You suck in a breath, running through the word in your head. It won't kill him—none of the words you know will do that—but it might just divide his attention further.
"Tvor…" you hesitate, your own exhaustion and pain causing you to lose your grip on the word, and the headmaster strikes. Before you're able to complete the incantation, a hard backhand hits you across the mouth. Your head bounces off the ground as your vision dips, briefly, into darkness, and the taste of blood begins to fill your mouth.
And then, in the moment before all hell—not quite literally—breaks loose, there's a second scream, and this one has words.
"Oi! Dickhead!"
Something streaks out of the trees into the space, slamming into the headmaster with enough force to send him flying over thirty feet away, finally skidding to a sprawling stop in a pile of leaves.
Sonia lands beside you, crouched down low. Her face has grown pale with fury, her fangs extended fully from her mouth. It's her eyes that are the worst, however. The crimson of her irises is alive, burning with bloodlust as she stares at the headmaster, and you're amazed that he doesn't turn and run at the mere sight of them.
He doesn't get the chance.
With another forest-shaking roar, a monstrous snow-white wolf erupts out of the trees, snatching the headmaster up in its jaws. You can only stare in amazement as the beast shakes your would-be killer around like a rag doll before finally flinging him to the ground, trailing blood.
Even after that, the headmaster isn't done. Somehow, through the pain and the internal damage that wolf's teeth must have dealt him, he pushes himself up onto his elbows, struggling to regain his equilibrium.
As he does so, Michelle steps forward from the trees, reaching the headmaster in five long strides.
Compared to a giant wolf or a vampire who's almost shaking with rage, Michelle's walk towards the headmaster seems to lack a certain flash.
Then, her leg moving so fast that—just for a second—it seems to wink out of existence, her knee slams into his jaw, so hard that it feels as though a shock wave emanates from the blow, shaking the ground beneath you. The headmaster topples, falling onto his back, where he lies still.
Maybe flash isn't the most important thing.
In the silence that follows, Will's voice asks, "Is he dead?"
"That's a rather insensitive question," Renault remarks, floating beside the Head Boy.
"He's not," Michelle announces, giving the prone body a kick. "I doubt he'll wake up feeling too clever, though. Not that he seemed that clever to begin with."
Will rushes forward, helping you to your feet, his eyes wide. "Are you all right?" he asks, his expression one of near-terror. "I thought…" He shakes his head. "I thought you were dead."