Page 19 of Shifters Unifying

I released the earth beneath me and stood. Bit by bit, my power faded, until the balefire disappeared altogether, leaving only the after images burned into any retinas which had lingered on it a second too long.

When the last had finally disappeared, Giselda’s cackling laughter cut through the night. She crowed as though she’d always known I would do something rash.

“None will die here today.” It had grown so quiet, I no longer had to yell my commands, and I crouched to catch my breath. “Please bring the injured here. Line them up beside me, and I will heal them.”

Logan padded nearer and placed his hand on my shoulder. “I didn’t know you knew how to create balefire.”

“I think I’ve been working on understanding it since Acheron used it on you,” I murmured and glanced over my shoulder at him. “Maybe I couldn’t stand the thought of Acheron being able to do something I couldn’t.”

“We were taught it was a dark magic,” Olivia breathed.

I shrugged. “I don’t know enough to know if it is or not, but it did what I needed it to do, and I don’t think I’m made of dark magic.”

Olivia shook her head. “No, I wouldn’t say you are.”

“Aye,” Jasper agreed.

“So maybe my balefire doesn’t come from the same place his does.” Destructive dark magic wasn’t something I wanted, and so much of what I did as this new version of myself was instinctual.

Logan helped me to my feet. “Are you well?”

“Tired, but that’s all.”

He ducked close to my ear, and his breath stirred my hair. “Maybe you shouldn’t heal them. At least not right now.”

“No, it’s my duty, and I’ve already offered.” His cheek felt rough beneath my palm, and he leaned into my caress. “I’ll be fine.”

The cat pride brought three shifters for me to heal, and the fox clan brought four. Jasper directed them on how to position them, so I would have easy access. They laid each out, gently positioning them in a line. None fought with their neighbor. Seven shifters equalized by their injuries.

I knelt beside the first and pressed my hands to his chest. A surge of power circled me, and I sent the force into this shifter who needed my help.

Healing. Healing. Healing…I pictured the cells knitting together.

His eyes went wide, and he convulsed under my palms. “Oof.”

“Easy,” I murmured. “This might take your breath away.”

Each gash zipped closed, slowly at first. Then every wound snapped closed, and the beginnings of his bruises disappeared. Within three heartbeats, I’d finished.

He gasped and coughed and retched, turning away, his face awash in a shimmer of multi-color magic. His last three meals spread over the ground, and he wiped his mouth. “Feck. Ye ain’t kidding.”

I moved onto the next—a woman, and the next, with similar results. More vomit wound up as fertilizer on the forest floor. The only one who didn’t lose their lunch was the final shifter—a young man.

His expression turned sheepish, and he shrugged. “I can delve, and I heal a bit. Maybe it doesn’t turn my stomach as much as the others.”

Logan helped me to my feet once more. “You should rest now.”

“Not until I work out the dispute between Tossle and Giselda.” My wave to Giselda elicited a glare from Tossle. “Your turn!”

Giselda snorted. “As you say.”

“And I’ll demand my turn as well,” Tossle yowled.

“Want me to come with you?” Logan asked.

“No need.” I made my way toward the older vixen and stopped beside her. “Giselda, may I speak to you in private?”

She leaned on her stick. “I won’t go.”