Daughter Of Light

Retreat

Greer

Feelings I never expected to feel overwhelmed me when I saw Jackson. He looked in a bad way. He must have been hit with something poisonous as his wounds looked awful. Amazingly he continued to fight despite his pain, saving me from those vines that were trying to trap me. I watched as they snared around him, biting into his already battered body. A small whimper escaped my mouth as I continued to fire bolts at them, aiming for those hurting him first.

A similar potion must have hit Iris too as out of the corner of my eye I saw vines reaching for her. She sent a shockwave at the ground and blasted a ditch in front of them stopping them in their tracks.

Whatever just hit me had dulled my powers I couldn’t get the bolts to merge or send them as far. Blood was also still pouring from my wound, I knew I wouldn’t have much strength left soon. I just kept tying to clear the path to him so Thea could help.

When she got to Jackson. I heard the stubborn wolf tell her to heal me and clearly unhappily she obeyed and reached back over for me.

As I felt her warmth flood me I crawled closer to Jackson and took his hand.

“Send it to him Zorina. I know you can do it.”

I felt her warmth leave me, flowing into him and it was replaced with immense pain.

I saw despair in his eyes as Jackson looked at me. I needed him to be okay. It was more important he survived.

“Greer we need to get out of here.”

I didn’t even recognise the voice instructing me to move it sounded like a echo. I couldn’t hold onto Jackson anymore, the pain was too intense. My legs felt so heavy and the pain biting on every part of my body. Jackson still looked awful so how had he still been fighting.

“We have to go.” I croaked still trying to swallow the pain. The gap to Iris, Oliver and Allegra seemed so vast but we have to get there.

Luke was here already, helping Thea to her feet, worryingly the wolves had fallen back. This meant they had something planned as we were not at our strongest right now. If we didn’t move soon, I didn’t want to think would happen.

We had almost made it to them, I could sense Jackson close by when more potions rained upon us. A few hit Iris’s shield and I saw the confusion on her face as they breached it. Not doing any damage to the three below but weakening the shield. It looked like something had weakened her powers too.

“We have to go. Everyone make a break for us the cars. We can’t take anymore injuries.”

As Iris linked us another wave rained down on our heads. This time almost everyone got hit.

Iris was bleeding from her shoulder but not too badly. Allegra took damage to both legs but they still seemed to function. Iris threw some mist around them, but it didn’t look thick enough to protect them completely. I couldn’t see what happened to Thea but Luke picked her up and started to move out.

Oliver had a black hole in his side that growing and Iris was helping him to his feet, with Allegra supporting his other side.

Jackson was down again, this time a black hole on his leg. He unsteadily got back up.

“Run Greer. Run.” I moved as fast as I could my legs still feeling heavy and cumbersome.

I could hear wolves now approaching, I send a lightning bolt over my shoulder but it heard it fizzle out. What had they done to my powers.

“They are gaining on us, get the girls out. I’ll hold them off.” Jackson’s voice was in my head, and I saw the others pick up their pace in front of me.

Looking back over my shoulder I saw he had stopped and was fighting the first wolf to catch him. Ending it quickly but many more were approaching. It was suicide.

I couldn’t leave him behind.

“We need to fight this Zorina. Whatever they have done to us. We need to be stronger.”

I needed my powers of I was to get us out alive. Having decided I wanted my mate I wasn’t ready to give him up just yet. I couldn’t leave him, it was certain death. Adrenaline fuelled my mind to ignore all my body’s screaming requests to stop.

“What are ..” Jackson started when he saw me but couldn’t continue when two wolves attacked him simultaneously.

He could barely stand on that leg and Thea has stopped the wounds on his torso getting worse by they weren’t healing either. I saw him shake his head, it looked like he was struggling to focus.

I hoped Zorina was ready because I needed to do something radical here. I concentrated hard on forming a lightning bolt, more powerful than I had ever done before. Concerning so hard I didn’t see what was coming until Jackson suddenly lurched in front of me and there was an explosion. Taking the full impact blood started to spray from multiple wounds as he struggled to stay on his feet. His eyes never leaving my as I was stood frozen by the horror of seeing him in so much pain. The look of failure in his eyes hit me like another explosion. The lightning bolt that I had been trying to create finally appeared and I threw it in the direction we had been attacked from. Then I the channeled everything into beam of light, larger and stronger than the one I fought Iris with. I focused at the offending wolf, my rage fuelling it. I watched as the wolf screamed and vaporised before I moved the the next one. My beam sweeping in an arc, silencing all the wolves it touched, as those that could started to retreat from me in fear.

Jackson had collapsed into the floor, I could see the life leaving his eyes as the blood continued to flow from wounds that were too many to count. I didn’t know what was haunting me more his pain or the look of failure I saw in his eyes as the sparkle started to fade.

I started to lose control when I realised I wouldn’t be able to get us out. He wasn’t going to be able to help me.

“Please Greer go, while you can.” His voice sounded so weak in my head, it made it hard to breathe.

I frantically looked at the path we had to follow, the others were out of sight already and it would only be moments before the wolves were upon us again. I couldn’t bring myself to leave him, scanning the area for somewhere to hide us I realised it was futile. Jackson would die if I didn’t get him to help. The dawning realisation that part of me would too, the part I had been trying to ignore, the part that I now desperately wanted to keep alive.

“You need to let me shift.” Zorina demanded.

I hesitated, I hadn’t let her do this before, but I knew it was the only hope I had to to save him. I closed my eyes and gave her control. The pain of my bones breaking was agonising but short lived and soon I was in wolf form. Jackson was only barely conscious, I rolled him into my back and hoped he could hold on as we were going to have to run before they came back.

“You have to be okay Jackson, I don’t want to do this without you.”

I internally cursed the irony of my timing. When there was no response from Jackson as my wolf raced of in the direction of the others, I knew I was leaving a blood trail from both of us straight to the others but I had no choice. I thought about taking a different route but I couldn’t remember where to go and I knew Zorina, strong as she was, was already struggling.

I knew Jackson was still with me, I could feel him still there. I willed him to hold on a little longer as I raced in what I hoped was the right direction. Zorina’s fur quickly staining with both of our bloods. I couldn’t ask her to try and heal me because I knew she was putting everything in already to try and get us to safety.

I could feel our speed slowing and my vision blurring. Just in time the cars came into view and I could see the others had made it and crucially hadn’t left yet.

It looked Oliver and Thea where laid out in a car each, I assumed they were both badly hurt. The cars still seemed so agonisingly far away. I needed Thea to help Jackson so i willed her to be awake.

“Hold on Zorina, you can do this.”

Drawing on reserves of strength I didn’t knew we had she made the final push to the cars. Shifting back at Luke’s feet I could see that Thea was conscious. Relief flooded my system, I knew nothing would stop her helping Jackson, even just enough to keep him alive. Fear was the only thing that kept me going as I tried to help him Luke get him into the car. Thea immediately started to heal him, but she looked awful herself. I knew I was in a bad way myself but I could tell others were way worse. I dragged myself into the passenger seat with the last of my energy. Slumped in the seat I was vaguely aware of the car moving and Luke’s voice telling me to hold on as I fought my eyes from closing. I knew it would be a while before I opened them again and I needed to know Jackson was okay. I couldn’t close my eyes in case he wasn’t there when I woke up.

Remembering how I channeled Thea’s healing healing powers to him before I wondered if I would help again. Before I could turn I heard Thea whimpering the sound catching in my heart. Tears appeared in my eyes and I waited for part of my soul to tear away.

I started to feel nauseous and I closed my eyes to stop any tears from falling.