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She swooned to the side, almost ready to pass out from the exertion of drawing on so much magic at once.Okay, fainting is not an option.
The giant grabbed its belly, staggering back one step. It peered at the wound, then looked toward Tammy. It peered down at the wound again, then shifted its gaze back to her as if it couldn’t believe what happened.
She gave it the finger.
It moved its massive hand away from the smoking spot on its belly, embers falling from between its fingers. Such rage welled up within the monster that the violet glow in the runes changed to purplish-red. It gave off a horrible screeching roar, as painfully loud as some ancient god tearing the sky in half.
Tammy cringed, clamping her hands over her ears.
The giant hurled itself forward, charge-stomping straight at her.
At least it forgot about Maple.
She leapt into panther form and took off. While it required magical speed as well as a full sprint, the animal spirit allowed her to keep ahead of the infuriated dark titan. Tammy didn’t pay too much attention to anything more than staying the hell away from it—and watching out for more tripping roots. One or two got her, but the panther had the strength to snap them rather than trip. Again and again, giant raking fingers tore up the ground at her heels. Each time the giant missed, it seemed to get even angrier, removing any chance it would give up on her and go back to Maple.
Flashes and cracks of lightning told her Allison fended off whatever else the faeries might be throwing at Maple.
A minute of running and dodging later, a brilliant purple flash accompanied a bang as heavy as a cannon. It seemed only marginally louder than the stomping footsteps behind her, so Tammy didn’t risk her life to look.
The ground bucked under her, throwing her into the air.
She landed a second later with the grace of a cat—and dashed off running again. A few seconds later she realized the crashing behind her had stopped. Instead of a steadyboom, boom, boom,a continuous rumbling roar followed her. She chanced a peek over her shoulder. The giant was still there, but rather than running, it was sliding across the ground on its chest, plowing up a divot of earth in front of its face.
Something made it trip and eat dirt, and the massive weight of the creature kept it sliding.
Not being an idiot, Tammy darted ninety degrees to the side, allowing the giant to go past her. Only morons—and poorly written characters in movies—continued to run directly away from crashing spaceships, or dark faerie titans.
“Tam!” shouted Allison. “Over here!”
Allison jumped and waved at her like a castaway trying to get the attention of a passing aircraft. Above her, tens of thousands of furious dark faeries gathered. For the moment, they all seemed to be reeling in the shockwave of the disrupted ritual. It wouldn’t be too long before their stunned dismay turned to murderous rage. One five-inch-tall evil bastard with a spear wasn’t a big deal.Allof them? Serious problem.
Meanwhile, Annie—now free of the bubble—cradled Maple to her chest like a sick Barbie doll.Yay, she was free!
But as soon as Tammy looked at her friends, Allison shrank down to faerie size. Judging from the yelp, she hadn’t been expecting it. Tammy knew what to do. She wheeled around in a hard turn, only her claws digging into the earth kept her from wiping out into a tumble.
While the titan still floundered in the throes of an ungainly crash, Tammy raced over to Annie. The girl hastily stuffed Allison and Maple into her backpack, then jumped on Tammy as if riding a horse.
“Hurry, child,” said Maple in a weak voice.
Tammy’s heart nearly stopped. The faerie queen sounded exhausted. That left her vulnerable to the corruption of this place. Tammy had to get her out of here as fast as possible. She waited a few seconds for Annie to get a good grip around her neck, then dashed for the woods. Despite using magic to keep herself going, all that running around to keep the giant monstrosity busy started to catch up. She eyed the floundering titan to her left, now trying to get back to its feet. If she could make it to the huge root, they would be safe—at least from that thing. It didn’t look capable of climbing a vine as big around as it stood tall. All she needed to do was get over the house-sized creeper root... then she could spare a moment or two to rest.
“What’s wrong with Maple?” asked Allison, head and shoulders sticking out the top of the girl’s backpack.
“She’s exhausted,” replied Annie. “It took most of her strength to break the bad spell.”
The titan found its footing and resumed chasing them. At the moment, it moved in a slow, wobbly gait unsure of its balance. Tammy didn’t trust its uncertainty to last, so poured on speed, adding magic into the effort. She had to be going close to eighty miles per hour—way faster than Mom felt comfortable driving.
The faerie swarm coalesced in an angry buzz and came after them. The titan gained on them at a frightening rate. Fire burned in her lungs; her feline body threatened to collapse limp at any moment, but Tammy forced herself to keep sprinting to the thirty-foot-thick root/vine bordering the clearing. At the last second before plowing face-first into it, she leapt with as much strength as her muscles had left, pouncing up to roughly the midway point and sinking her claws into the wood.
Annie screamed, clinging to Tammy’s panther body as she hung vertically off the side of the enormous vine.
“It’s right behind me! Hurry!” yelled Allison.
Grunting, Tammy hauled herself up the relatively soft substance.Wow, claws are freakin’ awesome. They’re so damn handy.
Sharp snaps like a tiny handgun firing came from behind. Though she couldn’t quite twist her head around to see, corresponding yellow-white reflections on the giant root told Tammy the noises came from Allison throwing lightning. The miniature bolts vaporized incoming dark faeries overhead with ease, but only nailed one at a time. The titan continued to charge at them, seconds from crashing into the massive vine and flattening them.
“Eep!” yelled Tammy. She almost invoked a shadow-teleport to the top, but doing so would leave Annie to fall. Children could not, after all, cling effectively to ethereal beings, even if said intangibility only lasted for a few seconds. Growling at the pain in her limbs, she scrambled to climb faster.
