Chapter 21

I pulled Ms. Frasier’s face up and around to see her eyes. They were glazed and she couldn’t focus, but she was breathing.

Another shot hit the window again. They were aiming for me.

I wanted to ignore the shooter, to focus on stabilizing Ms. Frasier, but she mumbled something. I leaned closer to her. She said, “Get to safety.” Her words were blended and very breathy, as if it took everything she had to say those three words.

I shook my head and said, “Not without you.”

She reached up and weakly pulled open her jacket. I noticed a metallic material sewn into the inner lining. Her eyes blinked and she looked up at me.

Another shot tore away more of the windshield.

“I have bullet proofing in my suit,” she said. “I’m hurt but not bleeding. Now go. Run, before they kill you.”

“I can’t leave you here to die,” I said.

“They’re not after me,” she said, finding strength to make her point. “You’re the one with a target on your head.” Then she pushed at me weakly. “Go.”

I pulled away, watching her carefully. She wasn’t losing any color. Even her aura looked steady. I met her eyes and she nodded.

I nodded in return, opened my door and someone reached in and grabbed me.

The hand and arm were large, muscular, and intent on my extraction. The next thing I knew, I was flying through the air.

I hit the ground, and forced myself to roll along the dead grass. The ground was hard, but not as unforgiving as the street. I came up on my knee with my shield held out in front of me. Nothing felt broken and I was pretty sure I would only suffer bruises and scrapes from that landing.

Something hit the shield, and I looked up to see a large bullet pointed straight at my face, but held by the unreal force of my shield. The report of the rifle hit me next.

A breath later, I heard something akin to a soft hum. A quick glance to my side and I spotted a large black rectangle standing next to me. A sawed-off shotgun emerged, pointing at my face.

I leaned back, flattening my back on the ground, and lost some of my hearing with the double-barrelled blast. Then I sat up and threw a telekinetic push into the doorway. The shotgun flew back and the portal closed.

I focused on everything in front of me, seeing the street and Ms. Frasier’s car, which was easily a hundred yards away. Mr. Portals was back, so I had to assume that his friend, Ms. Daggers, was out there somewhere too. She might even be the one with the rifle. I looked to the left and right, getting an idea of the environment around me.

To the north were some trees and houses. People’s homes. Not good. To the west was a large stylish building that I was sure was a hair styling school. Roads bordered the east and south, which left me in the middle of an open field with no trees, shrubbery, rocks or anything else to hide behind. There were some planters near the school, but they wouldn’t offer any real cover. I could easily be surrounded, making my shield moot.

I heard a sound of metal being torn apart. I turned in the direction of Ms. Frasier’s car, only to spot something flying my way. I couldn’t make out what it was, but it was certainly bigger than a trash can lid. I didn’t think my shield could hold up to ... whatever it was.

I reached out and focused on it. I caught it with my telekinesis and pushed it away from me. It hit the ground hard, embedding half of itself and remaining standing. I realized it was a door from Ms. Frasier’s car.

Another bullet hit my shield and stuck to it. I didn’t know where the shooter was, but he or she was certainly to the south, on the other side of Ms. Frasier’s car.

Between me and Ms. Frasier’s car, though, three people were approaching. The one to the right was Ms. Daggers. I recognized her dark turquoise aura. She was dressed in black clothes better suited for a SWAT team member, though she didn’t have a helmet, and she held her throwing daggers in both hands. The one to the left was a huge guy in a dark olive hoodie and tan pants. He had to be almost seven feet tall and had enough muscle to share with two others. Everything about him screamed, “Dangerous!”, even his dark slate gray aura. My fears ramped up several notches when he pulled back his hood. His entire lower jaw was either encased in or replaced by a heavy, metal plate that curved around his face. The third person, the one in the middle, was dressed in dark green colors and had a khaki green aura. He walked casually, with his hands in his pockets like this was simply taking a stroll through a park.

I was so taken aback by everything in front of me that I simply sat there and stared at them as they approached.

Two daggers hit the edge of my shield and another grazed my shoulder. I didn’t feel any pain, but the attack shook me enough to put me back on guard.

Another shot rang out and a new bullet lodged in my shield, pointing at me from where the shooter was positioned. Obviously, the shooter wasn’t Ms. Daggers, but they wouldn’t stop trying for my head until they either got me, ran out of ammo - which I didn’t expect to happen any time soon - or someone else stopped them.

The man in the middle stopped, as did the others. Then he held up his left hand, as if waving off someone. He put his hand back in his pocket, and looked to his left, up at the big guy.

The big guy didn’t grin, per se, but his eyes seemed to twinkle with whatever dark thought crossed his mind, and he stepped toward me.

