before giving up.

The footsteps got louder, and now were more than a feeling. They were there. There was someone else with them.

Another scream.

Another hapless look around.

Then, a darker shadow.

It came barrelling towards her too fast to see and pushed her to the ground. Harriet kicked up at the person and they relinquished their hold as she rolled away.

She scrambled to her feet, cursing the fact she was wearing a dress. Well, at least she wasn't in heels.

The other person ran at her again, swinging their leg towards her ankle and she jumped over it, aiming her elbow to the person's jaw. They went for her legs again and she realised they didn't seem like they wanted to hurt her.

She could use that to her advantage.

The person attacked again as Harriet pulled her arms up. They came at her again and again and again, neutralizing her defense.

She cursed, and fought back.

Darting away from the person's hits, Harriet pulled into the darkness, her eyes roving everywhere, searching for the Lady, and hoping that this person wouldn't see her.

But as all Dark Mages do, the person could see her and they rushed forwards, taking her by surprise. The knife hit her lower leg, and it dug deep into her flesh. She cried out in pain, and fell back, not to the ground. She just fell back, and lifted injured leg off the ground.

They stood there, just out of each other's view.

One a shadow, the other a ghost.

Stalemate.

Harriet waited for the subtle rise of the person's heels, indicating they would move.

Nothing happened for a few seconds.

They stood there.

And then everything happened.

Lady Coulter appeared as if from nowhere and drove a knife into the person's shoulder, causing them to draw breath and dart away, clutching the knife. Harriet followed through, aiming hits at their ankles, trying to destabilize them as they pulled the knife away and threw it away.

They fought back, halfheartedly, but with an injured shoulder and a useless arm, nothing came of it. Harriet had an injured leg, though.

It balanced out.

The person had more to give and jumped forwards knocking her down again. The cold tiles were jarring against the back of her head and everything flashed white before changing back.

Relief.

Then somebody was there, and there were gunshots, and there were dark spots at the edges of her vision and everything was fading...

Fading...

Fading...

A/N: Oh God. Writing action scenes is actually really hard, and this was just kinda moderate. Eh, oh well. Please pleasd please give me your opinions, it would mean the world and help me improve! And I've just realized how needy I sound. Oh. Well. That's all from me!
- Moose