Charity frowned, wondering if he was talking to her, when Penny answered. “Working on it.”
“Turdswallop?” Charity asked.
Penny shrugged one shoulder. “He finds strange things funny. Anyway, don’t stress about your magic. I didn’t have a clue at first. Thank pearl-clutching hobos that I met Emery when I did, or I would’ve been lost. You’ll get it, don’t worry. As soon as someone gives you direction, you’ll take to it like a duck takes to water. I can tell. Now…” Penny patted her arm, which was nice, then slid her palm into Charity’s personal space—down her elbow to her lower back, over her butt, and down the back of her thigh.
“That’s… Why—”
“Sorry. Just pasting a spell to you without asking permission. It’s faster that way.” Penny moved to the other side. “It’ll help us all.”
A flickering light caught Charity’s eye just beyond the tree to their right. Steve growled, a sound like an earthquake. The light flicked off.
“We got company,” Emery called.
Another light flared to life deeper into the wood, flickering happily. It called to Charity, beckoning her closer.
“Nasty buggers,” Penny murmured, her hands working.
A silent purple explosion lit up the trees, illuminating the wood in violet light. A crowd of humanlike creatures, no more than two feet tall, screeched within the brush that only partially concealed them. Pointed teeth filled their mouths, and huge, pale blue eyes blinked in their leathery faces. They ran from the light, two clattering into each other and falling down.
More light explosions flared brightly, making Charity squint. The feeling of danger throbbed from her other side.
She turned in time to see one of those creatures launch itself at her, its wide mouth full of teeth, its arms out to wrap around her neck.
She staggered back and thrust out a palm, eyes wide. A spark ignited next to the creature’s chest, and her magic exploded in a violent surge of electricity. The thing was shoved backward before its entrails splattered across the leaves and brush behind it.
Charity’s head swam and her knees weakened, but she pushed on as another creature jumped toward her. She punched it in the face with her magic. The back of its head blew off. She ran forward on wobbly legs and kicked one of the leathery things like a football. It tried to latch on to her leg, but it couldn’t get purchase. Its little claws ripped her jeans and scraped along her skin before it was airborne.
“I need my sword,” she yelled.
“You need to conserve your energy or you’ll kill the alpha of this pack,” Penny shouted, her hands dancing through the air.
The end of her words were drowned out by Cole’s roar. He lumbered in front of Charity, swinging his big arms at the growling and spitting little creatures. He was too slow, though. They dodged his claws and raced between his legs, chittering laughter all the time.
Charity kicked another, barely stopping herself from using her magic. It wasn’t her only defense. She’d taken martial arts lessons since she was twelve. She moved through her fighting styles, punching and kicking the small creatures with ease. They were fast, but she was faster, fueled by adrenaline and nearly a lifetime of practice.
One launched into Steve’s mane. He roared and shook his great head, flinging it off, but another dropped onto his back from God knew where. Andy lunged forward and punched it off before stomping on its head.
Another violet explosion lit up the wood to Charity’s right. A second, larger explosion flared to her left before zinging out in all directions, sending sparks directly at a handful of creatures. Those sparks detonated as they hit their targets.
“Your magic is insanely good for attacking,” Penny murmured, at Charity’s side. A strange thing for her to say, given that she was the one who’d created the second, more impressive spell.
The area to the right of them lit up with an even brighter spell. It almost seemed like they were one-upping each other. Their blasts of electrified light zapped ten or more creatures on each round.
A wolf snarled, followed by a creature howling. Steve caught one of the things between his teeth. Blood squirted in all directions.
Another explosion went off. Squeals crowded the air. That did it. The creatures took off, scattering back into the wood, beaten.
Like a bubble popping, suddenly the full spectrum of sound rushed back. Leaves rustled and feet crunched the dirt.
“First ambush down, who knows how many to go,” Emery said into the following hush.Chapter SeventeenBy the time the murky orange glow filtering through trees lightened, reminding Charity that they’d technically been traveling at night even though the entire time her eyes and brain had said it was day (common in the Realm, she remembered), the edge of the wood loomed within sight.
Their party had been deathly quiet the last couple of hours, traversing the danger with keen eyes and exhausted bodies. Strangely, though, they’d only encountered one other group of hostile creatures— a group of exiled gnomes who clearly didn’t give a fuck, and were intent on fighting regardless of the odds.