eldritch files 07 - elemental blood by phaedra weldon

through.
    Fatigue pressed down on my shoulders. I wasn't ready for this kind of battle, and without my Arcane…I felt humbled. Less than what I was as my healing ability faltered. One of the Aces in wolf form pulled a smaller tree up by its roots, but it reached down with branches and thrust the sharper ones through the wolf's neck. Blood sprayed the already muddy ground, and I screamed out as the wolf's soul passed by me.
    I was too late.
    They were dying now.
    Someone touched my arm, and I made a loud noise when I turned to see Kyle standing beside me. His hands glowed with power, and he was ready, his bag at his side. Papa Dumaine came charging from behind the cabin, his arms out, as trees were uprooted as if by an invisible bulldozer.
    Dharma rounded the cabin's edge as a tidal wave of water followed her, creating a river that split the distance between the Cairn and the cabin. It flowed past and away from the house, sweeping the falling trees with it. Arden had to be close. She would have had to have given Dharma permission to use the waters of Gypsy Garden.
    "How…" was about all I could get out.
    "Jack's here. He's in that mess." I could hear the panic and worry in Kyle's voice. “Solomon got us through the forest, but Arden's still barricaded on the other side. She's working with the land…but it seems the Jötunn are revolting."
    Of course! These were Nisse, the Jötunn spirits. Lords and Ladies of the forest. Nature.
    But…why were they attacking us?
    "SAM!"
    Every muscle in my body reacted to that voice. All at once I was filled with joy and happiness, bliss and love. Oh Goddess Divine…how had I ever run away from this feeling? Had I been so blind to it, clouded by rage and the need to seek revenge?
    Was this what Arcana had been trying to tell me? Because with that feeling came a resurgence of power. I dug my feet into the ground as Kyle and I stood side by side in front of that cabin and worked our spells. He took over the healing as I fed power to my Elementals. All the while my feels were searching the forest and the crazy action for where Crwys could be.
    "SAM!" came his voice again, but closer this time.
    "CRWYS!" I cried out as I boosted a lunging axe move by Coventina. "I'm here!"
    "I see you!"
    I looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of him.
    And I did.
    The world around me fell away as Crwys's light filled everything. I watched as he cast fire in his wake, setting the grass, bushes, plants, and trees on fire. But not just any fire. This was Dragon Fire. He walked through them, casting them aside if a stray bush or weed tried to jump on him. One weed tried wrapping its vines around his ankles and was instantly vaporized.
    He came around the other side of the cabin, beautiful in his tight t-shirt and oh-my-Goddess jeans. His hair was a bit shorter on the sides and back, but the longer shock of it obscured half his face, making his angular features more menacing.
    I loved him.
    I would always love him.
    A roar sounded inside the wood and everyone paused. Literally, the ruckus paused as the ground shook around us. I saw the shorter trees part to the right as something very large mowed them down on its way through.
    "Arden says we got a monster heading our way," Kyle yelled out.
    "A what?" I yelled back, but I couldn't take my eyes off the creature that emerged from the trees in front of us. Even the remaining Jötunn scattered.
    It was big, standing as tall as the trees around it. It had a massive head, formed by intertwining roots. And set in that head were three glowing eyes that flashed the primary colors. Red, green, blue, and yellow. The bulk of it looked like hacked up trees, like the roots I'd seen in fields after they were cleared. They were pushed together by other vines, especially a very thick vine with thorns as big as my head on it. Two thick tree trunks made up its legs, and it made indentations in the soft ground as it walked.
    I let out a strangled cry as someone grabbed me from the