The calico patted out a small flame that had attached itself to his arm. He looked up at Katherine and nodded. He worked on brushing off all the dead fur from his body. The fire and heat from the sudden small lava eruption seemed to have had very little effect on the calico other than giving him a free molting job. The calico bent over to scrape the dead fur from his singed legs.
William helped Katherine back to her feet. William was still weak, and his leg was rubber but at least he was on his feet again. William watched as the calico reached around himself to grab at his still smoking tail. The calico worked the fur of his tail removing the singed parts and damping out the small patch that was still smoking. To William it seemed almost comical, and he took the spare few seconds to look around the battlefield.
Nicolas was still locked in combat with his opponent. It surprised William that he was still on his feet. He had crumbled so easily to him and Aceso and Katherine, but here in the forest with a real opponent he was fighting back. He wouldn’t last much longer, the light brown werewolf that he was fighting would soon have him on the ground. Nicolas was taking too many hits and he wasn’t landing any of his own. If he was in better shape he would have helped. But there wasn’t enough time.
He looked over to see that Charles was still in danger of being pinned against the wall, but he was fighting like a corned fox. He lashed out with wild abandon. The danger to his attackers was not lost on them and they didn’t seem to be pressing him any further. William wondered how long Charles could keep up those frenzied attacks.
Aceso only had one opponent. He looked around to see one of the greys that had been attacking her on the ground. He smiled as he felt her strength flow through him. It didn’t do anything for the pain in his leg, but he felt like they actually had a chance. If Aceso could finish her opponent and get to Charles, then maybe they would come out of this ok.
He couldn’t find Achelois. Before he had time to really look around, he was shoved off to the side. He fell hard as he looked up to see what had happened. Katherine was locked with the calico. William pounded the ground in anger at himself. He took too long looking around and not paying attention to what was in front of him.
As he raised himself to his feet, he saw that the calico was driving Katherine at will. Katherine wasn’t attacking, she was in a total defensive posture. William put pressure on his sore leg and the leg held, barely. He was amazed he could stand, but now he forced his body to move. Placing a foot in front of him he balanced himself as he transferred the weight from his good leg to his bed leg. He moved his other leg forward. The limp was just as bad as it was minutes ago, maybe worse.
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Katherine was being pushed to the outskirts of the clearing. William seemed to know that in the confined spaces of the trees the calico would have the advantage. Otherwise, why would he be pushing her there? William tried to move faster but his knee buckled, and he nearly fell to the ground. He contented himself to move at a slow plodding pace. He felt next to useless, but he knew that if he left Katherine the calico would dispatch her eventually. Not that he was going to be much help in any case.
He made his way across the battlefield. He could hear what was going on around him but he didn’t spare an ounce of his concentration to look around. His whole body and mind were bent on moving toward the calico and Katherine. Katherine was hesitant to attack. She was blocking admirably, even so a lot of hits were landing, and he saw her move slower and slower. He had to admire the calico for his skill. It seemed that his attacks were designed to wear her down. He never tried to go for a knockout punch to her face, nor did he try to sweep her legs out from under her. He was jabbing at her exposed solar plexus and using quick kicks to her thighs and quad muscles. Katherine was moving slower with every strike and it seemed like she was having a hard time concentrating, or breathing. William understood that the attacks were meant to decapacitate her, not to knock her out.
William lurched closer to the fighting pair. If Katherine could hold her ground for a few seconds William could have a chance to close the distance between them. As William was moving, he saw the calico land a devastating forward kick to her abdomen. Katherine was shoved back and then doubled over and fell to the ground. William didn’t have a choice. Gathering the remnants of his strength, he launched himself into the air. The calico hadn’t turned around and William raised both of his arms. He grabbed and hung onto the calico’s shoulders. His legs hung limply underneath him, but he didn’t give the fighter a chance to throw him off. He spread his claws and let his body slip from the shoulders of the other. While he let gravity do the job of pulling him to the ground, he raked his claws down the calicos back leaving behind long, wide red gashes as proof of his passage.
The calico let out a subdued grunt and with a speed that surprised William, he whipped his body around. The movement threw William clear, and he landed with a hard thud on the ground. The gashes that were still present on his side seemed to absorb about a pound and a half of dirt and rocks and the barely felt pain from the adrenaline of the fight erupted into debilitating agony. William couldn’t do anything for the moment except hold his wound and writhe around on the ground. In his haze he felt, more than saw, the calico approach him. He held out a small hope that Katherine was in better shape than he feared.
The calico stopped at William’s head and looked down. William willed himself to stop moving. Through the pain he saw the calico begin to reach down. He felt a deep vibration as he was pressed downward. The calico lost his balance and fell backward in slow motion. William felt the ground vibrate and shake and heave under him. Through the vibrations that he felt, he could focus on Aceso across the battlefield. She was moving with amazing speed toward Charles, who was still too close to the fake den. He didn’t see her disturbed at all by the sudden earthquake that was vibrating his body so painfully now.