Descending Darkness(71)
I walk toward them and stop in front of the largest guy. When he stands up, he growls again. In my mind, I watch as he transforms into a werewolf, hair sprouting out of every part of his body and crawling on all fours, howling at the moon.
I make sure it is obvious when I look at him thoroughly, my eyes traveling down to his dark clothing. “Tsk, tsk, tsk. Black is definitely not your color. You should try warm colors. They’d compliment your skin tone more.” He grunts and punches my shield. It doesn’t budge.
I walk along the edge of the shield and stop in front of a different man. “You’d think after all this time Dravin would have trained his men a little better or, here’s an idea, come after me himself. I mean really? Is he that scared of me?” I stare at him. “Do I look scary to you?”
He doesn’t say anything, but that’s fine. I already knew how he’d react.
Taking a couple steps backward, I drop the shield. Throwing my arms out, I say, “I’m getting really tired of these pointless confrontations. Come one, boys. Do your best.”
Two men charge at me. I wait until they get close before I react. The first man swings his arm back to try to punch me. I duck, and he ends up punching the man behind me. He grabs his nose as blood starts to gush. I laugh and stand back up.
I lean back and kick my leg out, connecting with his chest. Since I am calling my magic to me, the man stumbles backward. I flip around and punch the other man in the gut. When he doubles over, I swing up and kick him in the jaw, knocking him out. I turn around to fight the other man when a fist connects with my shoulder.
Ouch, that hurt. This only succeeds in making me mad.
I stop toying with him and jump into the air, flying a couple feet up. I lean down and whack my elbow into the side of his neck. His eyes roll back into his head, and he slumps down. I turn around and face the other men. They are still standing in a line. I quickly count them.
There are six left.
Pointing my finger at the short guy on the end, I motion him forward. He looks to the guy on his left for guidance. When the man shrugs his shoulders, he takes a hesitant step toward me. I walk the rest of the way toward him and push my magic back. “Ok, I’ll fight fair now.”
He runs forward, and I stand my ground until he is right in front of me. I take a step to the right, and he runs past me. Stopping, he turns around and moves in my direction again. I can hear footsteps behind me, but I decide to play dumb. I duck to avoid being punched and step backward, letting the other man grab me. Oh, these guys are dumb.
“Gotcha,” he whispers in my ear.
“Oooh, the big bad guy caught the wittle girl. I’m shaking in my boots,” I retort. He starts pulling me back. Does he really think I’ll just let him cart me off like this? Where does Dravin get these guys? “Oh wait, I’m not wearing boots.”
I lift my right foot and back kick him in the shins. He hisses in pain and loosens his grip on me. I swing my head back and hit him in the face, causing him to throw me to the ground. Catching myself, I jump back up and thrust my magic at him. When my magic connects with his body, he flies backward and slams into a large tree.
With a sigh, I turn around and face the rest of the men. The five remaining guys are looking at me warily. I call my magic to me and visualize lightning bolts shooting outward and hitting them. I slowly raise my hands as the magic builds up. Thrusting it out, I watch as bolts flow through the air and hit them; four of them fall to the ground, stunned and unmoving.
The one that I didn’t hit looks to be the youngest of all of them—no more than twenty years old. As I walk over to him, he stands his ground, but I can see the fear in his eyes. I did just take on eight men on my own. He stares at me as I stop in front of him, eyes widening with each second I don’t do anything.
Giving him a small smile, I call my magic into my finger and lightly touch him on the chest. “Boo.” Feeling my magic, he quickly turns around and flees out of the clearing. Seriously, where does Dravin get these recruits? Are they even mages? Not a single one tried to use magic on me.
Bending over, I brush the dirt off my clothes and start walking out of the clearing, smiling as I walk back into the darkness of the forest, prepared for whatever happens next.
Chapter Twenty-One
Colton
“They’ve been out for a while…” Emma says. Ryanne and Liam are both lying on the couch. They look like they are sleeping, but we all know better than that. They’re not physically here anymore. Both of them are in the dream world. Ryanne was forced there while Liam went willingly. He let the protector come forth and do what it is meant to do.