Page 76 of Faerie Trials

The shifter took off after her, his body twisting and jerking. I took off after him.

Hell no. I wouldn’t let him hurt her.

I pumped my arms and legs and saw Coral several feet ahead of the lumbering shifter. A blast of magic sent him stumbling. Every inch of me hurt from too much magic spent in one blast, too quickly.

Another burst of speed brought me around in front of him and I quickly reversed and charged. Blocking him as the world around us ground to a halt. I heard myself breathe, once, before he crashed into me. It took three seconds for us to slam to the ground, as if in slow motion. His claws swung past me and I ducked. Rolled. Felt the force of his next attack.

A fist slammed down into my shoulder and I yelped.

“Get off of her!”

I didn’t expect to see Coral leap on the creature’s back with her hands at his throat. A pulse of power crashed into him from her palms and lit the woods around us in a glow of orange.

Coral versus a seven-foot-tall shifter? I never thought I’d see the day.

The magic, however, bounced off of him and did nothing. His rage-filled roar left my ears ringing. He shrugged her off and before he had a chance to move, I hit him with a whirlwind of punches. My fists flew faster than even my eyes could follow but I needed him to focus on me.

On me,damn you!

If I kept him busy, Coral would have no trouble getting out from the barrier of his spell and contacting the committee.

Over his shoulder I saw Coral dashing back the way we came. Magic pulsed behind her. A containment spell. She wanted to keep the shifter trapped, with me.

I might have been upset about that if I hadn’t told her to run and save herself.

The shifter kept pushing me back toward the edge of the spell Coral worked. I ducked and dodged his attempts at an attack but he kept barreling toward me. An unstoppable mass of muscle.

There wasn’t any room left for fear. Though my chest heaved and my arms ached like they were going to fall right off, I maintained my defensive position. Legs spread for balance, I braced for his next attack.

“Tavi, here!”

I turned in time to see Coral send something in my direction and the shifter chose that moment to make a move. The tree limb he’d broken off stabbed at my left side and I yelled, dropping down to one knee in agony. The area where he’d hit throbbed like someone threw acid on me.

Snarling, I rolled over on the ground.Wrong way. I avoided his next strike by rolling to the opposite direction, the rocks protruding from the ground hitting right where he’d wounded me.

There in the bushes I saw what Coral had been trying to send me.

The two pieces of Magnasterium glowed blue in the darkness. My smaller piece, and Coral’s larger one—she’d found them both.

I scrambled to grab them before the shifter realized what she’d done.

He cut me off, stepping on my hand before my fingertips touched the stones. Out of options and with pain shooting through me, I kicked up at him, using the same kind of magic Juno demanded of me when calling down the sun. Flame shot out from my leg. I turned and watched it sink into the fur of the shifter’s right arm, a tiny streak of smoke rising. Then the smoke disintegrated into nothing.

This guy… Nothing seemed to faze him.

He pressed down on my hand harder until I screamed from the force.

“I swear, I shouldn’t have to do anything if you’re the one trying to saveme.” Coral’s voice reached me, and behind us mist churned just above the ground. She was a shadow stepping through her own protective circle. Sending a surging blast of power at the two of us, locked inside of the ward. “You really are useless,” she continued.

She was enough of a distraction to get the shifter to ease up on the pressure. I pulled my hand back with a hiss and I used the other one to grab the stones. Sending the rest of my power into melding them together. The spell took precious seconds to complete but finally the two pieces had merged into a long slender blade. One I intended to use.

Except when I managed to stand, I saw Coral’s protective spell fading. The shifter dived at her and I was a moment too late.

“No!”

He made contact, his large paw connecting with her skull. The hit sent her flying backward into me until we both crashed to the ground.

I saw stars. My head spun in circles and the rest of me was nothing but a mass of pain.

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