What The Hell Are You Complaining About

"Owooo." Jason alerted Gretchen that he caught the scent of the King's riders up ahead. A wave of relief entered Gretchen's chest knowing that she was nearly there until she caught another scent, the one she had smelled the night she confronted her stalkers. The foul stench of the filthy Goblins.

"Ow Ow Owooo," she answered back. Gretchen and Jason broke from Eason and barreled through forest in search of the smell. As they wove between the trees, their wolf eyes saw nearly a hundred goblins and trolls waging a barrage of arrow against a handful of the King's men. The horses that had not been lucky enough to run away and find cover, were lying dead or injured on the ground. The more skilled among the soldiers had managed to invoke spells of protection against the incoming projectiles, but those types of spells were short lived and would not last for long.

Gretchen remembered her vision in the library and the memory of her father sitting helpless under a tree sent a surge of panic and anger through her veins. She put down her head and charged headlong into the goblin and troll herd with Jason following right behind her.

As the first goblin Gretchen came to caught the incoming wolf from the corner of his eye, they widened in shock just as the wolf tackled him to the ground and ripped at his face with her claws and bit at his neck. Just a mere second behind her, Jason tackled the next goblin he came to.

As Jason tore apart the goblin underneath him, a troll with a long sword came to rid himself of the wolf annoyance. When he raised his blade to slice into Gretchen, the enraged yawp of Eason echoed through the clearing as he met the troll’s blade above her when he blocked the approaching deathblow with his sword. Eason went toe to toe with the much larger troll as the wolves continued to tear into the smaller goblins. As the aggressing horde's attention was shifted to the three pesky attackers to the right, Teddy appeared from behind the tree.

He walked slowly towards the crowd of marauders as the arrows bounced off him and the fury built inside his gut.

As Eason pulled his sword from the troll lying dead at his feet, the sound of approaching hooves caught his attention. When he looked back to see his King coming to their rescue, Eason flinched as an arrow buried itself into his chest. As he dropped his sword and grasped the arrow in his hands he laughed out. "Oh shit. This will do I guess."

When Gretchen smelled the bitter stench of blood, she whipped her head around and saw Eason drop to his knees. She spat out the piece of goblin flesh from her mouth then ran to Eason’s aid. As she leaped through the air to dodge another attacker, she heard the sharp whip of an arrow then a stabbing pain in her hind leg. As she fell from the air, she skidded across the forest floor into a tree. She quickly pushed herself to her feet, but her injured leg buckled underneath her. By the time she noticed the whizz of another arrow, it was already plunged deep into her chest.

As Gretchen tried desperately to push herself to her feet, Eason crawled to her and covered the gasping wolf with his body. "I've got you, Gretchen. Do not worry, he’s here. It will be over soon."

Gretchen whimpered in pain underneath him as blood flowed from her wounds. Suddenly, Eason grunted in agony as another arrow sunk into his back.

While the air around them began to hiss and pop as the inferno of Teddy's rage quickly rolled towards them, Eason felt a hand grab his shoulder.



Seeing Gretchen fall from the air when the arrow struck her body, Teddy raised his hands and the ground in front of him began to smoke. As the shockwave of flame slowly rolled out from his feet to the goblins and trolls, the air erupted into a raging blaze as it consumed every tree and living thing in its path.

As the forest filled with black smoke, the riders fell back from their trees in search of fresh air. The smoke and fires swirled around Teddy as his hate and anger continued to grow, sucking every ounce of life from the places that surrounded him. From the wall of flames where the goblins and trolls used to be, Daniel walked into Teddy's view. "Take it back, Teddy," he called out in his mind. Teddy shook his head no slowly. Daniel walked closer and said, "Gretchen's safe, I swear. Take it back and I'll take you to her."

Teddy closed his eyes and the flames receded as the rush of crisp late autumn air filled the smoldering void around them. As the warlock retreated back into Teddy's being, his green eyes opened and surveyed the damage. He huffed out through his nose and rubbed the back of his neck. "Great balls of fire! I suppose I lost my temper a little bit. You must forgive my piss poor manners." He blew out through his mouth and shook his head. "Mmm-mmm! Look what a mess I made. Sorry about all this," Teddy said as he crossed his arms.

An amused grin curled up on the side of Daniel's lips as he listened to the smooth-talking Southerner. Daniel wondered if he was anything like his sister, but listening to Teddy right now, there was no doubt that he was. Daniel nodded and raised his hand. "Don't worry about it. Nothing really ever dies, you know. This will all return soon enough. Now, that girl of yours is waiting."

"What in the name of Sam Hill is she doing out here? Last I heard she was living with my sister."

Daniel clasped his hands behind his back and nodded as they walked. "She was, but she's living with my family now."

Teddy twisted his lips to the side as he looked around Daniel’s face. "And who might you be, sir? I don't believe we've been properly introduced before."

"I'm Daniel Darke."

Teddy looked Daniel over from head to toe and raised his brow. "No shit? I was expecting someone bigger...and meaner."

"No shit," said Daniel as he grinned. "You know, Gretchen and my son are mates."

Teddy stopped and turned to Daniel then put his hand out to him. As Daniel took it and shook, Teddy slapped his shoulder and said, "Well, isn't that something. My daughter's an honest to goodness Princess."

When he let go and started walking again, Daniel said, "Well, it's not happened yet. She's...she's being a bit resistant."

Teddy scratched his chin stubble and nodded. "Yes, that does sound like her, I'm afraid. The women in my family can be quite headstrong when it comes to being tied down like that to one man forever. You have no idea what lengths I had to go to to get my sister straightened out, it took two men to finally tame that little tiger. I hope that son of yours understands what he’s getting himself into. But, not to worry, we'll get these kids right. Have you seen Tessa, by the way? I haven't seen her pretty little face for going on nearly twelve years now."

Daniel sighed and said, "Yes. I sent word to her that you were on your way. She should be there by the time we get back."

"Marvelous. I sure have missed that little spitfire."

Agamori walked out from the charred remains of the forest, rubbing his hands on his cloak and dusting off his pants. He looked over Daniel and Teddy with a disapproving raised eyebrow, He whipped his pointer finger back and forth through the air as he looked over the damage. "This...this won't do. I wanted you to stop the goblins, not burn down the entire forest."

"As I said before to," Teddy looked at Daniel, "What shall I call you, sir? Is it your Majesty?"

Daniel shook his head, "Just Daniel."

Teddy looked back to Agamori. "As I was telling Daniel, I lost my temper. It was quite rude, I admit. See this warlock fella in my head, I can't always control him, particularly when I lose my temper. I'm still working on it. However," Teddy turned back and nodded as he looked around his creation. "I did kill them all, didn't I?"

Daniel smirked as Agamori's arrogant expression fell. "Yes, I suppose you did, Theodore."

As Teddy passed Agamori, he slapped his hand down on his shoulder and shook it. "Well then, we won, so what the hell are you complaining about?"





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