up, pushing the chair back.
“Uh, Mackenzie…” started Mary.
“It’s Mack,” I said calmly.
“Mack, I don’t think this is a very good idea.”
I ignored her. Several heads were starting to turn in my direction and the buzz of conversation was hushing. I ignored that also. I began to walk over to the mage with single-minded determination. When I was about halfway across the room, he realised what was going on. He turned and faced me, whilst his companion backed away. I shot out a stream of green fire towards him, which he blocked with one hand. It didn’t matter. I just kept on walking.
“You’ve just taken an oath, Initiate Mackenzie,” the prick called out, “it would be wise to re-consider your actions.”
Only because he knew I was about to beat him. There had been nothing in the oath about not taking revenge once provoked. I flicked out another jet of green flame. Again, he blocked it, this time answering back with his own blue fire. It hit me dead on in the chest, making me gasp, but I swallowed down the pain and focused instead on the fire inside me. He let out some more attacks, his face impassive. A couple of the shots slowed me down, but they weren’t really going to stop me.
When I was a few scant feet away from him, I eyeballed him and hissed, “Did you really think you could get away with this?”
“You’re talking about your hair, right? It’s not my fault if you’re such a gullible bitch that you’d fall for something that stupid.”
My bloodfire blazed. I leapt in the air, kicking out one leg and catching him on his chin so that his head snapped back, then sent one punch to his midsection leaving him doubled over. Several other mages who were clearly trainers rather than students hastily got to their feet to stand beside him, each one with their attack fire gleaming on their palms.
“My fight is not with you,” I growled. “But if you get in my way, then I will take you down.”
They didn’t answer, but instead looked at each other as if in silent communication and then, all at once, sent out a stream of blue flames towards me. Their fire combined into one deadly shot, but I somersaulted in the air and to the side, letting it miss me completely. By the sounds of things it did some rather catastrophic damage to the tables behind me, however I stayed focused on the real action.
I kicked over some of the tables in front of me so that they formed a barrier between myself and the gang of bully mages. I sensed, rather than saw, a flicker of fire coming at me from the left so I sprang backwards to avoid it, then sent out my own green answer. The yelp of pain assured me that my flank was covered, so I turned the spray of flame onto the tables, setting each one alight and creating a wall of hot light through which Thomas’ friends couldn’t get through.
Three of them began to concentrate on my barricade, attempting to douse the flames with their own, whilst the others began to send out a steady stream towards me. A section caught my shoulder, knocking me backwards, but my hand found a plate on the floor and, as I scrambled back up, I sent it flying towards the trapped mages, hitting one smack bang on the middle of his forehead. There was no thought now; it was pure adrenaline and fire. I reached out for more plates and sent them out towards the others, one after the other. Every time one connected, I was rewarded with a gasp or shout or scream of angered pain. Good.
I focused back on Thomas, who was still doubled over on the floor. I took a running jump and leapt over my own flames, then twisted my body so I was behind him, and pulled the crook of my arm around his neck, beginning to squeeze. He choked and gurgled but I yanked harder.
“You’re going to pay, Thomas,” I snarled.
He answered with a gasp. I tightened my grip even further. There was a pounding in my ears. The heat in my veins and arteries was almost overwhelming. I looked out across the room. It seemed that everyone had left, abandoning the scene as soon as they had realised what was going on. I could vaguely make out shouts from outside as no doubt reinforcements were being mobilised. My eyes