Question about a certain phrase....

Hello everyone!

I am working on a story at the moment, and one of my lines states,

Thunder boomed in the distance as lines of lightning danced along the horizon, caressing the (looming?violet?) mountains and painting the world with flashes of color as it pirouetted back and forth in an elegant coup de __________.

Does anyone know what word I'm missing? I can't think of it. I thought that it was coup de grace, but when I looked that up on Wikipedia, while it seems like, in context, it's what I want, I don't think that it is....?

I'm drawing a blank on the word that I actually WANT to be using.

[Also, I initially had the word LOOMING, but I'm not sure if it's right now. It sounds a bit weird, don't you think? At the same time, all that I can think of is Violet, and I don't really want a color descriptor, either.....
Just curious what y'all think! Thanks!]

EDIT: The asphalt road curled its way through the mountain pass, a thin black sliver that all but disappeared from sight as it merged with the black sky.

--> Should I change this to merged INTO? Merged TOGETHER with? Each time, it dosn't sound quite right.

Maybe it's just because it's getting late and my brain is shutting down?

This is the beginning of a prologue, so I don't want to mess it up with stuff that doesn't sound right, if that makes sense......




Sorry to be a bother!
Any help would be much appreciated!<3

the only advice i will give is not to use wikipedia as a resource tool.

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I would just end it after the word, color. The rest is just verbiage. And, frankly, I find it hard to imagine lightning, twirling, anyway. As for the mountain descriptor, would velvet apply? Not sure what picture you're trying to paint with your words; and, merged with, is just fine.

august, prodigious, slumbering, resplendant, venerable, enduring, foreboding...mountains

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No. I take ballet class.

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