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Rane
THE STORM CLEARED AHEAD of them as he pushed his influence farther, revealing the extent of what they were up against.
Two of the novices were already down, one of them looking like she would never get up again. The other was clutching a hand to her side, screaming in pain as blood seeped through her fingers. Rane thought she would survive if someone arrived in time to treat her.
I hope.
The young woman looked up as they arrived on scene, and for the first time Rane truly understood just how young the novices were. Fifteen, perhaps sixteen at most. Children, really, though he’d thought of them as young women. This would be their first taste of combat, most likely. Their first time seeing a comrade die.
This wasn’t right. They shouldn’t be put up here in a position to die.
Anger exploded in him just as one of the creatures finished scaling the wall and leapt on another novice. Rane’s hand shot out and he clenched it into a fist. The monster froze in mid-air, its five slimy legs flailing helplessly.
One of its two heads turned to look back at him, its eyes a deep blood red. Rane snarled and started to squeeze his hands, intending on crushing the beast with the very air itself, but the animal opened its mouth and a blast of sonic energy slammed into him, knocking him to the ground.
His mental concentration was broken and the creature fell to the ground, stabilizing itself on its legs. Rising up on the three hind legs, the third one right under its rear end to form a triangle, it lunged at the novice.
Flames darted forward from behind Rane’s field of view, a fire serpent rising up and snatching the creature in its jaws. Grey skin blackened and died where the fangs dug deep.
He started to watch as Natasha went to work with her magic, but a shadow distracted him. Whipping his head around, he saw another creature clear the wall, its eyes focused on him. All twelve of the blood-red circles. Its mouths opened to reveal three rows of pointed teeth and a triple-forked tongue.
“You are one ugly beastie,” he said, extending his palm to the creature and waiting calmly.
The thing leapt at him—only to be impaled mid-flight by the lightning bolt that shot from his palm, slamming into the closest pointed snout and flipping it back over the wall.
Getting up, he took stock of the situation. The novice he’d saved was crouched over the injured woman, yellow light pouring from her hand as she ran it over the wound.
Natasha was busy fighting off two more of the creatures. While he watched though, three more cleared the top of the wall. One blasted him with that sonic energy, but this time he was ready. A vortex of wind tore the sound to shreds before it reached him.
“That trick won’t work twice,” he growled.
The other two beasts hurled themselves from the battlement at the pair of living witches.
“Do something!” Natasha shouted.
Below the walls he heard odd croak-like barking. There were more of the creatures coming, he realized.
Calling on his innate powers, Rane blasted the creature watching him from the top of the walls and rushed after the other two. He caught up with them, darting between the two beasts and grabbing them by the scruff. They came up to his waist, proving to be quite large.
He lifted the creatures from the ground and slammed their heads together as viciously as he could. Bone crunched and the bodies went limp. Rane turned, using the momentum to fling the bodies back over the wall.
Yet another of the beasts had scaled the walls, however, and it leapt at him while he was still in the throwing motion.
“Aw shit,” he said before the monster bowled him over, the two of them falling backward onto the stone. Stars exploded in his eyes as his head rebounded from the floor.
Pain cleared his vision as something dug into his chest.
“You sonofabitch,” he snarled. “Eat lightning.”
The beast opened its mouth to bite him again and Rane shoved his hand in its mouth, unleashing a torrent of lightning into the creature’s insides.
In response, it clamped down around his arm, three rows of teeth digging into him on both sides.
“Motherfucker!” he howled, stiffening the fingers on his other hand and jabbing them into as many eyes as possible, pushing yet more lightning through each of his fingertips.
Four eyes exploded, drenching him in nasty eyeball fluid.
“Perfect,” he muttered, then turned to the side and nearly vomited as a droplet made its way inside his mouth.
Enough energy had poured into the beast that it finally died, and he kicked it over the edge of the wall, getting to his feet.
Nearby, Natasha pointed her wand at a trio of creatures clearing the lip of the wall. Blue sparks shot out and impaled each creature, toppling it back over the edge. Two more appeared in their place.
“Enough of this,” Rane snarled, getting to his feet and walking over to the edge of the wall.
A slimy gray snout poked its head over the top, and he slammed a fist into it, sending the creature back into the snowstorm beyond, out of sight.
Then he reached over the edge of the wall with one arm, extending the other to the sky above him. Lightning shot down from the storm clouds above, and then out of his fingers. Like a giant hose, Rane swept his hand along the edge of the wall, frying creatures and clearing them off.
A loud holler went up, and they stopped climbing.
“That’ll teach you,” he snarled, ceasing his attack and looking around.
Natasha was watching him with approval in her eyes.
Nearby, the two novices began to cry as they looked at their dead comrade, realizing they would never talk to her again.
Rane clenched his teeth together as he watched the scene play out. A few seconds earlier and perhaps she would have lived, and the other two wouldn’t have to mourn. He’d watched as the four novices had passed. They had been polite and respectful to both him and Natasha. Now one of their number was dead.
He frowned suddenly as his brain clicked in to something.
One of them was missing.
“Aw shit,” he sighed, and without waiting flung himself over the wall and into the murky gray snowstorm below.
