Where is that flag?!
I ran deeper into our territory, picking up both Nolan’s and my scents. Twigs snapped behind me, but I didn’t take the time to look. As much as I wanted it to be Nolan, I doubted it, especially considering his declaration to go on the offense and get other flags first. I wasn’t going to stop until I found our flag.
My goal was to defend our flag the entire time,aloneif necessary, just as I would defend my pack. I’d never leave my territory in a war, never abandon my people. Never be like the slimy alpha king.
The second I spied the lime green cloth whipping in the cold night air, I squealed in triumph. I crossed the last ten yards and, planting my feet at the base of the tree, spun to face my oncoming attacker.
Mallory.
Of course.
Heat rolled down my arms, but I pushed away my fire power. Mallory was a fire elemental too, so I’d fight her with water.
As the semester had progressed, I’d discovered my two forms of magic were like a tangled mass of yarn filling me. I needed to only tease what I needed from the bulk of energy. The power of cool water trickled down my arms like spring rain, and I grinned when Mallory launched a fireball.
The orange sphere sailed through the air in a clean arc, and I shot a stream of water to meet it.
The flame extinguished with a hiss of steam.
“Going to have to do better than that,” I growled.
A twig snapped behind me, and my heart plummeted.
Mallory was the distraction.
Her brother and elder sister leapt out from the woods behind me and started climbing the tree, heading right for my flag.
Oh, hell no.
Spinning, I raised both hands and pushed fire through one and water through the other so the tree and flag wouldn’t burn. The flames hit Sean, Mallory’s brother, first, and he dropped to the ground with a thud, screaming as he rolled on the damp leaf litter. Heather fell next, coughing and sputtering like a drowned rat.
Roars from the crowd, distant but detectable, filtered through the trees, and I wondered if it was for me or in protest of Daybreak’s failure.
My victory grin slid from my face as Mallory’s hands clamped around my neck from behind, and I felt heat simmering under my skin as she squeezed off my air supply.
Dammit.
Sean and Heather climbed to their feet, both wearing matching, vicious sneers.
“Boil her blood,” Sean snarled.
My skin prickled and blistered, and my mind raced.
Where the hell was Nolan? Didn’t he wantusto win? But I already knew the answer even if I’d hoped otherwise.Nolan would never help me.
Gasping, I reached for water and let the moisture in the air soothe my searing hot skin. I pushed against Mallory’s magic with my own. I could take Mallory, but could I take herandprotect our flag from her siblings?
The heat in my blood intensified as I started to panic.
Dig deeper, Nai.
Reaching up, I fumbled until I felt her pinkies. Taking them into my grasp, I yanked them away from her other fingers, snapping them backward.
Hard.
Lesson #1 from my father: Where the pinky goes, so does the body.
I felt her skin tear and the bone crunch as she released me with a sharp scream that rivaled a dying cat’s.
