“I’m letting go of it!”Lorenzosaid.
“I’mready.”
All my leftover energy pooled and burst out of my fingertips. Lorenzo’s barrier wall flickered out of existence for a split second before mine took up its place. The humans took the barrier’s disappearance - even for just a moment - as invitation to rush ahead. My heart raced. All I could imagine was my magic failing and the humans getting past thebarrier.
It’s not going to happen,I reassured myself.It will work. For Stoneheart’s sake. For mybaby’ssake.
It happened fast. If you blinked, you might have missed Lorenzo’s barrier falling. But the humans took their chance. They ran ahead - and at the same time, my own barrier stood strong in itsplace.
One human was unlucky enough to be caught in thecrossfire.
I wouldn’t have believed it if I didn’t see it with my own eyes. Right in front of me, caught within the snare of my barrier’s magic, the human raider turned tostone.
It almost shocked me enough to drop my magic. But I didn’t. I stared at my own hands. Was this the power of my earth magic? Lorenzo had said Halo Fire-Eater’s barrier burned its victims because he was skilled in fire magic, but I was not. Instead, my barrier flowed with the power of earthandrock.
The other humans cried out in shock and horror. Grumbling in frustration, they stepped back. Excitement raced in my blood. Maybe this would work long enough for Lorenzo to finish Stoneheart’s barrierafterall.
I stood square and firm, never letting my concentration drop. I would hold my magic as long as I needed to. Icouldn’tfail.
“Keep going!” Lorenzo called. His voice sounded distant over the thrumming hum of my ownbarrier.
I grinned, despite the situation. “Iam!”
The raiders grunted and spat at my feet. One of them made eye contact with me and I almost shuddered. His eyes were pure, coldhatred.
“We’ll get you, wolf,” he said, his voice dripping withvenom.
So, we understand each other,I thought. Maybe this didn’t have to end in afight.
A different raider tested the barrier, throwing a weapon into it. The same thing happened. The spear turned to stone and snapped from its own weight, shattering into pieces as it hit the ground. The spear’s ownerscowled.
“Please stop this!” I commanded, shouting over the sound of the barrier’s thrum. “Why are youattackingus?”
My question seemed to piss them off even more. They rushed forward with snarls, weapons swinging and thrown. Every weapon that touched my barrier turned to rock and crumbled away. I couldn’t deny my relief. Because of my magic, Iwassafe.
I swallowed hard, thinking about Dante. He was the one who urged me to learn magic, even when I didn’t want to - when I didn’t think there was a point. Guilt swept over me. I learned magic because of him, and now I’d gotten myself into a situation he didn’t want me to be in. I’d betrayed histrust.
And now I was herewithouthim.
A spear flew past my face. A sharp pain stung my cheek. I gasped,stumblingback.
In my moment of weakness - thinking about Dante - my magic had slipped and created a hole. I quickly patched it back up, but blood was already trickling down tomyjaw.
These humans didn’t want to talk. They only wantedblood.
I grunted in frustration. No matter what, I couldn’t let that slip happen again. My life - my child’s life - dependedonit.
“Stop fighting!” I shouted, more due to my anger than thinking they would actually listen. “Why do you hate wolf shifters so much, anyway? What the hell did we ever dotoyou?”
A few paused, holding their weapons. I embraced themomentum.
“Why did you rip Loni’s limbs off and hurt him? Why did you hurtme!?Answerme!”
The man who had spoken earlier growled, “You have what we don’t. We deserve the gifts of shapeshifting morethanyou!”
“Well, sorry, but there’s nothing I can do about that,” I spat. “Tearing us apart and studying us isn’t going to help you becomeshifters.”
“It’s not just that,” another man added. “We want to knowwhyyou people canbreed.”
