“The entire
clan of Vyusher is here. Every single one of them,”
he told her
.
Using
Griffin’s power, she passed this observation on to everyone else in the circle.
Alex squeezed
her hand, letting her know he’d received the message. She watched as he
broadened his grin, seeming to deliberately taunt the Vyusher leader.
“I have an
offer for you…” he called out. “If we defeat you tonight, you will never
attack anyone
ever
again… Svatura, or humans without powers. You may, of
course, live peacefully within the territory you have now.”
“An
interesting offer…” Gideon gave a dark chuckle. “And if we refuse?”
“Discover the
consequences at your peril.” Alex’s voice suddenly sounded as lethal as the
wolves’ growls.
The pack
seemed to back down, if only for a moment. Ellie felt Lila using her power to
heighten emotion, building on the fear and paranoia that seemed to be inherent
within the Vyusher, despite their superior numbers and fighting experience. And
despite their confident bluster, now dread ran rampant and unchecked among
them.
“Fear,”
she heard Gideon muse thoughtfully. It took her a moment to realize that she
was hearing his thoughts and that the wolf pack was hearing it along with her.
“
Very clever.”
It was almost
like he was a connoisseur of gifts, so detached was he in his appreciation. The
wolves seemed to laugh as they collectively shrugged off that feeling of fear.
Ellie felt Lila’s sudden confusion and heard Griffin passing on Lila’s thoughts
to them all.
Lila shook her
head
“It’s not that they are forcing me out. It’s more like my power isn’t
working anymore
.”
Ellie and
Griffin both scowled and turned their attention back to the wolves. Gideon
bowed his head in a patronizing manner. “Very well,” he agreed. “We will take
our chances. See if you can defeat us this night.”
An invisible
signal must have passed through the pack. But it was a cue that not even
Griffin had picked up on. As one, the wolves sprang out of the trees and rushed
their small group. There were hundreds of them, all different colors and sizes,
fur raised high on their massive backs, lips curling up to expose their sharp
teeth. Only Gideon remained motionless, grinning maniacally in his wolf form.
Ellie and the
others in the circle braced themselves as the wolves bore down on them. Ellie flashed
their next step to them and then together they waited for her signal. To Ellie
it felt like time slowed down and sped up in the same instant. She had to wait
for just the right moment before springing her trap. But under the onslaught of
the wolves, she weathered an internal struggle of immense proportions. Griffin
and Alex gripped her hands tightly, both feeling the same terror she did.
“Not yet,”
she thought to the members of the circle. “
Just a little closer...
”
When she could
almost feel the hot breath of the wolf closest to her on her face, Ellie
signaled Ramsey. Immediately, Ramsey sent up a wall of fire surrounding their
small circle, cutting off the wolves’ charge. As soon as the flames appeared,
Ellie heard the anguished howls of the Vyusher caught in the blaze. The other
wolves hastily retreated, and Ramsey moved quickly to take advantage of their
hesitation. He shot the wall of fire outward from its position around their
circle. But just as the flames were about to reach more of the wolves, the magical
inferno went out completely, as if it had never been there to begin with.
“I didn’t do
that!” Ramsey exclaimed. In his astonishment he’d forgotten to communicate
through only his thoughts.
The wolves
didn’t immediately resume their charge, apparently awaiting new instructions
from their leader. Ellie tried to use Griffin’s mind reading ability, but only
silence greeted her.
“Griffin?”
she thought.
“Griffin?!”
She mentally shouted for him.
Nothing.
She looked at
him, a panicked question in her eyes. He just shook his head. He couldn’t hear
anything either, not just the wolves, but
everything.
Suddenly it dawned
on Ellie that someone in the Vyusher had the ability to stop any power they
became aware of, possibly once in use. Ellie’s best guess was that Gideon was
controlling them, but she couldn’t be sure.
She decided to
test her theory. “Charlotte,” she yelled, “are you able to move us?”
Nothing
happened.
“No!”
Charlotte replied, panicked.
“Do
not
use your powers!” Ellie shouted. “The second they know a power exists, they can
disable it somehow.”
