Chapter 11

I just stared at Chow as she stood before me, the tip of her arrow flickering like a small blaze. I noticed that she was panting pretty hard, and I wanted to ask her what on Earth was going on and how she knew this man. I tried to sit up and drag myself over to her, but the man just lifted his right foot and stomped hard onto my right ankle, catching me in place. I gritted my teeth as he dug his heel into my leg and glanced back to see whether or not he had managed to break it.

“Your name, Chow, correct? Chow Ling Liu? Daughter of Ming Su Liu?” He asked as he rubbed a finger over his chin.

“Yeah…didn’t your daddy die some years ago? Some kinda cave incident?”

As the man pondered for a while longer, his eyes suddenly lit up.

“Yeah! You’re that chick! The one that tried to stop your daddy from saving my cat…which, in actuality, didn’t even exist.” He let out a dragged-out sigh, as if he were pitying Chow.

“Poor old sack fell for my trick and got himself killed over a mere kitty cat. Could’ve trusted his instincts and not gone in there, but I suppose he has more balls than I had initially thought!” He then let out a loud guffaw and shot me a look, his eyes almost burning into mine.

“But as for right now, while I am disappointed that I didn’t kill you back there, Imma go ahead and take my trophy and-” As he reached down for me, another shot spun through the air, the blazing phoenix letting out a loud yet, powerful sound, almost reminiscent of a warriors cry.

The man just took a step back, and it missed him by just an inch.

The man seemed pleased that he had evaded each of her attacks, but as he turned back to face us, the arrow seemed to have spun once more in mid-air, and this time, it was headed straight for his right elbow. His eyes widened, and he let out an ear-splitting scream as the bird engulfed his entire elbow and burned his lower arm off, the phoenix fizzling away once it did its job.

He had lifted his foot off of me as he crashed to the ground rather roughly while grasping at his bloodied stub, which was emitting smoke now.

“Jedidiah Bricks. I want you GONE!” Chow shouted as she pulled her arrow back once more, aiming for his head.

The man, who is named Jeddiah Bricks, just ignored her and continued to mutter something under his breath while rubbing his injury. But as her next arrow zipped through the air, Jedidiah brought his head up and, using his weapon from before, he launched a rocket that collided with the arrow, causing them both to explode. The power of the explosion sent Chow stumbling back as she landed onto her bottom with a startled look on her face. Worried, I reached a hand out to try and move myself over to her, but Jedidiah was too quick.

He shot up onto his feet and charged at Chow.

“CHOW! MOVE!” I shouted, my voice weak and practically inaudible due to the strain in my voice.

I watched as the man reached for her, but right as he was about to grab hold of her, something shot out from behind me and just barely grazed my neck. It was like a beam of light of some kind, except it was a bright purple flash. Jedidiah glanced over his shoulder, and as his eyes began to widen, he was quickly shot straight through the chest by the beam of light, the rather beautiful yet very deadly power that seemingly appeared out of thin air. Chow and I just watched as he fell onto his knees and tried to reach for his weapon as his wound began to bleed profusely.

But the person behind what had just happened slowly came into view. It was…Momo? I thought that she was tending to her friend. And then I remembered what had happened back there just an hour or so ago and felt my face fall. Was the woman…dead? Was Shelby dead? And if so, then what had happened to her child? Mickelford?

I gulped at the thought of this and wanted to go back and check on them, but I couldn’t. I was too injured and felt scared. What would I find back there?

As if reading my mind, Momo approached Jedidah and bent down to reach his eye level. She has a cold, bitter look on her face. A look I had never seen before.

“You interrupted the peace here, Jedidah Bricks. You hurt and killed innocent people, including my friend. Her son is gone, and I fear that he’s died in the flames somehow or covered in debris. I tried to look for him, but my friend, Shelby, told me that she wanted him to rest. This is all your fault, and you deserve to go to Hell.” She threatened, her voice soft yet full of venom.

“Me? To hell? HAH! No, lady. You…wait, I recognize you.” He then glanced back at Chow, and it was as if something had just hit him then.

“You’re the bitch that saved this brat's life that one day. The one that-” But before he could finish, she reached out and snapped his neck without a single warning. Chow and I jumped, Chow beginning to quiver as she watched the man fall dead onto the ground.

“Don’t ever mention that again…” She growled.

I wasn’t sure what was going on. How did she know him?

Chow just sat quietly for a second before shooting up and clearing her throat. She marched over to Momo and socked her in the side.

“I wanted to ask him about that Akiyo man! The King of the Karmaeo-esk population! I wanted to ask him why he had killed my father for no reason and tried to kill me too! I-I could’ve-”

Momo slapped her, which quieted the entire argument within an instant, and Chow stumbled a bit in her shoes, blinking out of shock.

“You could’ve died. You would’ve died had I not intervened. You’re just a young girl, and you don’t even know your powers that well. You don’t even completely understand magic. I’ve tried to show you, teach you, but you refuse to listen and you chicken out. Why are you scared of magic? Of learning?” Momo bristled.

“I-I…” Chow gave her head a small shake and glanced around the area. The flames were still soaring, but for now, we seemed to be safe, though most likely not for long. If another crazed figure were to appear and attack us, who's to say we’d survive whatever they may throw at us?

Chow just threw her thoughts away and shuffled her feet, likely trying to avoid letting her feelings distract her as she ignored Momo. I looked up to see the woman’s face, but Momo showed no signs of anger or frustration.

She just looked sad. Guilty, maybe even regretful? I wanted to talk and ask if she was okay, but watched as she seemed to cringe inwardly at herself and rubbed her right shoulder before walking after her.

That’s when I realized…

I can’t move.