CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. GET OFF MY LAND!!
Eva held her arms out, energy slicing its way down her hands. She flung out an ice slash, aiming to push the old gregor back.
The male stepped away smoothly, moving in a way that could only be expected of someone much younger. Completely avoiding the attack.
The others moved in once again, the male named Gaven at the head of them.
Eva held an arm down to their wooden floorboards, letting out an icy blast that went BANG!
It resonated through the walls, and a small shockwave of cold wind shook the house, sending splinters of wood and dust into the air, immediately pushing back the tight circle she'd been encased in by the men that surrounded her.
But it wasn't enough to get rid of them.
She couldn't keep this up forever, she knew, not against this many gregors. And even if she did manage to fight her way through these men intent on taking her daughter from her, she didn't stand a chance against the crowd outside.
Still she had no other choice. It was either she defended her own or gave in and let them take Cherry.
The latter obviously wasn't a viable option.
The Village head held an arm over his face as the attack sent him staggering out of the circle.
"Eva! Don't make this any harder than it's meant to be!"
Ignoring him, she slammed a foot into the already damaged floorboards underfoot, and brought her fists together.
A tunnel of ice, lit up golden by the torches the villagers held outside, tore it's way forward toward her attackers, flinging back two of the men who'd been too slow to get away.
If she could just manage to break through the circle somehow, get her cubs out of here, safely, Eva thought, then maybe....
She had no idea what these people would do to her if Cherry managed to escape, but she didn't care.
All she wanted was to keep her children alive.
Her eyes landed on the wall next to her.
Most of their home had been made from wood. If she could somehow blast her way out of here...
The Gregor named Gaven growled just then, garnering her attention.
His hands lighted up in sparks that whirled and spun all around his arms.
Eva could feel the heat enveloping the room and prepared herself.
Gaven threw out a hand, shooting out a spiralling fireball at her without an ounce of hesitation.
Eva let her energy move once again.
Bringing her arms together. Timing herself so she wouldn't strike out too soon.
A swirling mass of icy shards, enveloped her arms as she swung them up quickly.
Her ice swallowed up the raging fireball, and Eva twisted her arms, redirecting it toward the wall.
There was a flash of light and another loud bang that all but blinded and deafened her. The wall on her right was reduced to shreds, letting the pale blue silver light from the glowing nightsun in the sky settle on them.
When she regained her vision, a dusty haze had filled the room. Cherry and Cal were whimpering behind her, an instant assurance that at least they were still alive.
The dust cloud had begun to settle and Eva could see another flash of red sparks spiralling toward them.
She ducked out of the way, feeling white-hot heat as the attack flew past her, blowing up their wooden centre table instead.
She scrambled to get her kids out of the way, carrying Cal off his feet with one hand while leading Cherry out toward the open fields outside with the other.
She'd barely gotten under the nightsun's rays when she heard someone yell behind her; "You're not going anywhere!"
She felt the heat waves washing over her back, getting hotter with each passing second and knew she couldn't escape.
Eva turned, pushing Cherry behind her.
She let her energy flow to her hands but she didn't feel it violently tumbling along her veins as it had done before.
In the end, all she could create was a medium sized ice slash that had merely slowed down the attack, giving her just enough time to dive away from the fireball.
The spiralling menace continued on its course, bulling its way across the grass, leaving the trail of a raging inferno in its wake.
The men poured out into the fielhad following her.
Eva's eyes darted to the dark treeline not too far away from their position.
She had to restrain a moan, had to hold back her despair.
They could never escape these people.
Cal had his head buried into the crook of her shoulder, his eyes shut tight. She could feel him shivering, his tears soaking into her sleeve.
"Mom!", Cherry cried panicked, her grey eyes wide as she stared at the approaching men.
"They're coming!"
Someone snarled behind her, and Eva scrambled out of the way at the exact moment something swept past her ear.
A massive jagged piece of earth had narrowly missed her head, tearing up clumps of grass and damp earth as it landed few feet away.
She whirled toward the direction the attack had come from.
It was one of the other males she'd attacked earlier.
He growled once again, thrusting both fists out at her one after the other.
Large chunks of earth were torn up from the ground, spiralling toward her.
