"Dammit!" I cursed as a fang caught on my leg, tearing open a red gash and shredding the fabric. I backhanded the Hound and kicked off its partner as I took to the air. I flipped around once, twice, three times, before landing on top of a parked trailer. Resting on one knee, I kept an eye out as I took a moment to catch my breath.
My whole body was burning and I knew that I couldn't keep fighting for much longer. Already a few streets back I had started to feel the pull on my reserves and I'd been forced to stop slowing time in order to save the magic for pumping up my strength. Thankfully it looked like my pursuers were thinking somewhat along the same lines as the they stood at the other end of street, their sides heaving, all while steam rose from singed patches of missing fur as the flesh underneath knit back together. From how they were baring their teeth, I figured they knew as well as I did that I couldn't keep this up for much longer.
Despite the sheer power of the guns that had been handed to me - Mom had taught me to be wary about gifts from strangers, so I probably should talk to Dad and Jeanne about them later - I was still a novice when it came to fighting, and my instincts could only get me so far. I knew barely enough to keep the two revolvers attached to my boots let alone how to fire them like Jeanne could. I'd landed more than a few particularly brutal hits though, despite my inexperience, but they'd healed up almost as quickly as I'd doled them out.
With a howl the Hounds surged forwards again. I raised my arms, ready to dodge out of the way, only to blink as they came to sudden halt, their heads raised as they sniffed the air. A young woman strode out of an alley between us, and I opened my mouth to shout a warning, certain that it was too late and I was about to witness some poor innocent get caught up in the crossfire and torn apart.
Once again my expectations were tossed aside. Instead she turned to them and uttered something too soft for me to hear. It had an instant effect on the Hounds though, their ears going flat as they shrunk back from the woman. They backed up to the end of the street before letting out baleful howls.
A dark rift opened in the air around them with the sound of tearing cloth. The two Hounds whirled around and dove into the deepening shadows, leaving me alone with the strange woman. The rift sealed as if it never were, beyond the rush of cold air that swept down the street in its wake.
The woman turned back to face me and pulled out a pair of short handled daggers. Something told me that unlike the bartender, these weapons weren't intended for me, at least not to wield. My breath hissed between my teeth and I could feel my blood and frustration boiling over as I finally reached the end of my patience. "Will someone explain to me what the fuck is going on? Like who the hell you are, or what those dogs were, or, I don't know, anything!"
She stared at me as I heaved deep breaths of the night air. Her lips quirked upwards into a smirk. "You really have no idea, do you?" she asked, her voice soft enough that I wasn't sure if the question was actually directed at me. "The last of the Umbra Witches and you know nothing of your history or what that entails."
"Yeah, I don't suppose you'd mind enlightening me?" It was a shame my magical powers didn't come with heat vision, because if they did there'd be a nice little bonfire going right about now.
"Certainly." For a moment she stood there, the next she vanished, only the rush of air on the back of my neck saving me from losing my head right then and there. I rolled off the van and landed on my feet. She stood just behind where I had been, a pair of black daggers that seemed to drink in the light placed at what would have been my back and neck. The light from the street lamps didn't seem to reach her right, leaving her features shrouded in shadows. I could still make out a flicker of light off her eyes as they studied me studying her.
"The first thing you should be know," she said, almost casually, as she straightened, "is that from the moment you were born there were forces and beings in this world that would find no greater pleasure than to see you removed from existence."
I swallowed and licked suddenly dry lips. "And you're one of them?" I'm pretty sure Mom would have been proud of how I asked that without my voice cracking.
"No. I simply wanted to test myself against the legendary might of the Umbra Witches before you were consumed by them. So far I've been rather disappointed." She cocked her head to the side and grinned at me, her teeth a bright line in the shadows that shrouded her face. "Do try and make this at least a little interesting would you?"
She disappeared from sight again and this time I was ready, the ever more familiar adrenaline surge and heightened focus slipping into place, time slowing around me as I spun and drove my elbow into her chest. I felt a spark of hope, only for it to sputter out when my arm passed through her body like it was smoke.
"Neat trick." Her voice spoke up from behind me and I spun away, my guns rising to find her already gone. "I have a few of my own though."
Only a flash of her grin saved me as she stormed out of the shadows to my side. Despite my best efforts all could do was retreat, occasionally offering a counterattack that she either dodged with infuriating ease or let phase through to leave me off balance. For a moment it was almost like Jeanne's lessons, me faced up against someone who's sheer skill outclassed me by several magnitudes. That moment passed as my latest attempt to avoid having my throat slashed earned me a line of fire across my arm.
She pressed the attack, weaving a deadly web of steel that pushed me harder than anything Jeanne had put me through. We moved back and forth across the street, her blades harrying my every step and draining what little magic I had left. I barely managed to get up one of my guns to block a jab that would have taken out my eye, twisting my body to the side to avoid the follow-up disembowelling slice, then ended by kicking off her knee and flipping a few metres away.
She was already in motion as I reached the apex of my leap, and I knew I wouldn't be able to recover in time to block her next strike. I felt a pressure from behind me and I twisted my body into a tight spin, catching a glimpse of something brilliantly green on the rooftop, as what I guessed was a bullet blurred past me. The shadow woman had her blades out and ready to gut me, only for the bullet to catch her in the shoulder and spin her around like a top. I landed in a crouch, raising my revolver like I'd seen in a Western as I straightened and firing from the hip. The bullet caught her in the chest under the ribs, but instead of the torrent of red I was expecting, a spray of thick ichor painted the ground behind her black. She dropped to her knee and coughed out another glob of ichor, the liquid already starting to evaporate into the air.
"You were lucky this night." I was amazed that she could speak, given the gaping hole where her lungs should have been. Then again, she clearly wasn't human, so maybe it wasn't that uncommon.
"Yeah? I'm good to go for another round if you are." Which was a total bluff, but she looked a lot worse than I felt, with was saying something. "If you do you'll be sorry."
She let out a wet sounding laugh. "I already am girl. Our next meeting will end differently. I assure you of that." The shadows all over the street stretched towards her, her body darkening at the edges and blurring slightly, like looking at her without my glasses, as she sunk downwards. A moment later she was gone. My eyes darted from shadow to shadow, as I backed over to the intersection and leaned against a streetlight.
My legs gave out under me and I ended up sliding down the metal into a rather undignified heap. The cold metal felt nice against my back, and when I glanced up I became transfixed by the streetlight, as snow began to fall from the sky above.
I'm not sure how much time passed, it could have been an hour or just five minutes staring up at the streetlight, when I heard the sound of tires screeching down the road. I think I might have heard some other cars earlier, but none had been headed towards me, so I forced myself to look away as it came to a stop not far from me.
Even if I wanted to, I wasn't sure I had the energy for another fight, but there was some small relief when I recognized it.I winced when Dad stepped out of his truck, his knuckles white from gripping his shotgun, and I looked down as he started to walk towards me. Aunt Jeanne stepped out from the passenger side a moment later, wearing body a white leather bodysuit, and a strange cat-like mask that left her mouth and chin bare and did nothing to hide how upset she was.
"You young lady," he said, standing over me like an immovable sentinel as his eyes swept the streets, "are so grounded."