Page 51 of His Blazing Witch (The Silver City #3)

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Don't play pretend," chuckles Ravena. "Someone's been trying to play naughty ahead of us..."

This time, Ayesha prepares another fireball in a split second, and I get ready. Can I receive it like she just did with mine? However, much to my surprise, she actually pivots her upper body at the last second, and sends it flying without any restraint or hesitation toward Ravena. The Earth Witch has to jump to the side to avoid it, and when she raises her head, her confident expression is definitely gone.

"How dare you...!" she yells.

"I did warn you to fuck off," shrugs Ayesha.

She has another fireball dancing on her fingers, and she's obviously ready to hit again. Ravena glares at her, then at me, but we all know she won't win anything by staying around. She starts stepping back, cautious, and quickly disappears between the trees. I frown, and glare at Ayesha.

"I wasn't done talking with her," I growl.

"Oh, as if she was going to reveal anything. That selfish bitch is only good at playing around and using others' weaknesses, she can't do shit upfront... You, cutie pie, look like more of a straight-forward kind of gal."

This time, she puts her hands close together, and increases her fire.

"What's your problem?!" I growl, already annoyed at this crazy one.

"Oh, come on, I just want to play a little. Test how good my new little witch sister is..."

She should find another playmate, I don't want to play with her! However, I don't have a choice. Ayesha's about to send another damn purple fireball, and if I don't stop it, it might really cause some serious damage. She plays with it like a ball in her hands, smiling. She's really testing me.

¨ Mara 〃

¨ Stay back, and run if I tell you to. 〃

Liam doesn't have time to protest. The purple ball flies my way and I have just enough time to use my hands to receive it, as she did. I didn't even think. I extended my hand, and with all my might, lit another fireball to receive it. The two make an awful crackling noise as soon as they meet. It lasts for a few seconds, then her fire disappears, and I can breathe. I wasn't as efficient as her, but I still managed to stop her attack, somehow...

I'm far from okay, though. I may have gotten better, but I did not expect to have to fight a witch now, not so soon. My heartbeat increases, the adrenaline rushing through my veins. This isn't just a friendly match, I know she's probably just waiting to get rid of me to take Silver City. I can't afford to lose or even be injured, there are two more lurking around!

She chuckles, and lights up her hands.

"Alright, someone's a fast learner!"

Right after that, she sends more purple-ish fires, and I have to stop them once again using mine. It's nerve-wracking. I have to find out where they will land, act fast, and yet stay as composed as possible to keep control over my own fire, making sure it will be big enough to withstand hers. It's like trying to stop balls while juggling with my own. Moreover, she doesn't just stop there. Right after I've blocked those, she sends another two, and another, and another. She keeps sending them, in pairs, making me completely follow her rhythm. The speed at which she produces them is terrifying. The whole forest could be burnt down if I wasn't there to receive it!

"Come on, show me what you got!"

Instead of two, she suddenly joins her hands again to send another fireball, even bigger than the previous two. Moreover, this one takes a dramatic blue color, and gets larger and larger. What the heck is that?!

I prepare myself, but I can't grow my fire that much or fast enough, and I don't even know what I'm about to block! She smiles like a demon, her black eyes shining with confidence. Suddenly, she throws it, and I change at the last minute. I split my fire, and instead of blocking it with my own fireball, I cover my hands with my fire, and receive it like a cannonball.

My feet slide in the mud, but I hold on. I feel the heat on my fingers, but I don't waver. I'm holding my fingers like hooks to stop it, and add some pressure to crush it. I keep pushing and pushing, until it explodes in my hands.

"...Not bad, for a young one," she chuckles. "Let's see how you do when it's not so simple..."

What the hell does she mean, not so simple? My wolf growls and wants me to shape-shift, but now's not the time. Ayesha smiles and moves her finger. A magic circle appears in the air, slowly and steadily getting bigger and more complex. The runes are appearing in the air so fast, traced by her fire, I can't even keep up. My eyes go left and right, trying to decipher her circle, but she keeps smiling.

"Come on... Are you going to let me finish?"

I glare at her and forget that stupid circle, preparing my fire instead. If I can just give her one big blow, just one... I make it bigger and bigger between my hands, ready to strike.

¨ Mara, let me attack her! 〃

¨ No, Liam, stay behind me, I don't know what she's preparing! 〃

Ayesha isn't looking, she's smiling and focusing on her magic circle. I don't like that look in her eyes, it can't mean anything good! I hurry to prepare my fire. It doesn't need to be precise, I just need one blow...

