Chapter 63

It was completely silent as we waited for Theron to appear. Even the forest seemed to quiet in anticipation. The moon had yet to crest over the horizon, but I knew it was close. I could feel it.

He’s coming, Moon said in my head.

I felt the shift in energy, and then the next moment Theron appeared about fifteen feet away from me. Hailey showed up a split second behind him, which I was anticipating. I felt more energy swirling around me, and my stomach sank. It was all a blur, and I couldn’t tell exactly how many different energies there were, but I was hoping for only Theron and Hailey.

One by one, bodies started appearing in the forest. I counted ten in total, and we were outnumbered. This was not good. My heart raced, and despite the chill in the air, sweat started collecting on my forehead.

Theron smirked. “Regretting your decision? You didn’t think I would make the same mistake twice by not coming prepared. Your life is mine, Adira.”

Everything slowed down at that moment, and I knew this was bad. Mark growled, and I saw him shifting into his wolf form next to me. His wolf was pure white and glowed against the dark sky. This was the first time I had seen his wolf form, and it was absolutely magnificent. He lunged forward, racing for Theron. I was frozen in place as I watched the events unfold in front of me.

Several more wolves lunged from the trees, each picking a target, but there weren’t enough of them. A wolf with shining red fur faced off against two young sorcerers, and it looked like Rie was also facing two of them. The rest of them were one on one, except Mark who was lunging at Theron. Hailey stood next to the two of them, ready to assist Theron.

It all happened so fast and yet so slow at the same time. I could feel the battlefield, and I knew exactly what was happening and the next few seconds of what was about to happen. It was like watching a movie I had seen clips of before. I was frozen in place, unable to move.

Move.

Come on.

Don’t just stand there.

Move damn it.

Suddenly it was like someone had hit fast forward, and everything sped up. Mark rolled to the ground as Theron shifted out of the way of the attack. Hailey threw a metal object in Mark’s direction, but he easily dodged. Theron was next to Mark in an instant. He landed a blow to Mark’s side, sending him rolling to the ground.

Something about this snapped my brain into gear. I looked up at the sky, and the moon was just barely coming over the horizon. It was too early for me to start using my powers, but I knew I had to do something.

Shadow, I need you!

That’s all I needed to say. My body shifted into wolf form, and I was lunging forward towards Theron. I leaped over him, landing in between Mark and Theron. Shadow snarled at him, baring our teeth at him.

It was completely silent as we waited for Theron to appear. Even the forest seemed to quiet in anticipation. The moon had yet to crest over the horizon, but I knew it was close. I could feel it.

Theron paused, laughing. “Was this your big plan? Ambush me at night, where your wolf senses are heightened? You’re still no match for me, and I wasn’t a fool to come alone. You are outnumbered, and it’s only a matter of time before you and your friends fall.”

I shifted back into my human form. Theron’s cockiness was rubbing me the wrong way. “You aren’t giving me enough credit.”

Theron scoffed in return. “And why should I? You’re just a half-breed? You know nothing about your magic. I’ll tell you what. If you give up this little charade of yours, I will call off my people and only kill you. Everyone else can go free. So what do you say? Your life to spare many?”

This time it was my turn to laugh. “You must be the fool if I would even consider a deal with you. You will regret not giving us enough credit.”

“Fine. I’ll enjoy making sure all of you muts die tonight,” Theron said. “You’ve made a few fatal errors in your calculations tonight. One, you definitely didn’t bring enough back up.”

As if to emphasize his point, I heard the pained cry of a wolf nearby. I didn’t see it happen, but I knew it was the wolf with red fur. My chest clenched, hoping he would be okay.

“And two,” Theron continued, “I also thrive in the darkness.”

Theron raised his hands to the side, his fingers curled half way. In response to his movements, the shadows around us started dancing. Tendrils moved around Theron, ready to strike. I could taste the malice in the darkness, and a flashback of the image of fighting a shadow creature flew through my head. This was different though.

Theron shot his hands forward, and the shadow tendrils flashed forward, aiming straight for my body. I threw my hands up, crossed in front of me for defense. In response, a silver shield of light hovered in front of my body. The tendrils hit the shield, and I could hear a hiss as the light reflected the shadows.

Theron’s eyes grew wide, and then the anger overcame him. He created more shadows and lunged them forward, but once again, I easily deflected them. I wasn’t sure if it was the adrenaline of the battle, or the full moon climbing the sky, but I felt invigorated. All of the training I had been struggling with came naturally to me now.

Theron kept bombarding me with his attacks, but not a single one managed to hit me. I couldn’t find a way to put in a counter attack. All of my energy was being spent on defensive maneuvers. I could feel Theron’s frustration grow, and with it, his powers grew stronger. Each attack took more out of me to deflect.

The world around us grew foggy as I kept my focus on Theron. I was vaguely aware of Mark now fighting Haley to keep her off of me, and I knew there were other fights going on, but the awareness I held at the beginning of the fight was now gone. My only focus was on Theron, and stopping him.

I had to figure out a way to change the pace of this fight. I knew deep down that if I could defeat Theron, the rest of the battle would fall into place. Defeat the leader, and the rest would fall. But I didn’t know what to do.

I tried to throw a ball of light at Theron as an attack, but in that moment, Theron attacked me, and one of the tendrils hit my arms. It was a shallow wound, but I could feel the b***d dripping down my arm. Without hesitation, there were more attacks hitting me, and I went back to the defensive.

I was slowly backing up as Theron advanced. Between the lights dancing around the shadows, I could see flashes of Theron. His face was twisted with pleasure. He knew he was going to win, which only fueled his strength.

I could feel myself start to panic. I didn’t know what to do. I wasn’t strong enough as a sorceress to take him down, and if he defeated me, he would go after my friends, and one by one we would all fall. My heart raced as my worst fears came true. I felt desperate. I had to find a way to use the belladonna on Theron.

I tried shifting right behind him, but he anticipated my moves, using his tendrils to trip me. I fell backwards, the wind completely knocked out of me. For a moment, I couldn’t breathe.

Theron stood over me, cockiness filling every crease in his face. “I’m going to enjoy this.”

No! Moon shouted in my head.

I felt a tingle in my chest, and suddenly a burst of light emerged from my chest. A cat made of moonlight danced from my body and into the air. She looked magical as she pounced through the air. Moon landed on Theron’s face, screeching and scratching him in the face. He tried to tear her off him, but his hands just went through the moonlight, unable to get a grip.

I dug into my pocket, pulling out the little wooden box and removing the syringe. I tossed the box to the side and jumped to my feet, knowing this would be the only opportunity I could get to do this. I lunged forward, ready to stab Theron and inject him with the belladonna.

Theron created a tendril and used it to throw Moon off of him. She flung off him, landing on her side with a thud. I hesitated for a second, shocked by the noise of her hitting the ground. A second was too much, though, and Theron grabbed my arm, stopping me from injecting him with the serum.

He twisted my arm, causing me to cry out in pain and let go of the syringe. It fell through the air, and everything seemed to slow down again, and I knew I had messed up. A shadowy tendril flew through the air and grabbed the syringe. Theron plucked the little device from the shadow and swung forward. The needle pierced my skin, and I felt the serum dance through my veins. It was so cold, and I stopped breathing.