I frown.
What is she talking about? Now I really, really have a bad feeling... I glance toward the hangars, but I quickly realize, it's the other side that we ought to be careful of. The sea.
We see the sea suddenly getting a lot more agitated, and those waves get a whole lot bigger, very quickly. I take a step back, wary of it. Oh, this is seriously not my favorite playground... Nausea hits before I can control it, and I bend over, almost ready to throw up.
"Mara! You okay?" asks Liam, grabbing my shoulder.
I nod. I'm not going to puke. The air is just humid, and I should be able to ignore it. I take a deep breath, and glare at the waves. Now I know what she was trying to do. Ravena wanted to call me to this side so I'd be weaker. I should have known as soon as I saw the sea, but I had almost forgotten how fucking much it affects me.
However, it doesn't mean I can't do anything about it. Humidity is nothing but water in the air, and I'm still a Fire Witch. A powerful one.
"Liam, everyone, step back. Don't stand close to me."
They all obey right away, moving like one wolf. I take another deep breath, and intensify my fire. More and more; not just in my hands, but on my whole body. I need to warm up the air around me, I need to make it dry as a desert. I keep going. I feel the flames dancing on my neck, on my collar bone, on my arms. My body is so hot right now, and my skin is almost glowing. I feel the hotness myself, and around me, it's like a layer of heat fighting off the humidity. It may not make a huge difference in our environment, but at least my nausea goes down.
Ravena looks like she did not expect that. She steps back with a sour expression on.
"I have to admit... You're one powerful and annoying little witch..."
"Thanks. Now, take your damn curse back before I put my threat into action," I hiss. "I'm not joking, and I'm not just going to be a nice little witch, either."
"...I won't."
This time, I'm not holding back. I prepare a massive fireball, one as big as my head, and I throw it Ravena's way. She prepares a magic circle in just a few movements, but we both already know it won't be enough. When she puts it in front of her, it's clearly too small, and when my fireball hits, not only she is thrown a few steps back, but my fire burns her hands, making her scream.
"I told you I wasn't playing," I state, stepping forward.
“Good job, Mara,” says Selena.
“No, something's wrong,” retorts Liam. “This is too easy…”
I agree. From what I've seen of her, Ravena is too smart to face me directly in petty games like this. She managed to get me where she wanted. It can't be as simple as her underestimating me a little...
As if she had heard our thoughts, Ravena suddenly starts laughing and rubs her hands together, healing them with her magic.
"Oh, Mara, you think you can play with the big girls now? Well, well, it's time to play, indeed."
I feel a weight fall down in my stomach, and as the sea intensifies its ruckus on my right, I hear an even louder ruckus on my left. All the hangars' doors fall down, one after another, as we finally see what they were hiding. Oh, that can't be good. A young woman comes out, and another. Slowly, the hangars start spitting out dozens of young women, a lot of them wearing that stupid tattoo on a visible patch of their skin. Not only that, but they look... possessed. Their eyes are completely inexpressive, as if they were just sleeping, half-awake. They put one foot in front of the other like puppets on a string. Still, they are coming toward us, a large circle slowly forming.
“Now we know what she wanted humans for…”
“We can't attack humans!”
“Yeah, want to guess if those chicks will feel the same about us? They’re being controlled!”
“Mara, can you stop this?”
I slowly shake my head, but I'm thinking. I'm thinking, fast. Can I? It took me a while to erase just one of those damn tattoos, and now, there are dozens of them!
Before I even have time to process what's going on, something else happens. On the other side, the waves I wasn't watching anymore just got a whole lot bigger. Not only that, but now, a vaguely familiar silhouette is standing on top of them, perfectly still as she's riding them. Her waves are tall above us, and she's looking down with one intense glare I'm not sure I like...
"See?" chuckles Ravena. "I knew I needed an alliance. I guess I had picked the wrong witch..."
Oh, for fuck’s sake...
Chapter 34
Two witches and an army of human women ready to get to us. It doesn't look like they have any weapons, but it doesn't feel like this is going to be easy, either... However, right now, I'm more worried about that Water Witch than Ravena or those women. She controls a stronger element than mine, and without the barrier anymore, she will now be free to attack us at full strength...