"You're so slow," she laughs as she glances up.

That's it. I growl furiously and throw it.

She raises her magic circle like a shield in front of her, and just from the look in her eyes, I immediately know. She tricked me. I fucked up. I just feel it.

My fire hits her magic circle at an impressive speed, but it doesn't do any damage. Nothing at all. I frown, confused, as her magic circle vanishes with my fire. She chuckles again.

"Nice little fire, baby witch. However, you should be careful where you aim, right?"

I know from her expression. It's...

A loud ruckus breaks behind us. I blink, as a huge fireball suddenly hits Silver City. I see her magic circle appear in the sky above the tall buildings, and my very own fireball, with red and pink, suddenly shoots down in a flash of light.

"Holy shit..."

"Nice shot," she chuckles. "Oh, sorry, did you mean that for me?"

I can't even believe this is happening. My own fire attacking Silver City, my city, the one place I wanted to protect! This is a nightmare! I can't swallow what just happened... She redirected my fire above the buildings, and I didn't have time to do a thing about it. I gasp, unable to control the damage that has already been done. I didn't even have a chance to react, let alone stop it!

¨ Mara, it landed in one of the already burnt areas, there were probably no victims 〃

"You can't be sure of that!" I yell, forgetting to use the mind-link.

Liam seems shocked by my reaction, but I'm so furious right now, to the point that I'm even crying. These aren't tears of sorrow, but of frustration. I turn to Ayesha, with that naughty smile on her lips as if she had just taken a toy from a four-year-old. She shrugs.

"You should stop it if you don't like it, little sister."

"Don't you fucking call me that," I growl.

"So?" she asks, warming up another ball of fire in her hands.

I prepare mine, but this time, I don't restrain myself; I shoot right away, one after the other. Iˇm so furious that I don't dare to slow down for a second. Ayesha drops her smile. She has to focus to keep up, and either catches my fireballs or sends hers back. I see her step back, again and again, overwhelmed. I keep firing, my anger fueling each of my fireballs.

"Careful," she yells between two catches.

Careful? Careful of what, is she going to fucking burn my city down in flames if I don't stop? I have no plans to stop until I get rid of that arrogant bitch! I keep firing, literally, stepping closer and winning more ground on her. Ayesha tries to keep up, and at some point, it looks like she gets used to my frantic rhythm. She stops grimacing and instead of stopping them, starts grabbing my fireballs one after another and adds them to a much larger one she's building. I don't like that either! The fire in her hands is clearly a mix of mine and hers now! I stop sending fireballs, as it's obvious that one's going to come in my direction sooner or later...

"What?" she smiles. "Aren't you going to try and catch it?"

Moon Goddess, does she think she's training some dog or something?! However, to my surprise, she glances at the sky. It's very brief, but it gives me a second to realize what she's about to do. I'm not her target!

She chuckles, and just as our eyes meet again, she suddenly throws it into the air. I see the fireball start to make an arch above us, but this time, I won't let it hit my home. I raise my arms, and with all my focus, I work my inner fire to call my fire back to me. All of it, as much as I can. It's a new sensation, like claws in my stomach, trying to pull toward that gigantic new fireball. It's calling it back, but I'm pulled toward it too. My inner flame gets more and more unstable, growing to answer the strength of the pull. I keep my arms in the air, my fingers so tense it hurts, and I don't stop trying to call it back. It's tiring, horribly tiring, as it calls for all the strength I can gather, physically and mentally. I didnˇt even take a step, but I feel my feet dragging in the mud as my whole body simply moves toward the fireball like a damn magnet.

"Mara!" yells Liam.

"I... can... do this..." I growl, pearls of sweat running down my temples and my chin.

I close my eyes, and try to pull harder, but I hear a sudden burst behind me. Something hits my back, and a weight falls right behind my legs. Oh, Moon Goddess, no, no... I dare to glance over my shoulder, and I see Liam. Liam, on the ground, his wolf form reeking of something burnt.

"Liam!" I scream.

¨ I'm... okay 〃

Yeah, right, he's obviously not! He tries to get up, but he's burnt, he's severely burnt! I can smell his burnt fur all over, it's horrible. I feel my tears start again, but I can't let go. Not until I've finished absorbing that fireball...

