Tris
Every sealing witch has a wolf behind them, standing back to back. I know if they change into wolves, it's going to be hard for them to stay long. I saw a shadow approaching us. Albert moved in front of me. Bethaney and Ranthore made some distance from me so they could assist when needed. My mom was chanting continuously.
The shadow walked like a zombie, moving toward us in slow motion. Each of its steps sent chills through everyone. The shape started to become clearer—it was a woman. Even without a wolf's nose, I could smell something decaying. I think everyone could see her clearly now. Her thin body was barely covered with skin. Her hair was long but didn't cover her whole scalp. Her eyes were closed, and every joint seemed unstable. She wore a blue crystal locket.
"The sealing backups are here," Bethaney said. The four witches I asked Leo for—to help renew the seal—had arrived. I thought this terrifying woman would attack them, but she seemed to ignore them… or maybe not. They panicked when they saw her, and before I could stop them, they attacked. A ball of water splashed onto her shoulder.
Fuck. It made her angry. Her eyes turned red, and she screamed. Darkness spread from her body.
"You shouldn't have done that. Now run!" I shouted, as the woman turned toward them. She raised her arms, summoning a dark orb in each hand, and in a second, they exploded toward the sealers. They were thrown far by the blast.
It all happened so fast, no one could react in time. I heard werewolves growling.
"No, don't! Just focus on protecting the main sealers!" I yelled. I was terrified. I didn't know how I was going to fight her, but I had to buy some time. I stepped outside the circle. "Continue the ritual!" I screamed.
My voice caught her attention. She turned toward me. I ignited flames in both my hands. I felt a presence beside me—it was Bethaney and Ranthore.
I just had to lure her inside the circle without getting hurt. Sounds simple. Okay…
"Don't do anything. She wants me. Let's see if we can hold her," I said.
"If she attacks us directly, we're going to lose our minds—the sealing spell will break," Ranthore said.
I turned to look at the witches scattered around. They had started hurting themselves—scratching their arms, pulling their hair.
"Bethaney, go put them to sleep," I ordered. She hesitated but went.
"Ranthore, do you know a freezing spell?" I asked, smiling.
"I learned it not long ago."
"A kid's spell? Is that going to work?" He looked at me.
"At least we can try," I said.
We both stretched our hands forward and cast the freezing spell. I'm a fire witch, so I didn't know how strong it would be, but we kept casting in sync.
Her legs froze—she couldn't move. Crystal-like ice formed from her legs up to her waist. She didn't react. She moving her hands like moving forward....
"Is she dumb?" I asked, confused.
"She's not alive," I said. "Did she come straight from her grave?" I wondered aloud.
"Wooow, could be," Ranthore said, amazed.
She didn't try to break free—maybe she didn't realize she was trapped. But once the ice reached her hands and froze it, she got mad. She used all her force to shatter it. Before the freeze reached her neck, she broke it.
"Mom, how much longer?!" I shouted.
"Not yet!" Bethney replied.
Bethaney ran back to us after putting the witches to sleep.
We started backing away as she advanced toward us in rage. She hurled a dark ball at us. I created a fireball to counter it, but it was too fast—we couldn't dodge. I saw it coming, closed my eyes, and heard the blast.
It didn't hit us.
I opened my eyes. Albert was standing in front of me, clutching his chest, crying out in pain.
"Albert, are you out of your mind?" I caught him as he stumbled back.
"I'm good... just need a minute," he said, breathing heavily.
If he said that, means he must be okay... right?
She was moving faster now.
"It's done! Let's lure her into the circle!" Bethaney called while moving toward Mom.
Albert stood back up, picked me up, and moved me to the other side of the ritual site in a blink.
"Next time, notify me before you pick me up," I glared at him.
He lowered his gaze. "Sorry." he should be.
We lured her into the circle as planned. Bethaney renewed the seals—ours and the wolves'. She felt dizzy from using so much blood and power at once. I looked at Ranthore. He took her to the car and left.
The ritual continued. Mom cut her palm and circled the area with her blood. Fire sparked wherever her blood touched the ground. The woman screamed in pain, her darkness peeling away from her skin. She dropped to her knees, filled with pain and rage. I can feel her Archi fading.
