by CC Solomon
“Inferno,” I cried, and the elf found himself engulfed in flames. Pain tore through, me and I gripped the sword tighter. The elf spun around in circles, crying out and dropping his sword. I did a swipe of my hand and the sword slid towards me. I stepped on it.
I threw a spell of protection around Erik as he lay still on the cement floor, a hand covering one of the many wounds on his stomach. His head was turned from me, so I could not see if his eyes were open. Blood pooled around his torso. A cold panic fell over me. He wasn’t dead. He couldn’t be dead. He was strong, but he wasn’t invincible. I had to help him. I couldn’t let him die. I couldn’t lose him.
Joo-won shook his head and inhaled deeply before blowing out air to the elf on fire whom I had almost forgotten about. The magical breath put out the flames, and the elf leaned against a cell looking a bit worse for wear but not as crispy as he should have been.
I looked back to Erik, hoping for at least a twitch of the fingers but saw nothing. He already looked ashen and the blood pool around him widened. I needed to get to him. Help. I screamed in my mind. I needed the others.
“Amina, give me my sword,” Joo-won said in a calm voice as he motioned for me to return the sword to him with his hand.
I ignored him, watching as Seth pounded against an invisible wall around Erik. I didn’t know how long it would hold. Seth had been able to get out of the cell with my ward, but perhaps that was due to Joo-won. I needed to get to Erik.
Joo-won followed my gaze. “Shall I break your ward?”
What do you need from us? Charles said in my head, an urgency in his voice.
“I won’t give you your sword back just so you can stab him again,” I stated out loud.
Felix, I need you to heal Erik very quickly. I don’t know if he’s even alive, but we have to try something.
Got it, I heard him say in my head.
Can you get to him to check a pulse? Charles asked.
No. I won’t know if any of this will work, but I can’t leave him there dying. I can’t.
I was borderline hysterical now, and I had to maintain my focus on the elves in front of me, or we would all be dead. Lisa, help me strengthen my ward. Joo-won is going to break it, and then Seth will kill Erik for sure.
Shit. Yeah, on it, she replied.
Charles, Faith, add some strength to Erik. He needs to bulk up to Seth’s level when he’s recovered. I’m doing the same. He’s got to be alive.
They gave their affirmations and I focused back on Joo-won, who was already touching the invisible wall of my ward, weakening it. I had no clue if Lisa and I were strong enough against Joo-won’s magic, but we’d find out. He was soon joined by the other elf I did not know, a female with short hair and black lipstick.
“Blake, take my sword from her while she’s focused on keeping this ward strong,” Joo-won said in a bored tone.
Blake didn’t move behind me. I didn’t even hear her go for the sword on the ground. “I don’t think so. Thanks for the kindness, but I’m not following those crazy soulmate people.”
He smiled, glancing over at us. “Of course.” He blew out a breath, and I heard a thump behind me.
I turned slightly and saw Blake on her back, unmoving with eyes closed. Was this a trap? Did this mean she wasn’t an original soulmate?
I looked back to him. “Is she dead?”
He shrugged. “Getting close to it. You should save her.”
If I did, then I’d be taking my attention off the ward to pour magic into Blake to heal her. I could have several forms of magic going at once, but I needed them to be strong, and the more divided I was, the weaker the magic. And healing required even more magic.
Erik was still not moving, and I had no idea if our magic was working or if we were already too late. I didn’t want to dilute my magic any more than I already was from focusing on him. I sighed. If Blake was on our side again, she’d have intel we’d want to know. Letting her die would be wasteful at the least. If she was an all-powerful soulmate, she would have tried to kill me by now, especially with my attention divided.
I was hoping Lisa was strong enough to hold her own for just a bit. Assuming, of course, that healing whatever was wrong with Blake didn’t zap me of all my strength. Then there was my own protection, so Joo-won didn’t just snatch the sword from my hand.
I backed up slowly and lowered down once I reached Blake. I checked her pulse. It was very faint. Not good.