Since wolves
had excellent hearing, it would be especially difficult to coordinate.
“Griff?”
“It’s still
there,” he confirmed cryptically, knowing what she was asking him. The
defensive shield was still up. Not visible or obvious, so the wolves weren’t
aware of its existence... yet.
Ellie thought
fast.
“You all need
to trust me!” she yelled, and turned to her twin. “Griffin… Turn it off for a
second and do
not
attack.”
He nodded his
understanding. They would use his shield as long as it wasn’t obvious.
Ellie tapped
into Lucy’s ability to sense intentions. The pack’s new plan was to regroup and
charge again, plowing right into her family and ripping them to shreds. The
wolves, almost as one, wheeled like a flock of birds in flight and resumed
their attack. The incredible roar of their fury for their burned members
filled the night air.
Ellie waited
until the last possible second. Then, as the first wave of wolves leapt, teeth
bared, vicious snarls ripping from deep in their throats, Ellie tapped into
Dexter’s power and turned their human wagon wheel into indestructible metal.
Wolves slammed
into them, emitting howls of pain, some knocked unconscious, some limping to
safety, others landing yards away, stunned. Ellie could actually see as
Dexter’s power was turned off, the gun-metal grey glow extinguished, almost
like a light switch being flipped off. The metal form they’d taken instantly
vanished, leaving them vulnerably human again. The pack paused only for a
moment. Then the next wave continued their onslaught.
“On my signal,
everyone jump in Gideon’s direction!” Ellie yelled, once again hoping her
meaning was clear. She tapped into Nate’s strength and speed and then spread
that power through the circle.
“Now!”
As a
coordinated unit, the circle sprang. With their amplified strength, they were
propelled into the air above the wolves. They were almost back to the ground. Ellie
could feel them each bracing to land when Nate’s power was doused. They slammed
back onto the ground, the circle breaking apart as the force of the impact
caused them all to release their holds on each other. They all somehow managed
to come quickly back together. The pack wheeled and then paused in unison.
“I see that
you have more gifts than I gave you credit for,” Gideon called. The pack
rumbled. Ellie couldn’t tell if the sound was agreement or some other feeling
they were sharing.
A wild idea
occurred to Ellie. Gideon took away every power that they could use against the
wolves, and they really only had three active powers remaining: Alex’s power,
the most effective offensively; Griffin’s shield, which they needed to protect
themselves; and her power to shift. Ellie knew, deep in her bones, she had to
end this quickly. A swift closure was their only hope of survival.
If Gideon
is the one responsible for taking away our powers, if I take him out, we’ll get
our powers back,
Ellie thought. Then they could defeat the rest of the
wolves. Without their leader perhaps the pack would be lost and just give up.
Ellie gave
Alex’s hand a gentle squeeze. “I love you.”
“I love you,
too,” was his immediate response.
His words
skated along her skin and sank in to her heart and soul. She felt peace. And
she knew what she was about to do was right.
“Then trust
me,” she whispered.
He turned his
head to look at her. “With everything I have in me,” he assured her.
Ellie calmly
stepped out of the circle, joining Griffin’s and Alex’s hands behind her back.
She walked slowly toward Gideon, gathering her courage as she went.
*****
Alex felt all
the air leave his body in one punchy breath. The girl he loved… his
te’sorthene,
whom he had just found… was walking away from him, directly into danger. He
looked at Griffin, who just shook his head, his mind reading abilities still
not working. The only thing that kept Alex from going after her was what she’d
just said to him.
She’s not
going to join Gideon. She’s not giving in. She asked me to trust her, and I do,
he reassured himself. But how did he reconcile the part of him deep within
that wanted to protect her, to keep her safe? Alex took a deep breath. He
forced himself to remain calm and to concentrate on Ellie. She might need him
with only a moment’s notice, and he needed to be ready.
Then he saw
her body start to tremble violently. It reminded him vaguely of the time he’d
confronted her at her house, before he’d known who and what she was. She’d
started shaking just before she had run out of the house and crashed her car
into a tree.
