Rebirth

Chapter 26: The Wolf and The Goddess

The crowd was roaring loudly at the pair in the center of the colosseum grounds. Every which way, the stands had screaming males ready to see the two duke it out. Personally, I was waiting for one of them to start playing dirty. It'd make it more entertaining for everyone. I thought back to our conversation in the locker room then.

Zhaniah was pacing around, back and forth, nervous beyond belief. I was with her, and it was just us two. I felt nervous being in here after the ghostlike feeling I got before, but I sucked it up and put it away. "I don't know if I can really do this," She said anxiously. "It's a bad pairing for me, there's no way I can take her."

"You can. Remember, melee and range don't mix too well. If you can get close enough, you can cut her down no problem." I touched my chin. "Besides, you know the ability of your staff, better than anyone."

"Even with that... Can I really get close enough to strike?"

"Of course. You're part wolf aren't you? You can move faster than her," I said, nodding. She watched me, gripped her staff, and nodded a thanks as we left the locker room.

The clock appeared overhead. 30 minutes, same as before. Once it started ticking, Zhaniah whirled her staff around, racing towards Julienn at wolflike speeds. Julienn raised her hands, her palms glowing brightly. She swiped, a wave of magic shooting towards Zhaniah. The wolf moved to the side quickly, racing around as Julienn launched multiple blasts.

She was trying to keep distance, anyone could see that, however, she was being reckless with how she was doing it. It looked like an obvious trap, which made me start thinking she had two separate plans just in case.

Zhaniah cut through the last magic blast, and ran at Julienn, trying to close in as much as she could. Once she was within reach, she began thrusting her staff forward, but Julienn kept herself agile and dodged every attack. The leader of Silent God then gripped Zhaniah's staff, just barely cutting her hand on the blade. "You're not bad." Zhaniah gritted her teeth at Julienn's words. "Bite me, you self centered bimbo!"

"Ironic, coming from you, isn't it?" She retorted, then slammed her palm against Zhaniah's chest and sent a shockwave of magic through her. The girl flew back, tumbling on the ground until she hit the far side of the arena wall. She winced, but rose slowly, narrowly dodging another magic blast. She charged forward, leaping every which way to avoid getting hit. Julienn smirked, then brought her hands up and a massive wave of magic slammed against Zhaniah, knocking her sky high. "I wield the magic of the Space Goddess. There's no limit to my power." She rose a palm, a wormhole opening above her. Behind Zhaniah as she was recovering her balance, Julienn appeared behind her and kicked hard. The resulting shock wave from the impact knocked the air from her lungs, and she screamed.

The guild was in shock. I looked at the team of Silent God from our stand, and they were smirking back at us. They were messing with the wrong people. I looked back at Richard and Michael, and both were extremely uneasy. Beowulf sensed my growing anger, and he touched my shoulder. "Relax.. We.. We just have to let her fight." I gripped the railing until my knuckles turned white. "You're right but-..."

Zhaniah whipped around, attempting to strike. Julienn opened another wormhole, and Zhaniah was instantly on the ground, her defenses dropped as she looked around. Julienn came up from underneath her, and with a claw style attack, ripped Zhaniah's armor to absolute shreds. Along with her armor, cuts became visible running up her torso, and blood splashed on Julienn's cheek. Zhaniah stumbled back, gripping her staff and aiming it at her opponent.

The air grew thicker as they watched each other, and Zhaniah began breathing harder. Placing a hand on her hip, Julienn smiled coldly at Zhaniah. I watched them both, wondering what had happened to make Julienn so cold, and why she was fighting so hard against Zhaniah. "Give it up," She said, finally. "You can't beat me. Fight any longer, and I'll kill you for sure."

"Don't think you've won.. Just because you drew a little blood... I've had worse," Zhaniah said. Julienn raised her palm, a faint glow enveloping her fingers. "Oh.. I'm sure." There was a pause, and the colosseum grew silent. The tension grew even thicker, and for a moment, I wondered if either were going to attack. My eyes picked up a massive trace of gaseous magic surrounding Zhaniah, and the Queen of Wolves went wide eyed. She screamed, dropping her staff and clutching her head. It wasn't a scream of pain, but one of fear and humiliation. I couldn't piece together what it could've been, but I knew for sure Julienn was showing Zhaniah something she definitely didn't want to relive.

I watched Zhaniah's outcry, forcing myself not to look away. I wanted her to pull through, shrug the nightmare off and push it from her mind. The girl is strong, but for something to make her scream like that, I don't think she would be able to handle it. "M... Make it stop..." She said. Julienn smirked, "Surrender, and I will."

I had a bad feeling growing in my chest. Not from the possibility of Zhaniah losing, but the idea of what could happen next. I thought over it numerous times, and considered the idea to be utterly ridiculous, and there would be a need for the full moon for something like that to happen. I realized after that, that no matter how the universe shapes itself, I will always end up wrong in some way.

Zhaniah began growling in her throat lowly. Her white hair extended, not just down her back, but beginning to cover her body with fur. Her fangs grew larger, and eyes developed a brighter and more blood color red. Her nails grew into claws, and her back hunched over. She slammed her hands on the ground, uttering jumbled words, before a massive howl ripped through the magic mist, loud enough to be heard around the town.

Julienn was taken back but the sudden transformation, yet she kept her guard up to avoid any surprise attacks. Out of everyone, the guild was the most stunned. No one even considered Zhaniah changing into a wolf focused form during the trials, and I never thought anything would push her to that point. Really wished I was right about that.

Zhaniah charged at Julienn, howling and panting wildly. The witch summoned another wormhole, stepping through to avoid Zhaniah's teeth digging into her throat. The female wolf looked around, finding her prey, and charged at Julienn as she stepped through the portal. The Goddess raised her arms, muttering words of a spell as the space around Zhaniah began bending, wrapping around her arms and legs. She snapped and lurched about, trying to break free. It would be impossible without her staff, but the will of the wolf was strong. She pulled, tearing through Julienn's magic with her claws, and raced at the magic user. Before she could activate another spell, Zhaniah cut through the fabric of her dress, and her side deeply, blood dropping on the floor between them. She sniffed the blood on her claws and howled loudly, then turned and ran at Julienn again, this time biting into her leg. Julienn screamed in pain, blood seeping onto Zhaniah's fangs. She punched and slapped at Zhaniah, until finally hitting her hard enough to break free and stumble away.

The crowd watched in horror. I released the grip I had on the railing, and Cynthia tugged my sleeve. "This.. this isn't really happening.. Is it..." She looked at me, tears building. "Stop this.. Stop her."

"This match has gone on long enough!" Everyone looked at Richard and Michael. "Stop it! Zhaniah!" Their voices fell on deaf ears. Zhaniah kept her pursuit, attacking ruthlessly. Julienn dodged, occasionally taking a couple cuts to get a better hit. The more she did, the more Zhaniah grew angry and the faster she began to attack. The guards began filling the arena from the stands, racing for the pair. Beowulf jumped from the stands, the rest of the guild freezing in place. Julienn brought her arms back, preparing another spell. This one was stronger than the others. I could see it all building up immensely, but she wouldn't have enough time to launch it before Zhaniah ripped her to shreds.

The longer I watched, the harder it was to fight off moving. Before I realized it, I launched myself from the stands, past Beowulf and sliding in front of Julienn. I faced Zhaniah, watching my friend bound towards me like a wild animal. Instead of going to fight her off, like something a normal person would do, I did the complete opposite, smiling warmly and opening my arms. "Hey. Calm down will ya, Shorty?" My voice calmed her slightly, yet the beast inside roared loudly, and her claws made their way deep through my stomach, pain ripping through my core.