The Moon Phase Trilogy | Powerless | Book Two | ORIGINAL

Three

Two weeks had gone by since the incident and Astoria's eyes were almost all the way back to her bright blue. She felt like herself again and was ready to conquer anything anyone threw at her, even if she still didn't have her powers yet. She walked out of her room to a strangely empty home, but she shrugged it off and grabbed her down winter jacket from the coat hook as she left for her mid-morning walk, since Doctor Bluhm still hadn't told her she could go back to school yet.

She went on her usual path into the nearby woods and watched some small critters frolicking through the frosted wildflowers that were around. A smile crossed her lips and then she heard an animal in distress in the distance. Her maternal instincts kicked in and she ran to where the call was coming from. She ran so fast that she felt like her feet barely touched the ground.

When she got to the distressed call of the animal, she noticed a hunter stalking after something in the brush nearby. That must be the animal that needs my help. She thought. "Hey! Leave them alone!"

The hunter turned around; his eyes pitch black with hunger in his stance as he held the strangest looking riffle she had ever seen. He pointed it at her, and Astoria's hands flew up instantly. She anticipated a gun shot, clenching her body in fear, but nothing happened. "You're no witch." He grumbled and went back to the animal in the brush. She raised her brows and confidently walked over to the brush, protecting the poor animal. "Get out of my way, brat! You're ruining my kill!" They growled as their temper grew shorter than it already was.

Astoria was about to protest when she watched something happen, something she didn't think was actually real from when she was a child. The man groaned in pain as his body shifted into something larger than the beasts, she had seen hunt the werewolves that were nearby, something scarier than them. A poisonous beast that all witches were deathly frightened of...a Scorpion. Her eyes grew wide, and she took a step back, while the color drained from her skin. Her heartrate skyrocketed and she wanted to run, but her legs wouldn't move. Move! You need to move! Otherwise, you're going to become scorpion food. MOVE! She screamed to herself.

Her legs were finally unfrozen, and she ran as fast as her legs could take her. Her lungs filling with air as quickly as they could before leaving a second later. She heard scurrying behind her, knowing the witch hunter was chasing her. She didn't dare look back, fear and adrenaline running through her body.

She searched for a place to hide, but there was nothing around. They would find her in a second if she tried to climb a tree and with no caves around, it was useless. She didn't know where to turn, so she just kept running for as long and as far as her legs would take her. Sadly, she lost her footing and tripped over a tree root sticking up from the soft ground.

She face planted and tried to get to her feet, but she couldn't fast enough. Astoria turned to see the large Scorpion so close. She tensed up, closing her eyes, ready for it to strike, but it never did. She felt warmth hit her bare skin like a heatwave and when she opened her eyes, she saw a golden aura surrounding her. She panicked, not knowing what was causing it until she took a better look in front of her.

A red fox stood in a protective stance in front of her, as if they were guarding her exactly like she did them. She noticed the golden aura coming from its tail and she realized it was the foxes doing. She blinked several times, making sure it was actually happening. "What the hell?" She breathed.

The fox looked back, and it whined at her, then turned back to the enemy and opened its mouth wide, making a strange gekking sound. The scorpion hissed and used its tail to try and break the shield. Astoria watched in fear as it repetitively tried to break the large shield around her and the fox. She knew it wasn't going to get tired any time soon, they never did, but she knew the fox would. And by the looks of the shield, they were fading faster than Astoria expected.

The scorpion attacked one more time and the shield shattered as if it were glass. The fox scurried over to the powerless witch for protection as the giant scorpion scurried quickly towards the two in distress.

Astoria hugged the fox and curled up in defense, closing her eyes tightly. She waited for a sting of the tail, but it never happened. She heard a hiss, a then a snarl and then nothing. She untensed, opened her eyes and saw what looked to be a murder scene with a handsome sandy haired teenage boy crouched down to her level, examining her for injuries. His yellow eyes reminded Astoria of the sun and the fox in her arms gakked again, as if he was a threat. "Are you okay?" He asked. He sounded concerned.

She nodded slowly, "Y--yeah. Just sh--shaken up."

"What was that thing?" He held his hand out, wanting to help her up.

The fox gakked again, not moving from Astoria's lap. It was protecting her from the guy, but why? Astoria watched his eyes flicker to gold and back to the sun yellow she was drawn into and the fox gakked again. She pet the fox calmly, not taking the guys hand. He did the last thing Astoria thought he would do and sat down in front of her, cross-legged. He looked at her, waiting for an answer from her. She cleared her throat, continuing to pet the fox in her lap, "Um...it was a hunter...I'm not sure why they were after me though."

The guy gave a sharp nod and hummed, looking at the ground in thought. "Strange."

"Can I ask you a question?" Astoria spoke up. He nodded, giving her his full attention, "Why did you save me?" She glanced over to him and then back to the fox.

He stalled, playing with the zipper on his hoodie. "Something pulled me here. I'm not sure what, but when I saw you, I knew I needed to step in and help." He gave a half smile with a sigh, looking at ground he sat on, "I may not the biggest of my family, but I can still take down hunters."

Astoria raised her brow, "What are you?"

She watched him squirm thinking about answering her question. "Human. Same as you." He looked at her, "You are human, right?"

She nodded frantically, "Oh, yes. One hundred and ten percent." She scratched the back of her head nervously. "That's why I don't understand why that thing was after me. Or why this fox protected me. And why it's protecting me from you."

He shrugged, "Not sure. I'm no threat." He held his hand out for her to shake with a grin, "I'm Malachi, by the way."

Astoria took it, shaking it firmly, "Astoria, but everyone calls me Tori." The fox gakked at Malachi again, grazing its bottom teeth against his wrist. He pulled his hand away and stuffed it in his hoodie pocket. "I'm sorry about this fox. I think it might see me as it's kin."

He shrugged, "Maybe. Did you save it?"

"I did, from the hunter."

"Then it definitely sees you at its offspring. I've never seen a fox act like that before with a human. I've read about it acting like this with a witch, but never a human."

Astoria felt a shiver go up her spine and back down. Was this fox her familiar? Could she have a familiar even if she didn't get her powers? She shook her head, getting the thoughts to disappear and looked at Malachi, "Where do you go to school? I've never seen you around here before."

He thought hard for a second, searching for an excuse. He noticed her sweatshirt had the name 'Ravenwood Academy' on it. Perfect. He thought. "I just started at Ravenwood. It seems nice so far. I still don't understand why they accepted me. I'm the only human there." His eyes flickered again, and Astoria made note of it. "Well, I should probably get home. I'm sure my folks are getting worried." He stood up, brushed himself off and held his hand out again, to help Astoria up.

This time she took it and she felt her fingertips tingle. The fox hopped off her lap, but stayed at her feet, eyeing Malachi wearily. Once Astoria got to her feet, she released his hand and brushed herself off. "Thanks for the help. I'd be dead if it weren't for you." She gave a soft smile.

Malachi nodded, "It was my pleasure."

He took off the way he had come, and Astoria stood there, gathering her thoughts. She needed to see her best friend right away.