Chapter 31
Seda
“You can’t have him,” Seda snapped, feeling her anger rising, causing her chest to vibrate and pulse with a fury demanding to be unleashed.
No one could have her Elco.
She watched as the monsters licked their mouths and circled Cahir’s magical shield, one lunging and being thrown back a few feet when its body collided with the transparent, green barrier.
Dark clouds began to swirl in the sky as a blanket of rain pelted the forest floor.
“The Lionne has lost its way and hurt one of mine. The Lionne must pay,” the raspy female voice growled.
Seda narrowed her eyes at the form and raised her palms in the air. “Drop the shield, Cahir,” she said to him. She was ready. She could kill the beast for thinking they could harm her friend.
“No,” Cahir replied.
Roya looked at him sharply and seethed, “Do as she said and drop the shield.”
“No. I won’t,” he yelled in response.
“Give us the Lionne!” the monster snarled once more. The beast turned her gaze to the others and nodded.
They lunged simultaneously, quickly pushed back by the force of Cahir’s magic, but immediately rose and lunged again, repeatedly attacking the barrier.
Electrical shocks churned through the sky, darting across the tops of the trees, ready to strike down at any moment.
The speaking monster growled at their failed attempts and at the lightning sparking through the area.
Seda glanced at Cahir and noticed a bead of sweat forming on his forehead as he fought to resist the beast’s assault on his magic.
He couldn’t hold this for long.
“Drop the gods-damned shield!” Roya yelled.
Suza shrieked as she shifted herself underneath one of Elco’s wings. He didn’t flinch or shirk away from her. Instead, he tightened himself closer, protecting her as if she were one of his own.
Seda felt a flicker of pride well within her, but her focus was solely on the monsters ahead.
“Your friend cannot hold this for long. If you drop the shield and give us the Lionne, the rest of you may leave in peace,” the beast purred.
“As I said,” Seda replied coolly as a slow grin began to curl her lips. Electricity flickered across her face as ravenous thunder shook the ground. “You. Can’t. Have. Him.”
The beast’s eyes widened before quickly hunching back and growling in response to the thunder.
Cahir fell to his knees, gasping for breath as he held out his hands, his magic beginning to sputter. Seda looked down and encouraged through a soft whisper, “It’s okay. We have this.”
He gazed at her with wild eyes, desperately trying to keep the shield for as long as he could, refusing to put her in harm’s way.
His eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he gasped as his body collapsed backward onto the forest floor.
The shield evaporated.
A menacing laugh escaped the beast in charge, but they stood firm and didn’t move forward.
“As I said, we only want the Lionne,” the monster cooed.
“He’s mine.” Seda tightened her fists, releasing lightning from the sky, striking the beasts around the campsite one by one.
Loud yelps screeched through the area. Roya lunged forward with her claws extended and danced around the monstrous forms, her body moving like liquid as she gouged deep cuts through their thick fur and through their flesh.
Elco roared, and fire erupted, engulfing one of them in molten lava that melted the fur from its body, leaving only a charred mass on the ground. The smell of burnt hair mingled with the foul odor of the mist.
Another ran from behind, and Seda attempted to strike down the beast, but missed as it quickly ran toward Elco. The monster lunged onto Elco’s back and bit down, his torn red scales mixing with the crimson of his blood. A scream of panic burst from both her and Suza.
Elco flickered out of sight.
The monster fell to the ground as it attempted to tear into Elco once more.
Rage flooded Seda’s vision as her eyes glazed over, and she electrocuted it, focusing all of her power at once onto the beast as it writhed in pain and eventually stopped breathing.
She felt exhaustion begin to weave its way through her nerves, but ignored it.
When she felt like the monster was charred enough, she quickly looked around, trying to find Elco and Suza, but they were nowhere to be seen.
The roses began to shake violently, and thick, prickly roots emerged from the ground.
They wrapped around the remaining monsters, pulling them into the thorny bushes.
The beasts snarled, fighting against the roots, but were unable to break free.
Seda unclenched her fists, and the clouds parted abruptly as panic coursed through her. She looked around for Elco and rushed to where he was standing, feeling around for him, but the warmth of his skin was nowhere to be found.
“You have an Amaru with you?!” the female voice snarled as her body lay tangled amongst the thorny vines.
