She smiled sadly to herself and began to hum a spell, spreading runes in front of her, blinding him with smoke and burning him with sparks. She knew it wouldn’t stop him, but at least it would give her time to gather her thoughts and think about her next move.

But what made her tense up even more was the dense clumps of darkness that were streaming out of his body, as if he was evaporating. This darkness was so chaotic, as if it lived its own life, fueled by absorbed charms from runes.

He became more and more enveloped in this strange shadow, until his body disappeared from view behind an impenetrable veil.

Thea’s thoughts ran ahead of her understanding, she frantically tried to figure out how to proceed, but all that came to her mind was to entwine this dark substance with tree-like appendages that appeared from the ground and dragged along it at the behest of the witch.

Each branch tried to cling more tightly to this darkness, to squeeze and pull it off, holding it in place, but the more Thea applied her strength, the more the darkness resisted and at one moment everything broke and the branches ricocheted apart, leaving splinters behind.

Everything happened so quickly that Thea only saw at the last moment that he disappeared from the place where he had been standing before. If she had hesitated a little longer, she was sure that her head would no longer be a part of her body.

Summoning air magic, she managed to dodge his unexpected attack and at the very moment when the tips of his fingers brushed her hair, she dodged and attacked him in response.

She couldn’t figure out where this power came from in her, but her body still resisted, despite such fast movements, and although it seemed that the vampire was playing with her for endurance, she could tell that his actions were not even half his strength. Did he think that she was nothing more than a hunted rabbit, which amuses him so much at this moment.

She was amazed at how he could conjure with his bare hands without casting spells. Exactly the same way she sometimes did, but was it a distinctive feature of a vampire? Maybe he’s a dark magician?

The thought flashed through her mind that her powers began to manifest after she unwittingly took his blood. Could it be that she inherited some of his powers?

To her great regret, her powers seemed to protest against the use, all she could hope for now was the magic of nature, runes and amulets, but the magic she was waiting for did not appear. As if muffled somewhere deep inside her, her magic was sleeping a dead sleep and it was so out of time.

What happened that she couldn’t use the same time dilation that she accidentally tried the day before? Was it because of him, did he do something to her, or is she so weak? Or was it his blood inside her? That she can’t hurt her "progenitor"?

He repeatedly attacked her with extreme cruelty, putting superhuman strength into another attack, but Thea managed to dodge most of his attacks and operate in response with what she had learned thanks to Eugene. And it’s worth noting, it was bearing fruit, otherwise she would have been a long time gone. She understood that she wouldn’t be able to run away from him for a long time with her sore back, but she also didn’t want to use stronger spells and injure him.

And then it dawned on her, maybe that’s why her powers refuse to manifest themselves? Because she’s afraid of hurting him, because she’s not sure yet that she’s completely let go of her feelings for him? Would he fight her now, knowing that she was hiding under the guise of this red-haired witch?

He was still the Raphael she had known, who had cared for her and helped her escape the hell her family had promised her, despite the bitterness his heart had gained at the moment.

And Raphael was not stupid not to notice that the girl restrained herself in her attacks, each time using defensive or deterrent spells. This was starting to infuriate him pretty much, even more than the very essence of this young witch. He didn’t expect to babysit when he came here.

All he wanted was to sow chaos among the witches, he provoked them, forced them to see firsthand the evil they were going to fight against. Did he want these to scare them away? No, he wanted to rally them. Every. So that they would fight side by side, so that as many witches as possible would participate in this war and he could deal with them at once on the battlefield.

He did not expect at all that his arrival would fall on the day of the sabbath and he would not meet anyone except youngsters here. This angered him even more, but there was no regret or pity for them. There was a desire in him to hurt everyone present in order to further plunge Lillian into despair.

Amanda and Dexter stood not far from the action taking place and stared blankly, not knowing how to prevent this madness.

Amanda was more loyal to witches than her brother, especially now when she saw him trying to kill a completely young girl. How her brother has gone off the rails that he does not see that in front of him is nothing more than an inexperienced child who does not compare with him in terms of the amount of magic and quotes of its use.

