Gripping the tree limb with both hands, I swung and sent the creature sailing away from me. I wanted to fist pump the air, but another was behind that one. “That was freakin fantastic,” Violet called out.
My smile died when sharp teeth cut through my existing wound. The flesh burned and was now sizzling from the new injury. My blood thickened and despite the way my heart raced, it barely pumped through my veins. I became light-headed and dizzy.
The goblin latched onto my arm shook its head, tearing skin. I barely registered that on top of the pain from the previous attack. “I can see why we don’t want your kind here. You’re a violent, leech.” That was the only thought that came to mind as my energy seemed to drain from me.
My hand reflexively closed around the stick, so I didn’t drop it as my fingers went numb. I needed to get this thing off me. The fingers of my left hand wrapped around the goblin’s large ears and yanked. He opened his mouth reflexively and I acted as fast as my sluggish body would allow and removed him from my body.
I tossed him away from me and winced when I saw the mess of half-masticated meat left behind. Growls and snarls warred with the need to close my eyes and go to sleep. If I was truly a hybrid, wouldn’t I have more power than a middle-aged woman with bad knees?
Said knees gave out and I collapsed with a loud crack followed by pain shooting up my thigh. That was going to hurt worse tomorrow, and that was saying something because I was fairly certain I couldn’t move at the moment.
My hands flew out to catch myself. Agony shot up my right arm, but it was followed by a zap of energy. I dug my fingers into the soil and relished the tingling.
I’m part Fae, part witch. Thinking back to the stories my grandmother told me, I recalled her saying something about a connection to the four elements, especially the Earth.
Opening my mind, I called the power to me. I needed to heal my arm and fight off these creatures. Violet screamed next to me right as electricity traveled from the ground to my core.
I jumped to my feet as tiny white streaks of lightning traveled up my arms. It hurt my wounded arm while also invigorating it. My head swung in my friend’s direction. I flung one of my hands out and caught the hindquarters of a dog that had its claws embedded in her chest. The thing growled and turned to look at me. Violet shoved it off and rolled away.
“There are too many. We need to try and run.” She was pulling herself up using a tree. Neither of us was in any shape to run.
I limped over to her and wrapped my good arm around her waist. “Not sure how far we will get, but it’s better than standing here while they kill us.”
We hadn’t made it three feet when a goblin scurried in front of us and slashed out at our legs. I managed to swivel out of the way, but I lost hold of Violet as I did. She collapsed to the ground with her eyes closed.
“Shit, shit, shit.” I cursed as my breathing quickened and my heart raced. I scanned the area and noted the two dogs and four goblins were still circling us. The wider they wound around us, the more the trees and plants decayed. They were using life to fuel themselves. I could see the green aura flow from the shrubs to the creatures.
It infuriated me. These dark Fae were destroying my home. I may not own these woods, but it was a matter of time before they took over everything, including Pymm’s Pondside.
My entire body heated and sweat poured from me in buckets. Why the hell did I have to suffer the worst hot flash of my life when I was facing half a dozen creatures that wanted me dead?
If I’ve learned anything in my life it was that I had to work despite the bullshit ragging through my head. I could multitask in my sleep. Fanning my face with one hand, I knelt and buried my hand in the dirt. The Fae started circling around me and I focused on the connection to the element.
Anger surged through me once again and I used that to fuel my determination. I cried out when fire shot out of me in a wide arch. I have no idea how I did that, but I was grateful.
The goblins waved their clawed hands at me. The dogs turned tail and tried to run away. The word burn flashed through my mind and was on repeat as I fed my intent to have the flames eat these creatures into the spell.
I tried to will the flames to extend a little further and catch every one of the dark Fae. Something light landed on my back and a scream echoed from my throat. When sharp claws dug into my flesh a second later, I reached up and tried to grab the goblin that had managed to catch me off guard.
My fingers wrapped around one leather ear. I yanked and held the beast up in front of my face. What little energy I had drained from me every second I willed the flames to catch the next dog.
It shouldn’t surprise me that I was weakening. Magic like anything else took power and I had no idea what I was doing. No doubt I was pouring more than I needed into my desire to burn these fuckers to death. The goblin slipped from numb fingers and landed on its back in front of me.
I slapped a hand down over the small creature, trapping it under my palm. Pressing down, I slowly dialed my energy back. This would all be so much easier if I knew what the heck I was doing. Fortunately, my age meant I had plenty of experience to know better than to pull all my energy back and keep it close to my chest.
I was heaving as I tried to catch my breath, and my heart was close to giving out. The exertion was almost too much for it to handle, but if I did that the flames would die and I would be shit out of luck.
I crawled to Violet and pressed a finger to her neck and felt a steady, if slow pulse beating back at me. My shoulders dropped a fraction at the same time the flames dimmed by half. A dog jumped over the lower fire a second later, but never made it to me.
Big muscular arms reached out and knocked the hound off course. “Sebastian.” His name fell from my lips as he stepped in front of me. I collapsed and released the word burn. It was as if his presence signaled to me that I was safe.
An absurd notion. He’d done nothing but scowl at me and try to drive me away. This man wasn’t my friend exactly, but he was the sweetest sight I’d ever seen at that moment.
He caught one goblin around the neck and snapped it. Opening his fingers, he dropped the creature to the ground. It landed amidst the flames sputtering across the forest floor. Without me fueling the fire, it was dying a quick death.
A goblin ran through Sebastian’s legs heading toward me when the other two leaped at Sebastian. He lifted one booted foot and slammed it down on the creature, crushing it beneath his heel. A burned dog hobbled toward him with its red eyes glowing brightly.
Bas cursed when the goblins in his hands sunk their teeth into the back of his hand. He shook them in his fist and crushed them. Blackish-green goo oozed through his fingers before their heads popped off and rolled away.
Bile rose in my throat making my gag reflex do pushups at the back of my throat. Pushing myself to my knees, I gasped when pain shot through the joints. “Bas, look out,” I cried out with more force thanks to my discomfort as I warned him that the dog he’d kicked a moment before was headed his way.
Bracing himself with his feet shoulder’s width apart, he shook his hands free of the goblin bodies then swiveled and bent as he turned. I could barely follow his movement, but I saw when he grabbed the stick I’d dropped earlier.
Never stopping, he cracked the makeshift weapon against both skulls before coming to a stop facing me. His chest was rising and falling rapidly while I stared into his bright brown eyes.