Behind them, I see the two black wolves, dancing around and trying to get to the Water Witch. Liam is badly injured, but fighting as hard as before. In fact, the right side of his head is covered in blood. His ear is ripped open, and I’m pretty sure his right eye is gone… Moon Goddess, what did that bitch do to him?
I growl, furious. At least I got her bad. She’s full of blood too and a large injury is visible on her shoulder and neck, the exact same spot she hurt me twice. Karma bites back, bitch! Nora wants to heal me more, but we don’t have that much time to lose. As long as I can stand, run, and fight, I’ll be fine. I growl to have her and Nate step aside, and wait for Sylviana to open the cage. It was short, but that one-on-one with the witch makes me want to take her down even more. We need to end this damn fight!
Sylviana glances at us, and she sees that I’m up, but she doesn’t open the cage yet. She seems to hesitate about something. Liam and Damian keep attacking, but with only two wolves and one witch, Nephera defends herself just fine. She just can’t move as much because of her injury. I don’t know who managed to bite her wrist too, but it’s ugly, wide open, and bleeding. She’s in a bad way!
“Sylviana!”
I growl after her, hoping she’ll open that damn cage soon. She glances our way and turns to Nephera.
“Nephera, this needs to stop, now! Enough! You’ll die if you continue!”
She’s still trying to save her sister…?
Indeed, the Water Witch, despite her injuries, is starting to be covered in the characteristic burn marks that shows she is running out of magic, overusing it. I understand why she was wearing a black, long sleeve dress now, to hide her skin. But we have gotten close enough to rip several parts of her outfit, and everywhere we can see her skin, it’s charcoal black.
However, despite her sister’s warning, Nephera suddenly smirks.
“You think I care, Sylviana? As long as I take you down with me, I don’t care! You think I’m weak? You think I can’t beat you? I’ve had years to prepare!”
She suddenly calls her tentacles back. For a second, it looks like she’s perfectly defenseless, and Damian and Liam are both about to jump. But Sylviana screams to warn them, and they both decide to jump back.
The next few seconds defies anything I had ever thought possible. Nephera’s eyes suddenly turn completely blank, like a filter is covering them. The burn mark crawls up to her face, almost devouring her skin in black stripes. However, we have a bigger problem. A much, much bigger problem.
Behind her, a huge geyser of water erupts from the soil brutally. A cold shiver runs down my spine. That crazy witch just hijacked the river. A tower of water is standing behind her, like a waterfall ready to jump at us. This is nothing like her little water tentacles from before. The pressure and amount of water is terrifying. Even if it wasn’t magic, this would be crazy dangerous already. If she uses that thing against any of us, we are dead.
I crawl back, realizing the cage is gone, and Nora, Nate, and I run back to Damian and Liam’s side, unable to take our eyes off of that sight. It’s a nightmare. Nephera is exerting her power to kill us. She moves her hands, and this damn column splits apart into six smaller ones, but still powerful as hell, like little geysers. She directs them to bend around her, looking like a spider’s arms. But those arms are digging into the ground around her, just by the mere pressure of the water. Oh, Moon Goddess… If she attacks us with that, it will be like a water cannon hitting us directly.
“Liam…”
I’m surprised to hear Sylviana’s voice now. She’s looking at the tower, almost out of breath, looking more determined than ever. She ties her hair back and pulls her sleeves up, focused. The now one-eyed black wolf turns his head toward her.
“Promise me you’ll do anything to stop my sister,” she says.
He growls, confused.
“Promise me, Liam. Please. You need to protect them.”
He stands there, growling, unhappy. I don’t like what’s going on. I don’t like it at all. What is she hinting at? Sylviana looks at him, finally, looking angry.
“Liam Black. Promise me, now.”
He hesitates, and finally, whines, lowering his head with a sad look.
“Liam? Liam, what’s going on?”asks Nora, worried,
“I don’t know, I don’t know! I…”
He seems as lost as we are about Sylviana’s attitude. Our Earth Witch nods and, looking resolute, suddenly drives her two hands into the mud.
“Get ready,” she says. “Here we go.”
Something starts rumbling under us. What the heck is going on? The ground keeps shaking, like an earthquake. We all crouch down by reflex, and I’m thankful to be on my fourpaws instead of two feet. It’s too unstable! The nearby vampires all lose balance and fall in all directions. What is she doing? Preparing some giant root? Sylviana is frowning, a pearl of sweat on her temples, and like her sister, her burn marks spread alarmingly fast.
“Sylviana!”
“Don’t… worry…” she mutters, her teeth clenched.
Suddenly, a giant form appears next to us, something twice the size of a human, made of roots and mud, with a vague humanoid shape. What the actual fuck…