After dealing with the team, Jillas hurriedly went down the cliff. Using his claws to lessen the fall, he landed safely on the ground.
He sniffed a couple of times and a deep frown showed on his face. She and white should have gone by the north, so why are their scents coming from the west direction instead? He followed their traces nevertheless and he noticed some trees out of shape. His eyes narrowed as he knew exactly what was the cause, or rather who. "That fat ass." He muttered, and then hastened his pace.
His ears perked up when he caught some noises at a distance. He hastened his pace even more, only to get totally surprised by the seen in front of him.
The first thing that caught his attention was his beast-wolf "white", imprisoned in a wooden cage, stabbed in the chest with a wooden spear, which he deduced to be Bryan's_ the well built man or fat as he loves to call him_ doing.
His eyes darted to the left, and found tom, thrown at a tree with eyes wide, dead. Jillas's eyes narrowed at the black spike piercing through his back and out of his chest.
'The hell is this!'
There were similar spikes everywhere, piercing through anything it comes into, leaving the once beautiful green nature a complete trash.
A loud cry snapped him out of his daze. Jillas's senses sharpened and he readied himself to engage in a fight at any instant. He didn't know who or what was behind all of this, but for it to be able to knock down a werewolf, a wolverine at that, it must be a capable being.
Just when he was about to arrive to where the cry came from, another pained one echoed all throughout the forest, and he could identify whose it was. It was Bryan's.
What he saw when he arrived surprised, if not shocked, him. Bryan was kneeling down on the muddy ground, several spears piercing through his chest, arms, and legs, gluing him to the ground. He begged for forgiveness and mercy when a large black spear was a few feet away from him, but the woman with white hair never batted her blood red eyes. She moved a hand swiftly and instantly, the spear grazed the werewolf's head, smacking the scull, and going all the way out just to lock it on the ground.
Jillas's mouth was a gap. Was this the stuttering, shy young woman he met half an hour ago? She was so different, not only because of her now red eyes, or because of the blood streaming out of them like tears, but because of the air around her. It was dark and suffocating, like he was in the presence of a higher being and not just a young, helpless woman.
He gulped lightly when she turned her head to look at him. He readied himself to any possible attack. They both were on the same team, but who knows, she might attack him. She wasn't herself anymore anyway. But to his surprise, she smiled at him, then said in a low and tired voice: " you really came." She then collapsed.
She didn't wake up only after a fortnight. Her muscles were deteriorated and bones broken, half because of Bryan's beating, but mostly because of her using of that spell of hers.
And just like that time against Bryan, she is now going to use it against these four black dressed men, and Jillas didn't like the idea of her falling unconscious for half a month with a crippled body. He has to stop her from using this spell that breaks her little by little every time she uses it. He thought of knocking her unconscious, but then there was the danger of these men taking her away from him, they were that good after all.
He glance her way again while blocking every swing of the man's sword, and he didn't miss the confused expression on her face. Her eyes are turning back to its original colour and the spell seems to have lost its effect. He was somehow relieved to see that she wasn't going to use it, but her face told him something went wrong, and he couldn't help but to worry.
Pushing the uneasiness out of his chest, he decided to use his last card hoping it will work. He pretended he was going to launch a direct attack with his left hand, and the man took the bait. He moved his sword to block it, and Jillas seized the chance. He instantly shifted to his wolf form, and grazed his teeth in the man's neck, leaving him soulless.
Taking down the others became now impossible since they became aware of his change of form, so he thought of the best choice at hand: to take Ziri and runaway. He grabbed Ziri with his jaws by the collar, put her on his back, and ran as fast as his beast legs could. Only seconds later, and a sea of arrows flew in their direction. He was trying to avoid every single arrow while still running, when he felt a searing pain in his left side. One of the arrows seems to have found its way to Jillas and pierced into his flesh.
Jillas had to go far into the deepest parts of the forest where only beasts are living there as it was deadly for another creature to step in, and he wished those men won't. He found a small cave and he decided to rest inside.
He lets Ziri down and shifts back to his human form, totally naked since his clothes were torn away when he shifted to his wolf form. He pulled the arrow out of his side with a wince. Black blood oozed out of it and he could feel the change in him physically and mentally. His teeth sharpened and his fangs became two centimeters longer. His nails like claws scratching the cave's wall. A voice in his head was screaming for him to break anything and anyone.
Ziri was perplexed. Seeing him that way confused her. What was wrong with him? He looks in pain! She called his name several times but he didn't reply, more like he didn't hear her voice. She extended her arm to reach an hold his hand, but he shoved it away, warning her not to come near him, and it pained her. She looked down at his injured side, at the black blood, and she realised what was the matter.
'Poison' she thought.
Though her ZIHR ability was to control light, she was also blessed with the ability to heal. And though she had such a power, she has never healed poison before. And there was another problem at hands now, which is Jill's refusal of her stepping any closer let alone putting her hands on him to heal him.
"Jill, please! You need to treat that wound as soon as possible or you'll lose your mind!" she cried out for him but he didn't reply. More like he didn't hear a word of what she said. She stepped forward to see him lifting his hand gesturing for her to stop, but she didn't. She kept walking towards him and with utmost carefulness, well aware of his wild current state. She knew he could attack her at any moment.
Hearing her footsteps not coming to a halt, he knew she was still approaching, her delicious scent intensified, tempting his hungry beast-self to taste her, to take a bite.
'What?' he got thunderstruck realising what he was thinking about. Did he just think of eating her? He gulped in fear of what may occur if she gets any nearer, and so he yelled, cried out, and begged for her to stop, but she didn't. Fear engulfed him along with the lingering desire to just surrender and tear her apart. He drifted in and out of sanity, and in every time he regains his logic, he finds getting nearer than she was, until she was now standing before him, her head buried in his bare chest while her hands landed on his injury, healing it. He pleaded for her to step away for the last time before losing to the wild beast inside of him.
Ziri's heart was beating rapidly that it felt like it will burst. She took a deep breath trying to calm down, the ragged breathing above of her ear kept reminding her that she will get attacked in any moment. She loves the man and this is the sole reason why she is doing something as crazy as this, she didn't even have enough strength to protect herself thanks to the attackers exhausting her. But this doesn't mean she wouldn't be afraid. She was actually scarred. But she managed somehow to keep her trembling hands working on the task in hand.
Suddenly, she felt his arm circle around her waist, while the other hand pulled her neck toward him. She smiled thinking that he was hugging her, only for the smile to fade away when his claws grazed her waist and making her wince in pain.
As if that was not painful enough, she felt an indescribable searing pain in the flesh between her neck and shoulder and she screamed as loud as her lungs could. She turned her face, wet with tears, to look for the reason, only to get shocked at the scene. It was Jillas, chewing a mouthful of flesh, her flesh, with blood skipping out of his mouth and dripping on her pale face. She turned robotically to her left, and saw where he had just taken a bite, leaving a pit and a stream of blood oozing out of her shoulder.