Wingless [Complete]

Chapter 27: Injuries

I shoot over the plants, spraying them with fire. They recoil, but come back quickly. They attack with vigour, an I have no idea why they seen so mad. The more we hurt them, the angrier they get. Now, though, slowly but surely, we're winning. Everyone is fighting with all their might, desperately trying to get free. This might be a life and death situation.

Corrin pulls a sword out of thin air and dives into the fray at full speed. He twists and turns, dodging all the reaching arms of the plants. Or is it one big plant? I was sure. But I look, astonished at Corrin's determination as he backs away the the plant. He the shoots up into the sky, switches out the large sword for two smaller ones, and dives back down, now hacking with both hands.

There's pure anger and determination in his expression. If he wasn't fighting on our side, I would be terrified. It seems like the plants are too. They recoil slightly as he passes, still attacking, but defending themselves at the same time. He's gaining ground.

Kaylie uses a mix of weapons and ice. Her attacks get more and more violent as the struggle rages on. I watch in amazement as I see the quiet Kaylie fight so strongly. Wasser was never so big on training the army, so I didn't believe Kaylie has much training . . . but from the way she's acting now, I wasn't so sure.

Lina's also sending bursts of flame in all directions, fending them off left, right, and center. As they back off, she moves closer, attacking them with more and more vigor.

Alicia and Ryan both fight too. Ryan depending more on weapons and Alicia depending more on her own strength and magical power. I can't see clearly what they're doing, but the whirlwind of dust, dirt, and other things that are surrounding the two, I'd say they were doing well.

Then it all happens in a flash. Almost simultaniously. I can barely keep track of where everyone is, and what is going on. Kaylie screams in aggravation and annoyance and then freezes a number of the green tentacles, including the on that was holding her, frees herself, and shoots up into the sky, far away from the plants. Lina turns into a fireball and plummets down, making tentacles recoil as she whizzes past them. Ryan swipes at the plant with his dagger and loses his balance as the tentacles holding him flip him upside-down, in an attempt to dodge the blade, and Ryan cuts a gash into his leg. Alicia screams as somehow something goes wrong, making her stop fighting, and the plant pulls her down at lightning speed. Corrin, not missing a beat, flips around and dives down after Alicia, faster than any of us could ever dream of being.

The wind from Corrins dive hits me full force, and I gasp for breath. Lucas braces himself, more aware and prepared than me, and holds his ground. Ryan seems unperturbed about cutting a deep wound down half his leg, and uses the oppertunity of being upside-down to finish off the vines holding him. He cuts clean through them and also flies up to where Kaylie, Lucas, and I are, well out of the reach of the tentacles . . . or at least they haven't tried to get this high yet.

"Ali . . ." Kaylie cries, panic sharpening her voice.

She then drops like a stone too, just like Lina. Judging from her outburst, she probably wants to go after Alicia, but Corrin already has, and he the fastest out of all of us here. Judging from the speed at which ths plants move, no one else had a chance of catching up to Alicia, even if they tried. Kaylie simply wouldn't be fast enough.

Amazingly, Ryan intercepts her on his way up. He catches her and wraps both his arms around her, holding her tight to him. There's no way for Kaylie to escape, especially with the minimal military and such training she has received throughout her life.

"No." He says sharply. "No you can't. We can't lose another person. You're safe right now, and I refuse to let you jump into danger."

"Alicia . . ." She sobs, pounding on Ryan's chest with her fists. "She's gone."