We headed north up the highway, with very little traffic around to slow us down. Looking at the clock, it was only two, so we had plenty time and we were already halfway there. That meant that the group of fighters should’ve arrived at the location, but I hadn’t heard anything back from Nate.
When we got close enough that I started seeing signs indicating it would only take us a few more minutes, I started to worry. I hadn’t bothered connecting with Nate, just in case there was something that needed his full attention.
“Why hasn’t he checked in yet?” I said out loud, more as a rhetorical question than anything else.
My mind started swimming with worst case scenarios. So many things could have gone wrong. What if they were ambushed, or the warlocks saw through the illusion? What if they were met with a freezing spell and were already stuck in place. I didn’t know whether the knife that could kill us was in play, and that meant there was a lot for me to worry about.
“He’s probably just getting the lay of the land before he gives you instructions. He’s a big boy and you’ve already protected them as best you can. Your spell will keep them safe.”
“Yeah, but I have no way of knowing for sure if the spell actually worked. I got a headache, but that doesn’t mean the spell is going to do what I hoped it would.” I was a mere seconds from nervously chomping on my fingernails.
“You’ve been saying your spells for a couple weeks now, has one ever not done what you thought it would?” he asked.
“No, they’ve always worked, but this would be a really crappy time for them to stop. When I’ve used them before, there wasn’t someone else able to throw magic back at them.”
“Okay, Avery, we have their location. How close are you?” Nate finally asked, causing a small squeal of joy to rush out of my mouth.
“I’m already here. You do know it was only twenty minutes away, right?” With as many guys with endless stomachs as they had with them, I didn’t doubt that they’d had to stop to pick up some food.
“Well, my little speed demon, I thought you’d take it just a little slower. We need you to drive around to the west side of the forest. There should be a recreation area over there where you can park. Then walk about twenty minutes down the trail and you’ll come to a clearing. If you hang on the edges, you should be able to do your tests,” he instructed.
“How in the world do you know such intimate details of the forest?” I asked. “I’m the one with the computer who can download that type of information at a moment’s notice.”
“The wolves come here to run often. They know the area pretty well. We’re hoping to use that to our advantage,” he replied. “We’re walking up to the clearing now, so I’ll see you when you get here.”
“Okay, we’ll be there as soon as we can.” I said, pulling into the parking lot. I saw the trail he mentioned and got out of the car. Vinnie was quick to join me. “Nate says we follow the trail for a while, and then we’ll come to a clearing. How quietly can you run? I’d like to get there as soon as possible.” Half of my words really weren’t necessary, but pre-battle jitters were taking over my mouth.
“Quiet shouldn’t be a problem. I’m properly oiled, so no squeaky hinges,” he said as we took off at a quick jog.
On the way there, I listened in from Nate’s brain, so I wasn’t taken by surprise when we got there. I wanted to know who we were dealing with as soon as possible. I didn’t know if I’d recognize the “master”, but if talk turned to bathing in my blood, I’d have a good idea.
“You’re early,” a voice I didn’t recognize said.
“Well, we don’t believe in arriving fashionably late,” Nate replied.
“I see you got all of your little wolves back as we expected. I hope there are no hard feelings about us playing our little game with them,” the same voice said. Since he was the only one who had spoken so far, I had to believe he was the leader.
“That would be an incorrect assumption. I take what was done very personally, and you will pay for your inconsideration,” Joseph said.
“Oh yes, the wolf king. I forgot that you hung around with the feathered ones. You really should choose better friends. Being too close to these guys could get you killed.”
“Can I ask who we’re speaking to?” Nate asked. “It sounds like you know who you’re dealing with. It’s only fair we know who you are.”
“Sure. Some of you may survive to tell your friends. After all, we only really want to kill one of you,” he answered. “My name is Calvin.”
I wished I could get a visual with the audio, but since I was running through the woods, I didn’t think that was the best idea to try. Knocking myself out by running into a tree was something I’d never live down, so I wanted to avoid it at all costs.
“So, Calvin, how do you want to do this? Count to three and all heck just breaks loose?” Nate said.
“You know I find it interesting that your queen hasn’t said anything yet. From what we’ve had reported back to us, she isn’t one known for her quietness,” the warlock said, ignoring Nate’s question.
“Don’t worry. I’m formulating my plan for the best method to kill you,” Elan said with a spot-on impression of my voice. After witnessing him pull off a good impression of Nate, I wasn’t surprised when I heard my voice.
“Really, how interesting,” the warlock said with a hint of cockiness that didn’t sit well with me. “You guys seem to be protected from my freezing spell now. When you entered the clearing, everyone was supposed to be stuck. It seems someone has been using her sorceress powers. I don’t think that little protection will help you in the end, but it was smart to try.”
“We do our best,” Nate replied. “Now, how do you want to do this?”
“How does anyone start a fight? Should we call each other names? Or maybe I’ll make fun of your little girlfriend,” the warlock said in a taunting tone.
