Zodiac Academy 5: Cursed Fates

I raced around the Nymphs, howling as two more joined the fight. They couldn’t touch my magic in my Wolf form, but that meant I had to rely on teeth and claws alone.

Max stood back as he shot ice blades at each one of the beasts, but Darcy was closing in on him from behind as Clara wielded her like a weapon.

I turned away from the Nymph I’d been charging down, racing towards Max instead as he was forced to shield himself from Darcy once more.

I barked to let him know I was coming and as shadows poured from her in waves, I leapt forward and he snatched hold of my fur in a move we’d practised a thousand times, his leg swinging over my back as I tore away into the trees.

“Fucking hell,” Max growled, one hand fisting in my fur, his breaths coming heavily as I curved back towards the fight, my mind daggering towards Caleb as I hunted for him and Clara.

They had to tire soon, they’d been fighting with the full force of their Orders for too long. Surely it couldn’t go on. One of them had to give in, I just prayed it was Clara.

I trusted that Caleb could bring that bitch to her knees, but I couldn’t ignore the pinch of fear I had over him facing her alone. But with her speed, we couldn’t easily help. So we had to focus on the Nymphs.

Max sat upright as I raced for a Nymph who was hunting us amongst the trees. He blasted ice at the beast and froze every inch of it solid, making it stumble blindly toward us.

I leapt off of the ground, my jaws outstretched, a snarl in my throat as my teeth clamped down on its head. I bit down with all my might, crunching through ice and bone until it died in my jaws, crashing to the ground beneath me.

I howled as it burst into ash and its blood ran hot and thick down my jaw, a tang of vile bitterness in my mouth.

“Seth – move!” Darcy yelled and I wheeled around just in time to avoid a tendril of shadow shooting towards us from her palms.

Max cast an ice shield and attached it to his arm, using it to deflect the shadows she sent after us.

I yelped as one caught my back leg and tumbled towards the ground, sending him flying from my back with fear rushing up my spine.

Max slammed into a tree and I rolled toward him, unable to stop from the speed I’d been running, my huge weight crushing him beneath me. He grunted in pain and I sprang onto my paws with a whine of concern, licking his face to check he was alright.

“Get out of here, idiot,” he snarled, but I wasn’t going anywhere.

He wheezed as he healed broken ribs and I turned my head to face Darcy as she ran toward us, a Nymph at her back with its blood red eyes set on me and Max.

“Both of you have to run!” Darcy begged, the pain in her eyes clear as she was forced to fight us once more. But I wasn’t going to budge an inch until Max was healed.

His fingers tangled in my fur just as a plume of shadow raced toward us from her outstretched hands and I sprinted away as Max hauled himself onto my back.

A shadow collided with a tree ahead of us and I yelped as it started to fall, ducking my head as I put on a burst of speed to try and make it under before it fell.

I glanced over my shoulder as a Nymph chased after us and I skidded beneath the tree just before it crashed to the earth, the huge trunk taking the monstrous creature to the ground with a sickening crunch.

I turned back to face the fallen Nymph, kicking up dust on the ground and Max slammed a spear of ice into its skull with a violent blow. The Nymph shattered into dust with an echoing screech and I dashed away into the wood, turning my ears left and right as I hunted for Caleb.

Where are you Cal? Show me you’re alright.

A whoosh of air sounded before a Vampire collided with me at full speed, knocking Max from my back and taking his place instead. I kept running for several beats as Clara’s fingernails dug into my flesh, unable to slow down fast enough.

“Yah!” she cried excitedly, her knees driving into my shoulder blades so she could hold on.

I threw myself to the ground, rolling hard and slamming the weight of my head back against her face, making her scream in pain. I leapt back upright in a flash and she shot toward me, her fist slamming into my jaw. I snapped at her in retaliation, lunging and biting, but she moved at the speed of light, evading me as she threw punches that were almost hard enough to break bones.

“Silly puppy,” she taunted, pausing just long enough for me to lunge and sink my teeth into her arm.

I didn’t let go, digging my paws into the earth and tugging on her like a dog fighting for a bone. And this was a bone I was going to rip right from her fucking arm socket.

She screamed in pain, casting a huge blast of shadows at me that threw me away from her as I was forced to let go.

I landed heavily on the ground with pain splintering through me, my paw brushing something soft as I pushed myself upright. I spotted Max’s bag there and shifted fast, yanking out some sweatpants and tugging them on before tearing off into the trees. I needed to buy myself a few moments to heal, padding as silently as a wolf cub into the darkness as I fixed the aching wounds across my body.

“Come out, come out little wolf,” Clara sang then she yelped, the sound of someone hitting her reaching me. “Ah, Caleb Altair – play nice!”

“Fuck you, shadow whore,” he spat and I circled back to help him, adrenaline surging into my blood as I crept behind a tree out of sight and slowly let a vine snake across the ground towards Clara. They were fighting in a blur I could barely register, but they weren’t running for once. And when Vampires weren’t running, they could be caught by sneaky Wolves.

With a flick of my wrist, the vine shot out at the perfect moment, latching around Clara’s ankle and uprooting her so she faceplanted the ground. Caleb didn’t waste a second of the advantage, a spear of wood expanding in his grip, raising it higher to build momentum for the blow.

A huge, rough hand suddenly latched around me from behind and I yelled in rage as I was thrown towards Caleb and the Nymph lurched down to press its probes directly against my heart, its rattle working to seize my magic in my chest. Oh fuck!

“Stop,” Clara snarled at Caleb. “Or the Wolf is dead.”

Terror took hold of me and I saw my death shining way too clearly in front of my eyes. Cal snarled, looking to me with his fangs bared and fear in his gaze.

“Stab her, Cal!” I demanded, but he tossed the spear aside, stepping back with his gaze fixed firmly on me.

Clara sprang to her feet, taking a bow. “Finish them!” she cried then shot away into the trees.

The probes sliced into my chest and I raised my hands with a cry of anger and pain, summoning the little magic I could reach to fight back. Before my power could escape my body, Caleb leapt onto the Nymph’s back, biting straight into its bark-like throat and tearing at it with a barbarity that had my heart pounding.

The Nymph stumbled away from me with a wild shriek as Caleb ripped its throat out like an animal. I got to my feet and ran forward to help, casting a spear into my hand and ramming it into the Nymph’s chest with a grunt of effort. It tumbled away into ash and Caleb hit the ground in front of me, pale and shaken, his mouth smeared with blood.

I reached out to wipe the vile black substance away from his lips and his eyes drilled into mine for two endless heartbeats.

“Help!” Max cried and we both turned and ran.