"Damn, I liked that wolf. Why did he have to do that? Does he really like you or what?"

I glare at Ayesha over my shoulder. I want to slap the hell out of her face for the look she is giving Liam. I'm so going to end her once I'm done here! I close my eyes, and mobilize all of my inner fire to get that flame back. This is my fire she used, my magic, my powers. You'd better come down, you damn flames!

Finally, it obeys. Her share of purple fire seems to evaporate, and I see the red flames coming back to me.

"Oh... You're really a fast learner..." she whispers.

I don't care about the impressed tone in her voice. I'd rather have her scared and get the hell out of here! I finish dragging the humongous fireball close to me, but I have to take a step over Liam to protect him.

¨ Stay behind me, Liam, and down! 〃

¨ I'm okay! 〃

Moon Goddess, I hate that he says he's fine when I can literally smell his injury, the smell of burnt flesh and fur, from where I stand. I know my mate's about as stubborn as I am, but I won't have it. This is my fight, my responsibility! Ayesha smiles, and prepares her fire again, her hands glowing with purple flames. She's ready, and I don't care either way. I just throw my large fireball at her, and she barely stops it with her hands, her feet sliding in the mud from the force of it. However, she still manages to completely dissipate it in her hands, and once again, we go back to exchanging fireballs for several minutes.

After a little while, though, my anger lessens a bit, enough to realize that she's merely toying with me. From her skills earlier, she shouldn't just be playing with fireballs. We haven't even used magic circles, or is it that neither of us have given the other the time? I can't tell. This is my first time fighting another witch, and it's so obvious I'm a damn newbie... I keep holding my ground, though, and the fact that Liam is lying down right behind me gives me more strength. I am not letting her get any closer to him, or to Silver City. In fact, we've moved a few steps deeper into the forest, and more trees have gotten burn marks from our exchanges. It's a miracle of some sort that we're not in the middle of a complete forest fire yet.

"Alright," she sighs. "You're really starting to get annoying, little one. I didn't plan to spend that much time on you..."

What does that mean? Does she have something else planned? Is it related to her accomplice Professor Vutha? Moon Goddess, I hope I didn't send Kelsi and Ben into something even more dangerous... I throw another fireball, and I'm now getting very confident with them, I can curve my shots, and call them back too. I throw another one; however, I miss her head by at least two inches. She smiles, but I did it on purpose. Just as she gets ready to fire, I call back my fireball, and it suddenly hits her from behind.

Ayesha is thrown forward, and shouts in anger or pain.

"You bitch! That hurts!"

"Does it?" I growl.

Damn, she deserved that one. She glares at me and gets back on her feet just as quickly. She seems really furious now, her eyes glaring at me, and her fire strangely changes to bluer shade.

"You little pest..."

She starts preparing more fire, it seems she's done with mere training or whatever the reason she was going easy on me for. I get ready to receive it, but to my surprise, I see runes appearing in her fireball right before she throws it. Wait, how does she?

I don't have time to wonder. I receive the first fireball, and it literally explodes as it reaches my hand. I scream. It hurts so fucking much! The flames exploded like a hundred little shards, and my hand gets burned for real by her fire. I learned my lesson. When the next one arrives, I dodge it, and it explodes right above me. Holy Moon Goddess!

"Lesson number two," she chuckles. "A surprise is always nice!"

She throws more of her trapped fireballs, but I won't stand by. If I don't put everything I learned with little Mara into practice now, I may as well have learned absolutely nothing. I move my hands symmetrically, quickly, and when she launches the next ones, I raise my magic circle like a shield in front of me. Her fireball explodes, but this time, I stopped it. Moreover, I won't just stand still. I erase the circle, and move immediately to create my own fireballs, and just like Ayesha did, I incorporate some runes before throwing them. Her eyes grow wide, but just like me, she uses a quick magic circle like a shield, and they almost explode in her face, forcing her to retreat a bit.

"So you are really that good..." she chuckles behind her shield.

I glare. I'm not playing, and I don't need her validation either.

"Get the hell out of my city."

"No," she retorts immediately.

Then I won't restrain myself. Not that I was before, but...

We keep exchanging fireballs, most containing runes that make them explode or are made to weaken the other's magic circle, but as of now, I realize I've gotten to her level. Ayesha looks annoyed, but she isn't bragging, so I guess there isn't anything else she can come up with to stop me. I knew it... She looks too young to know a lot of tricks.

