Flight (new version)

Chapter 32: Feral

The smell of blood hit his nose the instant he stepped out of the shadows. Shadow and the flash of movement blurred before him on the other side of the raspberry shrubs and Griffin quickly ducked down. His foot knocked against something, and he glanced down to see an arm. He clamped a hand over his mouth.

Don't freak out. It's not severed. Just...a bit bloody.

Griffin followed the arm to the body half-hidden beneath the shrub. The figure was small with hair tied into low pigtails.

No!

Griffin dropped the dagger he'd still been clutching and yanked the body toward him. Sunlight glinted off of Fern's honey-gold eyes. Her flesh was still warm, but she wasn't moving and her lips were turning blue.

Griffin gritted his teeth and inspected her body. Something black was in her mouth. He gently opened her jaw then recoiled. A thick mass of shadows writhed like maggots above her tongue.

Looks like my magic but more...He averted his eyes. Sucked in a deep breath. "Stay with me," he whispered.

Griffin hesitated, then summoned his magic and pulled at the writhing mass like he would with natural shadows. It quivered toward him for a second, then pulled away. Griffin's hands turned black as more magic surged to his fingertips. He held them over her mouth and let the magic seep into the ugly mass. Then he yanked, hard. The writhing shadows shuddered and propelled out her mouth. A loud gasp filled Fern's chest.

"You're okay!" he whispered. He helped her sit up.

"It's Feral," she rasped, still coughing and gulping up air. "And Burn."

Griffin frowned and peered through the branches of the raspberry bush. Wind swirled around Wolf as he blocked the attacks of a shoe-less man with long, unkempt black hair. Burn stood just within the trees, arms crossed, eyes down, shoulders hunched.

Anger sizzled in Griffin's chest. "I see." He noticed Night Shade on the far side of the clearing, laying motionless behind Wolf and the barefoot man. "How long as she been out?"

Fern inched up next to him to see. "I don't know. She was still fighting when Feral got me."

A sudden cry of pain drew his attention back to the fight. Wolf had fallen down on one knee, blood dripping out a long gash on his leg. His left hand was still up, maintaining a wall of wind in between him and the barefoot man. Feral raised his hands and a wall of shadows rose up in front of him. He flicked his wrist and the shadows crashed into the wind wall. The winds immediately dissipated and the force of the shadows flung Wolf backward, slamming him into a tree. He crumpled to the ground and groaned.

Griffin's eyes widened. No!

"Haa, finally," Feral exclaimed, the words rolling lazily off his tongue. He strode over to Wolf. "Well. This is satisfying. The great champion, down on his knees."

Griffin glanced around for his dagger. Found it. Slowly picked it up.

Feral crouched in front of Wolf, shadows swirling around his left hand. "I really hated you, ya know?"

Wolf coughed up blood and raised a hand. Small flickers of silvery magic sparked above his palm then sputtered out. "I know. But I've changed."

The barefoot man grinned. "So have I." He yanked back Wolf's head by the hair and shoved a mass of shadows into his mouth.

"Wolf!" Griffin screamed.

He charged at Feral and swung for his head. Feral blocked the blow with a flash of shadow then danced away as Griffin swung again.