Feral Magic

“Stop!” No one listened. “Zak, I said stop!”
He swiveled, his body still moving toward the creatures as he gave her a frantic, pleading look. Those around him paused, glancing between her and their leader.
Vixin knelt, her arms shaking as she dug her fingers into the dirt. Her magic fanned out, seeking the seeds she’d buried around the perimeter. If their comrades could just get over that invisible line…
Another beast leapt through the air, sinking its teeth into their friend’s shoulder. His screams flooded her heart with a heaviness Vixin wasn’t sure she could bear.
Zak started running again, but Vixin shouted, “Zak, wait!”
“I can’t just let them—”
“Trust me!”
His look of helplessness tore through her like a hot blade. It was the same look he’d given her the day he thought she’d be tortured. His desperate gaze kept shooting between her and the two men still running for their lives.
They were tired. Slowing, but Vixin willed them on.
Just a little further.
She gripped the blades of grass in a fist.
Come on, a little further.
Almost.
Their feet crossed the line and Vixin’s magic ripped from the ground like a wild beast ready to devour its prey. Vines plunged into the creatures still charging and their howls of rippling pain echoed as beast after beast impaled themselves upon thorns as large as her arm.
Vixin screamed, letting her rage soak into the earth. Her magic grew in a wide arch, catching those attempting to circle around her structure. She kept pulling, shifting the plants this way and that.
This was her home.
This was her family.
And she’d be damned if she let this world take them away from her.
Ice spread across the ground, carving a path for his friends as it sailed toward the few creatures she’d missed. Vixin didn’t let up and their magic collided with the creatures together, blood dripping from both vine and ice.
One of their companions tripped, but Vixin wrapped them in a thorny embrace before the creatures could claim them. Zak’s magic slammed through two beasts before crawling along her wall to solidify the barrier.
Their comrades who’d been silent until now charged into the fray. Their magic wasn’t as strong, but with pinpointed accuracy they could eliminate the remaining threats.
And they did.
Silence stretched across the field and a soft whine started somewhere within the thorns. She relished in its suffering, whatever it was.
Vixin’s breathing turned short and shallow. Blood pulsed in her ears as she stood in the aftermath. Her eyes traced the long wall of thorns and her body trembled.
Bodies hung in the air like trophies, their blood either dripping to the earth, or rolling down near-translucent spikes of ice.
Zak used the hilt of his sword to break through the sphere guarding their friends. They emerged, shaken but safe.
Her breath still wouldn’t calm. Her body wouldn’t stop shaking.
“Are you hurt?” Sam stood a few paces away, his brows scrunched together as he looked her over. “Vixin, can—”

Chapter Nine
Warmth flooded her body. Too much warmth. And her bones ached so deep she thought she could feel it in her very soul. It was a part of her that hadn’t existed before this world. This terrible, wretched, confusing world.
Vixin opened her eyes to a starry void. A fire crackled to her left and Zak sat against the tree to her right. He gazed into the night, looking just as exhausted as she felt.
She shifted to sit up and Zak was there before she could protest. “Easy does it.”
Blood rushed through her head and she leaned against him until the dizzy spell passed. “I’m all right.”
“That’s the second time you’ve passed out on me. Not sure that counts as all right.”
“I just pushed it too far. Again.” She pressed a finger to her temple, trying to rub away the pounding. “I’m sorry, I wish I could have done something sooner.”
“Don’t be sorry. You saved two men, along with the rest of us.”
Vixin examined the faces surrounding them. Six in total, all circled around the fire. “Maybe we should head up, it’d be safer.”
Zak nodded and helped her stand. Her legs trembled, but Zak held her tight, tighter than he ever had. He nodded to someone and vines wrapped around their torsos. It was strange to be lifted by magic that wasn’t your own.
She reached inward and hissed when her magic bit back.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, just sore.”
“Do I need to get Sam?”
Vixin shook her head. “Just take me somewhere quiet.”
Zak nodded and kept his arm around her as they hobbled down the pathway. Vixin kept her eyes glued to the ground, afraid she’d find someone with enough sorrow in their eyes to reignite her own.
Vixin hardly noticed where they walked until Zak turned into his home. He led her to the small couch she’d constructed days ago and sat her down before starting a fire in the opposite corner.
He didn’t say much, and part of Vixin wondered if Zak wanted her around right now. “Did you,” she paused, almost afraid to ask. “Did you ever lose anyone before I came along?”
The fire ignited and he threw in some kindling. “One, but it wasn’t anyone’s fault.” She waited, the small fire growing in its stone hearth. “He took his own life. It happened after we saw our first horde of monsters and barely escaped. The fear of being eaten alive consumed him and we found him with his wrists slit the following morning.”
Zak took a breath. “None of this is your fault. We knew the risks when we started, we just never thought… it’s hard you know? Seeing someone die when that person is someone you know.”
Vixin stared at the fire then looked at her hands. “Do you think staying away from the frontlines is the best thing to