“Oh, jeez,”
Griffin muttered.
Gideon tipped
his head to the side with a grim smile. “Have you decided to give yourself to us?”
Ellie barely
heard him; she certainly didn’t acknowledge his jibe. She was concentrating.
Hard
.
She’d been thinking about everything this man and his pack had done to Griffin
and her. The beloved family they’d lost. The pain. The fear. The loneliness and
isolation. Ellie allowed her hatred for Gideon and his Vyusher to wash through
her. She stoked the anger up inside her like a fire, centering all of her rage
and despair on Gideon. A deep trembling shook her body. She just barely held on
to her last vestige of control.
“Alex! Freeze
them all
now
!” she screamed. Knowing Alex would act immediately, she
waited only a second. And then, she knelt to the ground.
Her form
appeared to shimmer in mirage-like waves, wavering as if the air around her was
distorting. In the span of moments, she shifted, so fast that it was difficult
to make out more than just flashes… scales replaced skin, a tail whipped
through the air with a massive crack of the air, claws each the size of the
largest wolf gouged the earth, powerful jaws snapped, the shadow of massive
wings unfurling blanketed the clearing in an eerie kind of shadow, and a deeply
ominous snarl reverberated through the forest. In an instant the girl no longer
stood before them, replaced by a form that was midnight black and shimmering,
obsidian scales gleaming, and violet blue eyes blazing.
“Oh shit, she
did it!” Nate found his voice first, as they collectively backed away from her.
“Oh… my… god!”
Lila and Adelaide exclaimed together.
“Whoa! She
really wasn’t kidding about the whole dragon thing, was she?” Alex muttered to
Griffin who stood beside him.
“And you
thought your sisters could cause trouble,” Griffin muttered back, a grim set to
his mouth. He couldn’t hear his sister’s thoughts.
She unleashed
all of the rage and hatred built up inside her on Gideon, who was suddenly
frozen in place, his face still a comical mask of arrogance. Gideon had just
started to unfreeze, fighting Alex’s hold on him, when she attacked. She used
her great jaws to crush the enormous black wolf, killing him instantly. In a
display of years of rage and pain being unleashed on the perpetrator, she
dropped his limp form to the ground. Using her talons to pin him there, she
ripped his body to shreds, flinging each rag-like piece at the pack that he’d
led in such sinister and villainous acts. With an intense roar more terrifying
than anything the measly wolves could produce, Ellie took to the air.
The human part
of Ellie registered that her family’d instantly regained their powers and stood
ready to defend themselves. The wolves didn’t move, still frozen in place by
Alex’s mental commands. But the rage of the dragon overrode her humanity, and
she bore down on the pack, ignoring the fact that she was also bearing down on
her own family.
Violet blue fire
the color of her eyes erupted from her jaws. However, none touched the wolves
or people on the ground, hitting an invisible barrier above them. Griffin was
shielding them all from her. Then the flame went out completely. Some part of
Ellie realized that Ramsey was using his powers on her and she roared her
mighty wrath, consumed with rage. The dragon remained in control now and would
show no mercy to anyone or anything.
“
Ellie
,”
she heard a whisper. She shook her massive head.
As she made to
dive again, she felt a sudden force stop her. Alex had frozen her in
mid-flight. Showing incredible strength, he slowly lowered her to the ground,
pinning her there. The wolves also remained like statues.
Furious, Ellie
tested the strength of Alex’s hold on her and found that he was struggling to
control the fire inside her. She gathered the fire deep in her belly and
unleashed it at the humans standing before her. The deep blue flames hit an
invisible wall and bounced back on her. Griffin was obviously using his shield,
but now it surrounded
her
. Then she felt the inferno in her go out, like
cold water had been poured down her throat. The small human part of her
applauded Ramsey. That couldn’t have been easy for him.
But the dragon
in her still ruled. Her massive body heaved with loathing and unfulfilled
purpose. Ellie vaguely registered the form of a small girl approaching her.
Lila laid her hands on Ellie’s side, and a feeling of total peace engulfed her.
She felt the embers of rage and hatred slowly extinguish.