All Is Fair In Love And War

Chapter 19

Carter tried not to trip as the ground rumbled with heavy footsteps. He clutched the sphere necklace in his hand, hoping and praying that the distress signal had gone through. Douxie needed to get his ass over here now.

Ahead of him, Marcy was pulling Sarah along, both scrambling over fallen trees and roots. Carter's chest was throbbing and his head was aching. He could ever so faintly hear the echo of something big and metal running their way. He mentally cursed his horrible, horrible luck. Why could he never have an uneventful day?

*~*

Douxie sprinted down the road, hoping and praying that Carter was alright. Then he heard people screaming further up the street. Douxie ran towards the screaming, calling his magic to his hands, ready for a fight. He skidded to a stop when he saw what had gotten the people into a panic.

A giant wolf was snarling and snapping at the mortals, getting them further away from the woods. Fenris, Douxie realized with relief. Wherever Fenris was, that meant Carter couldn't be far behind.

Behind the giant wolf, he saw three people running towards him. Two girls, one very young, maybe eight or nine. And a slightly older girl of at least fifteen. And behind them, pushing them to run faster just as a massive mechanical bull came charging out of the forest, was Carter.

Carter turned towards it sluggishly, his reaction time slower than normal. Even from this distance, Douxie could tell Carter was injured. He was limping, and he had an arm pressed to his side as he rammed his shield into the bull's head hard enough to make a dent. The bull screamed in outrage, rumbling off quickly to circle back around.

"Carter!" Douxie shouted, throwing a ball of energy at the bull, watching as it careened to the side and fell over. It kicked its stubby legs, violently mooing and screeching as it tried to get up.

"Go, go!" Carter shouted at the girls. "Keep running!" He looked at Douxie, exhaustion churning in his eyes.

Fenris bounded over to him, crouched low, body half-curled around Carter protectively. He snarled and inclined his head towards the demigod, saying something to him through their telepathic link. Carter pressed a hand to Fenris' shaggy neck, signing one word very precisely, then gesturing to the two girls.

Protect them.

Fenris seemed torn, but obeyed when Carter gave him a look. Douxie ran towards his soulmate just as the bull righted itself and charged at Carter. Douxie shouted as it rammed into his side, sending the demigod to the ground where he slid before stopping. He didn't get back up.

"No!" Douxie shouted, lassoing the bull's neck with magic, forcing it away from Carter. "Over here, gears for brains!"

The bull turned to him, mechanical eyes glowing an eerie red.

"Oh shit."

The bull charged him.

Douxie leapt out of the way, rolling and then jumping to his feet. He sent a blast of magic at the bull's face, hearing it screech angrily.

To his left, he saw Archie fly over to Carter, who was slowly getting back, obviously in a lot of pain.

"Douxie!" Claire yelled, running up beside him. "What are you doing!?"

"What does it look like!?" Douxie shouted, throwing another spell at the mechanical monstrosity, slowly making his way to Carter.

"Trying to get yourself killed!?" Claire guessed, dodging the bull again.

"That's not helpful!" Douxie shouted back. He created a shield in between him and the bull, watching it ram into the magic shield before running off again to circle back around. "We need to kill it!"