Not willing to allow any of these people to touch me, especially someone who looked like he could bite me in half, I used my telekinesis to knock his legs out from under him. His face hit the ground hard.

Ms. Daggers attempted to take advantage of my movements and threw more of her patented weapons.

Knowing that would be the case, I quickly caught her daggers with my telekinesis and threw them back at her, which made her jump back.

Jaws picked himself up off the ground. He didn’t look happy.

“Stay away from me,” I said, putting all the menace and warning into my voice that I could muster.

He stepped up and reached for me, as if my shield couldn’t stop him, and he bumped into it. He then palmed it and tried to push it aside.

I pushed his hand aside, rolled forward, between his spread legs, and came up with my shield ready for Ms. Daggers or the rifle. Another Bullet and more daggers hit it.

Jaws spun around and grabbed my upper right arm. He spun me around to face him like I was a rag doll, grabbed my left thigh, and raised me up over his head.

I was pretty sure I was about to be introduced either to his knee or the ground, but no, he opened his mouth - wide - and lowered me to his face as if he planned on swallowing me whole.

Panic set it - as if that hadn’t already been an issue - and I slammed my shield into his face. It didn’t feel like I had done anything to him, especially since he never flinched and kept lowering me toward his mouth.

My options seemed to be limited, physically. Then I met his eyes. I wanted him to let me go, and suddenly he screamed out and I fell to the ground. I didn’t know what I had done to him, but he wasn’t trying to pick me up. I dove to the side, keeping my shield between me and the rest of his buddies.

I noticed how the man in green stared at Jaws as if trying to understand what happened, but Ms. Daggers was all business and she came at me with more attacks. Nothing got past my shield, once I was focused on the person targeting me. I watched as she steadily threw one fist full of daggers after another, and just when she seemed to either hesitate or slow down, I threw another telekinetic push.

Ms. Daggers either expected this or was simply that spry because she took the hit with a flip, landed on her feet, and threw more daggers.

The man in green turned his focus on me again, and there was something in his expression that sent a shiver down my spine. He took a single step toward me, and in that one step, he changed. I would like to say he transformed into some kind of animal, but that wasn’t it. Instead of rearranging his bone structure and musculature to that of a beast, his skin and even his clothes sprouted tree limbs, leaves, and vines. His height increased by more than a foot, and he towered over me in the form of a walking tree.

Shocked by what I witnessed, I knelt on the ground, staring in awe. There simply wasn’t another way to describe how I felt. I was mesmerized by what I saw, and couldn’t mentally shake off the horror that gripped me.

Only something completely new and just as terrifying could bring me back to reality - and that came in the form of a man, made of gold, landing between us in a flash of light.

I rolled back from the two of them. This newcomer had to be with Mr Tree. I didn’t have any friends who could compete with this level of outlandish appearance. Yet, something registered with me about the newcomer. He was facing away from me. I watched this man made of gold look back over his shoulder at me, and I recognized him. It was Mr Wulf, Head of the House of The Gold Dragon. I thought the naming convention was cute before, but this took its meaning to a whole new level - a very surreal and physical level.

“Get out of here kid,” he said. “We’ll take care of this.”

Then he turned to face off with the walking tree.

Two more daggers hit my leg. I had forgotten about my other attackers. I looked over at Ms. Daggers just as she hurled two more of her blades at me.

I blocked them with my shield, intent on throwing something back at her, but then a blur cut across her and she went flying.

The blur cut around everyone else on the field and stopped next to me. “Are you hurt?” asked a young woman in a padded bodysuit and long trench coat.

Her question made me look down at my leg. The daggers stuck out of me like I was a pin cushion. I grabbed them and pulled them out. It hurt, and I growled my frustration. Blood ran down my leg. I dropped the daggers and clamped a hand to the wounds.

“Can you walk?” the speedster asked.

I looked at her. “Yeah, but it won’t be fast.”

She glanced at my leg and nodded. “I was told you can heal.”

“This is deeper than anything I’ve healed so far, but I’m sure I can stop the bleeding.”

She pulled out a pair of handguns. “You focus on that. I’ll cover you.”

Another shot rang out and she spun on the spot. I thought she was hit until she zoomed off in the direction of the gunshot.

I knelt on the ground, with my shield planted between me and the marksman. I had to focus on my wound.

“Get out of my way!” I heard. I looked up and saw Wulf grappling with the Tree. “You don’t understand.”

“Then try to explain it to me,” Wulf said, sounding like he was straining.

Movement caught my eye and I watched Jaws get back to his feet. He eyes were red, as if infected with something, and he glared at me with an anger I had never seen before.

Wulf glanced at him too, but was too busy with the Tree. He couldn’t do anything.

I looked down at the daggers on the ground, the ones I had dropped, plus all the stuff caught by my shield.