Nora's smile disappears, and she glances Kelsi's way before talking.
"There are a lot of buildings on fire throughout Silver City right now. All the packs are mobilized to go and help, and... the humans are freaking out... All their firefighters are deployed but it might not be enough. Moreover..."
She hesitates, and I'm really getting worried about what she could possibly be reluctant to say. However, Kelsi decides to be more blunt and turns to me, frowning.
"Mara, they are all saying you did it. I get it's the other... bad witch that has taken your body…"
What?
Oh crap, that's what that bitch was after. Now she's using the fact that she's in my body to make me look like I'm the psychopath witch bitch they all feared me to be! Damn it!
"We are trying to hold her back, but... she's a Fire Witch," says Nora.
I growl, annoyed. Oh, it does work when I'm angry... Growling feels a bit good, at least to vent. However, growling's not going to be nearly enough, I need to stop her.
"What can we do?" mumbles Kelsi. "Mara's just a wolf right now... How can she beat a witch…?"
...Am I just a wolf, though? I still feel the same, at least inside. No, if I'm being honest, I feel even better than before. I feel stronger, more powerful. I begin growling even louder, but that's not what I meant to do.
I trained. I trained like hell with mini Mara, and a werewolf appearance is not going to stop me, hell no. I take a deep breath and try to feel my fire inside. Like my core, that big flame in my heart that's constantly burning. I feel a huge fireball in my chest, fierce and strong. I know that flame, I know it perfectly. Come on. My body has changed, not how this works. The limbs are just a bit different, that's all.
"Oh... Whoa, Mara!"
I keep focusing, and flames appear at my feet. They don't burn the grass, they are white, so tame and gentle. They'll do what I want. I increase them, making Kelsi and Nora step back, but there is no danger, I got this. The fire spreads on my body and takes my colors. A black and gold fire, enveloping my body like some mane. I exercise a bit more, manipulating as I wish, growing it and making sure I completely master this in my new body.
"Oh God, Mara, if the situation wasn't so strange and scary, I'd say I'm super proud of you and impressed," squeals Kelsi, biting her fingers.
"Quite... impressive," whispers Nora, looking surprised too.
"I'm a werewolf witch, I guess. Shall we get going now? I can't wait to kick that damn bitch out of my body!"
"O-okay, let's go," says Nora.
We rush inside her house. Although it's obvious my flames won't burn them, they both stay at a safe distance from me, even inside. We run through the house, and I realize Nora's children aren't there. Did she leave them with someone? Nathaniel, or the brown wolf, perhaps? It doesn't matter.
We get out once again, on the other side this time, and I finally see it.
Flames.
It's even more obvious against the dark night sky. Towers of flames are growing in big yellow and red stripes, with dark smoke covering the area. It's like hell broke loose all over Silver City. Moon Goddess, that's a lot of fires to put out. Next to me, Nora looks devastated too, and from the way she frowns, I bet she's getting mind-links from all sides.
She turns to me.
"The barrier..."
I nod. We both think the same thing at the same time, and start running toward Sylviana's tree.
I have a bad feeling. I can't believe I've been such an idiot! How long was that Dark Magic waiting in the shadows to do this? To escape and destroy Silver City from the inside? We run as fast as we can to get to the tree, but even before we get there, I already know it's going to be too late. The fires are too big, and growing too fast. It's not like someone simply played around with matches. That Dark Witch used black magic to do this. Probably some magic circles, some runes, for those fires to already be this bad in the span of less than an hour. Moon Goddess.
We arrive, but as I feared, Sylviana's tree is in... a poor state. She’s gone dark from the inside, and most of the leaves have fallen, the branches looking sad and limp. The bark is growing darker and darker by the second, looking frail and about to crumble, to rot. Nora runs to it, looking like she's about to cry.
"No, no, Sylviana... Mara, can you do something?"
I shake my head.
This isn't my tree, nor my magic. I can't simply reinforce it. Moreover, my element is fire, I'm at risk of damaging it even more if I try something. I've made enough mistakes for today.
"I can't help the tree," I growl, "but I can stop the bitch that's damaging it!"
