Beasts

11: Bad Timing

"June." I turn my head and smile when I see Phoenix coming. The fireflies made his eyes more gorgeous than they already were. He slows to a stop in front of me and smiles. That warm smile of his. He raised his hand to my face and once his skin touched mine, a tingle shot through me. I shivered even though he was warm as the bonfire. "I'm so proud of you." I notice on his wrist that his bracelet is orange and not red. God dammit.

Our lips are only millimetre away when I notice something out of the corner of my eye."Wolves." I spin Phoenix around and in the trees are dark figures. No. This can't be happening. I stomp my foot which sends a pulse through the ground. "Wolves!" I yell. They spring out of the darkness. Wolves that are human. There's at least 20 of them surrounding us. I'm in utter shock while Phoenix flies off into the air. Lucky him, I wish I had wings.

I blast at wolf just as it's about to hit those girls from the first day I got here. It flies back and hits a tree trunk. I look up and see Phoenix raining down fireballs so accurately it's scary. I don't want to believe this is happening, but it is. I watch as a wolf scratches someone. They collapse on the ground, not moving. No... Filled with anger and sadness, I send out another pulse to distract the wolves.

A colourful figure darts past me. Iridescent. People are fighting back; collapsing; running. All around me is chaos. I tried fighting back. I did. Shooting blasts of magic and fire in every direction. A smaller wolf pounced on me from behind. Before it could attack I countered back with my own claws. It whimpered and stammered back. They're human too. I told myself. It looked at me with sad grey eyes. Instead of burning the poor thing into a crisp, I pushed it back with a pulse and watched as it ran away. What did I just do? Doesn't matter right now.

I used up so much of my magic so quickly. I stumbled and fell over a log. My senses were blurred but I could feel a muzzle under my hand. For some reason I immediately thought of that tiny wolf. I half opened my eyes to meet it's grey ones. "Thank you." I mumble before exhaustion took over.

The next day...

"I found her!" A faded voice said.

"June! June! Please be okay!" Another voice replied.

"She can't be..." They sounded so familiar...

"No, she's breathing. Look!" I blink my eyes open and Phoenix and Iridescent are staring at me. They look like they just came back from the Devil's. Skin dirty with some bruises. Phoenix had on his black hoodie with his midnight blue, leather jacket and a pair of faded jeans. Iridescent had on a pale green hoodie with blossoms snaking up it along with dark grey tights.

Before I can say anything, they hug me. "We were so worried." Iridescent said.

"God, we thought we lost you in the chaos." Phoenix added.

"Hold on," I croaked out and pushed them away. "What happened?" All I remembered was the Wolves. They attacked us, and that grey eyed one. Now I was propped up against a log with bodies everywhere and the sun not even risen?

The two exchange looks. "The tribe: it's gone." Phoenix breathed out.

"Are they dead?" I asked, now scared.

"Heaven's no. Just in some sort of slumber. Wolf magic." Iridescent answered.

"Where's my dad? Bear? Isaiah?" I say, now panicking.

"They took them. We couldn't find them anywhere." Phoenix said with a sad look. So it was true. My new life was taken from me. Like a lighter from a five year old.

I tried standing up. When I got on my two legs, I winced and held onto Phoenix's shoulder. My head was pounding and my heart burned. Dad wasn't messing around when he said magic could take a toll on your body. I feel like a truck just hit me.

"Come on, we have to get you to the infirmary." Phoenix said.

"No. Bring me to my cabin." I croak out before the two help me hobble there.

Bodies. That's all I see on the way back. Everyone was sprawled on the ground with some sort of scratch or mark on them. I'm going to kill those damn Wolves. Make them pay for hurting all these people I've grown to love. Make them sorry for ever coming back out of the shadows. For taking away the part of me I didn't even I had until now.

I groaned and curled up into a ball once the two helped me to my bed.

"Everything's going to be okay." Phoenix said and rubbed my back. "Let's get you fixed up before anything else." He added and got up. "Iridescent, get her cleaned up while I get some supplies from the infirmary." I wanted to tell him I had a first-aid kit in my bag but I wanted Iridescent to clean me up first.

"Got it." Iridescent said and turned to me. "Man. I got you all pretty for nothing." She said and started to take off my flats.

"Not true," I mumbled into my sheets and held up a finger. "I almost got a kiss out of Phoenix. Before those Wolves showed up." I didn't remember that until I said it. Did I want him to kiss me? I mean, we got along pretty well as friends and- You know what? Doesn't matter. There are bigger problems going on right now.

"Ooo! I can't believe! You know, Phoenix is actually a pretty timid guy."

"Really?" I asked as Iridescent helped me to the washroom.

"Yah! Once you came along, he lit up like those fireflies!" She said and turned on the shower to get the water warm. "You want to shower yourself or...?"

"If I need anything then you'll hear a scream."

"Got it." She winked then closed the door behind her. "Remember to wear something nice as you may die today!" She sung and I shook my head. Our tribe had been attacked only hours ago and yet she still managed to care how I looked. Not herself, but me.

After my shower, my legs came back to life and I managed to at least stand without tripping over air. There were many cuts and bruises on me like the others but besides that, I looked fine. Looked. Inside, my brain was still hurting and it felt like someone was squeezing my heart. Phoenix probably since it also burned. I blinked away from the mirror and stepped out in my towel dress. Iridescent took a good look at me. "I'm sorry this had to happen." She said. I've never seen her so sad before. Then I realized something.

"Where's May?" I asked and her head fell.

"They got her. They took all the Councilors along with your dad and Bear." It was sad. You could hear the pain in her voice. I waked over and hugged her.

"I'm sorry, Iridescent." I said and felt her soft sobs. No... Not sad Iridescent. It's too much too handle. Out of her sadness, I started crying too. Sadness overload! Then there was Phoenix. The door opened and I could feel him staring at us.

"Um... Bad timing?"