“I’m pretty sure that you wanting to kill her is enough of a reason, so let’s just get on with it,” Nate said.
I could tell he’d had enough of the guy and was ready to tear him to bits. I tuned out from the conversation, so I could run faster without worrying about tripping. I didn’t think Calvin was the “master”. I was fairly certain anyone else with him wasn’t either.
Vinnie and I arrived to the clearing fifteen minutes after setting out. Even though I’d only tuned out for a couple of minutes, the battle was already on, and our side was doing pretty well against the warlocks. It looked like a group of three of the wolves already had one of them subdued to the point they were chopping off his head.
The berserkers were in full battle mode. It was the first time I’d seen them that way. Their bright blue eyes were literally glowing, and they were moving like the wind around their warlock. I wasn’t sure if it was true, but they also looked bigger.
Nate, Rick and Elan were focused on one particular warlock, who I assumed was the more powerful one. Elan was still doing a pretty good imitation of me by throwing fireballs at the guy. The warlock was fighting back with his own energy balls, and I could see his lips moving, probably trying to cast some sort of spell.
Why he was trying when he knew they were protected, I wasn’t really sure. Chances were he just really liked to hear his own voice.
To test my telekinetic powers, I started taking the energy balls that the lead warlock was throwing at Nate and firing them back at him. Surprisingly, they actually did as I directed them. I was beginning to think it would be easier than we originally thought, until the warlock turned to look at me and smiled.
“Finally, the real queen has decided to join us. Your Kapre friend has been fun, but he’s not why we’re here,” he shouted, so I could hear him across the clearing.
“Well, since I’m here now, why don’t we get this party started,” I said, throwing a full-power fireball his way.
He dodged to the right to miss it, and his smile grew even wider. I hated when the bad guys found my attacks amusing.
“That??
?s the spirit I was expecting,” he said, sending a couple energy balls my way. I easily got by them. “I wonder if your protection spell was just for the boys or if it covers you too.”
His lips were at it again, but I couldn’t hear the words because of the distance. Along with all the languages I needed to remember, I really hoped eventually I’d be able to read lips. If that wasn’t something in my memory banks, I was going to need to start learning.
I saw some weird purple mist coming from the warlock and heading towards me. I was pretty sure that mist touching me wouldn’t be a good thing, so I began throwing a barrage of fireballs at it to see if they’d help dissolve it. Sadly, they didn’t do anything. I made sure Vinnie was behind me, and started circling around, trying to keep the mist away.
The warlock turned his attention back to the guys and left me to play with his toy. I could move physical objects, but the mist didn’t seem to be made the same way. It took a few seconds, but I was finally able to get a handle on it and freeze it in place. Not knowing what it would do, I rolled it all into a little ball and moved it to the edge of the clearing, away from any of our fighters.
I started walking closer to the warlock. I only made it a few steps before he noticed I’d dealt with his mist.
“That was quicker than I expected. I thought I’d have a chance to wear your husband and brother down a little more,” he said. I didn’t like that he brought up the familial ties. I didn’t need reminded who he was trying to kill.
I grabbed one of my throwing knives and hurled it at him. It made it through to him and hit him in the leg. I didn’t understand why the warlocks didn’t deflect metal flying in their direction, but I’d take anything I could get.
“I guess you didn’t get the memo, Nate and I aren’t married yet. The wedding is in a few weeks, though. Your invitation must have gotten lost in the mail.”
He looked down at the knife sticking out of his thigh. “I guess the no pain spell I cast on myself really works.” He grabbed the knife out of his leg and threw it to the ground. It almost sounded like he wasn’t sure about his spellcasting skills, which was like music to my ears.
“Good that means you won’t feel anything when I torch you,” I replied, moving closer.
He started laughing, actually cackling was probably a more accurate term. “Someone may end up killing me today, but it isn’t going to be you.”
At a distance, fireballs were still my best option, so I threw them in rapid succession. He did a good job at deflecting them, but I noticed his lips were at it again. I looked around and saw he was the last warlock standing, and the guys were all starting to move in on him.
Nate moved in with his gun pointed at the warlock. I hadn’t seen him arm up, so I wasn’t sure if he had a knife handy. I didn’t know how warlocks dealt with bullets, but I knew they didn’t like blades embedding into their flesh.
Nate fired, and right before the bullet hit the warlock, he smiled as he held his hands out in my direction. I felt an energy force hit me that I wasn’t expecting, and was thrown to the ground. I was thankful we weren’t in the swamp, but the solid ground didn’t feel good as my bones crashed into it.
What in the world was that, and why couldn’t he have used the mist again so I had a chance to dodge it? I found that I was frozen on the ground and felt myself slowly start to lose consciousness.
I couldn’t hear anything or move to see what was going on around me, but I could feel Vinnie trying to wake me up. I was getting really sick of blacking out, but right that moment there didn’t seem to be anything I could do about it.