Eva let out two strong waves of ice, using just one hand, that destroyed the rocks upon contact, then turned to release another blast that sent one of the other males who had managed to get too close as far away from her as possible.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!!", the elder who had ordered the attack cried out.
The men obeyed, along with all the villagers who had slowly began gathering to watch how this would all unfold, stepping back to let him through.
His blue eyes glowed a shade darker as he stepped forward once again.
Eva faced him squarely, beads of sweat coated her forehead as she fought to catch her breath.
She pulled Cherry closer to her, holding on tighter to Cal. Snarling.
She would fight to the death, do whatever it took, to protect them.
The Head of the villagers raised a hand, palm up.
The air above it seemed to crackle with tension, and Eva shivered, wondering what would happen next.
"I'll give you one last chance, my dear", he said, gently, "step away from the child".
His body exuded a pale blue aura, and his eyes had moved from a dark shade to a fiery blue glow.
A bright sphere of energy appeared over his palm at that moment, growing bigger with each second.
Eva payed no heed to the man's words. She moved to stand in front of Cherry, who whimpered, keeping her eyes tightly closed.
Barely giving her anytime to prepare herself for the attack, he held out his arm, pointing it at her.
"I warned you".
A continuous stream of pulsing blue energy escaped, blasting from his hand, heading for them.
Eva mounted a solid wall of ice in front of her with the last of her energy, but not even that was enough to stop the impending attack.
The blinding heat it carried with it had melted the wall into a harmless pool of water and continued on its course.
Eva held her cubs to herself, shielding Cherry and Cal from the attack, and for a moment all she could see was white, before she closed her eyes.
Her heart pounded in her ears as she braced herself for the burning sensation that would lick the skin off her bones.
She barely registered the furious roar that tingled in her ears as if from far away.
A familiar scent came to her and Eva wondered if she was already dead.
Then she heard a voice, and there was no mistaking the owner.
Her eyes flew open and standing right in front of her, holding up a solid wall of earth against the elder's blinding attack, was...
"Arud!"
Her mate grunted, his legs shifting against the ground from the effort of holding up the wall.
"I'm so sorry", he said, speaking through his teeth. Eva's eyes fell on Jaden, who was holding unto Arud's back.
Her heart settled in relief at the sight of the two of them. She had already begun to believe she would never see them again.
Weakness washed over her at that moment and she knew if she tried to help him now, she would only get in the way.
The attack had already begun to chip away at their defense, and it was only when the wall looked to be on the verge of collapse that it stopped.
The Village head stood in the distance, a triumphant smile on his face, only for it to twist into shock and then fury at the sight of Arud once the wall crumbled to the ground.
Her mate turned quickly, gently placing Jaden down in her arms.
The boy shivered, and Eva didn't have to feel his skin to know he was burning up with a fever.
Arud placed a quick kiss on her forehead. "Stay strong", he said, turning to face the villagers who had threatened their lives.
"I'll take care of this".
"Arud", the old Gregor called, his voice harsh, "you of all people should know how important it is to protect our home against the tyranny of the curse. Why do you defend him, after all he has done?"
Her mate tightened his fists as he shot back his reply;
"YOU of all people should know what happens to those who threaten my family!"
"You call him a monster", Arud spat, pointing at the boy in her arms, "yet how many families has that boy chased out of their homes and tried to kill?!"
The villagers shuffled uneasily at Arud's words.
The old Gregor, realising he could lose the people's support shot back, "Should we wait until more blood is spilt?!"
"If we don't destroy the curse now, it will only grow to destroy us!!"
Murmurs of agreement came from them once again and Eva had never felt more disappointed in her own kind.
"This must end, Arud!", the village head continued, his hands glowing blue once again. But before he could release what looked like the same attack as before, Eva saw Arud's hands spark up with the same energy.
He flexed his fingers, before slowly raising both hands over his head.
A small sphere appeared, growing quickly into a massive, spiralling, restless ball of light and heat.
The people gasped in unison at this. "Impossible!", Eva heard someone cry, "there has never been another Startaker in the entire village!"
The Village head staggered back, shocked.
"GET OFF. MY LAND!!" Arud yelled, curling his hands into tight fists, before slamming them into the ground with all the force of this world and beyond.
A mighty shockwave shook the fields, sending every single one of the people who had attacked them into the air.
That was the last thing she saw before the world was engulfed in white.