"Britney?" Sabrina stared at her for a moment. "As in the princess witch from Eldoria?"
"Correct." Lyra crossed her arms.
"How do you know Britney?"
"None of your business, dog."
"Did you just call me a dog?" Sabrina yelled, raising a fist.
"Yeah what of it?"
Never call a wolf a dog. It's an offensive term you could ever use.
"Hey, remember, temporary truce," Payton murmured, hiding behind Alphonso.
"That's over. I don't have to see you guys anymore. Goodbye."
Lyra forced a smile and waved as she turned to leave… when an arrow flew past her head, barely missing.
She turned back towards us. "Where the hell did that come from?"
I looked into the distance and felt my stomach drop.
"Tanner?"
There were no survivors. Something didn't feel right.
Tanner drew another arrow, pointing it directly at us.
"Guys," Alphonso whispered, "is he aiming for the vampire… or us?"
"I don't know, I said. "But I've got a bad feeling."
Tanner smirked, then laughed. "You really are a smart boy, Zac."
"You're not Tanner," I said firmly. "You look like him but you're not him."
"Of course I am. Well… I look like him but-"
"Enough talking," Alphonso snapped. "Get to the point."
Another wolf stepped out of the shadows.
"Weston…" I muttered.
Tanner and Weston are both royal guards of the back entrance to the kingdom.
"We are the shadows you saw not too long ago."
"They can possess bodies now?!" Payton screamed.
"Oh, we always could," Weston said smoothly. "If we wanted to."
"Tanner. Weston. What did you do to them?" I demanded.
"What we always do," Tanner replied. "We take their souls and lend their bodies to our master."
"You have a lot of nerve," I growled, "possessing my friends. I will rip every last shadow out of you and kill you slowly… painfully… until your screams fade into nothing."
Weston chuckled. "Whoa. This is getting exciting. I love confident opponents."
"Zac, you can't fight," Etahn said urgently. "Let us handle this."
I growled under my breath. Stupid ankle.
"Sabrina and Zac, rest," Ethan continued. "Let us repay you after the other fight."
"Wait, I'm fighting too?" Payton said nervously.
"Yes," Alphonso snapped. "Stop being scared and fight."
"I believe in you," Ethan added, giving her a thumbs-up.
Payton smiled weakly, still shaking.
I sat down, leaning against a rock. Sabrina collapsed beside me.
"This sucks."
"Tell me about it."
I glanced at my ankle, purple, swollen. Then I noticed Lyra stumbling away to find somewhere to sit.
"I guess she's not fighting either."
"Of course not," Sabrina said amused. "I gave her a severe concussion."
I laughed. "I'm so proud."
"As you should be." Sabrina bragged.
"it was just getting fun," Tanner sighed. "Now it's boring."
"Shut up!" Ethan snapped. "Just shut up!"
Weston laughed. "Don't you think it's just the two of us you'll be fighting?"
The shadows shifted. A pack of werewolves emerged.
"Oh, wonderful," Payton whispered, hands shaking harder.
Perfect. When they need me the most, I can't fight.
I crossed my arms, watching helplessly then I heard a groan.
"My head…"
Lyra. I tried to ignore it.
"Payton!" Sabrina shouted. "Don't hesitate. They look like our friends but they're not."
"I'll try," Payton said.
"Pay, look at me." She did. "Remember what I taught you."
Payton nodded.
"Careful now," Weston taunted. "Don't kill us."
"Why not?" Alphonso shot back.
"Killing a body without a soul prevents the soul from ever returning," Weston said. "It wanders forever."
"No!" I shouted.
I couldn't lose any of my people.
"That is," Tanner added, "once we claim your soul, there's no going back."
"We have to hurt them enough that they can't walk," Payton said, panicked. "But there's so many of them and only us."
"I know," Ethan said. "But we try."
"Enough talk-"
Tanner stopped.
A scream split in the air.
A dagger was embedded in the back of a wolf's leg.
"Didn't he tell you to shut up?"
That voice… It's Lyra.
The shadow ripped itself from the body as it collapsed.
"Ow! Ow! The pain!" The shadow screamed.
"What is the meaning of this?" Weston demanded.
"You ruined our kingdom," Lyra snapped. "I hate you more than the wolves. I'm not fit to fight but you're pissing me off."
My face went blank.
Fair.
"You wanna fight?" Tanner threatened. "Then fight."
"Hide!" I yelled to Sabrina.
She crawled behind a boulder as arrows flew.
The first struck a wolf's shoulder. Three more followed, crippling the front line.
Shadows screamed as they were forced out.
"When possessed, they feel pain," I realized.
"Fall back!" Ethan yelled.
They retreated uphill.
Alphonso fired again. Lyra staggered behind them.
"My head," she muttered. "The world's tilting."
"Focus," she whispered to herself. "Don't fall."
A wolf slammed into Payton.
"Payton!" Alphonso yelled.
Ethan lost an arrow, dropping another wolf but more charged.
"They're spreading out!" Ethan warned.
"We're getting surrounded!"
A wolf lunged at Lyra, claws sinking into her shoulder.
She dropped, dove the dagger into its foot.
"I must survive," she gasped.
Payton forced herself up, blood running down her face.
"Rocks!" Ethan ordered.
They ran.
Alphonso's arrows ran out.
Payton snapped her bow and raised her firsts.
Lyra leaned against the stone as a wolf pinned her.
She stabbed blindly, barely staying upright.
"Lyra…" Alphonso whispered.
She didn't answer.
Firsts flew. Bodies crashed. Dirt everywhere.
Payton fought like an animal.
Lyra fought on instinct alone.
Hands grabbed her panic surged
Until Payton tackled the wolf away.
"I refused to let you die," Payton growled.
They were exhausted. The pack wasn't.
"We don't stand a chance," Alphonso panted.
"Break right!" Ethan ordered.
They forced an opening.
"What about Zac and Sabrina?!" Payton cried.
"Wait," Ethan said.
They held the line.
Lyra collapsed on the steps.
"Still alive," she whispered. "I refused to pass out again."
The pack hesitated.
"Retreat," a shadow hissed.
Then they were gone.
Payton collapsed.
"I'll get Sabrina," Alphonso said. "You get Zac."
"What about Lyra?" Payton asked.
Ethan looked down at her. "She doesn't matter."
"But-"
They left.
"Zac, Sabrina we're getting out," Alphonso said, lifting me.
"You did it!" I cheered.
Outside, Payton waved from the brushes.
Lyra coughed weakly. "I hate shadows."
The dagger slipped from her fingers.
At least we agree on one thing.
We hate shadows and I'll destroy them, no matter the cost.