Page 53 of Her Forbidden Shifters
I wasn’t positive, but I was sure someone was watching us already. An innocent. I just hoped they were not only smart enough to keep their mouth shut, but also to stay out of sight. I didn’t need another loss to deal with. Never mind the group we were fighting didn’t seem to care about the rules and laws governing the use of magic in front of humans. They weren’t above setting an entire apartment building on fire, and there was no telling how far they could take things or how much worse the situation could become.
My main concern needed to be containing the current problem with as little outsider involvement as possible, and that meant figuring out a way to defeat this group who trying their best to kill me and Jacob. Once this fight was over, I would search for the witness and make sure they didn’t remember a thing from today.
But first, I had to come out of the other side of this alive.
The other issue I was dealing with was a snag I didn’t want to face. The more I tried to use my magic, albeit successfully, the more drained I became. I wasn’t sure if it was because I had to exert so much more energy pulling off spells or not. But I was certain if I wasn’t careful, I was going to collapse.
My answered prayer to the goddess seemed to have its limitations. Ones that would prove deadly if I didn’t plan my next steps thoroughly.
The three figures facing off with me charged again, one of them wielding a powerful lasso made of electrical magic. The rope sparked and sizzled with blue and bright purple light. They were going to try to take me down with anything they could, and it seemed they were pulling out all the stops.
I dodged and avoided the attack of the first two. They tried to reach for my arms again, to hold me still, but I had managed to avoid their grasp, kicking one in the back and sending an elbow into the head of the other. While they stumbled and struggled to regain their footing, I faced the magic-user.
He paced in front of me patiently waiting for me to drop my guard or simply waiting for the perfect opportunity to capture me and end this fight.
I quickly glanced toward Jacob who managed to take down one of his three. I smirked to myself. We just might get the upper hand again. Jacob was back on the ground, thankfully and the other two figures he was fighting were pushing him back toward me, deeper into the alley.
The two guys facing off with me, who weren’t wielding magic, had recovered and took turns throwing punches and kicks. I understood immediately what they were trying to do. Wear me down… and then take me out. Once I was out of the way, Jacob would be an easy target.
Five against one were horrible odds, and I couldn’t allow that to happen.
I quickly formulated a plan and put it into action, twisting myself so that Jacob’s back and mine were up against each other. The plan had drawbacks for sure. One of the most serious being Jacob and I would be up against five. But that was a far better odd than what we would have faced if all of them were against one of us.
There was no time to think of anything better. My plan had to work.
Once we were back-to-back, I asked, “How are you holding up?”
“Better than you apparently,” he said and kicked his foot out, landing in the chest of his attacker. The cloaked figure grunted and stumbled back. I dodged a fist coming from my head and landed an uppercut to his jaw.
“You gonna catch up or what?” he asked.
I shrugged and dodged the next punch that was aimed at the side of my face. I kicked the guy in his ribs. He stumbled to the side but didn’t fall. “I’m trying. Got a magic-user here.”
“No shit?” he asked, sounding as surprised as I felt when I observed the event for myself.
“No shit,” I said and punched the second, non-magic user in the nose. “But I’m wearing down quickly.”
“We need to get this over with, and fast,” he said.
“Agreed,” I said and dug deep into my strength and magic, conjuring as much power as I could muster to keep going just a little bit longer.
Mr. Magic decided to try and be slick and send out his lasso toward us. That was something I hadn’t considered when making my great plan.
“Shit, duck!” I said and rolled to my right. The magic snapped and sizzled, capturing nothing but air. Once I was out of the way, I stood up behind one of the other fighters and placed him in a chokehold. The guy must have gotten distracted by Jacob who listened to my warning, thankfully.
The guy in my hands passed out quickly enough, but it wasn’t going to amount to a hill of beans if we didn’t get this fight over soon. I let the guy drop to the ground and faced off with the remaining four foes.
Jacob stood by my side. “Any ideas?”
I shook my head. “Maybe one. But it might it’s not a very good one.”
“Well, it’s better than nothing,” he said and launched himself at one of the remaining fighters.
I placed my feet shoulder-width apart and anchored myself to the earth. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath while Jacob continued to keep the others from getting to me. As I stood, I pulled all the energy I could toward me.
“Get out of the way,” I said to Jacob. And once he was, I tuned in my magic, conjuring it all to me.
“Earth to earth, air to air, wind to wind, water to water,” I chanted repeatedly under my breath. My magic pooled in my wrists. Jacob kept the remaining four guys from me, which I appreciated. It gave me the time I needed to pull off my last attempt to end this fight.
