She turned her attention back to where her vampire was fighting. Aldric was slowing down, she was sure of it. Mostly because he had been wounded before jumping into this fight and as bloody as the other guy was now, they were moving slow enough that Faith could mostly track them back and forth. Aldric seemed to be losing ground.
Kaylee and Jake were mostly quiet behind her, only small whimpers occasionally underscoring the snarling, thumping battle noise. Some distant, disconnected part of Faith's brain thought it was weird how the pitched supernatural brawl she was surrounded by was both louder and quieter than she had thought it would be.
Shaking her head she tried to focus. They were pinned down now, with Ori mostly immobile. Jake had wrapped his tiny t-shirt around Ori's leg, and crouched, snuggled against the enforcer's side. Kaylee was copying her friend and hugged Ori's other side, somewhat less carefully, and Ori twisted to lick at both the kids' faces. It would have been sweet if it weren't for the life-and-death thing.
A grunt snapped her focus back to Aldric. The stranger seemed to have the upper hand now, and as badly wounded as Aldric was when he jumped into the fight, it wasn't a surprise. When the vampire twisted and did... something that Faith couldn't see clearly and Aldric went flying to slam into the side of the lodge and slide down to the ground, her heart clenched.
It really was like time slowed down at that moment. Aldric rolled slowly to lever himself up on his elbow, shaking his head to clear it. The other man stalked toward him like a predator who knew his prey was almost down and just needed one last blow to finish his kill. Aldric was too far away to get him behind the shield, and with Ori so badly injured they couldn't get the shield to him in time.
It was the most helpless Faith had ever felt. What the hell use was her magic if she couldn't help at times like this? What she really needed now was a gun or something. A crossbow. Throwing stars? She'd take anything like that.
One of the blighthounds stumbled into her shield and she screamed in surprise, before it slid to the ground and twitched a few times before stilling, its throat a nasty mess. She blinked at where the corpse rested against the solid wall of her magic and whirled back to see the Aldric staggering to his feet again, a completely insane idea forming.
The stranger grinned, knowing that he was a moment from victory. "I'm beginning to think that all the stories of the power of human magic is just so much mythology. I mean, look at you. There's no way you've gotten any kind of boost after feeding from her. Weak and pathetic."
Aldric just hissed in reply. The stranger smirked again and stepped forward to finish his kill, and Faith reached out with her half-formed magic and threw it as hard as she could.
A hole opened in the stranger's chest, and his eyes widened in shock. Blood gushed from the new wound and Faith gave her new magical stake another shove and a twist for spite, and the stranger grunted and choked on the blood spilling from his mouth now also. Aldric set his feet and squared his shoulders and wordlessly ripped the man's throat out.
22
Aldric sank to the ground himself, now assured that the other vampire was no longer a threat to anyone. He had no idea what had happened to give him the upper hand so suddenly and completely, but he was not going to argue with his good fortune. He also was not going to seek another fight. Hopefully Marc and the rest of his enforcers could finish the battle.
A warm tingle washed over him, then. He blinked his eyes open– when had he closed them? Ori sniffed at his side then, apparently deciding that the area wasn't too badly wounded, lay down and pressed himself against Aldric, resting his big head on Aldric's thigh. It was the way of werewolves. When they were injured they huddled together, partly for defense and partly for comfort. Folklore said it helped them heal faster, but Aldric wasn't sure it would work for him.
Still, it was good to know he wasn't alone in his pain. Jake and Kaylee joined the pile and even Faith crouched down onto her knees to carefully lift Aldric's head and rest it in her lap, carefully cleaning the filth of battle off his face. He sighed deeply and let his eyes slide closed again.
When he next opened his eyes, Marc and Rod were working together to lift him to his feet.
"Come on, Aldric. You'd better wake up and talk to us or Faith might have a meltdown," Marc was saying. “She’s been really patient, and hasn’t started screaming yet, but it’d be a huge help if you could reassure all of us that you’re on the mend, man.” There was an odd note in his voice, and Aldric was struck with the sudden fear that they hadn't all made it through the battle.
He squinted and rolled his head to peer around the clearing. There were dead blighthounds everywhere he looked. Dozens of them. One of the Goldfang wolves was dragging them into a pile to one side of the clearing. He was covered in blood and dirt, and looked like hell, but since Marc seemed unconcerned, Aldric decided that he wasn't in any shape to object.
He turned slightly as they nudged him to start moving, and he saw Faith disappearing into the lodge, ushering the kids ahead of her. There was no sign of Ori or Kenya.
"Ori?" because where her husband was, that's where
