Dane was feeling winded that he felt powerless to fight back against the shifter, who was raining punches on him. He could feel his strength suddenly sapping out of him rapidly. He couldn't even open his eyes properly as his breathing became haggard.
Just then the punches stopped and he could feel a breeze swept by him. And then he could feel his upper body being lifted and a voice calling out his name, sounding worried and anxious.
He tried to open his eyes but couldn't. In the end, he felt himself shifting.
Erick then groggily sat up, holding his head. He felt like spikes have been stabbing him in the head, making him feel dizzy and light-headed. The effects of forced shifting made him feel like this.
Noaz, who was standing next to him, noticed that Erick was in his birthday suit so he quickly threw over the backpack he was carrying to him. Hamish opened the lid of the backpack and quickly handed over some spare clothes from inside to Erick.
Erick was still feeling a bit disorientated so he wasn't able to notice Hamish placing the clothes on his lap.
The shifter, who was attacked by Noaz earlier, stood up. He cricked his neck as he clenched and unclenched his claws. His menacing eyes narrowed at the two newcomers. Seeing that he was at the disadvantage, he wasn't sure whether he was able to make it out alive when he felt a voice in his head.
'Retreat.'
The shifter growled, feeling unsatisfied that he had to back out of the battle. It left a bitter taste in his mouth at the mere thought of retreat. However, he has no choice. If he stays any longer, he might be killed, just like his teammate.
Yet before he could escape, Noaz had shifted in front of him. And a black werewolf suddenly appeared before him, slamming him to the ground. Dirt flew everywhere from the impact of the slam.
The shifter countered back by kicking Briven's underbelly, throwing the latter over his head. The shifter took the opportunity to jump back on his feet.
It was then he heard another voice in his head.
'Tch. Still not done? What a useless mutt.'
The shifter inwardly growled. Although it was frustrating not being able to retort back since it was facts, it doesn't mean he liked it. He ignored the voice and continued to watch as Briven started to approach him.
'Should I help or not…? Hmm…' the voice continued, his tone mockingly playful.
The shifter inwardly growled again. As much as he hates that mocking tone, he couldn't help but admit that he does need help. He wasn't even sure whether he could make it out alive, fighting against the approaching shifter. He could feel the strength of the newly arrived shifter was stronger than his.
'Hmmm.... Should I…?'
"Shut up and just get me out of here!" roared the infuriated shifter.
Briven narrowed his eyes at the shifter. It looks as if he has another partner with him, deducing from how he suddenly loudly demands someone to help him to escape. Earlier on, he noticed a headless corpse nearby and had concluded that Dane must have killed him. Briven guarded himself, waiting for a surprise attack.
To his surprise, there was a young man who suddenly appeared before him. It was as if he had magically appeared and the strangest thing was that whenever Briven tried to look at his face, his sight became blurred. It seems like the young man had casted a spell to hide his face, probably not wanting people to see his identity.
Briven narrowed his eyes even more. He was about to attack the young man in front of him when he suddenly felt like his legs were in a quicksand. He looked down and saw a faint dark mist around his legs. It looked like a curse casted by a warlock.
He looked up and suddenly realized that the young man before him was a warlock!
Pushing all his strength and power to his legs until the ground below him cracked, creating a small crater, he was able to break free from the curse.
He jumped from where he was and slammed his claw towards the young man.
However, the young man was able to evade him by jumping back a few steps. He quickly casted a spell, creating a dark fog around them.
Briven looked around him and felt he could not see anything.
Hamish, who was still holding Erick up, was startled to see the black fog. He did not know where it came from. He felt his sight had started to blur.
Erick, who was already dressed, squinted his eyes and weakly pushed Hamish away.
Looking at Erick, Hamish realized that he still looked delirious and the fact that his eyes were still amber-coloured.
With his one leg bent, and his one hand on the ground, holding him up, Erick released an aura. The aura emitted a strange white glow and to Hamish and Briven's surprise, the aura helped to diminish the black fog.
Shortly after, Erick fainted, falling to the ground.
The young man only cocked an eyebrow, slightly surprised that his fog was easily casted away. Looking at the useless shifter that was standing behind him, he said, "Let's go."
With that, he casted a spell. And seconds later, the shifter and the warlock disappeared. However, if one could read lips, they could tell the chant that the warlock had said was a spell of invisibility.
Earlier before Erick had gotten up and blew the black fog, Amber had just arrived, looking dishevelled. Her eyes widened in shock at the scene she just saw.
First, there were two werewolves fighting in front of her. Then there was Erick who suddenly stood up and then bent down, releasing some kind of aura. The aura had affected Amber, who was a bit blinded by the brightness. Then the fact that he suddenly fell into a dead faint shocked and worried her more. There was also Hamish, who seems to be unconcerned about the fact that there were werewolves in front of him.
She then looked around, as if she was looking for something. Her eyes landed on a wolf, laying in front of a broken tree. It was lying there as if it was dead.
She was torn between going over to Luka or Erick. However, when she saw that Erick was in Hamish's good hands, she quickly rushed over to Luka. She did not want Erick to wake up to find Luka being hurt.
When she was beside Luka, she could see he was unresponsive. No matter how much she prodded him awake, there was no reaction. Her heart started to beat fast as tears started to slide down her cheeks.
She looked up and saw Hamish lifting Erick up. However, she did not want to leave Luka alone so she screamed at Hamish for help.
"This guy should be alright."
Amber turned around and screamed again. This time, out of embarrassment and shock. A naked man was crouching next to Luka, unconcerned of his nudity. He was holding one of Luka's paws, touching his body to check for injuries.
"Do you mind putting on your clothes?" she asked anxiously as she covered her eyes with both of her hands, turning away. Where on earth did this guy come from? Wasn't he the guy who had stopped her from calling 911? And what? Did he just try to help in his birthday suit?? And where did the shifters go??
Noaz looked down and then laughed, suddenly realizing that he was nude. "Oh right!" he said. He got up to grab his clothes and put it on. He returned back and began to check on Luka again. "He's alright. But we need to bring him to the 'house' and have Melody check him up."
He then looked over at Hamish who had lifted the unconscious Erick in a piggyback. "And that guy too."