Chapter 40: Raging Battle

What happened next was like fireworks.

Spirits clashed their electrified weapons against the hides of furious, howling werewolves, and witches too late to cast their combat spells fell in troves by the slashing and cutting and beating of the insidious spirits.

With all their numbers combined between the species, they were no match for all the spirits flooding out of the manor, some floating on spectral dark clouds and others fully formed, human-looking monsters, all of whom irradiated with deadly sparks that zapped any werewolf or witch who had the misfortune to touch them.

Silvana’s heart thumped in her chest as the harrowing sounds of screaming and death surrounded her. She took a step closer to Bruce, took a deep breath as she assessed how the forces against them seemed neverending, and Silvana ground her feet as magic flowed through her.

This was it, and no matter how uneven the battle was, she would win.

Silvana charged before Bruce could, and Amelia hid behind Bruce. Bruce called out to Silvana but she was already gone, throwing what looked to be like punches that shot out waves of pink and purple energy that rippled towards the spirits. Clusters of hit spirits roared backwards as if they had been throttled by the blast of a shotgun, and Silvana nodded to Solaris who was casting similar combat spells, waving his hand aggressively back and forth, slicing spirits into pieces with harsh blue energy, and leaving behind only fizzling sparks of crimson lightning.

But for every dozen or so spirits that were defeated, another two dozen poured out of the manor’s front doors and leapt from its collapsed windows.

Above them all, Cecilia Duponte cackled.

“Amelia,” Bruce shouted, transforming quickly into the Alpha werewolf. “Stay behind me!”

His clothes burst off and his body became huge and furry, and in the dazzle of lights and explosions, all the colors of the flying magic reflected off his silver coat. It was such a magnificent sight that most were caught in their tracks for a brief moment, taken aback by how brutish and illustrious Bruce had become.

The werewolves, empowered by the sight of their leader, howled viciously and with such strength that spirits toppled over, knocking other spirits down the stairs and allowing the perfect opportunity for them to be fried to bits by the spells of the witches.

It was an excellent example of how the two species, witches and werewolves, could work in tandem, and many on both sides realized in that moment the advantage they had against their foes upon uniting.

Then a slew of spirits armed with swords rushed at Amelia, and Silvana checked over her shoulder and prepared to defend her, but Bruce was already there.

His enormous claws swept at the furious faces of the evil spirits attacking Amelia, and as fast as Bruce’s arms had moved, the spirits disintegrated, leaving behind only prickles of red lightning on his hands that tickled him the same way static from his laundry out of the dryer did. Since he had slept with Silvana, his power had grown tremendously, and he planned on using it to defend his people, and all the people who were being affected by Duponte.

Bruce blew the crawling lightning off his hands with a short and small puff.

That’s when Amelia noticed that not too far from them, a werewolf had been impaled by a spear of lightning. It lay on the ground crying, and other spirits trampled upon its trembling arms and legs as they continued their fight against the silverclaws.

“This way!” Amelia shouted to Bruce. “Cover me!”

Amelia ran towards the injured werewolf and glanced at Silvana and Solaris, both of whom had floated above the crowd and were hurling magic bolts at the spirits running out of the manor. Amelia grinned, knowing that only months ago, Silvana couldn’t even cast spells without elementary components like herbs and plants. Now, Silvana realized what kind of magic was coursing through her veins, and Amelia felt a sense of pride and partial responsibility for Silvana’s growth. Had Amelia not pushed Silvana to be her best and to be with Bruce, Silvana may never have reached this point in her strength.

But these thoughts were disrupted by an axe smashing into the ground right before Amelia’s feet. While she admired Silvana’s strength, Amelia couldn’t cast combat magic a quarter as powerful as her best friend, and as she looked in the dark red eyes of the spirit gripping the axe in front of her, Amelia’s heart jammed near her lungs.

Bruce leapt onto the spirit and bit at its neck, his silver fangs making the spirit wretch out in pain.

Amelia kept running and Bruce cleared out the spirits surrounding the hurt werewolf. The werewolf pawed at the spear in his gut, and his head trashed as he tried to remove it. Amelia knelt beside him; she may not be able to fight the spirits like the other witches, but she could at least save this werewolf’s life.

At the sight of a witch beside him, the werewolf recoiled, but Amelia put a hand near the hole in its stomach and softly said, “It’ll be okay. I’m here to help.”

To that, the werewolf whimpered, knowing that if it allowed its stubbornness to get the best of it, it would surely die and not live to fight another day.

Amelia became so focused that she didn’t realize Solaris, Silvana, and the other witches were pushing back against the spirits in the manor. Amelia’s hands glowed a sage green, and in her concentration, she didn’t hear the werewolves charge the main staircase after the witches had formed an opening, and Amelia wasn’t aware that the forces of good were winning.

She emptied her mind of all thought outside of saving this werewolf’s life, and green sigils of peace and protection formed around its abdomen, coating the werewolf from head to toe until the spear disappeared, and the hole in its stomach started to close.

It’s silver eyes looked at Amelia, and what had once been fear turned into gratitude.

By the time Amelia left her trance and returned to her surroundings, she realized that the fight was over. There were other dead amongst the werewolves and witches nearby, all staring at her, but they seemed speechless to her actions. Never had they witnessed a witch so selflessly save the life of a werewolf as Amelia had.

Other silverclaws helped the once injured werewolf to his feet, and he growled affectionately at Amelia as a way of thanking her.

“Let this be a lesson in what we can all do together,” Silvana said to everybody.

Solaris appeared beside her, standing tall and strong. “It’s time to end our differences and come together.”

He had the attention of both sides.

“To defeat Duponte, we must unite,” Solaris confidently proclaimed.

The witches and werewolves stood staring at one another, uneasily trying to accept the fighting around them, and the deed performed by Amelia, who had thought nothing of it outside of saving a life.

With a straight back, Solaris declared, “Here is what I propose for both of our species to prosper.”