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Suddenly, two guards stepped out of a small door beside the gate. They held out their hands, intent on stopping the girls escape.
Mages.
Oh waves, what was she going to do?
"I can break down the gate, but I'll pass out after that," Amber whispered.
That meant the guards were Macey's responsibility. She whinnied in response to show her rider she agreed with her plan.
Her lungs were burning, she knew she had less than a minute left before she'd have to shift back. Summoning her water magic, she threw two balls of water at the guards without warning. One of them deflected his, but the other was hit hard and slammed against the wall behind him. He sank to the ground, unconscious.
Only one to go. Macey readied another water ball, but the guard was now on the offensive. He threw a fire lance at her and she just about managed to jump to the side to evade it. However, it gave her the opening to thrust her own watery missile and hit the mage before he could create another lance. Just like his fellow guard, he slumped to the ground.
Lightning tore from the sky and into the metal gate. Electricity fizzled through the air and the gate's doors sprung open.
Using the last of her energy, Macey ran through the open gate and along the drawbridge that was leading away from the castle.
Beithir
3
"Do you really think prodding her is a good idea?" a male voice asked.
Macey wondered what that was even about until a sharp prod came at her shoulder. She groaned. No, prodding her was not a good idea. And if she could just summon the strength, the person on the other end of that finger would regret it.
"Do you have any better ideas?" the prodder responded.
"No. But go tend to your own girlfriend."
The people around her, and she was sure there were a few, lapsed into silence.
"She's not my girlfriend," the prodder protested.
"Besides, I'm fine," a weak Amber replied.
Wait...if Amber was the girlfriend, then that must have meant the prodder was Izban. And if Izban was here...
Macey's head began to clear, and she shakily pushed her arms underneath her. She turned as she rose and was greeted by three worried sets of eyes. And Izban's, but he just looked more exasperated than anything else.
"You're okay!" Flint fell to his knees and pulled her into his arms, peppering her face with kisses. "We were so worried."
"Alright, let the rest of us in," Jared grumbled, but it was impossible to miss the relief in his tone.
Flint let her go, and Macey slowly got herself to her feet. She could sense all three of them fretting already, but appreciated that they were leaving her to it. At least they knew her well enough to realise interfering wasn't in their best interests.
The moment she was steady again, she found herself pulled into a bear hug from Jared, and on the receiving end of the doting smile from Cam.
"I knew you could do it," he said softly. She smiled at him. While she was glad they were here, she was also more than a little smug that she was the one who'd saved herself. And Amber for that matter.
"Thanks," she said, twisting out of Jared's arms, and going up on her toes to kiss him. He responded in kind, keeping the pressure light, and the attention on her in a far more loving way than her men usually showed. Normally they were in the more taking-her frame of mind. They must have been really scared for her safety...
Warmth flowed through Macey at the thought, and her heart swelled to three times its normal size. Though maybe that was just the lack of oxygen. That could do funny things to kelpies.
"Here," Amber said, handing her a bottle of water. "You must be running low."
"Thanks." Macey unscrewed the cap after taking it, and chugged down the water, surprised by just how much she actually needed it. She was a water being, she shouldn't have let herself get so low. "How did you find us?" she asked her men after the bottle was empty.
"We didn't," Flint replied, shuffling his feet slightly, as if uncomfortable.
