BlackMoon Beginnings (34 page)

Oxygen rushes into my lungs and I am able to
breathe again. I blink and find Logan crouching down in front of
me, arms on my shoulder. I am sitting on the floor with my back
pressed against the wall. Liam, David, and Emma are standing behind
him. Colton and Bragden are on either side of me. Resting my head
on my knees, so I can’t see anyone, I apologize.

“What happened to her?” Bragden asks.

“She was having a panic attack. I stopped it
before it reached its peak.”

I look up and look at Logan, “Thank you. I
don’t…I…” I don’t know what to say. I’d never had a panic attack
before. Logan reaches out, palms facing up. Grabbing his hands, I
let him help me up. “Did everyone see that?” I look towards the
kitchen where most people are.

“No one saw it but us. I’m sure they know
that something happened though. Claire and Tom are in there trying
to distract them while we help you.” Logan still hasn’t let go of
my hands. I notice that I’m still trembling a little. I close my
eyes and deeply breathe in and out, trying to calm my body down the
rest of the way. When I finally feel stable, I try to apologize
again.

“I don’t know why that happened. When I heard
Larkin say we had an hour… I kind of freaked. I kept seeing all
this horrible stuff happening and it scared me. I don’t want
anything to happen to you guys because one stupid guy wants to find
me.” Logan pulls me to him and wraps his large arms around me.

I hug him fiercely. I don’t know if I’ll get
another chance to. This man has saved my life on numerous occasions
and I don’t think there will ever be a way to fully repay him for
what he’s done. I step out of his arms and collect myself. Standing
straighter, I square my shoulder and hold my head high, prepared
and determined. Without looking at anyone, I walk past them and
into the kitchen.

Forty minutes later, we’re standing on the
back porch, waiting. Weapons are down, but ready to be drawn at any
moment. Anticipation is hanging in the air. Intimidation is our
tactic; show them that we aren’t scared and aren’t going to back
down. We’re here to fight. I’m standing in the front, slightly
behind Colton and Liam. Since my little panicking incident earlier,
neither of them will leave my side. I’m not complaining about that
though. It makes me feel safe…well, safer.

The forest is quiet. Too quiet. There are no
birds chirping, no animals scurrying around, nothing. Just silence.
We know how deceiving the silence can be. I look behind me at all
the people here. All the people here to help fight against the
Gadramicks. My eyes land on Conner. He nods and smiles slightly at
me before turning his attention back to the forest. I hear many
gasps behind me. Returning my attention to the forest in front of
me, I see what they’re all looking at. Flying through the air are
about a hundred arrows coming straight for us. Someone screams
behind me. Liam reaches out to shield me, but I push him back and
concentrate on my magic. Silently calling air to me, I visualize a
huge gust of air sending the arrows back towards the direction they
came from.

This is going to take a lot of magic. I can
feel it bubbling to the surface, itching to be freed. Drawing my
arms away from my body, I slowly start raising them. I can feel the
wind picking up. The arrows are at their highest point and soon
they will start to descend. When my hands are raised completely
above my head, I forcefully thrust out all the magic. I fall
backwards into Liam from the force. He steadies me, but his arms
tighten around me when he staggers forward when the wind rushes
past us towards the arrows. We all freeze and wait, watching to see
if my magic will be enough. When the air coalesces with the arrows,
their momentum falters. They twist through the air before reversing
their direction and flying back into the forest.

Everyone rights themselves and turns towards
me, mouths slightly agape in amazement. Even Colton and Liam are
looking at me in awe. “Thank you, Ryanne. You saved us all,” Tom
says. It’s not like I was going to just stand there and let them
get impaled with arrows when I know I can at least try to do
something. “Everyone get ready. They’re close.”

Dravin walks out of the forest, slowly. When
his eyes connect with me, he smiles evilly. “Give me the girl and
this can all be avoided.” His voice rings out. Liam and Colton both
put their arms out in front of me, as if they expected me to give
myself to Dravin. “No? Fine.”