"What is your name?" Mom asked loud and clear . "What do you want?" As her voice reached the woman's ears, she covered them, as if trying to block it out. My Mom kept chanting spell with other witches.
The woman laughed harshly. "Well done." She looked my mom in the eye. My mom's expression changed to shock.
"Who are you?" she asked, her voice filled with pain. Something felt very wrong.
"I want blood—more blood. I'm thirsty," the woman said, stroking her neck and laughing.
"Tell us your name!" I saw tears streaming down my mom's cheeks.
"Mom?" I was getting worried. Albert held my hand tightly to stop me from moving forward.
"Bellerina Fitzgerald," my mom cried out.
The woman stopped laughing. She looked at Mom, her face contorted, eyes tearing up.
"Bellerina Fitzgerald, what is your purpose here?" Mom asked again, her voice trembling.
"Al… is it you?" the woman's voice softened. "Where is Shell?" her eyes filled with tears.
"Mom, why did you come here?" My mom was crying.
"Aah, we don't have time for this my baby," the woman said, reaching her hand out toward Mom. But Mom stood outside the square.
"Save him. I'm bound to take him. I won't stop until I reach my goal," she cried, her voice turning harsh again. She screamed in pain and stood up.
"Albert, take him out of here," Mom ordered.
"No!" I flamed my hands, and heated the rest body to keep Albert from touching me. "I'm not going anywhere!"
"We can't stop her. I'm going to kill her," Mom said as she began casting a powerful spell. The other witches joined in, stepping out of the square.
"No, Mom! No! Please! You'll die!" I screamed.
Her body caught fire. She was using all her power to destroy the woman. The woman screamed in agony.
The witches cut their palms and let blood drip onto the ground, moving anticlockwise around the square.
"Albert, how can I stop this?" I grabbed his hand, my flames still burning. He flinched.
"Don't worry. I won't let this happen too," he said. With a swift motion, he twisted their necks just enough to make them black out. "Your mom's flame is on." He didn't touched my mom. How can I forget that Albert's love for our mom, mine and Leo's were too old then us. He practically raised them.
I moved toward Mom to stop her, but the woman's darkness began growing again, spreading everywhere. She stood and summoned a tornado of black magic around her. That's her Archi, strong one.
Mom's flames disappeared. The pressure was intense—it pushed us all back until it exploded and threw us far away.
The men turned into wolves and charged her once they regained control. She easily threw them aside one by one.
She walked toward me.
I forced myself up. My right arm was broken. I healed it with my other hand and hurled fireballs to slow her down. It wasn't enough. She deflected them like toys.
She reached me and grabbed my neck, lifting me off the ground. I was out of breath. My flamed decreasing and vanished in some point. It wasn't enough to hurt her.
In a flash, a black wolf wreathed in flames sank his teeth into her neck and slammed her to the ground. Leo was here.
Her grip loosened, and I fell, coughing.
Leo's flames were hurting her. She was in pain. He tore her neck from her shoulder in second, no wasting time.
Her necklace dropped and the blue crystal shattered.
More witches arrived with Leo. They surrounded the woman's body, cut their palms, and cast a spell. Black rays burst from their hands and pierced her body.
She began to burn and quickly turned to ash.
Leo howled. I felt his fury. The black blood was dripping from his mouth.
"Leo!" I shouted and ran toward him. Something was wrong. Albert grabbed my waist and held me back.
"Don't. He's under a spell," Albert said.
"Let me go!" I struggled, but I was too drained to summon flames.
Leo's wolf form was shaking his head.
"Leo!" I cried again. He looked at me with pained, angry eyes. He panted heavily. He shifted into human form, but his claws and fangs remained.
"Don't look at me," he growled. He scratched his arms with his claws. Cried in pain but continued, like he wasn't himself.
"No! Leo!" My eyes filled with tears.
He clawed at his chest, deeply this time. Blood poured from the wound.
"No! Leo! Leo!" I screamed, trying to reach him.
It didn't affect him.
One of the witches came forward and cast a sleeping spell. Leo collapsed.
Albert released me. I ran to Leo, cradled his head in my lap, and hugged him. Albert draped his coat over Leo's lower body.
"He doesn't have much time," one of the witches said.
I could feel his faint, fading heartbeat.