However, I won't settle with a status quo. I relentlessly attack her, and make her retreat farther and farther away from Liam and Silver City.

"You little pest..." she finally groans after a particularly violent attack of mine that weakened her shield and injured her forearm.

"You can go find another city!" I yell, sending another fireball.

However, this time, she decides to use the same magic circle, and my fire rebounds on it, coming back to me. I didn't even realize we had gotten so close, with me pushing constantly for more ground and her unwilling to back off. I see my own fire coming back, and cover my eyes, but the blow throws me back a few steps, and I fall on all fours. Damn it, I think I sprained my wrist...

"You stubborn little one..." she sighs.

This stubborn little one isn't done, far from it. Even down on my knees, I prepare another fireball and send it her way, preventing her from approaching me. From the smell, I suddenly realize a nearby tree may have caught fire. Shit. I get back up, trying not to show that my wrist is injured.

"You should stay down," she warns me.

There's no smile in her eyes anymore, we're done playing. I chuckle.

"You can dream on."

I prepare another magic circle. I'm... tired. I didn't realize before how fast and recklessly I was depleting my magic. I should have shape-shifted earlier. Now it's too late, and my wolf is furious. I wanted to fight as a wolf, but she left me no time to shape-shift, and I'm not even familiar with that yet. I was just so focused on Liam and protecting Silver City... She throws one fireball after another, and I feel my shield painfully taking the hits. It's like a violent shock each time one hits, and she's set on not leaving me any type of rest. She manages her power better than me, and when I try to prepare another fireball, I just end up with one that's no bigger than an egg.

"That's it?" She laughs. "Someone's out of magic?"

I glare at her. She may be laughing, but she can't have that much left either. We've been at it for a very long time, and neither of us are in our best element, either, surrounded by trees and humidity. If it was dry and hot, things may have been different, but for now...

I take a deep breath. I do have one crazy idea, but... I step closer to her, and she tilts her head.

"What? You're going to throw one last?" she chuckles.

I smile. Oh, no, I'm somewhat crazier than that... I suddenly charge, running like crazy her way, and I hit her hard with my magic circle; I see the shock in her eyes as we both fall on the ground. The fall is rough as we roll on the mud and grass down a little hill. Ayesha didn't expect a physical attack, and that was my best shot... I try to get back up as fast as I can, but I'm... not well. I don't know if I hit my head, but I just... I get on all fours, but I don't feel like my body will get up. I hear her chuckle.

"What is it? The little witch has given all she can? You're too young. You should have"

She suddenly stops, and I hear it too.

The sound of a deep, furious, and threatening growl. Just as Ayesha turns her head, her eyes wide open in panic, something black jumps on her. I hear her scream and for a few seconds, it's a violent scene of fighting in front of me. Furious growls, the sound of bones breaking, and the witch trying to fight the wolves off in despair.

"Mara!"

I turn my head, confused, and Nora runs to me, hugging me out of the blue.

"W-what?"

"It's alright, it's alright. Are you hurt? Oh, you are... Okay, breathe. Let me do this..."

I don't know what's happening. Nora helps me lie back down on the grass, and all I can hear is the furious fight right next to us. Ayesha screams again, but those have to be the most terrifying growls ever, even for me. However, surprisingly, the wolves suddenly retreat, and as Nora helps me sit up gently, Selena walks onto the scene.

"P-please..." whimpers Ayesha, terrified of her.

Yet, Selena is in her human form, in a denim outfit, and she crouches down to the witch's height. She grabs her coat and her wrist.

"She may be young," she says, "however, she's certainly not alone."

Then, I hear the sound of a bone breaking, but a hand gets in front of my eyes. Ayesha screams again.

"Stop! Stop!"

"This way, you won't try to pull another one of your fucking spells on us. If you heal those wrists back I'll break them again. Are we clear?"

"W-w-who are you?"

Selena smiles.

"Let's just say you're not our first witch. I understand you need to move your arms and hands or whatever to do any kind of spells, so unless you want us to damage yours some more, you'd better stay down and answer our questions."

As if to add to her words, the two black wolves on either side of her growl loudly as a warning. I know who those two are, but...

"Liam?" I mutter to Nora. "Where is Liam...?"

"He's fine. Don't you feel him? Mara, calm down, he's alright. I healed him before I came to you."