"Kate? What are you on about?" he sounded angry… whoever he was.
"Who are you? I feel funny… actually, I'm really tired. I think I'm gonna get some sleep." I closed my eyes to the world around me and was almost sleep when something very cold slid down my top.
My eyes snapped open and I grabbed the first thing that I could and snarled, baring teeth.
A high pitch squeal emitted from the object I'd grabbed, followed by laughter.
"Kate, you can release him now." A deep voice said. Even from here you could tell that he was trying to hide a laugh and failing.
Who was he to think we were on first name terms? Or even to think that he knew me… whoever he was.
So instead of letting him go, I squeezed harder. I looked around the room and found that I was lying on a floor, covered in blood and surrounded by strange people. Not a good situation for me. I could sense the power they emitted and Voron always said that it was vital that I stay away from power.
In one quick movement I released whoever I was holding, flipped up and had my arm around his throat.
All laughter stopped and a deadly silence filled the room.
"Kate, that's Derek you're chocking there. What's up with you?" my eyes darted to the man who spoke. He was about 6:5, close cropped blonde hair and was covered in muscles. Everything about him screamed power. He was obviously their leader. If it came to it I'd have to take everyone else out (and there were only 4 of them) before I could even get close to him.
"Who are you?"
"Kate, we know Derek shouldn't have poured ice down your top but quit the charade. You have some explaining to do." He took a step forward and my arm tightened around his neck. I felt him start to gasp and felt happy that even through feeling weak I could still pin a shifter.
"Look, I don't know who you are, any of you, and I don't know how you know my name… or where I am, so I'm going to walk out of here with this kid. One block down and I'll let him go. Then I'll make my way back home. We'll all go our separate ways and you won't bother me.
"Kate, you're killing Derek." The leader looked genuinely concerned now.
"That's not my problem, if he dies, then he dies. He shouldn't have let his guard down." My voice was cold and by the looks of it, precisely what they didn't want to hear. The guy I was holding slumped in my arms but I kept my hold on him. I've played that card before, slump and let them think that you've fainted, they let you go then you kill them. It takes 2 minutes for someone to pass out properly and this guy had about 30 seconds to go. I might chuck in an extra minute just for the ice.
"Oh, how I've waited for this day." All heads and eyes snapped to the door (or, what was left of it). A vampire snaked its way into the middle of the room. It was quite a new one by the looks of it, the skin was only slightly grey and the bones were almost in their right places. Its hands were backwards and its feet were pointing in different directions.
The vampire bowed to this pack of shifter's leader and in return he bowed back.
"The People of Atlanta greet the Beast Lord." The vampire said.
"The Beast Lord greets The People." The Beast Lord said.
My mouth dropped open.
"Where did you say you were from again?" my voice was barely a whisper but everybody heard it.
They all turned to look at me with confusion.
"Atlanta. I speak on behalf of The People of Atlanta." The vampire said. Even through his decaying face you could see its masters' confusion.
The kid in my arms had stopped breathing. There was no point to hold him any longer so I let him drop.
Confusion turned to rage inside me. I felt my face twist into a snarl. They must have figured out who I was…. or at least who my father is.
A sword caught my eye, lying on the floor, and I immediately lunged for it. As soon as the sword was in my hand I thrust it upwards into the person closet to me. I went through their ribcage and into their heart. I heard them gasp as their lung collapsed and I moved onto my next target.
This wouldn't kill shifters, but it would slow them down and make it easier to actually kill them.
I heard growls as they shifted into their warrior forms. A meld of beast and man they were nearly impossible to kill, nearly being the operative word.
One, a wolf by the looks of it, lunged at me, I ducked and stabbed upwards so that as he flew over me, my sword cut into his chest and carried all the way down until he fell to the floor. As soon as the wolf was on the floor its mate tackled me from the side and tried to pin me, I gathered up a little magic and sent electric pulses throughout my body, making me painful to touch. The wolf yipped and let go of my arms. My arm seemed to move of its own accord and speared the wolf through the stomach. It howled and slumped off of me, clutching its stomach.
All of the Beast Lord's guard were on the floor bleeding and moaning, that only left him. I turned to face him and could have fainted from what I saw. A 10ft tall monster with a full mane circling his face and trailing down its back. Its claws must have been at least 3 inches long and its snout was scared from previous wounds. Its eyes were pure gold, no pupil or white at all. It opened its mouth and huge, pointy white teeth appeared.
"I don't want to hurt you Kate, stop all this nonsense." The monster said.
Oh dear God. It could speak in warrior form. It could speak perfectly; none of the words were slurred or messed up. This was a truly magnificent sight to behold.
I was about to answer when I felt the vampires presence behind me. They were working together! Fluffy over here would distract me whilst the vamp took me out.
No. Chance.
I whirled around and stabbed the vampire through the eye as it lunged at me from the ceiling. It screamed in pain as I withdrew my sword. I brought it up and quickly cut down. The blade tore through the neck of the vampire and severed it from its body.
Something tackled me from behind and I landed face down on the floor with my hands behind my back. It snarled in my ear and lifted me up. Its hands were so big that it only needed one hand to hold my wrists. I was now facing the Beast Lord while he was holding my wrists in the air. I looked straight into his eyes and sent a huge current of magic through my wrists and into his hand. His face turned into a snarl but he still held on. I sent more magic to my hands, stored it there and let it go in one big flash. He roared and let go. Immediately he tried to grab me again, but I tucked and rolled in the direction of my sword. I felt it in my hand and swung it round in an arc to keep anything away from me. I heard a growl as it sliced the Beast Lords chest.
I ran for the door but the Beast Lord grabbed my feet and I fell, my hands just centimetres away from the wrecked door. He started pulling me backwards and I screamed. I used magic to fuel it so the people outside would hear. Of course, they should have heard the roaring and growling, but a woman screaming usually brings more people than a monster's roar.
He out a paw over my mouth and I put down hard. Yer, that bit failed; apparently Mr Monster over here had very tough skinned paws. If anything I hurt my teeth more than I hurt him. His paw was covering my nose and mouth and I suddenly found the world lacking oxygen. I struggled feebly against his hold and knew it wasn't going to end in my favour. I saw black dots appear and knew that I didn't have much time left. I pulled the only trick I had left.
"Amehe". Obey
I could only whisper it because of the lack of oxygen and I felt him stiffen.
"Release me"
I felt him strain against the power word but he arms slowly moved away from me. I took a blessed breath of air and the dots started to disappear. I found that we were in a quite awkward position. I was lying face first on the floor with him on top of me.
"Get off of me." I put more power into the word, I could feel that his will was strong and it was getting very hard to hold him.
Slowly, resisting each movement, he knelt between my legs. I felt the pressure ease off of my chest as he did and I quickly scrambled away.
"Stay there"
His face twisted into a grimace and I felt more magic being drawn from me to keep him there. I turned my back to him and sprinted to the door. I opened it and stepped into the daylight.
I took two steps and felt the Beast Lord break free with a huge roar. There was nothing like it. I could feel the floor vibration and could see the windows rattling, threatening to break more than they already were.
I turned around and saw the Beast Lord start walking towards me, he seemed to have lost any control that he previously had. I felt fear squirm in my stomach and knew that I would not win another fight. I turned around only to have someone punch me. They hit me in the temple and I collapsed to the floor.