Unfamiliar Territory [Book One]

Chapter Thirty-Eight | The Bitter End, Part Two

                 

The fire was too high to jump over it. That stupid, clever kid probably considered that.

"You think I give a damn about your fire now!?"

I jumped through it. My arms burned like nothing I had ever felt before, but I got through it. I screamed and pounded into the cracked marble and black ash as the skin on my arms bubbled and boiled.

"Fuck off fuck off fuck off fuck off!"

Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to ignore the pain that time. I tried to control my breathing as I held my arms aloft in front of me. Looking at them made me feel sick. I screamed again, less because of the pain and more because I just had to.

Another scream answered back: "FOXY!"

It was so close, I nearly jumped out of my skin. I turned in time to see Mutt charging on all fours out from that same damn doorway.

Only, when I looked closer, it wasn't entirely on all fours.

I felt even sicker. "Mutt!? What the hell happened to your—?!"

The bastard then slugged me across the face mid-stride before toppling into me and sending us rolling across the ash. I shoved him off when we stopped, crying out as the burning in my arms got worse.

"What the fuck are you doing!? Do you not see my—?"

Another hard punch across my face. Mutt tried to get at me with his hands, snapping and snarling, and forced me to put a foot on his chest to keep him off of me.

"What is with you?" I shouted. When he tried to grab onto my leg, I kicked him straight in the face with my free foot, throwing him back. "It's me, idiot! Foxy— your friend. Don't make me have to kick you again!"

"You're not my friend!" Mutt snarled, pulling himself back up. I saw his face then, the clenched teeth and the tears. "I'm going to kill you for what you did!"

He lunged at me again and I kicked him again. He only got back up a moment later, ready for more.

"What the hell did I do?!"

He was on me faster than I could recover. He grabbed one of my arms, but I managed to get the other up under his jaw. He tried to snap his jaws down on my face. I was barely keeping him off.

"Mutt, listen—"

He shoved his free hand onto my face. I struggled ever more to fight him off when he began pushing my head back, tilting it so my neck was sticking out.

My arms had to have caught on fire again. I was going to black out from the pain before he could even get to me.

"Mutt! Get offa him!"

Stallion, my savior, shouted this a moment before Mutt came off of me. He struggled against Stallion's mighty grip around his midsection, even bit into the guy's forearm. Stallion shouted and was forced to let go.

I prepared myself for another attack, but when Mutt fell he remained sitting there, his eyes the widest I had ever seen them.

"Stallion..." he said under his breath. I barely caught it.

"What are you—" 

"Damn, dude, you really bit me," Stallion said, examining the wound more closely.

"Stallion," Mutt said again, but this time he was chocking up, tears pouring freely down his eyes. Stallion and I were at a loss for words until Mutt turned and wrapped his arms around Stallion's legs and started sobbing uncontrollably.