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The Gift

Stephanie's Storyline, Chapter 10.4

copyright comidacomida 2019

Medved's arm wrapped around me as he spoke firmly. "Come, Lapushka... we must get you inside. It is not safe."

I struggled. "They need me-- they need us, Medved! We should help them!"

Although his tone was comforting, he did not relent. "I know, Vozlyublennaya. I will help-- I promise... but you MUST be safe. Pozhaluysta-- Please!"

I heard the sound of Anapa yelp in pain even as Tom roared out an indication that he'd been wounded further. With no time to debate the situation, I pulled free of Medved's grasp and ran to my bloody Rhino Sentinel. "Tom! No!"

Medved called to me as I slipped away, but I was already running. Anapa was struggling to stand, his broken staff held in one paw while the other supported him in his attempt to get to his feet; Kyle was laying with his back on the ground, several black feathers fluttering down around him as if they'd been broken free by a powerful impact. Despite their adverse condition, I ran instead to where Tom was kneeling, blood pouring from his wounds. The Wendigo was looking over him, frozen icicles of blood clinging to its claws as it brandished them savagely.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion as the lethal-looking nails cleaved through the air in a double downward swipe. Tom's shattered shield clung by one of its two straps to his arm, which he was having trouble raising to defend himself due to his shoulder wound. I could already tell he'd never managed to get it in place before the killing blow landed, which meant that the only option was for me to be my Sentinel's guardian, repeating my earlier declaration. "NO!"

I interposed myself between the Rhino and the beast, rising my hands to grab at the Wendigo's wrists. My vision blurred, and it felt like I was surrounded by a sea of bubbles, like leaping into the river and rising to the surface with the turbulent water swirling around me. Everything was turquoise and, as my vision slowly cleared, I saw that the Wendigo recoiled from a field of pure energy that separated it from Tom and myself. An expression of pure rage and malice warped its features, oversized mouth widening more in a roar as its baleful, hollow eye sockets burned red with fury.

A moment later, it turned and ran for Anapa and Kyle, but both of them had recovered, ready again for the fight. The glowing field faded away, leaving me fatigued; a freezing cold also crept in the moment the protection was gone, but I didn't focus on it since my attention was drawn to Tom, who slumped to the ground, groaning. I was by his side immediately. "Tom? Can you hear me?"

He let out a huffing breath, and wheezed another in. "I... I can, Nekedah..."

I urged him onto his side, thankful he had at least enough energy to help me do that much since there was no way I'd be able to move him by myself. Behind me I heard the sound of Medved roar as he joined in the fray, my three spirits against the nightmarish beast, but I had to focus on Medved. I'd expected it would be difficult to remove his armor but, to my surprise, the moment I pulled on the torn plates they came away, disappearing in a flash of Golden light. I wasn't sure whether that was a good sign or a bad one, but that didn't matter once I saw the wounds myself. "....oh my god..."

The ragged tears in his hide were not only bleeding profusely, but it looked as though the skin was already dead from extreme frostbite. I gasped, tears starting when I realized that I was able to watch as frost started spreading out from the wounds, literally freezing Tom alive like some kind of rapidly growing ice infection. I reached forward toward the wound, but the Rhino grunted, intercepting my hand by grabbing my wrist. "Do not touch..."

I was surprised when it was so easy to free myself from is grasp; he didn't have the energy left to resist. The thought of sitting by and watching Tom's life being stolen by the hungry ice was unthinkable, but what could I do? I couldn't do nothing, that much I knew. "You're not dying here, Tom... I won't let you."

For once, his stoic expression was broken by a smile. "Oh? You won't let me, will you, sweet Nekedah? I fear this is beyond y--"

That same sense of helplessness and hopelessness welled up in me-- the one I felt when I knew for certain that the Wendigo was going to eviscerate him. I hadn't actually saved Tom-- I only gave him a slow demise. The same word entered my mind, but I didn't say it; I didn't need to. No. And, for the second time that day, the world listened.

My hand came to rest on his wound and I felt the stinging fury of a cold so extreme that it registered as a burn, but I didn't cry out; I embraced the pain, and forced it to go away. My hand glowed furiously as if giving a visual representation of that agony, and the light began to pulse as if counting in time with my heartbeat. A second later it stopped, and when I separated my palm from his arm there was no trace of a wound.

Tom sat up immediately, flexing his forearm before rolling his shoulder. He stared at it, apparently just as surprised as I was. Although his exclamation was in Hebrew, the expression on his face left little doubt as to the translation. "Walla!"

With the battle still going on behind me, Tom wasted no time rising again to his feet. He reached out to the side, his spear materializing in his hand the moment he clenched it. Before he could get far, however, I stepped up and raised my arm, resting my fingers against the broken hole in his armor. Although I had no idea what I was doing, by the time my hand came away, his bronze plates were repaired. My request was direct. "Protect us. Please."

I had never recalled seeing Tom's eyes gleam so powerfully, as two Golden flashlight beams had suddenly been switched on. Smiling to me one last time, he turned to the Wendigo, hefted his pole arm, and roared out his war cry anew. "RAK CHAZAK!"

The battle joined now with all four of my Spirits, it finally looked as though the tide was changing. There was no doubt that the Wendigo was powerful; the combination of William Smith and Mishupishu meant that it had the benefit of Spirit and Matter, and that accounted for a lot, but my Spirits were not weak when they fought together. For a time it looked as though we were winning but a sense I had never realized I had suddenly made me realize something was wrong. I didn't know at the time how I knew, but I cried out just in time "LOOK OUT!"

None of my four Spirits required any more of a warning, and all of them fell back in a defensive posture; Tom had his shield up; Kyle threw his wings up in a wall in front of himself; Medved crossed his arms in front of his body; Anapa raised his paws and generated a Golden field of energy... and the air and ground around them froze solid. Despite their defensive postures it was obvious that the attack had taken its toll among them, but they all stood fast, battle ready.

Kyle gripped his spear, adjusting his grip of it. "We can't defeat the Wendigo without separating them... William Smith is a Seer, so we can kill him."

Medved didn't seem to like that idea one bit. "He is a Seer AND a Human... to do so would be sacrilege!"

Tom tightened his grip on his spear. "He is a puppet of the Water Panther... if we can sever the strings, then let us... if not, then we are granting him mercy."

Even as they talked, my Spirits slowly circled their opponent, moving to surround the Wendigo as it gnashed its teeth, spittle trailing down its grossly oversized paw and falling to the ground as little droplets of ice. It was hard to tell, but I thought it might have looked as though it was tiring... just a little. Sadly, not as fast as my companions.

In that moment, I knew something had to be done, and I could no longer sit on the sidelines looking for a way to help. Stepping forward, heart beating rapidly in my chest, I--