He raises his arms over his head, signaling
the others to attack. Mages start running out of the forest towards
us. Tom yells and everyone behind me runs forward to meet them
halfway, weapons drawn. As we discussed earlier, Liam, Colton,
David, Emma, Logan, and Bragden are to stay back with me, unless it
is absolutely necessary to join the fight.

I start fidgeting and getting antsy when I
see Tom fighting someone even though he has the upper hand on him.
Tom’s already gotten in a hit on his shoulder, making his movements
more restricted. He punches him the face with the hand not wielding
the sword. The man’s head whips back and he falls limply to the
ground. Tom turns around and starts fighting with another man. This
one is more aggressive. We are outnumbered and they’re slowly
surrounding us. I turn towards Bragden, Logan, David and Emma,
telling them to go. We need all fighters. They run into the yard
prepared for the attack.

Besides us, Claire is the only person left on
the porch. She is to stay here and use any spells necessary to
block out their magical advances. I turn towards Liam and Colton,
“We have to help them. There are too many.”

Colton looks torn. He wants to help, but
doesn’t want me to join the fight. We have to fight if we want any
shot at coming back from this. He slowly nods before turning back
to Liam and me. He and Liam share a knowing glance.

I look between both guys, “I love you guys.”
Before the tears can come, or they can say anything to stop me, I
run past them and into the middle of the yard where I know Thomas
will be. I find him standing over a girl, sword raised over his
head. I run straight for him and jump kick him in the side as his
sword is coming down. I briefly remember talking to her earlier,
but can’t recall her name. “Go!” I shout to her as Thomas falls.
She scoots back on the ground before rolling over and getting up.
Turning around, she runs off and begins fighting someone else.

I’m now directly in the midst of the chaos.
Dravin is nowhere to be seen, but I already knew that was going to
happen. All around me, people are engaged in fighting. Opening my
mind, I let the thoughts in of those directly around me. Liam and
Colton are running towards us. Liam is worried about me. He’s
basically screaming his thoughts at me. He doesn’t want me to be in
this fight, especially not fighting against Thomas. This is about
me and I’m not going to sit in the background and let everyone
fight for me.

Thomas gets off the ground and turns towards
me. I call some magic into my arms and legs. Fighting Thomas is not
going to be easy. He is larger than Bragden and I had trouble with
him. However, I am already angry at Thomas. No one is going to get
away with hurting me like he did.

Dravin said to bring the girl back alive.
But I’m getting really tired of the all the trouble she’s causing.
She needs to be taught a lesson.
He growls menacingly and runs
straight towards me, sword pointed outward. I have a Sherlock
Holmes moment. I can see every move he is about to do in my head.
I’m aware of others fighting around me, but Thomas is the only
person on my mind.

Jumping to the side, I avoid his sword, and
kick his arm, loosening his grip on the weapon. He swings out with
his other arm to punch me. I drop to the ground and hit him in the
shins, causing him to stagger backwards. He doesn’t fall to the
ground like I wanted him too, but it gives me enough time to stand
back up and prepare for another advance.

I briefly look around the yard. Colton is off
to the side, fighting Adam. Everyone else is fighting random
Gadramicks. Bragden’s fighting off numerous people at once while
David’s staying close to Emma, helping her fight and keeping her
safe.

Thomas recovers and stalks towards me again,
swinging his sword. I can tell that he wasn’t prepared for me to
defend myself. He thought this was going to be an easy fight. He
underestimated my knowledge of swordplay and use of magic. I’ve
been training and it shows. The magic makes me a more equal
opponent and where he has strength, I have agility.

The sword in my hand is moving in ways I
didn’t think were possible for me. I am incorporating all my
gymnastics tricks, but because so many people are in a small space,
it’s hard to do all the moves that I know I’m capable of.

I hear Colton cry out behind me, but I don’t
turn around like I did in the vision. I hear him grunt in anger
shortly afterwards, so I know he’s okay. The
tintinnabulation of blades in the background and grunts from
punches echo throughout the yard, but I only focus on the man in
front of me. I’m now fighting for my life. I’ve accepted that
something could happen to me, as long as this man is stopped. With
him stopped, there’s a better chance for someone to get to
Dravin—to stop him.

