Sapphire Flame

ELEVEN

   Griffin had already shifted to his other form and taken his place in front of Kaena, shielding her. Kaena gasped a little when she heard more growling other than his and turned to see another large wolf beside them in a defensive stance. Her coat was white as snow and those brown eyes shone brighter than ever. It was Cya.

   On the other side of her, one stood with a coat of a rich smoky grey color, their eyes were dark and sullen and she recognized them to be Val's.

   Kaena quickly turned back to the scene in front of her.

   "Who is your leader?!" Akantha yelled through gritted teeth, tightening her hold. "Where is he?!"

   The man clawed and gripped at her arm as he coughed and struggled against her. But soon his panic turned into smugness and the same grin spread across his lips. His large hand caught a good grip on Akantha's wrist while he summoned his blue energy. 

   Streaks of it, which looked like lightning bolts, spread from his hand and up her arm. Akantha gasped loudly and yelped as it was now a breeze to pry her arm away, and before anyone could even blink, he stood and tossed her across the room. A piercing crack was heard as Akantha's body slammed into one of the thick pillars in the room.

   Kaena heard the thud when she hit the ground and the small painful groan that escaped her. But while she paid attention to that, Brandon zipped toward the man but instead of ripping his head off as he intended, the man caught him by the throat in mid of his enhanced speed then lifted and slammed him onto the ground, cracking the marble beneath him. His body went limp-- he was out cold and so was Akantha.

   The man slowly let go of him and looked up menacingly at Griffin.

    "All of this... just to kill you... and your whore of a mate," he spat, standing straight. "Well, what more can I say besides..." 

   He chuckled dryly. 

   "This is going to be fun."

   The next thing Kaena knew, chaos reigned as soon Griffin and the man charged at each other. Griffin started off superior when he jumped on him, knocking him to the ground, then started to snap his jaws at his face and neck. But he caught every strike against the metal cane.

   Around them, however, Kaena watched as in almost every group of people someone amongst them pulled a knife and stabbed a warrior as they were facing away, a brawl breaking out afterward. Traitors.

   They started to come from everywhere at that point. Crashing down from above, bursting in through windows, and nearly flooding through every door.

   Kaena only now realized she had been frozen in that spot. It only took a body to be thrown over her head for her to scatter away from the battle. Now she was curled against a wall just behind the throne platform. 

   Suddenly she felt a warm liquid splatter over her face and chest, her eyes jumped to where it came from. A wolf almost the size of Griffin was tearing away at the face of the body it had pinned under its paws. Its fur was a golden brown. It glanced over at her- icy blue eyes. Ryker.

   There wasn't much time before he pounced on the next enemy. Kaena couldn't help but reach up and wipe the liquid on her face. She knew what it was, but when she looked down at her hand covered in crimson, her breath quickened and she felt tears brimming her eyes. She couldn't take sight of slaughter much longer.

   "Dove..." she heard faintly. Only one person called her that. "Dove!"

   Her head turned to the pillar. Akantha was struggling to get to her feet, leaning against the broken pillar and holding her injured arm.