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Zara
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"Zara! Watch out!" Jay yelled, pulling at my scruff.

A huge black wolf body slammed in the spot I had been moments before. I calmed down my quick and startled breaths. Zach was ahead of us, we were slowly making headway towards Xanthos.

    I soon stood in front of the pale skinned boy, looking up at him in sympathy, the wind had started to pick up. It pushed against my feathers.

    "Xanthos." I called, hoping I could get through to him. He trusted me, I was the first being who he had revealed his darkest secret to.

    He whipped around, staring at me, straight in the face with his dull black eyes.

    "Coward!" He shrieked. "You ran away from us when the times got tough, and Ostend is dead thanks to you!"

    A cold feeling of dread pushed through me in waves. "W-what?"

    "He's dead! Tenebris killed him!" Xanthos laughed dryly. "He ripped the living Magyk from his body."

    "No!" I cried. Ostend was to young, he never deserved to suffer.

    "It's okay Zara." Jay was suddenly next to me, a comforting presence in the middle of my breakdown.

    I forced myself to calm down, we could grieve later, right now all I needed was to get to the sharp thorn around Xanthos's wrist. The boy lowered his wrist as that moment and examined the dark blood, both dried up and fresh that remained there.

    "You see this? This is my job now. I have power, unbelievable power that you could never imagine! Tenebris sees strength in that."

    Xanthos cold eyes glittered with a feeling I had never seen there before.

    "I am accepted for the freak I am, this way I can actually do something with all of this pent up rage!" He laughed, and in the hand without the thorny bracelet, he summoned an energy blast and shot it at me, scorching the earth by my feet.

    Then in the other hand, he started to summon another energy blast, but it turned black in his hand.

    "I've always wondered what sort of Magykal abilities I inherited from my mother. Now I finally know." He shrugged, and lifted his arms up.

    Little black plants started spiraling upwards, they burned away at my fur and I caught the sharp scent of metal.

    Literally, Ironwood.

    I spread my wings, Jay followed my move, Zach was creeping up around Xanthos's back while I had his attention.

    Now in the air, I was more at Xanthos's eyes level.

    "What? Are you speechless? Cat got you tongue?"

    "What?" I sputtered.

    Xanthos frowned darkly. "Nevermind, it was an inside joke."

    He sent another blast in my direction and it clipped my shoulder. I hissed as it burned through my fur and into my skin, but continued to fly in a semi-circle around Xanthos.

    "Try me Zara, I spent years studying Ice-claws. I know all of your battle techniques."

    "Then how about something I made up myself!" I yelled, flying above him before flipping upside down and clutching onto his back and coming right side up again. I raked at his clothes with my back claws and got a few good gashes in there while he shrieked in horror.

    Zach had latched onto his wrist and wasn't letting go even though I bet the thorn hurt his mouth.

    There was a loud snapping sound, and Zach fell back from Xanthos screeching form. I was thrown off him and nearly fell into the gaping champs before us but Jay caught me, and I righted myself.

    Zach had the thorn bracelet in his mouth, which was bleeding slightly. Then he started ripping into it, tearing it apart piece by piece.

    Xanthos screamed, clawing at his head and collapsed into a heap on the ground.

    Jay landed next to me on the ground, and I was springing foreword towards Zach.

    Zach grinned at me with a shredded vine in his mouth.

    Then it exploded.

    I screamed, yelling Zach's name as he was engulfed in the black mist that shot out in every direction.

    It was almost like the world stopped in that moment, because when the dust cleared, two red eyes stared out at me.

    The Mark of the Dragonfly was outlined faintly across his left eye.