A wave of the same oppressive, violent power Aldric had unleashed at the Goldfang wolf earlier was sweeping over them again, though this man’s felt weaker than Aldric’s. Faith recognized it for what it was now, a clear display of dominance and brute strength meant to cow a weaker or less determined opponent. This guy wasn’t expecting Faith to be unimpressed by his little display.
“The boss said get the humans with the kid. Guess he got the numbers backwards. Two kids and one human bitch.” The vamp grinned at them and struck only to bounce off Faith's magic. "What the–"
"Kids, we're going to walk backwards, okay?" Faith said, trying to keep her voice steady as the vampire stalked towards them, squinting.
"What the hell? He said he suspected you had some kind of magic, but what the fuck is this?"
Faith held one arm in front of her, sending power to the shield and the other spread out, trying to keep the kids behind her. Jake was growling fiercely, but was also staying where she wanted him as they moved. He had his fingers tangled firmly around her belt loop and Kaylee was likewise hanging onto her other side.
She tried to steer them back towards the door, and hopefully Rod was still inside to help them when they got there. Assuming they got there.
"What do you want, because whatever it is you can't have it," she said, hoping that she sounded braver than she felt.
The vampire sneered at her, trying to see a way to get around her invisible shield. She could sense him trying to find the edge or a weak spot by sending his own power against it. Behind her, Jake whimpered for a moment before taking a deep breath and returning to his growls. She felt Jake pushing his own young power out in an effort to counteract the vampire.
"Jake..." she hissed in warning.
"Faith? Maybe... maybe I can help you? I don't know how human magic works though..." he whimpered.
"Me too, Aunt Faith! I'll help. I don't know how you're doing this force field thing, but I'll help!" Kaylee said from her other side.
Surprisingly, she felt a surge in her power from two small but strong sparks. It felt fresh and familiar and strange and was distinctly young and wolf and pack in a way that Faith wasn’t about to analyze. She just sent a bit more power to her shield and hoped someone noticed their situation soon.
Faith didn't want to take her eyes off the vampire who was matching them step for step until the kids stopped abruptly.
"Guys? Why'd you stop?" Faith didn't take her eyes off the vampire.
"We hit a bush. And there's monsters between us and the door," Kaylee said. She was trying to keep her voice strong and calm, but Faith could hear the fear in it.
"Nowhere left to run, now, Magaestra," the vampire sneered. "And as long as that... protection is up you seem to be stuck. Caught just as neatly as if I had my hands on you. Which I will anyway, as soon as you run out of energy. Oh, he'll be thrilled to have you at last!"
"Who the hell are you talking about? What do you mean?" Faith snarled.
A yelp nearby stopped his answer and before he could carry on again, another, more horrible noise answered the yelp, then suddenly Aldric was there between Faith and the attacking vampire, a trail of dead hounds and vampires behind him. He was breathing heavily and was absolutely slick with blood, but Faith wasn't sure how much was his, and how much came from their attackers.
Aldric tossed what remained of one of the blighthounds to the side and hissed a warning.
"I've heard of you," the strange vamp sneered. “The Donnellys. So idealistic and high-minded, playing with your flea-ridden mutts in the middle of nowhere. I will enjoy reporting your death to my master almost as much as I will enjoy bringing him the witches."
Aldric didn't answer, and Faith couldn't see his face– and frankly at the moment she was somewhat glad of it, since she felt that same surge of power and rage that she had felt inside the lodge just ten minutes earlier. The stranger's sneer vanished the second before he lunged at Aldric.
Once they started moving, they were a blur that Faith couldn't follow. To their left, the reddish wolf limped away from the remains of the hounds that had blocked their path, then stumbled and almost fell, blood matting their fur and dying it a new, darker shade.
"Over here!" Faith shouted, but the wolf didn't hear her over the noise of the battle and she didn't know who it was, to call out to them by name.
Jake's small voice joined hers. "Ori! Come over here!"
Ori's head swung around to look at them, and he saw the two vampires clashing nearby. With a snarl he started toward them, and Faith encouraged the kids to move as well, to meet him partway. When he got close enough, Faith reached over with her free hand and dropped the shield just long enough to pull the wolf through by his scruff. Ori yelped in surprise when she did, and then flung the barrier back up.
"I have got to stop getting attacked like this,” Faith muttered. "This is such a bad habit."
She was fairly sure that Ori was laughing as he sunk to the ground, panting. Jake let go of her belt loop and pulled off his own shirt to try to clean his friend's fur.
"Jake, sweetie, do your best, but stay ready to move, okay?" Faith said. Using the moment to look around, she saw dead blighthounds scattered everywhere across the lawn. Most of the Goldfang wolves had either escaped, or were fighting alongside her own clanmates, because they weren't on the ground anymore.
She saw Marc, on the other side of the yard facing off against another vampire. Four more wolves were scattered around,
