I heard a shout and saw Jude go running at Caleb. He’d found my broadsword and swung it at Caleb, only to be swatted away by one of Caleb’s clawed paws. Jude flew several yards and landed on his side.
The tan-and-gray wolf charged at the platform. I heard running footsteps behind me. I glanced back and saw Daniel rushing at the back of the platform. The wolf lunged into the air, just as Daniel jumped at the edge of the platform and used it to launch himself right at the wolf. The two collided several feet above me, and Daniel sent several kicks and punches into the wolf, propelling him forward in the air. The wolf wrapped his paws around Daniel, and the two went crashing to the ground. The wolf let go on impact, and Daniel rolled away. He stood, his body in a stance to take another attack from the tan-and-gray wolf.
I heard a scream of rage and saw Talbot run his sword into a large black wolf near the barn. He pulled the bloody blade from its body and came sailing in our direction, swinging his sword above him with a battle cry.
The tan-and-gray wolf lunged at Daniel again. Daniel did an aerial side flip—like a cartwheel in midair—and as he twisted around, he caught the wolf’s neck between his feet. He flipped the wolf around in the air by his head. Daniel let go and miraculously landed on his feet as the wolf was sent spinning away. It slammed into the ground right in Talbot’s path.
Talbot thrust his sword down at the wolf’s chest.
“No!” Daniel shouted at Talbot. “Caleb is mine!”
The tan-and-gray wolf rolled away and Talbot’s sword drove deep into the ground. “Caleb killed my parents!” Talbot shouted, wiping sweat from his forehead. “I’ve been waiting for this moment all my life.” He let go the sword and flung himself at the wolf, pummeling at it with his bare fists.
I tried to push myself up to standing on the platform, but my leg wouldn’t have it. Suddenly, Slade and Lisa were at my sides, holding me up. I didn’t see where they had come from.
The tan-and-gray wolf caught Talbot’s arm in his teeth and flung him away. The beast stood, ready to go after Talbot. Daniel sailed at the wolf with a great superpowered lunge. He caught the wolf by the shoulders, holding the wolf’s snapping snout from his face. The wolf’s claws shredded Daniel’s robes as he flailed.
With a great burst of power, Daniel threw the wolf away from him. It sailed several feet and then slammed, back first, onto the ground. Talbot rushed up and grabbed the wolf around the neck before he could regain his footing. The beast yelped and wailed, flailing his clawed paws, unable to break Talbot’s mighty hold.
“You die now, Caleb,” Talbot snarled into the beast’s face. He tightened his grasp on the wolf’s neck. I’d seen him snap a creature’s neck with his bare hands before.
“No!” Daniel shouted. He grabbed the sword Talbot had discarded.
“What do you mean no?” Talbot asked through clenched teeth.
Daniel slammed his foot down on the wolf’s chest and thrust the knife at his face until the tip of the razor-sharp blade was only inches from the furry patch between the wolf’s eyes. “Change back,” he demanded, power ripping the air around his voice. “Where’s James? Change back so you can tell me!” He pulled the sword back slowly as if preparing to thrust it into the wolf’s head. “Change, now!”
The wolf’s body shook as it shifted back into human. Daniel now stood with one foot pinning Caleb’s human body to the ground. Talbot still had his arms wrapped around Caleb’s neck.
“Tell me where the boy is!” Daniel said. His voice had lowered, and I had to strain my superhearing to catch his words. The crowd—which had scattered out into the fields after the explosion—edged closer to the ring now, anticipating the end of the fight. Ryan had finally left his grieving place by the fire and come to stand on the platform with the others and me. Jude made his way toward us, holding his bloody side.