Still on the floor and clutching her throat, Zahra glared at the crouching Erik with suspicious scepticism. "You're really letting me go…?" Then she narrowed her eyes. "Wait! What do you mean with 'something to remember you by'?!"
Smiling, Erik's hand right hand snapped forward and grabbed Zahra's chin, keeping her head in place. "Well, even if I need to let you go for the sake of my own plans, you still attacked me, and there need to be consequences for that."
With growing concern, Zahra struggled against his grip, but had nowhere to go. "I— I won't be judged by you!" she snarled and tried to scoot back. At the same time, an illusory red magic circle appeared, and several shards of red magic shot at Erik.
Yet, she'd scraped the bottom of her already fuming aetherium storage. Not only did she drain it even further, but Erik had no issue deflecting these weakened, easily telegraphed shards with a lazy backhand.
