El stood and followed Willow outside.She felt a small bit of resistance as she walked out the door that took her breath away for a split second.
“That was the barrier I put up,” Willow told her.
“That was weird.”
“We’re currently outside of it, but I think we’ll be fine since we’re just a few steps from the house.”
“Who’s going to find us out here anyways,” El snorted.
Willow turned and offered her a soft smile.El sat down in the sunshine next to the stream and leaned back on her arms, lifting her face up to the sun, as her feet stretched down to feel the cool rushing water on them.It was absolute heaven to her after having been stuck indoors for what felt like months.Several peaceful minutes passed when El suddenly felt a strong movement in her belly.She gasped and sat up, clutching her stomach.
Willow turned with a concerned look on her face and crouched down.
“What is it, El?”Willow asked, laying her hands on El’s stomach as well.
“A kick maybe?It felt strong, though,” El told her.
Something in El’s gut told her that what she had felt hadn’t been any ordinary baby kick, though.Willow’s face was unreadable as she quietly sat with her hands on El’s stomach for several breathless moments.
“Take a nice deep breath, El,” Willow told her.
El let out a breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding and then did as Willow said and took a nice deep breath.The same strong kick hit her again.
“What’s happening?”she asked Willow with the fear evident in her voice.
“I’m not sure,” Willow replied, standing up and turning around as if she were looking for something in the woods.
“Willow,” El said again, as the kicks got stronger.
“Get inside, El,” Willow told her as she took up a protective stance between El and whatever it was Willow was staring at out into the woods.
El got up and tried to fight back the nausea she was met with.Kick after kick happened as El tried to make her way just the few feet back to the front door.A crash of something sounded behind her, but El managed to shove her way through the barrier and into the front door.She felt better once she was inside and headed to the window to look for Willow.
Leilani and Persia came rushing from the back of the cabin then, their eyes both momentarily landing on El before they headed out the front door.
“Wait!”El yelled, but neither of them even slowed down.
El turned and opened the window to find Willow fighting off panthers.Leilani and Persia both shifted as they leaped across the stream and joined the fight.El felt sick as she watched panthers steadily stream out of the woods.There was no way they would win against so many of them.Willow threw magic like crazy, but she was no match when a panther burst through her magic and sank its jaws into her small leg.
Willow screamed in pain.El saw red instantly.She roared so loud the whole cabin shook, and everyone who was fighting stopped.The barrier had been broken, and El was now fair game.That was fine with her because she wasn’t about to let those panthers tear through Willow, Persia, and Leilani on her behalf.El fought her own damn battles.
El ran out of the house and summoned a shift, unsure which beast she would end up as.She didn’t bother to look.Instead, she leaped the stream, which brought everyone back to reality and the fighting ensued.El gently bit the shoulder of Willow’s dress and dragged her closer to the stream, and then El took up a stance in front of her.El’s eyes were locked on the panther that had done the damage to Willow.Her and El started to pace in front of each other back and forth before finally, the panther lunged toward El.As El awaited the feeling of the panther’s weight on her, it never came.Instead, a blur of something flew over her, tackling the panther to the ground.
Lions began pouring out of the woods as well.The battle looked more equal, or if anything had just turned to the lions’ favor.El turned back to Willow who seemed to be trying to tend to her own wound.El moved to her and nudged her with her nose, to try and tell Willow to climb on her back.Willow finally understood and managed to lift herself up with her good leg and draped herself over El’s back.El ran then, deeper into the woods on the opposite side of the house.El didn’t stop running until the sound of the fighting had faded.
Willow slid off El’s back when she stopped running, and El shifted.
“What can I do, Willow?”El asked.
“I need to cleanse it and wrap it.My magic should be able to heal it in a day or so, it’s just so deep,” Willow said, her face paling.
“Okay, I’m going to rip your dress here,” El, said, pointing to just above Willow’s knee.The one side was blood-soaked, but the other wasn’t, and El figured she could at least stop the bleeding with it until she could find something better.
El wished she had run down the stream instead of away from it so she could clean Willow’s wound, but she didn’t want to risk taking Willow back now until the bleeding was stopped.El wrapped the wound as best she could, making sure it was tight enough to help clot the bleeding.
“I need to get you back to the stream so I can clean it and find a new dressing soon.Do you think it would be safe to go back to the cabin?”
Willow shook her head.
