Shadows of the Woods

Chapter 20

"No!" I cried out in anguish, tripping over my own feet and scraping my knees on the rough floor. I was up a second later, ignoring the stinging pain there.

However, someone else was springing towards Apollo and Greta.

I watched as Prenjaw jumped up from where he had been slumped on the opposite wall. He ran forward swiftly, but I could tell something was wrong - blood poured from a wound on his head, and his steps were slightly crooked. Nonetheless, silver flashed in the dim light as he unsheathed two knives from out of nowhere.

He pulled Apollo from Greta's grasp roughly, and my heart pounded as I watched him hit the floor hard, his beautiful face frozen in shock and horror. However, Prenjaw didn't stop to check on him; silver darted through the air, and suddenly the air was rent with Greta's piercing screams. Her taloned hands fell and hit the floor with wet thuds, and blood spurted from her mutated arms in high arcs.

"You fiend!" She shrieked, pushing Prenjaw back and crawling on his chest. Her stubby arms waved wildly in his face, and the mongool turned his head away in disgust as her blood spouted on his face.

"Roan!"

I looked back just in time to see Roan and Lucas sprinting past me, Roan's hands already alight in flame. Greta heard them coming and looked back - Lucas had his hands out, his mouth parting to utter a chant, but she was faster. Her bloody arm pointed toward him, and he abruptly stopped in his tracks, his limbs beginning to twitch morbidly. Roan hesitated, looking at him uncertainly.

"Don't try, witch pup." Greta snarled, her face twisted in rage and agony. Prenjaw was squirming under her, but she was holding him down somehow.

Roan threw a ball of fire, reminding me starkly of a baseball pitcher. Greta waved her arm, and the ball came streaming back - it hit Roan in the face, but he didn't seem perturbed at all. He sent another ball of fire, and this time, Greta wasn't prepared.

Her talons went up in flames with a slick hiss, and the pale witch began to thrash and scream in fresh pain. Prenjaw kicked her off of him, looking down at her, his face murderous.

"Stab her in the heart!" Lucas choked out, his limbs still twitching disjointedly.

Prenjaw didn't need telling twice. His knife came up and down in a graceful arc, landing hilt deep in Greta's thin chest. Her torso froze in the air mid spasm, and her face contorted with shock. After a long, agonizing moment, she began to seize up, her mutated arms banging on the floor over and over, and then suddenly, her whole body erupted into flames before disappearing into thin air a moment later.

The stillness afterwards was heavy and unbearable.

"Apollo." I breathed, stumbling over to him.

He hadn't moved since Prenjaw had torn him away from Greta; his face was staring at the spot where she had been a moment earlier, the only remnants of the witch remaining was the black blood spattered on the floor. Apollo looked pale and anxious, his eyes wide and shocked.

"Hey." I fell to my knees beside him, guiding his head down to my lap. "Apollo, I'm here, love, I'm here."

Apollo seemed to snap out of it. He looked up at me with sombre eyes. "Lilah, get away from me."

My heart stopped. "What?"

His face twisted with sorrow for a moment, and then it was smooth again. "I don't want to get you sick, love."

"Oh, Apollo." Behind me, Roan was helping Lucas up, and Prenjaw was watching from the floor with his sad, light green eyes. "You know I could never leave you." I said hoarsely, my hand touching his face with trembling fingers.