He simultaneously swings
his sword towards my neck, while bringing his other arm out for a
punch. Making a snap decision, I duck to avoid being sliced with
the sword. This move causes me to get punched in the shoulder with
enough force to send me flying to the ground. Raising his sword
above his head, he walks towards me. I pull my knees to my chest
and kick towards him when he gets close enough, hitting him in the
crotch. Dropping the sword, he falls to his knees. I jump up and
back kick him in the face, breaking his nose. Deep red blood flows
down his face.

The sound of Colton crying
out in pain again breaks through my defensive bubble. I turn to see
what happened. Colton is kneeling on the ground, holding his wound.
Blood is dripping down Colton’s arm, seeping through his fingers,
where Adam had sliced him. Adam is raising his sword for a fatal
attack. I gather up all my air energy and push it towards him. He
flies onto the stone patio, rendering him unconscious. Colton’s
eyes jerks towards me. “Look out!”

That is the distraction that Thomas needed.
Turning back around, I see Thomas pushing himself off the ground
and coming towards me. He knocks the sword out of my hand and back
hands me, knocking me to the ground. I quickly roll over, avoiding
his foot as he attempts to kick me. I jump up and spin around,
bringing my magic filled arm out to punch him in the stomach. He
doesn’t flinch. He spits blood at me. Smiling at me, he deflects my
arm and thrust his other hand into my stomach. Tearing through skin
and muscle, his sword implants itself in my abdomen. Looking into
his eyes, it is obvious that he was going to enjoy watching me
die.

“Ryanne!” I hear Colton yell. I look down and
see his sword sticking out of my stomach. Deep red blood pours out
around the sword and soaks my shirt. The Cold is spreading
throughout my body. Thomas jerks his sword out forcefully and
smiles as I fall to the ground. The metallic taste of blood fills
my mouth and the wetness of it trickles down my chin. Larkin blinks
in behind Thomas and stabs him through the heart at the same time
that Colton reaches me. He claws at the sword, but Larkin pushes it
in deeper.

“Get her out of here!”

I succumb to the darkness. My body is broken
and unable to do anything I want it to. As I begin to violently
shake, Colton yells for Logan. Blood is soaking the ground beneath
me. Colton scoops my limp body up and runs towards the house.

“Don’t you dare leave me, Ryanne!” Colton
yells, while gently placing me down on the cold, tiled floor. A
door slams against the wall and heavy footsteps rush towards us. My
heartbeat is slowing and I start coughing, choking on my own
blood.

“Move Colton!” demands Logan. My shirt is
pushed up, revealing the wound. I feel hands on my stomach as I
drift farther and farther into the darkness. Seconds tick by…

Silence.

“She saved me, Logan. That’s why she was
stabbed.” Colton lets out an exasperated sigh, seemingly choking on
his words. “What’s wrong? Why isn’t it working?” Sadness laces his
speech. Everything is muted. I can’t feel my body anymore. The pain
is gone.

“She’s too far gone, Colton. I can’t work
miracles.”

A clock is ticking in the background.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
The room is silent. No one is
moving, but I can feel others around me. I try to breathe in, but
this proves to be a bad idea. Liquid shoots to the back of my
throat, suffocating me. Rolling over, I cough up all the blood in
my mouth.

When I open my eyes, I see Colton first. His
cheeks are wet from tears. Logan is on the other side of me,
staring at Colton. Claire is standing at the back door, chanting
still as she tries to block their magical attacks.

“How?” I whisper. I’m covered in blood so I
know I didn’t imagine being stabbed. “I know I died.”

Colton looks at Logan. I think he shakes his
head, but it was so subtle, I can’t be sure. “I’m not sure how. You
were gone,” Logan says.

Planting my palms flat on the cool tiles, I
attempt to push myself into a seated position. I make it halfway
before I realize I’m not strong enough. Logan reaches back and
helps me up. I try to bite down the pain, but I end up grimacing
with each movement I make. I know that Colton and Logan both see my
reaction. The wound may be closed, but an ache is still there.
Logan is looking at me like he’s amazed that I’m alive. The guys
aren’t telling me everything, but I’m in no condition to question
them. Logan hands me a bottle of water to rinse the remaining blood
out of my mouth.