Page 79 of Shrouded in the Dark

The others slowly moved. The rogue was smart enough not to glance away from me. If he did, I’d be on his neck in no time. He just snarled loudly as they started to surround him. Jasper waited next to Cody, looking for the time where he could get behind him.

We need to rip his head off. Focus on the muscles in his legs, Cody. I want to make him immobile. Jasper, you know what to do. Axel, distract him as you hurt him. Make him hurt!

Just like that, we all moved as one. The rogue howled as he swung out his right arm, but Jasper was too quick to get caught. He bounded around him as Cody lunged for his legs. I lunged at him, managing to sink my teeth into his forearm as he’d pulled back to swing at Axel or Cody.

Red filled my vision. I held on, clamping down through this rogue’s arm. My teeth easily went through the bones. My tiger pushed forward, he wanted at this thing that had hurt our girl and bear. I let him.

It seemed like a blur as my tiger shook the rogue’s arm, wrenching it out of the shoulder socket. The rogue roared as Jasper appeared on his back, his smaller, but still deadly fangs, sank into the back of his neck. As my tiger went to rip his arm off of his body completely, there was a pulse of power.

I found myself thrown across the room, smacking my head into the kitchen island. My tiger roared but relinquished his control to me so I could find out what the hell had just happened. The others had been thrown around as well. They were coming to their feet, shaking their heads.

What the hell was that? It’s the second time that he’s done that to me.Axel sounded winded.

Magic. This fucker has magic.Jasper hissed softly.

That changed things. It explained things as well.

As we’d been getting up again, the rogue had changed back to his human form. He smirked at us as he took the arm that was barely being held up with muscle, jerked it up into his shoulder, and a flash of white light occurred. He moved his arm, it was healed.

Alright. This means we need to take him out as one. No making him suffer. We don’t know the extent of his powers. It’ll be safer for us, and faster, if we just get his head now.

I growled as the man took a step.

“You stupid fucks. This is my territory. You ruined my revenge plan. Well, at least I was able to kill that fucking bitch. I wanted to enjoy it but she locked herself where I can’t get her. So, I’ll just kill you assholes the way I wanted to kill her.” His eyes were filled with madness.

Now.

I dove at him again. The fucker laughed as he shifted. He was even bigger.

Wait!Jasper’s shout inside my head made me roll to the left right before I made contact with the rogue.He’s bigger! I think he’s losing control of his magic.

I jumped to the left to avoid the claws of the rogue.

Ok, what does that mean for us?Cody was getting ready to jump into the fight.

Seth, I think if we keep making him use his magic, he’ll eventually overload. When he does, he’ll be vulnerable. Easier to kill.

Let me make sure I have this right.Claws raked my left side and my snarl rang across the room.You want us to play cat and mouse? Why?

The rogue caught Cody in the stomach as he tried to attack him. Power flared again as he threw Cody into the kitchen. He gave a yip of pain as he crashed into the sink, breaking it.

Because of that.Jasper was at Cody’s side to check him.If we can get him to use his powers, keep track right as he uses them, we can avoid taking more damage.

The rogue had turned to face me again. We were only a foot apart as we began to circle each other. His right shoulder started to bulge as it grew closer in size to the left.

Alright. You guys heard our fox. Try to get him to use his power. Dodge the magic attack. Do not let him escape.

Agreement ran through the connection. The new plan was to fuck with him. I didn’t like that we had to waste time. I grudgingly agreed with Jasper, though. If his magic healed every wound we gave him, this was probably the best way.

Axel stood on his hind legs, towering over the rogue. He swiped his claws at the rogue, making a show of it with how slow he swung. The pulse of power went through the room again. Axel dropped to his side, rolling out of the way as the magic made the wall crack.

It went on like this. We’d taunt him, get him to use his magic, we’d dodge or get hit, if we weren’t fast enough, and he’d grow again. He was slowing down as he grew.

A few more times should do it.

The rogue threw his head back and howled. I wasn’t going to wait. This was it. His neck was exposed as he howled out his fury.

I moved faster than I’d ever moved. My jaw crushed the rogue's throat, my teeth slicing through his muscles like they were butter. I used all of my strength to rip through his throat. His larynx shattered as my jaws snapped shut. There was a weak pulse of power but the only thing that happened was the rogue fell backward. His body began to spasm under my paws as I slammed them onto his chest, my claws digging into his skin. He changed back into his human form. His lips moved as he struggled to speak. That was a little hard to do with a torn out larynx.