Disclaimer: I don't own Avalon, Rachel Roberts does. I only own my personal characters, and you should be able to pick those out rather easily.
Chapter 5: Fight for Freedom"Hello, Kaji", The large black wolf known as Touken said in such a smooth voice that it made you want to run away crying. Kaji, however, stood her ground without flinching.
"I do not want to fight you, Touken."
"Relax. I would never fight one who is on my team." Touken moved forward with a smile that looked more like a deranged grimace. "Traitors, on the other hand, I destroy!"
He launched himself at Kaji and wrapped his jaws around her side, shaking her violently as though she was nothing more than a rag doll. Kara grabbed a small rock and flung it as hard as she could at the black menace. It didn't seem to hurt him, but it did surprise him. Touken's grip loosened a little bit, and that was all Kaji needed. She wrenched out of his grasp, and lunged at his leg. A crack followed by a yelp resounded around the room. Touken limped backward, but Kaji wasn't done with him. She leapt for his throat and pushed him to the floor. A few seconds later she let go of him, and he rose, but cowered before the enraged she wolf.
"Get out of our way, and do not tell anyone about this, although I doubt that you would tell anyone about how you were defeated by a small she-wolf and three human teenagers." Touken didn't move, he only whimpered. "Perhaps you didn't understand me. I said LEAVE!" Kaji launched forward and landed almost on top of him, held her head high, revealed all of her sharp fangs, and let out a terrifying growl. This got a response from Touken and he wheeled around and took off, moving as fast as he could with a broken leg.
Kaji slowly relaxed. She shook her fur out and turned to the girls. Even Adriane was impressed by this incredible wolf.
"Remind me never to make you angry", Kara said quietly.
"Good idea", Kaji chuckled, then turned serious. "Let's go before Touken tells on us."
"If you think he's going to tell on us, why did you let him go?" asked Emily.
After a moment of thought, Kaji answered quietly, "I may like to fight, but I don't like to kill." With that she turned and trotted down the next hall rather quickly. Up ahead, they could see light.
"Um, should the light be getting smaller the closer we get to it?" questioned Adriane, already knowing the answer.
"Oh no," Kaji took off at a dead run. On her way down the hall, she grabbed an iron floor-standing candelabra and held it in hopes of jamming the doors open. This failed, and she hit the door hard. She regained her paws just as the others came up beside her.
"So, what do we do now?" asked Emily. All three looked at Kaji who seemed to be deep in thought. She looked at the door and had an idea.
"That collar didn't allow me to use my true power, but now that it's off, perhaps I've gotten it back. Stand back."
Kaji waited for the others to get to a safe distance. Then she reared back onto her hind legs. When she came down she planted her front paws deep into the ground to brace her for the blast, and let loose a powerful beam of fire. She raced toward the door and hit it with her shoulder. The door gave way as though it was nothing more than a piece of paper. The others followed her quickly out. Kaji slowed her pace down to a steady trot to let the others catch up.
"Wow! You can use fire just like me!" Kara cried happily.
"I can use both fire and earth. Wait, you can use magic?"
"Yes. Kara uses fire. Adriane uses earth, and I use water", Emily explained. "We haven't been able to use our magic ever since we came here though."
They fell into a comfortable silence, when all four of them heard a shout from behind them.
"I knew he wouldn't keep his mouth shut!" Kaji howled in anger. "You go on ahead. I'll stall them." Kaji halted and turned around as the three girls continued on.
"What do you think she'll do to stop them?" Emily asked breathlessly. They heard the she-wolf howl and they turned their heads to look, never breaking stride. Kaji had created a wall of fire and was turning to follow them. "Apparently, that."
Kaji tore after the others. She stole a glance over her shoulder just in time to see that some of the Kakera stopped but others simply jumped through the blaze, although they did hesitate for a moment. Looking ahead to make sure the girls were a safe distance away, Kaji turned on her heel and reared back once more. However instead of blasting another wall of fire, her front legs went stiff and she slammed into the ground hard. It shook and broke apart, creating a wide fissure in the earth. The Kakera skidded to a stop at the very edge, knowing that they couldn't jump that distance. Kaji smiled as she ran down the slope to join the girls. They were looking at a wide river that ran directly in front of them.
"So, what do we do now?" Adriane was looking doubtfully from the river to the top of the hill. "That earthquake won't hold those…things back forever, will it?"
"No, it won't. We have to get across the river if we want to be completely sure that we'll be safe. It should stop the Kakera-" A windy sounding howl broke into Kaji's sentence. "Blast it! Now the Steel Wolves are after us! They can make that jump as though it's nothing more than a crack."
"What do you do?" asked Emily, trying to keep her voice from shaking. She remembered their attack far too well. "Build a raft?"
"Exactly. But we have to hurry!" They worked as fast as they could, using anything to form a sturdy raft, or at least something that would float and could get across. Another howl sounded, only much closer and much angrier. Kaji raced away from the girls up to the top of the hill.
"Where are you going? Are you going to leave us behind now that we're out?" shouted Kara, terrified that they would have to fight alone.
"No. Keep working. I'll tell you when to run." Kaji called back. The girls, not knowing what else they should do, followed her orders. Kaji stood still, watching and waiting for the Steel Wolves to jump the fissure. "GO!" she nearly screamed at them. Kara, Adriane, and Emily shoved their makeshift raft into the water and leapt onto it.
They turned just in time to see Kaji get buried beneath a mountain of the iron wolves. A powerful blast of fire freed her and she took off along the edge of the river. She jumped on top of a mound of rocks and let loose another blast of fire, taking out five more wolves. She saw several wolves attempt to make the leap after the girls, but another blast from her took them out. Two wolves Jumped onto Kaji's back, burying their teeth into her neck and shoulder. With a howl of rage she threw them off and they landed in the water. Looking back at the girls, Kaji saw that they had made their way to the other side. Good. The wolves can't make that jump, and the water would destroy them. Now's my chance! With a final blast of fire, this one much larger than the others, she leapt into the water. She struggled to the surface and began to swim with all of her remaining strength to the other side.