I thought I was ready, as ready as one can be, to jump through the flames - I was not.

When I emerged on the other side, a painful bestial scream escaped my throat. In that brief moment, the magical flames managed to burn my fur and scorch my skin in numerous places all over my body. Did it stop me, though? NO! Smoldering like a dying campfire, especially poor Sage, I took off running.

Or at least I wanted to.

'How? This is impossible! I'm sure....'

Not believing my eyes, I found myself at a dead end with my heart sinking to the pit of my stomach.

"Nowhere to run, huh, bitch?!" Bouncer growled from behind me, blatant mockery dripping from his voice. Turning, I found him, along with Workhand, walking through the dying wall of flame, both of them eyeing me, ready.

But ready for what?

Well, for a cornered beast biting back.

'And they bloody well should be!'

Not as reluctant as I had been back there in the alley, I swallowed my human pride and reached into my inner self where the beast slumbered. The feral roar ripping from my throat as I gave in to the ferocity gave both males pause. Honestly, it could have been because of my shift, too.

As before, much to my relief but also dismay, instead of turning into a full beast, growing in size, and losing my sanity to my animal urges, I found myself stuck, not even halfway through the shift.

Patches of my fur and feathers that I had in my human form spread a bit. My hair had grown, and my sense of smell had improved. But above all, the biggest change came to my hands and feet, now covered wholly in fine fur. I grew paws on my human legs, and my bitten nails turned into sharp claws.

»Leave me alone!« I snarled, licking my too-long and sharp fangs.

"Balls, a shifter?" the big human wondered. "And I think she lost it."

"Boss, she's a shifter!" shouted Workhand, quite a young male now that I had seen him up close. Not that it mattered. They came to hurt. They wanted to take everything from me, tie me up, and put a collar around my neck.

'Never! Never again!'

»Try!« I roared, baring my fangs in warning.

"I couldn't care less if she's a fucking shifter or some noble wench, Tate. Just hurry up and tie her down," shouted the little fat human male, keeping his distance like a gutless weakling. "Harcon! What the fuck are you waiting for? For Stom to do your fucking job?"

'Stom? Why did the name sound familiar?'

No time to think about where I had heard the name, though. Cornered, I raced my mind and my instincts for a way out. Should I use my beast might? I could. It would certainly help me get past the two thugs. The fire-wielding male, though? Annoying - so annoying. But I doubted he would stay surprised for long, if at all. I was too weak to stand up to someone like him.

'No, I have to run!'

»Dare to come closer, weaklings!« I growled again as the two males took a step closer, caution and fear reeking of them. There was a gap between them - one I could take. That was, however, when the hairs on my body bristled.

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"Stand back, you two," the fire-wielding male bellowed, and a heartbeat later, I was surrounded by flames. The magic-fueled inferno enclosed me on all sides, trapped me, giving me no room to move.

'Was that his plan? Trap me like that deranged asshole in a cage so they can put a collar on me? Never again!'

»Craven!«

Unfortunately, that defiant roar did nothing to improve my situation. In fact, the opposite. Puzzling over why the two males just stood there behind the flames like prey waiting to be hunted, a haze swept over my mind, forcing me to steady myself.

'Mind mage?! INDOMITABLE WILL!'

Even though I reacted quickly, it only got worse, my mind growing hazier - and me gasping for breath.

'Air!' That fire mage bastard was trying to deprive me of air. And stupid as I was, I was only helping him with my roaring.

'Shit! Shit, shit, shit! Think Korra, think! Indomitable Will?' However, hitting my mind with the weave again didn't have quite the effect I had hoped for. It did calm me down, especially my mind, but not my breathing.

"How much longer, Harcon?!" The small fat male's shrieking voice cut through the roar of the flames and my racing heart pounding in my ears. "We don't have all night."

"Unless you want me to turn her into a piece of charcoal... a minute."

'One minute?! Fuck! Fuck me' The ring of flames surrounding me was as thick as the wall I had jumped through earlier, the flames just as hot, if not hotter, and I was standing there like a caught prey waiting for the hunter to sink its fangs into my flesh.

'I am not a prey!'

»You damned cravens!« I roared, my lungs burning more and more from the lack of oxygen. And so, having no other choice, bracing myself for a great deal of pain, I jumped into the flames with a flap of my wings, propelling me forward. Stupid idea? Absolutely. One driven by desperation, though.

If my previous attempt had hurt like hell - this one seemed like I had gone through one.

Where the flames bit into my fur directly, they burned it to the roots, with only the spines left of the feathers, and where the flames licked my skin, blisters popped out along with the exposed flesh underneath.

As such, I emerged out of the circle of flames, screaming like the wounded beast I was. One, however, that didn't hesitate to bite the first one in her path. Smoldering, parts of my body still ablaze, I lunged at the surprised big male, Bouncer according to the big runes, digging my claws into his arms, sinking my fangs into his neck.

"Bitch! Get off me!" he yelled, choked, his fist slamming into my stomach. Painful, but not nearly as painful as the burns. As such, I dug my claws in deeper and bit down harder, to make sure he won't be a threat, all the time wary of the younger one. "Get her the fuck OFF me, Tate!"

Of course, the young human male tried. But to the distress of both humans, I managed to deftly dodge his attempt to rip me off the big male by grabbing me by the wing, pressing it closer to my body. That, however, was when my rotten luck kicked in. As the young human male did not manage to get hold of my wing as he intended, he lost his balance and tumbled to the ground. Not bad in itself. Only, somehow, in an attempt to stop himself from falling, he was able to seize hold of Sage.

If I didn't know better, I'd swear that the scream tearing out of my throat was followed by my might. It swept through the street with such force that it gave everyone there pause and made my ears ring so hard that all the noise and shouting around was drowned out by it.

Much worse, however, was the pain shooting up my spine. It was so fierce that, for a moment, the street lamps seemed to dim, sending my world into darkness. It hurt so much that the punch I got from the bouncer male in my daze, sending me flying a few meters away from him, felt like a mere nudge.

"Fuckin' bitch, shut up and die!"

A few curses of my own have clawed their way to my tongue. None of them left it, though.

'What the...?' Either the pain of having my tail yanked messed with my brain so much, or I hit the ground too hard, because what I was staring at was my whole arm up to my shoulder now embedded in the wall of the house.

'How...?' With the haze of my mind replaced by panic, I flinched back, much to my surprise, having no problem pulling my hand out of the stone foundations. In fact, the wall of the house rippled like the surface of a lake upon being hit by a stone.

'I-Illusion!'