Page 237 of Pixie Problems

The Hunt wanted Aspen, and I was the only thing holding them off. Me and my shadow had to hold out. We needed to stop these things, but I couldn't use my usual tricks. Keir's blast - or attempt at a shield? - had given me a little power, but it wouldn't last forever. I needed to be smart about this. I had to make every bit of darkness count. I had to...

The huntress before me kicked at my feet, interrupting my thoughts. I stumbled, just for a blast of ice to fly past my face, slamming into her. The huntress staggered back, giving me a chance, so I took it. Grabbing my sword with both hands, I swung as hard as I could, but the angle was bad. The flat of the blade hit, forcing a huff from her mouth and dropping her into the grass.

"Torian, get your ass over here!" I roared.

But I didn't get an answer. I barely had time to turn and get my sword up before the hunter attacking my shadow came at me. Yet the moment I focused on it, my shadow darted off, lunging at the woman I'd been fighting a moment before.

Ok, I could do this. We also had to keep backing up, because our friends were that way. My zez always said the goal was to keep our feet moving, keep our minds going, and get to backup. So blocking and parrying more than anything else, I retreated before the grey monster before me.

"Aspen, keep going," I panted, feeling my arms burn with the exertion.

Then she screamed. I kicked out at the man before me and dared to look back, only to see another three hunters rushing towards us. Fuck, this was bad. It was so damned bad, and I could barely handle one of these things, let alonefive!

"Torian!" Aspen screamed.

"Hit her!" he yelled back. "Rain, remove them!"

Aspen turned and shot a string of the bluest flowers at me, and Ifelt the darkness surging. "Don't waste it!" I snapped. "Aspen, you're as strong as me!"

"I'm not the main character," she muttered, citing something her and her brother had argued about after the last Hunt attack. "I'm not the point of this! I don't want any of this!"

"Don't think they care," I pointed out. "And right now, Aspen, I need you to keep a few of these off us. Ineedyou, Aspen!"

"Make a tornado!" she begged.

I blocked the next hunter to rush in, and managed to get out, "That took emptying both of you. Aspen, I can't!"

Brightness flared behind me, proof she was fighting back. "I don't know what to do!"

"Make it up!"

More light burst, looking like strobes with the intensity of them. The world slowed, but I pushed myself to move faster. The moments of darkness in between made me think night had fully hit, but I didn't get the chance to reach for it. The hunters were not about to give me a chance.

I bashed the face of the one before me, and grey began to ooze from the gash I'd left behind. Turning, I slashed at the huntress again, trying to gain a little space. She jumped back, so I swung at the man one more time, only to see the cut I'd given him mere seconds ago was almost completely healed!

Then blackness darted in front of my face and another hunter crashed to the ground. I hacked at the now-unwounded man before checking - to find Jack pecking and clawing at a hunter's face. The huntress immediately rushed in.

"No!" I yelled, grabbing the darkness around her and using it to fling her as far back as I could.

And the shadows obeyed. I didn't get the chance to think about that, though, because the other hunter punched me in the side of the head.

My world spun. My body turned. I caught myself in time to get my sword up again, but I'd seen Aspen throwing ice and lashing out with vines at the rest of this group. Yeah, she was fighting like a badass, but I needed to stop this - and now!

So I forced out the kind of battle cry which should strike fear in the enemy, turned, and shoved myself right into the hunter's face. My free hand caught the back of his neck. The other arm shoved, pushing my blade right into his gut. Then I forced the two together, pulling with one arm while pushing with the other, and roaring with everything I had.

The stone on my leather cuff flashed. Blacklight blindedme for a moment before my eyes could adjust. Yet the moment it was gone, I found my face right up in the hunter's.

He groaned, making the first real sound I'd heard from a hunter. His eyes snapped to mine, the greyness clearing quickly to reveal his irises were blue. Worse, his skin was shifting, changing, and that unnatural grey color was simply dissolving.

The warmth trickling over my hand made me look down. Blood. That was red, and it was real blood! There was nothing grey about it.

Chapter Seventy

KEIR

We'd barely managed to get everyone inside and the gate closed before the mist had hit, quickly cutting us off from each other. As people yelled, it sounded like their voices bounced around in this unnatural fog. I'd managed to send some magic at Rain, but I had no clue if it had even worked, yet the shadow armor now covering both me and Hawke proved she was still up and clearly being a badass.

"We need weapons," Hawke said, the pair of us moving together as we tried to aim towards Rain.