The Navajos cont. . .

✓ Kiergan

I breathed with so much difficulty as my lungs were filled with so much air, wanting to escape after I had used all of my wolf's remaining strength to strike down the beast.

"To hell with you!" I screamed and combed my fingers through my hair.

I exhaled sharply all of my anger, while my gaze shifted to Orion, who was somehow awestruck and dumbfounded on the ground, since he was staring at me with his mouth forming a perfect O.

Then, I walked up to him and grabbed his hands, pulling him up, with a pang of pain suddenly grabbing my chest.

The image of him in that cave, regardless of how fictional that was to me, broke my heart.

"Thank you." He mouthed and I nodded, "I thought you lost your wolf, how'd you get it back?" He questioned, his brows furrowed together.

I couldn't tell him what I saw, since I didn't even believe it. "It wasn't a biggie. Think it went into hiding for a while. . . My anxiety caused it, maybe, you know?"

"F***! That's messed up, man!" Orion exclaimed suddenly and I shook my head. He cusses as though his life depends on it.

We remained silent for a couple of minutes, before a terrifying note played in my head, and I noticed something that made my heart quickened, with lots of jolts circulating through my body, "Where's Joanna?!"

Orion, as though his mind was just restored to him again, jumped, with terror finding its way to his face, which wrinkled together like that of an old man, who's just reaching his fifties. "Goddamn it! I can't believe I had just forgotten for a split second!"

Orion recounted what happened, how Joanna was taken, and how he couldn't search further for her.

I could argue that the whole bolts holding my mentality together loosened immediately. "How could you forget something that crucial?!"

My head sparked with fear, or perhaps anger, and I dashed towards the direction where we had first encountered the beasts, entirely disregarding Orion's existence.

I couldn't help but notice the different kinds of deceased animals laying limp on the ground, while blood like an ocean sat, spreading largely all over the place.

I arrived at the spot with my head banging heavily against my skull. I had run too fast and my wolf obviously was a mess now with no more than less power. I scanned the midst of the remaining beasts, hoping I would see Joanna, and—

I found her. In the most terrible state, which made my body turn rather cold and I shook violently.

Her face was a mess. So was her body. There was blood all over her.

"OMG! That's Joanna! How did that happen to her?!" Orion reached me after a couple of seconds, shouted, and didn't waste a minute before he began to run towards the beasts. I followed him, although I knew that our decisions were irrational.

However, as soon as we were almost unto them, a huge clash hit us, and we both fell on our backs to the ground with such a great impact.

I groaned loudly, while rolling on the floor. Orion didn't, but stood up again to try, but he met with the clash again and he fell back to the ground. As soon as he was about to get up again, I grabbed his hand and pulled him back. I had figured out the blockage.

"F***! Leave me alone!" He shouted and jerked my hand off. The energy which was inserted into the push was so much to send me back to the ground.

So much for the good, I thought.

Wriggling up into a sitting position, I watched as Orion kept on running into the magical barrier, in the form of a glass which the beasts had created, with every of his pain causing me to wince.

"Just take a break and listen to me! You're not going to get to them no matter how much you try!" I shouted, but he didn't stop. "Orion, listen to me now! You cannot atone your sins, regardless of how much you inflict pain on yourself!"

"You don't know sh*t!" He shouted and rushed at me, grabbing my collar.

At least, that worked.

"I know everything, Orion. I know that you have never loved Joanna. I know that you're just obsessed. So, now, be calm and let's figure out how to get past the barrier!" I grabbed his wrist and tried to remove his hand from my neck, but he was too strong.

He strengthened his grip on my neck, and threw a punch to my face. "You bas****! You know nothing about me!"

"You sure wouldn't get so hot headed if it wasn't true and you know that!" I threw a comeback at him, while rubbing off the blood trailing down to my mouth from my broken nose.

Anything for Joanna. She wouldn't be happy if she sees her boyfriend in a bad state. That was a lie, anyway. Poor me.

"F*** you!"

"I'd take that!"

"Why are you doing this?!" He stopped and arched his brows, utterly confused, and I could see it.

"Because I need you to listen and I'm doing this for Joanna."

"Oh, you think you are good enough for her?! She would never be with someone who disregards her feelings, you id***!"

"What?" The accusation grabbed my attention, and I asked, but there was a more important issue on the ground that needed my attention, so I continued without giving him a space to continue his nuisance. "There's a barrier before us, stopping us from getting to them!"

"And you think I don't know that?!" He said, and I gently raised my left brow, as he continued frowning towards their direction. "But, I will break it down!" He growled, and was about to bolt when I held him back. Not physically. With words.

"Why do you think they are unshaken?"

He turned back sharply at me, and asked, surprised. "What? What do you mean?"

"Can't you see that despite all of the chaos around here those sets of beasts are so unbothered?"

His shoulder stooped as he intently looked at the remaining five beasts, which I had noticed were a far different version from the rest. "And, why is that?" He asked, his voice barely a whisper.

"Because, they want to catch us. Not dead, but alive and tired."

"How did you know that?" He asked, turning to face me. His face was such a sight not to see. He looked quite terrible. A lot.

"I just knew. I mean, it's quite clear to everyone who could think well without acting irrationally to see that they've been stalling." My sarcasm suddenly revolved into anger as I folded my hands into fists, and looked towards the beasts. "However, we could overcome them with just one thing."

"What would that be?" He asked abruptly.

I took a deep breath, exhaled, shut my eyes, and opened them back, frowning. "I say that we surrender ourselves to them."

"Has your stupidity finally gotten to your head?! What the heck are you saying?!" He snarled, but I didn't flinch obviously, neither did I give out any of the expressions that he must have expected. I was quite resolved.

"You don't have to get so worked up, you know? I believe that's the only thing we can do at this moment. Pretend we are tired and let them take us, just as they did our friends." I said, taking a step forward.

"Are you crazy? No, you are crazy, man! I'm not letting them take anymore of us! I'm going to destroy that f****** barrier and get the others back! You do whatever you want!" He shouted, and his droopy countenance changed drastically; to a very fierce one, as he began to march towards the invisible barrier.

This time, I followed him, trying to match his hurried steps. "Don't you get it! Or are you pretending not to?! You can never fight thesr set of beasts! They're obviously way too powerful!"

"You wait, and see me butcher them one after another!"

"Orion, my wolf is dying! We saved you with the last energy we had!"

He stopped for a brief seconds, and looked at me. "What?! Why didn't you tell me that?!"

"Because we didn't have the time and we still do not have the time!" I screamed at him, and grabbed his shoulder. "Let's give this a try!"

He shut his eyes, and began to shake his, while leaving my grip. "I'm not doing this. I'm not doing this. It's ridiculous!"

"Orion!"

"I'm not! I will not let us all fall into the trap of these Weres!"

"Weres?" I asked. I thought they were just beasts.

"Yes, they are the Navajos! And I would never let us become a prey for some mere witches!"

The realization shocked me a bit, but I couldn't dwell much on it. "Yes, we will! If that's how we save the others!"

"You keep saying this! How can we save the others if we are all in the same shoes, for good heaven's sake?!"

"Do you agree?! Do you?!" I grabbed both of his shoulders, although I was a little bit shorter than he was, but stared straight into his eyes. "Do. You. Agree?!"