I poured my magic into Blake while at the same time maintaining some form of magic to protect myself and Erik. Blake’s eyes began to flutter and I was hoping she was almost healed because I couldn’t maintain this much focus on her. I was already beginning to feel weak. I couldn’t last long like this. I would lose Erik. I didn’t even think about the fact we would die. I had to get to him. To touch him, hug him, tell him I loved him. I wouldn’t let him bleed out on a cold basement lock up. He’d always protected me. I had to do the same for him. I had to fight.
I turned back to Erik and gave a jump as Seth, Joo-won, and the two nameless elves, one a bit blackened from the fire, were now in front of me. Joo-won plucked a finger at my protective barrier, and if it were visible, I was sure I’d see the wall crack and crumble to the ground.
He smiled at me. “Oops.”
Seth lunged forward and wrestled the sword from my hand, but I held on to it with all my might. And I somehow had a lot of might. I shouldn’t have been stronger than him.
Hold tight, Sis. I heard Charles in my head.
Seth kicked me in the left knee, and if it wasn’t for the extra burst of strength, I’d received from Charles, I was sure it’d be broken. As it was, I wasn’t going to be going jogging anytime soon. The pain from the kick rocked my body, and I wasn’t so sure it wasn’t actually broken. I hobbled to my right leg, balancing my weight on it, and sucked in a sharp breath against the pain.
Before I could begin to recover, Seth threw his fist into my left side, and I dropped to the ground as a sharp pain pierced my insides. I looked up, Seth’s claws were out, and I realized the pain I felt inside were his claws scraping my ribs. I threw up another protective barrier and held Joo-won’s sword tightly to me, taking short, quick breaths through the pain. He would kill me. I looked to Erik, his body partially blocked by Seth. I couldn’t tell if he was alive. He could be dead, and I was dying. We’d tried so hard, and we were failing. There’d be no Six or new soulmates. Somehow Seth had outwitted us. He was so much stronger than I could have imagined.
Tears welled in my eyes from the pain and overwhelming sense of sadness at the thought of Erik dead on the ground so close, yet so far from my reach. I had to push through but my energy for the fight was gone. If Erik wasn’t here with me, I didn’t want to keep going.
I shut my eyes and gritted my teeth against the pain as I tried to hold on to consciousness. I thought of Brandon and Charles and the others. I couldn’t die on a basement floor like this. I couldn’t let them down. Erik wouldn’t want that. I held on even tighter to the sword as if it were my only lifeline.
Soon a warming sensation spread over me.
You’re going to be okay. Charles’ voice rang in my head, and I welcomed his magic healing.
Joo-won plucked at my ward again, breaking it. In my weakened state I wasn’t able to make it any stronger, but it bought me just a little time, and I hoped that the effort to take it down depleted some strength from Joo-won.
Seth reached towards me and tried to yank the sword from my hands again, but I wouldn’t let it go, thankful for the strength that Charles had poured into me.
An earth-shaking roar filled the room, and I quickly saw that it was coming from Erik. He looked over to me with those jackal eyes and his face was barely human as he morphed into his eight-foot Anubis-esque jackal form. He was alive. I could have cried. It was the first time I was happy to see that terrifying form.
He expended a lot of energy transforming. Energy he needed for healing, and I was certain he wasn’t fully heal
ed. If he pushed himself too quickly, the healing would be for nothing, and he could end up in even worse shape. However, for now, he was moving in the right direction, and a bit of my worry resided.
The two elves I did not know blocked me from his view, standing in front of Seth and Joo-won like a protective barrier.
I rose to my feet, still in pain, and balanced myself on Joo-won’s sword with both hands, which Seth was now grasping as well. He let go of the sword with one hand and swiped his clawed hand across my arm, shredding my skin and muscle until he scraped bone again. I thought I would vomit from the pain as I looked down at my destroyed arm.
Damn it. Faith cried in my mind.
Wooziness threatened to overtake me, but I still held onto the sword with my remaining good hand. I had to get rid of this asshole.
I whispered a spell of blood, and Seth threw his head back, yelling as red liquid poured from his eyes, nose, and mouth. Seth let go of the sword and pawed at his face, claws retracting.
