blowing up. Colton getting hurt by Adam. David not being able to protect Emma. Logan not being able to heal me.
“Ryanne.” More shaking. “RYANNE.” I’m trembling. “Logan!” Someone is yelling, but the voice sounds muffled. I feel like I’m underwater with no way to get to surface; struggling with no resolve. My heart beat is increasing. I’m experiencing shortness of breath—my lungs are protesting with the limited oxygen. I feel someone grab my shoulders and all the symptoms start dissipating.
Oxygen rushes into my lungs and I am able to breathe again. I blink and find Logan crouching down in front of me, arms on my shoulder. I am sitting on the floor with my back pressed against the wall. Liam, David, and Emma are standing behind him. Colton and Bragden are on either side of me. Resting my head on my knees, so I can’t see anyone, I apologize.
“What happened to her?” Bragden asks.
“She was having a panic attack. I stopped it before it reached its peak.”
I look up and look at Logan, “Thank you. I don’t…I…” I don’t know what to say. I’d never had a panic attack before. Logan reaches out, palms facing up. Grabbing his hands, I let him help me up. “Did everyone see that?” I look towards the kitchen where most people are.
“No one saw it but us. I’m sure they know that something happened though. Claire and Tom are in there trying to distract them while we help you.” Logan still hasn’t let go of my hands. I notice that I’m still trembling a little. I close my eyes and deeply breathe in and out, trying to calm my body down the rest of the way. When I finally feel stable, I try to apologize again.
“I don’t know why that happened. When I heard Larkin say we had an hour… I kind of freaked. I kept seeing all this horrible stuff happening and it scared me. I don’t want anything to happen to you guys because one stupid guy wants to find me.” Logan pulls me to him and wraps his large arms around me.
I hug him fiercely. I don’t know if I’ll get another chance to. This man has saved my life on numerous occasions and I don’t think there will ever be a way to fully repay him for what he’s done. I step out of his arms and collect myself. Standing straighter, I square my shoulder and hold my head high, prepared and determined. Without looking at anyone, I walk past them and into the kitchen.
Forty minutes later, we’re standing on the back porch, waiting. Weapons are down, but ready to be drawn at any moment. Anticipation is hanging in the air. Intimidation is our tactic; show them that we aren’t scared and aren’t going to back down. We’re here to fight. I’m standing in the front, slightly behind Colton and Liam. Since my little panicking incident earlier, neither of them will leave my side. I’m not complaining about that though. It makes me feel safe…well, safer.
The forest is quiet. Too quiet. There are no birds chirping, no animals scurrying around, nothing. Just silence. We know how deceiving the silence can be. I look behind me at all the people here. All the people here to help fight against the Gadramicks. My eyes land on Conner. He nods and smiles slightly at me before turning his attention back to the forest. I hear many gasps behind me. Returning my attention to the forest in front of me, I see what they’re all looking at. Flying through the air are about a hundred arrows coming straight for us. Someone screams behind me. Liam reaches out to shield me, but I push him back and concentrate on my magic. Silently calling air to me, I visualize a huge gust of air sending the arrows back towards the direction they came from.
This is going to take a lot of magic. I can feel it bubbling to the surface, itching to be freed. Drawing my arms away from my body, I slowly start raising them. I can feel the wind picking up. The arrows are at their highest point and soon they will start to descend. When my hands are raised completely above my head, I forcefully thrust out all the magic. I fall backwards into Liam from the force. He steadies me, but his arms tighten around me when he staggers forward when the wind rushes past us towards the arrows. We all freeze