Feral Magic

and Vixin knew. Zak wasn't running without them.
She took a breath and followed Zak back into the fray.
Something exploded to their right and Vixin ducked but Zak didn't stop. It wasn't until she saw Sam that she understood.
Fear crawled down her spine as she took in the numbers. Most possessed some sort of magic and they were converging upon Sam, rallying their strength while hers was depleting. Failing.
Vixin tugged at the sluggish roots beneath her feet and used all her strength to keep the men from reaching Zak as he plunged his knife into the side of an unsuspecting victim. He grabbed his friend’s wrist, and charged back toward her, but an air current ripped the two apart.
Sam skidded across the ground beyond her reach and drew his blade to face an oncoming assailant. Zak collided with the earth at her feet, knocking the wind from his chest.
Vixin’s heart sank as she gave Sam one final glance. Fire and ice raced toward her and Zak in a cruel, twisted current. She dug deep, and with a desperate scream, Vixin harnessed every last drop of magical energy pulsing beneath her skin. It shot from the ground, layering them in a cocoon of vines and thorns.
Her body screamed in agony, every cell feeling as though it were on fire. Zak gasped and Vixin hit her knees. Sweat poured down her face and every breath felt like razor blades digging through her chest, but she couldn’t let up. Not until—Zak placed one hand on the ground and ice spread over the grass and up the circular structure guarding them.
Their enemies hit again, and again, and again. The structure groaned and Zak gritted his teeth.
“The right,” her voice cracked, but Vixin shouted again, “Hit the right.”
Zak didn’t hesitate. He blasted a hole right through her structure, grabbed her wrist, and sprinted from the camp as fast as their legs could carry them.
Two sentinels raised their bows, but water shoved them from the roof before they could fire.
She didn’t know how many made it out and her heart hurt for those left behind but when Zak hesitated, she grabbed his shirt and shoved him toward the safety of the trees.
He didn’t turn back after that, but the look on his face told her of his longing to return. To help his friends likely still screaming. They’d give away his name, of that she was certain. None of them were cut out for torture and why would they be? They were normal people. People born in a time where survival wasn’t necessary. She was lucky to have a parent who taught her such skills, but why? Why was she put in a situation like this? In a place where she had to fight? Where innocents died.
Black specs swam across her vision and Vixin cursed. She’d overused her magic, forgotten about self-preservation. Their enemies would pursue them, and she didn’t even have the strength to keep running. She needed a place to hide. Somewhere safe. If they caught her…
The trees filtered by, the noise fading as they bolted through the forest. Her eyes scanned the area for anything. A burrow. An animal hole. A ditch. But she couldn’t focus.
Someone said something, but their voice was muddled, and she turned to Zak’s concerned face. His lips moved again, but somehow she couldn’t understand him.
A safe place.
Her gaze swept over the blurring landscape.
A safe place.
Vixin fell right into Zak’s arms.

Chapter Seven
A fire crackled, shifting and twisting its way through the dark, blissful corners of her subconscious. Vixin balked at the noise and light, fighting to escape, but it yanked her right back into a painful waking world.
She groaned and a familiar face blocked out the fire a second later. “Hey.” Thankfully his voice was soft, almost a whisper, which either meant they were still in danger or others were sleeping. “Easy does it.” Zak assisted her to a seated position.
She’d been exhausted before, pushing her body to its limits just to see how far it could go, but this...this was something different. A new level that made not sleeping for three days feel like a walk in the park.
“Are we safe?” Her voice cracked and Zak handed her a waterskin. She downed half the contents before he responded.
“Relatively. At least for the moment.” Comforting. Vixin counted the heads around her. Then counted again. Twelve. Her and Zak made Fourteen. Less than half had made it out.
A strangled sob met her ears and Zak dipped his head. “I’m sorry. If I would have listened to you…” She didn’t comment. Not everyone needed a verbal reprimand after a mistake, sometimes the consequences were enough. Not that she had much room to talk.
“Thank you,” Zak continued. “If you hadn’t come for us…”
Her heart pounded at the mere thought. “I couldn’t just leave you.” Cheesy maybe, but the truth.
His lips lifted a little, but she’d hardly call it a smile. Vixin finally let herself look at their faces. Anton and Blitz were missing. As was Sam…
“We should head to the rendezvous point,” someone said. “There’s still a chance.”
“Rendezvous point?”
Zak sighed. “We set up a place, just in case we ever got separated.” He glanced at the faces around them, seeming to take in their exhausted state. “We need somewhere to lay low anyway.”
A cry of pain escaped Vixin’s lips as Zak helped her stand, every joint feeling as though it’d been torn from the socket and relocated. Zak kept one arm around her back to keep her steady and she didn’t protest.
They were hungry, tired, pitiful in every sense of the word as they trudged through the woods, taking careful measures to remain hidden. None of them would survive a second aggressive encounter.
Her strength returned with each step and Vixin slowly carried her own weight.