Vaguely I heard the painful cries of a male elf, and then, to my horror, a rounded object came rolling to my feet. Said rounded object was actually a head. More specifically, the head of the male elf who I had previously attempted to set on fire. The elf’s face was set in a permanent mask of surprise.
Joo-won looked down and his face remained unreadable. He looked back up and reached out a hand for me, but an explosion of what looked like confetti appeared before him and soon Lisa materialized.
“Hey cutie,” she said before grabbing Joo-won by the arms and teleporting away.
“King,” Yuri shouted, and then he cried out as Carter took a swipe at him still in his lizard/snake form.
I tried to look over to Erik, so much was happening, but he was currently blocked by the other female elf, engaged in a battle he was clearly winning. The elf sliced into his furry side with her sword, but he continued to strike at her unaffected. His last hit connected with her open chest, and to my complete horror, his large bloody paw protruded from her back.
I pulled my eyes away from the scene just in time to see Seth open his bloody mouth impossibly wide, his jaw unhinging, and preparing to bite down on my remaining working hand on the sword. I knocked his head back with a psychic uppercut, then pulled the sword upward and swung but missed when he jumped back. Seth recovered all too quickly and lunged forward, biting down on my right shoulder with a speed I couldn’t prepare for. My blood spell seemed to only serve as a momentary set-back for him.
I let out an agonizing cry as his incisors tore into my shoulder and mangled my flesh. I didn’t let go of the sword, but without Charles’ and Faith’s energy, I would have. However, my arm was of no use now. I could barely squeeze tight to the sword without blazing pain clouding my mind. Seth bit harder into my shoulder, I could feel his hot breath, but I dared not look him in the eyes. I stood motionless, too scared to move too much or else risk more of a tear and possible removal of my arm.
I pushed my magic at him, but he only slightly loosened his hold. I needed more of my strength back.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a large were hand grab Seth by the right arm and rip it away from his socket as if tearing a piece of paper.
Seth roared out a guttural sound, letting go of my shoulder. He stumbled backwards, looking at Erik in surprise.
Erik, still holding Seth’s right arm, batted the weretiger across the face as if he were swinging a baseball bat. Seth teetered to the side, collapsing against the bars of a cell. Erik then did a roundhouse kick to his stomach, and Seth keeled over, coughing up even more blood than what my spell, which was still in effect, had caused.
“How?” Seth asked in a hoarse voice. His eyes were filled with blood, and I was surprised he could even see who was attacking him.
Erik kicked at him again and again and I heard the sickening crunch of bone.
“The Power of Six, motherfucker,” I shouted, as I attempted to swing the sword into Seth’s midsection with my weakened right hand. However, a golden sword appeared in front of Seth’s stomach, clanging against my blue one. Additional pain vibrated up my shoulder, and nausea washed over me again.
Senna pushed back against my sword, and Yuri appeared to my left. Erik moved forward, but Yuri pointed his glowing silver sword at him, standing in front of Seth. Neither elf spoke as they looked at us with steely eyes.
I threw my new sword to Erik since he was in better shape to attack. I was still in shock from my arm, which was numb, thankfully.
He caught the sword and quickly brought it down towards Yuri, who successfully blocked it. Erik swung again and again, and Yuri began to show signs of exhaustion having already spent energy fighting Raya and Carter, who looked bloodied and bruised, but still standing.
Senna turned from me and aided Yuri in his fight with Erik, but Erik was ready. He kicked Yuri in the chest, knocking the elf back against a cell, and turned towards Senna, swinging his sword. It caught her in the side, and she screamed.
Yuri lunged forward.
“Stop,” I called, pouring my power through the word.
I had no hope that it would work, it hadn’t on Seth or Joo-won. However, Yuri paused in mid movement. It worked? I didn’t have time to wonder if my magic had strengthened of if Yuri simply wasn’t strong enough to withstand it.
I looked to Senna, who took several steps back, a hand on her side.
“Senna,” Yuri cried. His face held a look of pain, not from any wounds but from worry. He loved that woman.
“Erik, stop.” I used no power on Erik when I begged him to end the fighting. I had promised him I would never do that again.
The large werejackal took a step towards Senna, towering over the elf who looked frightened.
