Good, Evil, and the Gray Area (FIRST DRAFT)

Chapter 44

I screamed, but, surprisingly enough, didn't pass out. I fell, gripping my leg. White hot spears of pain were streaking up from my leg all the way to my brain. It was excruciating, worse pain then I had ever felt. 

"You ----"  I screamed (swearing quite creatively, I might add). However, when I looked up, the gray haired woman was. I screamed again in agony, not bothering to wonder where she went, just relieved she was gone so she wouldn't shoot me again, this time more lethally. 

"Lee! Lee, shut up and let me see it!" the voice was Achen's. I glared at her, and toned the scream down to a low groan.

"Take your hands off it!" I removed my hands, biting my lip until it bled. "Can I touch it?" Achen asked. I glared at her.

"What... do you... think?" I asked, gasping. She poked it, and I screamed. 

"No! Stop!" I yelled.

"Well, you said what do you think, so I thought yes, I could touch it. Then, I did," Achen grinned. 

"No, you cannot touch it! Keep you filthy little hands off of it, in fact! Go get help!" I was still yelling. 

"Calm down, Lee. You're just making it worse," she said, and she turned and ran. 

I gasped, trying to catch my breath. I didn't like her, but I was almost sorry she had gone. I needed some company. 

The pain was dulling, although it still sent licks of flaming pain up in throbs. Gingerly, I sat up, and looked anywhere but my leg. The soldiers were still frozen around me, and the gray haired woman was missing. I didn't see Ava anywhere, and it worried me. 

"Um, anyone still alive?" I called nervously. There was no answer. I bit my sore lip and painfully turned my head. 

"Hello?" I asked. No one so much as twitched. I screamed out loud. 

I was stuck. I couldn't move, and there was no one there to help me. Achen had left, and I didn't trust her as far as I could throw her, so who knew when (or if) she would come back. Ava had disappeared as well. Even the gray haired woman would have been welcome. 

"Someone, please help!" I called. No one came to my rescue, no knight in shining armour. 

I laid back with a defeated sigh, and thought. The gray haired woman had said that I was freezing the battle. So why didn't I... unfreeze it? 

I imagined soldiers coming to life with all my might. I strained my mind. I thought, I want the battle to resume, not stop! so hard my brain hurt. Finally, I shook my head and opened my eyes in defeat, not having made any changes in the frozen army. 

Suddenly, there was a crashing in the bushes to my right. I turned my head, suddenly scared. Not only was I alone, but I was also in a very vulnerable position, in plain view and not being able to move. 

"Lee?" it was Achen. I sighed in relief. 

"Did you get help?" my voice was hoarse. 

"Um, yeah, but you might not like it," she said, unsure. I shook my head in disdain. Of course I would like it, if they could get the bullet out of my leg, stitch it up, and get me back on my feet! 

They walked into the clearing, and I realized why Achen was unsure. It was a wizard, his hands crackling with magic. He wore the trademark long cotton shirt, simple cotton pants, and colored sash of a wizard. His hair was dark brown, as were his eyes, and his nose was hooked slightly at the end.

"No!" I said, "you're not touching me with magic! Fix me without it!" 

"I can't. I'm not a medicine man, just a regular wizard who knows a bit of healing magic. Get over it, it won't hurt you. Unless I want to hurt you," he said gruffly. I cringed. 

"Lee, you have too. You've already lost a lot of blood, and you need that bullet out. As in, now. So let the man work his magic, and we'll see about... uh... unfreezing the war," Achen said softly. Maybe she was nicer than I gave her credit for. 

"Okay, wizard. But if you do a single thing that I think feels like it shouldn't, I'll burn you to a crisp. And I can," I said, snapping flames alight on my fingertips. This time, it was the wizard cringing. 

"It might feel a little weird. Tingly. So don't... burn me," he said nervously. I nodded, closing my eyes and waiting for the pain. But when he laid his hand on the hole in my leg, all I felt was a warm tingling sensation. Quizzical, I opened my eyes to see the bullet on the ground beside my leg and the wizard softly chanting. I squinted, disbelieving. How could it be so easy? Maybe I'd learn to be a wizard someday, even though they creeped me out. 

Yeah, sad, I know. Wizards creeped out a girl who could create fire and morph into cats (and sometimes birds) and had a werewolf best friend that was involved in a war between wizards and werewolves.

"Uh, kid? I'm done," the wizard said, backing away, "I'll just be going now." 

"Oh no you don't! Achen, grab him!" Achen grabbed for him, but he was already off and running through the trees. Tentatively, I stood, and put weight on the leg. It was a little sore, the skin over where the wound was tight, but overall it was fine. The only way you could tell I had been shot was the faint circle on my left leg. 

I picked up the bullet, which was clean and dry. I polished it on my shirt, staring into my reflection in the silver, and smiled. 

"Score: Lee- 1, Gray Haired Woman- 0," I said triumphantly, and I walked off to find Ava. 

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so, a longer chapter to make up for the short one the other day. hopefully cuz school and sports are winding down i'll be able to keep up with the frequent uploads. please keep reading, and comment, comment, comment!

COMMOTAN!

(my own mixture of comment, vote, and fan:)

-WREN