Dexter held her by the shoulders, trying to prevent her from interfering as recklessly.

- Let go, I have to help that man. – she shook her shoulders, throwing his hands off her and went towards Olish, who was almost a corpse, but the remnants of breathing were still weakly making themselves felt.

She squatted down next to him and looked sadly into his glazed eyes. The Witcher only wanted to protect what was dear to him, and in the end he suffered at the hands of someone who does not feel a drop of pity and regret from his actions. But Amanda was not like that, her heart was not covered in darkness and she, despite being a vampire, was not alien to human feelings.

She carefully made an incision with a sharp fingernail on her palm and squeezed her hand, allowing the drops of blood to concentrate in the center of her fist before one by one they ended up in the witcher’s slightly open mouth. Sparing no blood, Amanda gave him more than was necessary so that he could recover faster from such severe injuries. It was all she could do for him as an apology for her unreasonable brother’s actions.

Dexter helped drag his body to the side while Raphael was busy with the young witch. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

- You know, you’re surprisingly intriguing. Why do you keep holding back and not attacking me with full force? - Raphael chuckled teasingly, continuing to send electrical clots into her, which she skillfully extinguished with spells, retreating further and further.

- I’m afraid to damage your pretty face. – she retorted with disgust.

No, she was not disgusted by his charming face, but disgusted by his gloating and arrogance. She wanted to wipe it off his face.

- Don’t be afraid, honey, show me what you’re capable of. More. - he beckoned her to attack with his hands.

At that moment, a huge phantom tiger jumped out of the crowd, which seemed to be made of snow-white smoke, but was tangible, judging by the way it knocked Raphael off his feet, biting into his shoulder, tearing out a piece of flesh.

- My God, Temi. – Eugene’s frightened voice sounded somewhere close, which was immediately honored by Raphael’s attention and he stretched out a smile of anticipation for a new game, more interesting than what Temi offered him. – Let her go immediately.

Eugene made her way through the crowd, not taking her burning gaze off the vampire. She could only thank God that she had made it in time, before everything became irreversible. How could she leave Thea defenseless at all, knowing that a vampire had crossed their boundaries.

- What if I refuse? I like torturing your babies, witch.

- She’s still a child! Or have you reached the point where you choose helpless creatures as your victims?

He didn’t answer, but burst out laughing, which seemed to show that this question was causing him amusement, but it was clear that she had touched a nerve by downplaying his capabilities.

- Well, what is there at the sabbath, have you already decided how you will kill me? - He asked with a chuckle, although his eyes were still as sharp as the blades that challenged Eugene to make a rash move and engage him in battle.

- You’re the one who’s creating the threat. Stop before it’s too late. – the witch tried to reason with him.

- Mmm, what if I say... Nooo. – he stretched out this word in pleasure and the next thing everyone noticed, he suddenly appeared behind Temi’s back and grabbed her by the neck, squeezing her to such a state that she stopped breathing and her face instantly began to turn red and her eyes to fill with blood.

- I want to leave a gift for Lillian. – his gaze caught a small artery beating in the pulse on the girl’s neck. – This selfish creature has always liked to hide behind other people, instead of just coming and giving me her worthless life.

Eugene’s eyes were trembling in horror, not a single word escaped from her lips anymore, and only a trembling outstretched hand sent him prayer signals not to touch Thea.

- Do you think she will be upset about the death of this witch, even if the death of her own daughter was quickly forgotten for her? Or is it only you who are worried about her life? - he asked mockingly.

His hand squeezed her throat even harder, literally a little more and he would break her windpipe.

- There’s only one selfish creature here, and that’s you. - Thea hissed with a grunt with the last of her strength, barely audible, but the vampire caught her whisper very clearly.

- A-a-a, what if we overplay everything? And instead of letting her go..." he didn’t finish speaking, but at the same moment, razor-sharp nails cut through the thin skin of Thea’s neck.

Eugene’s scream was so piercing that the vampire even winced.

Blood gushed in a torrent from the open wound on Thea’s neck and she began to choke and lose stability, feeling like she was falling.