Something Peculiar

26

Wooseok realized what was happening before I did, and, still holding my hand, he yanked me behind him. We were in the corner, out of the way of most of the glass, but from the agonized screams, I gathered that everyone else wasn't so lucky.

Dark figures fell through the broken skylights, landing on the floor with surprising grace. Blood and broken glass layered the floor. Before I recognized them, I remembered the uniform. Matching long black trench coats, like a crime-fighting team. The word seemed to swell through the room without anybody saying anything: Vittra.

Vittra had broken in, crashing through the ceiling, and Trylle guards circled them. In the very center I saw Chanyeol, the tracker who had been so fond of hitting me, his eyes scanning the room.

"You are not invited. Please leave." Hye-kyo's voice boomed above everything else.

"You know what we want, and we're not leaving until we get it." Jeongyeon stepped forward, Chanyeol's accomplice from before. She walked on the glass with bare feet but didn't seem to notice. "She's got to be here. Where are you hiding her?"

Chanyeol turned toward me, and his black eyes met mine over Wooseok's shoulder. When he grinned wickedly, Wooseok realized we were in trouble. He started to push me toward the door, but before we made it, Chanyeol bolted toward us, and everyone burst into life. The Vittra scrambled, going after the guards and other Trylle.

Hye-kyo glared at Jeongyeon, who collapsed on the ground, writhing in pain. Nobody had touched her, and based on the look in Hye-kyo's eyes, I figured that Jeongyeon's agony had something to do with Hye-kyo's abilities.

I saw In-guk bound over the table he was sitting at, using his powers to send Vittra flying without even touching them. People screamed, and I felt a strong wind blow through the room, surely Nayeon's attempt at helping.

Then Chanyeol was in front of us, blocking out the chaos of the ballroom. Wooseok stood his ground in front of me. He moved to defend me in some way, but Chanyeol lunged forward and punched him, throwing him to the ground.

"Wooseok!!" I reached out for Wooseok, but he didn't move. I wanted to make sure he wasn't dead, but Chanyeol grabbed me around my waist, restraining me.

"That's what you have protecting now?" Chanyeol laughed. "Did we scare off Lisa?"

"Let go of me!" I kicked him and tried to pry his arm off me.

With his arm still gripping me, we both abruptly went flying backwards, as if someone had pushed him. He slammed into the wall, and his arm loosened enough, that I could scramble away from him on my hands and knees. Dazed, I got to my feet and tried to figure out what had happened. In-guk stood on the other side of a glass-strewn table, holding his hand palm-out at Chanyeol.

I smiled appreciatively at him, but my smile disappeared as soon as I got a look at the room. The Vittra clearly had the upper hand. Even though the Trylle in the room outnumbered the Vittra attackers, mostly them weren't fighting back. The trackers were throwing punches and pushing back against the Vittra, but most of the royalty appeared to do little more than cower in fear. A visiting Trylle on the other side of the room had begun using fire, and I could feel Nayeon's wind whipping about. In-sung had no real powers of his own, but he was attempting hand-to-hand combat with the Vittra, even though they physically appeared to be much stronger.

Other than In-guk, Nayeon, Hye-kyo and the Trylle using fire, none of the Trylle really seemed to have abilities, or at least they weren't using them. The room was total pandemonium. and it was about to get worse. Even more Vittra streamed in through the ceiling.

"This is why you need to work on your persuasion," In-guk looked at me evenly, and another Vittra charged at his back.

"Watch out!" I yelled