“Mara,” says Selena, “we can handle the human chicks, but you have to do something about the witches.”
I know. I increase my fire, slowly and steadily, but enough to hold back a second wave, I think. The Water Witch is still glaring at me from above. What do I do? I know I have to provoke her to make her talk, but that might not be the wisest move either if I want to avoid getting all of us killed...
"What do you have to gain by allying yourself with Ravena?" I growl. "She wants the curse's Dark Magic! How is that better than me being a Cursed One?! At least I didn't choose it!"
"I do not care about that witch's ambitions," she retorts. "That curse has to disappear!"
"And what's your genius plan, then? Killing me, and then what? You think you can break the curse by yourself?"
"I'm closer than anyone else!" she retorts.
"Yeah, that's why you've been hanging around Silver City, in the same waters for weeks? Face it, you don't know any more than we do! Ravena is just using you and you're too blinded by anger to even realize!"
"Enough!"
This time, she moves both arms, and the waves grow much bigger. My blood leaves my face. If we're hit by that...!
“Mara!”
I prepare my fire, growing it as big and as fast as I can. Just like I learned earlier, I add runes, the best I can think of. I need to protect us, but if I don't control this, she'll hit the human women too, and I'm not okay with that. I need to stop her! I increase my flames, channeling all of my inner energy, animating my fire furiously. No more restraints.
When the wave appears above us, covering the sky, I take a deep breath, and extend my fire like a wall in front of us. It's large, but not broad enough...
"You're one stubborn little..."
I extend my arms, and to my surprise, my wall of fire is much larger than I thought. I keep it up, and feel the water hit against it. I intensify the heat, and an impressive cloud of steam appears above, but nothing hits us.
I stand my ground, and the pressure continues, but I know we've made it. How...? I glance to the side, and to my surprise, Ayesha is standing a few steps from me, in a similar stance. She's fueling my fire with hers, helping me stand against the wave. She's groaning, frowning and visibly having a hard time, but she stays there.
"You're really a whole bunch of trouble, aren't you…?"
"Ayesha! Why…?"
"You haven't killed me yet and the wolves gave me food too. I'm many things but not an ungrateful bitch."
I can't help but smile despite the situation. I don't know if it's because we're both Fire Witches, but I do feel we have a few things in common... including stubbornness and too much sense of pride. She helps me withstand the wave until it's over, and although my arms are aching once we're done, I feel relieved. Both wolves and humans only felt a few harmless droplets, and the air is filled with steam, but at least no harm was done.
“Mara!”
I turn around just in time to see the wooden spike flying our way. I react quickly and create a magic circle just fast enough to stop it. The wood explodes against my circle, and a few shards hit me. I growl and lose my focus. I hear furious growling, and my inner wolf echoes them angrily. Another spike is coming at me, but I realize it too late. For a second, I'm sure it will hit me, but a dark shadow suddenly appears in front of me.
Damian Black lands on all fours, the spike in his fangs, and growls while breaking it with a snap. We both glare at Ravena, looking upset.
"You're really one cunning bitch..." I hiss.
She purposely waited for me to be focused elsewhere to strike. Ayesha lights up her fire next to me too, ready to send her blue fire Ravena’s way.
"How about we do this face to face, you damn raven?" she says with a smirk.
"You should have stayed out of this," Ravena shouts back at her. "Nothing here is of any concern to you!"
"Too bad for you, I’ve kind of grown attached here. Their witch is a promising one, and the wolves make some mean barbecue..."
As if this was some funny pun, she chuckles and increases her fire with a smirk. Ravena doesn't look so happy.
"Well, then, I guess we'll have to get rid of you too!"
She moves her arms, and since I've learned from the last attack, I prepare a new magic circle, ready for her attack. We must have upset her because she doesn't wait to strike. New wooden spikes fly our way. She's not just targeting me now, but the wolves as well. I quickly prepare several fireballs, and Ayesha imitates me. We manage to break those wooden peaks before more reach us, and our werewolf allies only have to jump to avoid those we couldn't get rid of in time. I feel a bit better knowing we can easily avoid her attacks, but it doesn't change the fact we're stuck sandwiched between two angry witches, a group of innocent women very willing to attack us, and the sea...
