The Last Psychic

Chapter 11

Damon POV

We had been waiting in the palace for over 3 hours now. Surely Raven was done attacking the remaining warlocks by now? And even if she wasn't, it wasn't like her to leave us worrying about her. I paced the room, my clawed hands clenched at my sides. My wolf and I both wanted control of the body,  and as a result, I was in a half transformed state. I was too full of buzzing energy to stay still and I hadn't even changed out of my bloodstained clothes. I didn't care too much though. All I wanted was to go out and look for her. Zira and Zylan sat watching from their thrones, their faces identical mirrors of worry and anxiety.

"That's it. I'm going to look for her. If I'm not back in an hour, come find me." I said as I marched down the hall towards the huge doors of the palace, shedding my torn and bloodied shirt as I went.

"If you need us just imagine sending out a pulse of energy. We'll feel it." Zylan called after me.

I nodded and shifted, feeling the mountain breeze rush through my fur. I started running towards the lake, the last place I had seen her.

The lake was silent except for the gentle sound of rippling water. The shore was invisible beneath the sea of bodies and the water was red from blood. I made sure to breath through my mouth, trying to avoid inhaling the sickly sweet smell and carefully picked my way through the bodies. Bile rose in my throat and I fought it back. While some of the bodies were killed cleanly, either with a broken neck or a spell from another warlock, most of them were torn to shreds with gaping wounds and burns. I let out a sigh of relief when I finally made it to the forest and took off running. From here it was simply follow the trail of charred bodies.

I let out an annoyed sigh as I stopped to take a quick break. I had run at least 5 miles through the forest now and still no sign of Raven. A quiet groan caught my attention and I turned to the witch dragging herself towards the thin creek that ran a few feet away from me. She either didn't notice me through the trees or didn't care as she scooted closer to the water. She painfully pulled herself up against a tree so that she was leaning against its trunk with her right shoulder. That's when I saw the extent of her injury. She had a massive burn from the back of her left shoulder all the way down to her right hip. The wound was black and charred and took up most of her back.

I watched as she dipped her left hand in the water and gasped out a spell of some kind. The water coiled up her left arm towards her shoulder like a snake and coated her shoulder and back. She sighed with relief as the water gently soothed her burns. I watched her curiously and blinked in shock as I realized she was the witch who kept hitting the others with her spells. I thought she had just had bad aim, but thinking back on it, her shots hadn't even been close to me.

I got up from my spot and padded over to her. She couldn't hurt me in her current state and if she turned out to be an enemy, killing her would be easy. She froze as she heard me approaching, her face twisted into a snarl, contorted with pain. Her fierce glare faded when she saw me and instead gave a resigned sigh.

"If you're going to kill me, make it quick." She said, her voice steady and unwavering. I shook my huge furry head and shifted back to human form. Her eyes took in my rugged appearance, from my bare feet and torn jeans to my bare cut-up chest and mussed hair.

"Why did you help me get away?" 

"As cliché as it sounds, I'm not like the others. The Grand Mages say that all they want is to use the oracle as a channel to the pura magia. They claim that we will help the supernatural world rule the mortal one using her power so that no supernatural creature will have to live in fear blah blah blah. But I know that once the Grand Mages have her power, they will destroy the mortals and anyone who tries to stop them. It's inevitable. I'm doing my best to stop them, but my view isn't one shared by many." She said, pausing occasionally to let out small gasps of pain. I stood there, absorbing what she had said. I knew I was wasting time and that I had to go after Raven, but there was something about this witch that made me want to help her.

"I'm Damon." I said, realizing I hadn't introduced myself yet.

"Callista, but you can call me Callie." She said, wincing as another bout of pain lanced through her.

"Listen, I'm going to go after Raven, but I'll send some friends to help you alright? Try not to move until they get here. They'll take care of you." I closed my eyes and sent out what I hoped was a pulse of energy. I wasn't sure what I was doing, but I had seen Raven send out beacon signals before and it didn't look so hard. It was all about exposing where you were and projecting it to the world around you.

Satisfied I had done all I could, I turned and shifted, giving Callie a nod before turning and and following the trail.

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Super short I know, but it's better than nothing. I've been crazy busy and I've been working on my other story, Scarlet Fox. I'll try to update soon, but no promises.

***Ray***