“Please, Erik, I’m asking you. Don’t hurt her. Let them go.”
Erik snarled.
“Why?” Senna asked, still looking at Erik.
“Because we’re going to use you. Lisa doesn’t seem to think you are our real enemies. There is something to that. You will owe us for saving your lives. We will call for that favor soon, and you won’t be able to say no. Deal?” They wouldn’t be able to say no because I would place an oath spell on them and take some DNA to control them from afar if they even thought of betraying us.
“Yes,” Yuri cried.
“Yuri, no,” Senna yelled.
I looked to her. “Then Erik, will kill you both.”
“If we do you any favors, the soulmates will kill us.”
“If you don’t, the new soulmates will kill you. Be smart and live to see another day.”
“Just say it and let’s go,” Seth whined in a hoarse voice. His face looked like a grotesque mask with swollen lips and eyes all covered in blood. He still lay on the floor, but I knew he was healing as we spoke.
“Fine,” Senna whispered in defeat.
I gave a weak snap, and my fingers filled with strands of the elves’ hair, which I moved into my pocket with great effort. “Great. You and Yuri can go. Leave the weretiger here.” I quickly recited the spell to bind them to their word.
Senna’s eyes widened. “What?”
“We cannot,” Yuri exclaimed.
“Then you’re all going to die. Is he worth your life? I’ll give you a count of five. Five … four…” I began.
Senna shook her head and teleported away. I snapped my fingers and unfroze Yuri, who looked down at Seth before quickly disappearing as well. Seth let out a curse and exploded into his weretiger form, matching Erik in size. However, he was beaten, and it still showed in his were form.
“Kill him,” Raya shouted.
“Do it,” Carter added.
Seth gave a weak swipe of his clawed paw. Erik, unharmed, leaned back before moving forward again and punching Seth in the throat. The weretiger grabbed his neck and stumbled back.
I lifted my hands, preparing to assist.
“Let him do this, Amina,” Carter said in a cautious voice. “This is his challenge.”
I sighed and sa
t down, still enveloped in my friend’s healing, but I was too tense to feel the pain of my body repairing.
Seth suddenly leaped into the air and pounced onto Erik, tackling him to the ground. The pair tussled, a ball of claws, teeth, and blood. However, Seth was on top, his arms a windmill of claws. Blood splattered around them. I worried Seth was, even severely wounded, overpowering Erik. Then I remembered Erik was still in healing mode. He had not fully recovered from his stabbing.
I itched to use my magic to help him but resisted. I looked away, unable to stomach the fight, just as I had during Erik’s first challenge fight.
Moments later, a howl, tiger or jackal, I couldn’t tell, rocked the room. I turned and saw a fountain of blood pour from Seth as his neck and jaw flapped open from his tiger face, exposing a mess of torn muscle and bone. Only his face above his snout remained intact. Shock reached his tiger eyes, and he touched his face, attempting to press the mangled mess towards his head.
That left his chest open, and Erik took that opportunity to reach up and rip out Seth’s heart. It was massive and still beat in Erik’s grasp before slowly stopping. Seth froze, then toppled to the side, eyes wide in horror.
Erik kicked the dead tiger away from him, sat up, and then took a large bite out of the heart. I thought it would be a one and done deal, but he didn’t stop there. He ate and ate until the heart was no more.
I struggled to keep the contents of my stomach right where they were, recalling that there was power in paranormal organs, and for the weres, it was normal to eat the heart. Since Seth had a lot of power, both his own and enhanced, it would make practical sense Erik would want to eat all the power he could.
When he was done, Carter and Raya both got on one knee. “Alpha,” they said in unison.
“Should I do that? I’m still in a lot of pain, but let me know if I should do that.” I struggled to get to my knees, but the pain caused me to pause with dizziness. “I’ll do it later, just remind me.”
Erik wordlessly gathered me in his arms and walked out of the jail.
We’d live to fight another day.
“Also, I think Blake might be dead, so somebody might want to check on her,” I called back before laying my head on Erik’s werejackal chest and closing my eyes. “This is incredibly soft fur. Reminds me of new carpet.”