Seda jumped back as Elco and Suza reemerged a few feet from where they had been standing before.
“Elco!” She ran up to him and hugged him, feeling his racing heartbeat beneath her arms. Elco’s blood seeped into her cloak, and she choked back a sob. He was hurt. She felt her anger begin to simmer once more as she glared at the tangled beasts in the bushes.
“He’s depleted his magic,” Roya said as she knelt next to the lying form of Cahir on the ground.
Seda gasped, remembering he had fallen, and ran to him. She dropped to her knees and brushed her hand over his damp forehead, pushing back the waves of his chestnut colored hair. The jade glow of his skin had faded, making him look almost human again.
“Will he be okay?” Seda choked out, feeling the tension in her muscles from the fight and their injuries all release at once. Her hands began to shake as she ran her knuckle down his cheek.
He was breathing.
“Yes. But he’ll be out for a while,” Roya replied. She looked over at Suza. “That trick would’ve been nice to get beyond the rose barrier. Why didn’t you say you could do that?”
Roya quickly stood and marched over to Suza, glaring as she grabbed her by the shirt and forced their noses to touch.
“I can only do it once before my magic has to recharge! It’s not an easy task. I’m not very powerful,” Suza shrieked, trying to get away from Roya’s wrath.
Roya roughly released Suza, causing her to stumble back a few paces. Roya marched over to the trapped beast. “You were warned, and you persisted! Now you have dead kin, you fucking fool!”
“There must always be balance,” the beast huffed. “It’s the way of this world since the beginning of time.”
“What are you?” Seda demanded from Cahir’s side.
The beast chuckled. “I know what I am. But you obviously do not know what you are. Refusing yanantin-”
“Shut the fuck up and answer!” Roya shouted, interrupting her and pointing a sharpened claw at the top of the beast’s ghastly nose, drawing a small bead of red blood.
The monster growled in response, “I’m a Lobizon, a spiritual guardian of the forest, a member of the Coven of the Wilds, the first Lobizon of my kind.”
A spiritual guardian?
“What happened, Elco?” Seda looked at him. She knew he wouldn’t intentionally harm something unless he had to.
He was watching the Lobizon with narrowed eyes.
“I protected the Fae girl you scared that day in the courtyard from one of them a couple of nights ago. She and I ventured out of the city walls. She wanted to find new flowers. And one of them approached, threatening her. I didn’t kill the beast, but it did run away with a singed tail.
” He chuckled through a ragged, pain-filled breath.
Seda looked at the Lobizon. “He says he protected a child from one of your kind.”
“Lies!” the Lobizon shouted. “We do not hurt innocents!”
Elco snarled, and his mouth began to glow, threatening to char the angry monster.
“Don’t Elco!” Seda yelled, running in front of him. “You’ll hurt the plants… They helped us.”
Seda looked over at the flowers, their eyes warily watching as they held the Lobizon within their clutches. They didn’t shed toxic tears that harmed the beasts. They only watched—and helped.
“Is this Lobizon of yours still alive?” Seda asked her.
The beast strained but nodded her head.
“Then I suggest you have a bigger problem on your hands. Elco wouldn’t hurt one of your own without cause.”
“Release me,” the beast snarled. “Release me, and we will leave this place.”
Roya spat back in response, “If we release you, the balance you are looking for has been paid. You came here over a misunderstanding, looking to hurt one of our own. The loss of your friends was your own doing.”
The beast seethed, its teeth tightly clenched, but looked back at Seda. “You have my word.”
Seda looked at the roses. She wasn’t sure if they could understand her if she asked, but she walked closer and lightly touched one of their leaves. “Please release them.”
They trembled at her touch and gradually loosened their hold on the remaining Lobisons.
Five of them jumped out from the bushes, growling as the thorns snagged into their fur. The female Lobizon broke free and shook her fur, flinging leaves and rainwater around them. Seda flared her magic again, readying herself in case the beast launched another attack.
The Lobizon chuckled as she looked at Seda’s palms. “As I said, you have my word.”
“What’s your name?” Seda asked, eyes following her every move.
“My name is Sacha.” Sacha howled once more and turned, then ran back into the darkness, the five others following.
The mist evaporated as they left.