Drawn to the Sea

Chapter 27: Shifting

Nate

I stumbled back as Douglass and Max slammed into each other. Douglass's hands were glowing with the heat of the sun, burning wherever they touched on Max's skin. Douglass let out a yelp when Max swiped his claws over his stomach, through the opening in my jacket.

I tried to go forward, but a demon jumped into the way and started attacking me. I swore, swiping at it with my knife.

There were too many demons surrounding me for me to be able to get to Douglass. Even with his magic, I feared that he wouldn't be able to hold off Max for long. He'd only just started to use reliable magic without a wand, and he was still learning how to use it without burning himself out. That meant he wouldn't be able to keep up the amount of magic required to take out a demon for long. I'd read enough about demons in his library to know that Max was one of the highest-ranking ones, and that meant that he was powerful. Possibly too powerful for Douglass to handle.

I took out demon after demon, slashing with my knife as fast as I could. I was glad that it was magic, or else the demons wouldn't crumble and they'd just keep getting back up. My wolves had that problem. They couldn't kill demons, only injure them.

I wasn't worried about that, though. I knew that my pack could hold their own. In the weeks I'd been living with them after I found out they were wolves, they'd started training in front of me, and shifting. Most of them were great warriors. Any of them that weren't had stayed on my uncle's property to take care of things while the pack and I rescued Douglass.

When I finally managed to hack my way to the area where Max and Douglass were going at it, I took a moment to assess the scene. Douglass was bleeding in a few spots, but he didn't have any serious injuries. His skirt was torn at the bottom, but luckily he was moving around pretty well in it.

Max, on the other hand, was moving almost too fast for me to comprehend. His eyes were crazy, and he was grinning. He was pretty beat up, and burns from Douglass's powers were scattered over his bare skin. His wings were spread, but he wasn't flying yet. He only used them to push away from attacks Douglass threw at him.

Douglass grunted, crossing his arms in front of his face to deflect a ball of fire Max threw at him. The fire didn't get the chance to touch him, though, because he whispered a spell and the fire bounced off an invisible shield around him.

Max swiped at him, managing to clip his stomach. Three shallow cuts started to bleed on the side of his stomach, but he paid no mind. He growled, grabbing Max's wrist and using the momentum of the swipe to flip him onto his back.

Max yelped when his wing bent weirdly as he slammed into the ground. Douglass glanced up at me. "Nate!"

I ran forward, meeting him halfway. "Are you okay?"

He nodded, breathing heavily but evenly. "I'll be fine. Max hasn't been using one-hundred percent of his power, so I've been able to land a few attacks."

I glanced at where Max was starting to get up. "We're gonna have to land a few more."

He looked back, positioning his feet into an attack stance. "You don't have to fight him. He's my enemy."

I flipped my knife to my dominant hand. "Anyone who's your enemy is my enemy. I'm not letting you fight him alone."

Douglass nodded once, raising his hand and circling rocks above his palm quickly until they melted into a circle of lava. "Let's kick some demon ass then."

We both charged at Max, coming at him with all we had. He dodged my attack only to be hit with another from Douglass. I stabbed him in the stomach when I had an opening, but it hardly seemed to bother him. He grunted, shoving me off. I stumbled but regained my balance after a moment.

Douglass swore when Max threw fire at me, jumping in front and taking the hit to his chest. He yelped, the fire burning his skin. I held him steady. "You good?"

"I don't burn easily. It only hurt a little."

I wanted to look to make sure he wasn't hurt badly, but we didn't have the time. Max launched attack after attack, somehow targeting both of us at the same time. With him throwing fireball and fireball, we didn't have any openings to hit him back. His attacks forced us to back up, taking a step every time he threw fire.

Douglass grunted as he blocked another attack with his shield. "I don't know how long I can keep this shield together."

I gritted my teeth. "We need to figure out a way to get him out. Knock him out or something."

Douglass's feet slid back as another fireball hit his shield. "I think I have an idea. You need to distract him so I can get behind him."

"It's better than nothing." I ducked to avoid another attack. "You go. I'll get his attention."

"Be careful." Douglass tucked and rolled, leaving me out in the open.

I spread my arms, yelling, "Yo, Max!"

Max moved his eyes from Douglass to me, his eyes glowing.

I held eye contact. "I bet you're really mad that I stole Douglass from you."

"Yes."

Douglass was coming up behind him, quiet as he could be with all the fighting around them. I just needed to buy him a few more seconds. "What are you gonna do about it?"

Max's hands burst into flame. "Kill you."

I glanced at Douglass as Max pointed his hands towards me. Douglas moved his hands to clasp them around Max's neck, but Max saw him a moment too soon. He grabbed his wrists, launching him over his head. His claws went through Douglass's stomach, and a sickening squelch echoed in my ears as Max threw him away towards the cliff.

Douglass hit the ground, sliding to the edge of the cliff. He yelped as he went over the edge. Luckily, he managed to get ahold of a rock and hold himself up.

"Douglass!" I ran for him.

He tried to pull himself up, but the rock started to come loose from the ground. He looked at the loosening rock, then at me. The fear in his eyes was painful, and the look of regret he gave me sent a wave of fear over my own body.

I lunged for him, but the rock came lose a second too fast for me to grab him. As he fell, blood from the hole in his stomach stained the air.

I screamed his name, reaching out my hand. He looked at me, the light fading from his eyes.

As as he made impact with the raging water below, his eyes closed. As soon as he was submerged, his figure disappeared.

"Douglass!"

I leaned over the cliff farther, fully prepared to go in after him. Gilly was there in an instant, pulling me back over the edge. She restrained me, even as I trashed against her and tried to get to him.

"Nate! Nate, he's gone. Stop."

I sobbed. "No!"

"He's gone. You couldn't have saved him." She loosened her arms when she was sure I wouldn't try to go after him. "I'm sorry."

I felt tears streaming down my face, cutting through the grime and blood. The pain in my chest was something I'd never felt before. My fingers dug into the dirt, balling up into fists.

I was hardly able to whisper, "He's dead... Max killed him."

I felt something shake loose inside me. I rose from the ground, staring at where he'd hit the water.

I slowly turned around, raising my eyes to the demon, who was staring at his bloodied hands in something like surprise. He moved his eyes to me, the glow in them no longer there. Mine, however, were liquid gold and swirling with vengence.

I locked eyes with him. "You're a dead man."

His eyes widening in shock as I ran at him, my body shifting more with each step I took. By the time I lunged at him, I'd fully changed.

When I made contact with his body, I was a rage-filled animal. I'd shifted.

And I was going to use my teeth and my claws to rip the bastard to shreds.