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The wolf raised a paw to slash at me and I screamed, water filling my lungs. In a final attempt, I sent a bolt of fire through the water, knocking it off. I swam up, breaking the surface with flailing limbs that swung blindly for the dock. My vision was clouded by droplets, but I felt Ember’s arms lifting me from the water.
We collapsed on the dock, and Ember quickly got to her feet, but a piece of the unstable board broke through, and she lost her balance, hitting the dock with a thud. I dragged myself forward, too exhausted to stand. Between the magic I wasn’t used to using and the wolf that I’d nearly escaped, I could barely sit up.
The wolf emerged from the water, hopping onto the dock, blocking our path to the cabin. We were trapped. We could jump back into the water, but my energy was zapped. If I went into the water, I wouldn’t come back up.
Ember grabbed the bow I hadn’t noticed she’d been carrying and loaded it with an arrow. The wolf crept closer, snarling and gnashing its enormous fangs. Ember aimed, and they stared at one another, frozen in a standoff. This was the moment that would mean the end for one of them, and my heart hammered in my chest as I dreaded the possibility of who.
The wolf leaped forward, just as Ember released her arrow, piercing it directly through what I would assume is the heart. It would crush Ember if she didn’t move, but there was no way she could crawl away in time. Using the last bit of magic and energy within me, I used a spell I’d remembered from Morgan’s book, hoping my magic—and pronunciation—was enough to work.
“Viverra!”
Ember’s body jerked toward me; the wolf landing hard where she’d been standing. It let out one last whimper—a soul-crushing, heart-wrenching sound—and its body slumped, now still.
I let out a shaky breath, tears building in my eyes. His last moment of life, and he sounded like anything but a beast. Just an animal acknowledging it was at the end. But it was more than an animal—it was a human. Beneath that wolf form was someone’s human form, and we killed them.
Before I could say anything, the wolf’s body began to disintegrate, turning to dust. As the last bit of dust fell, a black mist seeped out, absorbing itself into the air around us, clouding it with negativity.
Ember swung an arm around my back, helping me to my feet. She grabbed her bow, and we wobbled slowly back into the cabin.
After minutes of silence, I finally asked, “What if there are more?”
Ember chewed on her lip; her eyes filled with uncertainty. “We can’t leave tonight, not after you’ve exhausted your powers. The safest bet is to rest, wait until sunrise, and leave then.”
I nodded, teetering over the edge of consciousness. Luckily, I was sitting on the couch because I nodded off, dreaming of teeth and glowing red eyes.
