Page 71 of Elven Crown

“The big one!” Rebecca screamed as she ran for cover behind another stack of containers, though who knew how long it would remain. She stabbed a finger toward the big griybreki in the fourth truck. “Bring him down!”

Titus lumbered toward the last truck spewing green weapons fire. Three much smaller griybreki threw themselves at him, stopping him, and he was forced to fight them off instead.

The whip-like tendrils of Diego’s blood magic lashed across the docks, but the weapon was still too far away and out of his reach. The latest batch of griybreki reinforcements kept him from getting any closer.

Everywhere Rebecca looked, she found the other members of her team preoccupied with their own individual battles as a final truckload of Eduardo’s convoy entered the fight.

Now was as good a time as any to head for the truck herself, try to bring the giant griybreki down before that laser hit any of her people. She took off for the open rear of the truck, firing crimson battle magic and roiling fireballs at anything that moved, so long as it wasn’t one of her operatives.

Somehow, she’d missed the bulk of the newly arrived griybreki on the scene and got most of the way toward the rear of the open trailer, the massive griybreki now within her sights.

It would have been a hell of a lot easier to go after him with her Bloodshadow magic, but once again, it was far too risky to use out in the open. Even as Shade’s commander.

Instead, she summoned a ball of churning flame appropriately sized for combating the giant creature.

When Rebecca spread her arms, the raging fire she’d conjured hissed and crackled between her hands, roaring with its own internal force and washing her face in a fiery glow and a heat strong enough to make her momentarily reconsider.

But she had to bring this asshole down and stop that weapon before it did irreparable damage to more than the docks.

She thought she had him when the largest fireball she’d conjured in years burst from her hands and hurtled through the air. Just before it would have entered the open trailer and hit the ogre-sized griybreki, a blindingly bright net of neon-yellow wards erupted in front of the open trailer to deflect Rebecca’s flames.

Instead, the raging fireball clanged off the magical barrier and ricocheted across the docks before crashing into the side of the single-story building with a deafening boom.

So close.

Rebecca gaped at the enormous hole left in the brick building, which continued to crumble even after the impact. Then she returned her attention to that open transport trailer.

What had she missed?

A burst of high-pitched laughter careened toward her. It took a moment to find the griybreki who thought her failure was so hilarious. He stood beside the truck, hopping from foot to foot and cackling madly, taunting Rebecca with a clawed finger pointed right at her face.

The little shit had blocked her attack.

The sheer annoyance of the griybreki’s laughter and the fact that it had so easily thwarted her pissed her off more than anything else tonight. But now, Rebecca had free rein to act on her anger.

Fighting to keep her Bloodshadow magic in check during the heat of battle, she relied on her crimson battle magic instead as she stalked toward the cackling griybreki. She fired off round after round at the conniving little cretin. She could hardly see how accurate her attacks were through the blaze of her own magic lighting up the docks, but she didn’t stop to double check.

She blasted her way closer and closer toward the rear of the open trailer while the green laser shredded one area of the docks after another and the rest of the griybreki forces converged on her team.

Rebecca did, however, hear her operatives shouting at each other, trying to make their way toward the vehicle.

Then Maxwell’s furious growl reached her ears, and she looked across the docks long enough to see him stalking toward the newest truck. The shifter leapt away from the violent lines of magical laser fire whenever it drew too close, but he didn’t stop, his gaze focused intently on the giant griybreki destroying the property—and everyone still on it.

“Cover him!” Leonard shouted as he pointed at Maxwell. “Clear a path!”

From all different directions, Rebecca’s team opened fire, trying to do exactly that. Then, at least one of them could make it to the truck and take down the laser.

Maxwell tossed his weapon aside with a furious snarl and took off at a dead run toward the vehicle. His silver eyes strobed with bright light. One second he was a man racing across the docks, and the next, a giant, shaggy gray wolf leapt through the air.

He landed in front of two griybreki trying to head him off, crippled one in his crushing jaws, and tossed it aside before leaping at the other.

Well, that was one way to get close when no one else could.

Rebecca joined her team in picking off the griybreki who would have stood in Maxwell’s way while the gray wolf leapt from target to target, filling the air with even more griybreki screams.

Then the high-pitched whine of the super-powered magitek laser took on a different timber and grew in intensity.

A deep, bellowing laugh joined the sound. Rebecca caught another glimpse of the giant griybreki in the back of the transport trailer, his glowing orange eyes wide and wild as he gripped the weapon and prepared for an even stronger kickback while the device finished powering up.

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