138 Lets play!

The short, slim girl literally swam into the hall with fluid movements. The beige formal suit, light brown hair, tucked into a neat knot at the back of the head and almost no makeup - made her so not eyes catching as if she was a plane dummy, not a person. She was so ordinary and inexpressive that it was impossible even to tell how old this woman was. But Lana was well aware that her appearance was dangerously deceptive. Sybil Fisher was one of the most deadly shifters, not only in the Winterborn pack but also possible throughout the country. Many guessed what rare species she belonged to, but none of the living had seen her other part and could tell about it.

"Miss Fisher, long time no see." - Lana responded as calmly as possible, making an effort not to step back. The woman's thin lips immediately stretched out in a cold grin, as if she had read the alarm and uncertainty in Lana's eyes.

"Yes, indeed a long time. You grew up, Ruslana. But it seems it didn't make you smarter in the end." - returned Sybil slowly walking up to the table and stopping right in front of the she-wolf. - "Although I want to praise you, at least you dared to come here on your own. It was stupid but brave! It seems your Mate has a good influence on you. Such a pity that we have to get rid of him. He could be a great chess piece, even though he is just a human."

The last words of the woman made everything inside Lana go cold. She clenched her fists and, with flashing eyes, took a step forward.

" F*ck you, Sybil! What have we done to you to chase us like the damn game ?! You and that damn father of mine are entirely crazy of your thirst for power. When will you choke on your own poison already?!" - She snarled through her fangs.

"Girl,"-Miss Fisher hissed with a grin, leaning forward and resting her hands on the tabletop. - "You overestimate yourself. You and your Greg are just trash on our way. Very annoying trash. Only out of respect for the feelings of your father, before that, I tried to be softer with you. But you still can't stop messing around, do you? Don't blame me for being harsh now. You didn't leave me a choice."

Lana shuddered when she saw how the eyes of the woman had changed, the pupil seemed to deflate into a narrow line, and the sand-colored iris spread swallowing the whites completely. Shiny grayish scales began to appear on the woman's skin from the temples down to the chin.

The very moment of transformation occurred so quickly that Lana did not even have time to blink. Sybil suddenly tightened like a spring and jerked toward her in a throw across the table, her body stretched out, fully enveloped with scales.

"Sophie, run!" - yelled Ruslana before the giant snake knocked her down, sinking her fangs into girl's shoulder.

They fell to the floor and rolled toward the bookcase. Lana was able to transform the face and tried to bite reptiles into the neck. But the scales turned out to be hard as metal, fangs, and claws slipped, not finding anything to cling to.

Lana tried to wriggle out, but this creature had already coiled over the girl's lower body, painfully squeezing her legs.

Lana suddenly felt a strange burning sensation in her shoulder, and then a chill along her spine. Poison. This beast sent poison into the wound, which is now slowly spreading through the body of the girl, making it gradually numb.

"You f*cking freak!" - Ruslana suddenly explode, feeling like rage overwhelmed her, setting her mind aflame. She began banging the serpent on the head with all her strength, no longer caring where to hit. She wriggled like crazy, snarling and trying to scratch the snake. Sharply arching, she-wolf twisted and grabbed the snake by the open maw with both hands, tearing the fangs from her shoulder, not even feeling pain there anymore. The serpent hissed and tried to break free, but Lana thrust her claws into the unprotected skin inside her mouth and pulled with all her strength to the sides.

"Trash, you say ?! Let's see how you like it when this garbage tears your damn face to bits. I'm not the piece that you can handle, bitch!" - Snapped Lana, transforming her face and gnawed on the snake's face, aiming her fangs at the eyes. One tooth slid across the slammed shut scaly eyelid. But the second ... Lana felt an abominable pop and fang slipped into the eye socket, a nauseous taste spread through her mouth, almost making the girl barf.

The body of the snake began to beat in convulsions, twisting Lana's legs. The wolf howled releasing the snake face from the mouth. Sybil took advantage of it and wrapped girl's arms with her tail, tearing them from her mouth.

Lana was ready to attack again, but the slithery reptile turned around and lifting the she-wolf caught in her rings, throw her across the room. The girl slammed into the bookcase with her back and fell to the ground. Before Lana's eyes, the darkness began to spread.

But someone's hands appeared from nowhere and started to shack her not letting to sink into oblivion.

"Lana, Lana!" - came a girl's voice full of panic from somewhere far away. - "Damn, girlfriend, don't you dare to faint on me now. I can't deal with this freakish thing alone."

The outlines of a red-haired girl appeared in Lana's dim view. She wheezed, trying to say something and attempted to get up.

"Sophie?" - Ruslana finally managed to squeeze out. - "Why are you still here? You need to run. Tell Greg..."

"Who do you think I am? - the fox interrupted her angry. - "I may be a vixen, but I'm not a scumbag. Get up quickly before this creature recovers."

Lana tried to focus, clutching on the shelves, and rose on trembling legs. It seems they were not broken, although they hurt as if they were twisted inside out. One arm hung like a whip, and the girl didn't feel it at all. Numbness already spread from the shoulder down to the waist, so that she could not even straighten up.

"Listen here," - in the meantime, Sofia continued, constantly looking back to where Sybil was supposed to be. - "I have a plan! Distract her a little while I got to the arena and got everything ready. And here, take it. You'll know what to do with it."

Sofia handed Lane a flask with a murky liquid and another one with a viscous substance of greenish color.

"Put it on your claws, but don't you dare pull them into your mouth afterward. When it's put into a wound, this thing causes unreal pain, as if letting lava under your skin. Try to get to her eyes."

Sophia didn't have time to add anything as a hiss came from behind. Lana reacted first, throwing the fox back to one side and jumping to the other. The snake's face slammed into the shelves of books just between them.

Without saying a word, the girls jumped up and raced in different directions. Ruslana managed to pick up the bottles from Sophie and quickly stuffed one into her pocket, poured the contents of the second onto her hand. The liquid accidentally hit a small scratch on the wrist, and a wild pain pierced instantly through the whole body. The girl screamed stumbled and flew to the floor.

Meanwhile, the snake had already got out from under the pile of books, which had fallen from the shelf and now, shaking her head, was looking around, trying to find their victims with the remaining eye. Sophia, who had already managed to cross the half of the room, froze, noticing how the snake's head was turning in her direction. A moment and the girl disappeared, leaving only a pile of clothes in its place. Only Lana noticed a red fluffy tail vanishing under the table. The snake pulled in that direction, but in a next second a weighty book slammed into her head from the opposite side of the room.

"My father always loved old volumes, big as bricks." - Lana's mocking voice sounded, and another paper missile slammed into the face of the scaly beast. - "It would be so much better if he read comics or something, then maybe his brains wouldn't rotten just like these dusty books."

The girl was standing next to the spiral staircase, weighing the third book on her palm and smiling widely. Surprisingly the pain shock brought Lana to her senses. Inside, everything was gurgling, as if busting her up, making her all jittery.

The snake turned to her, loudly hissed and immediately got the third book precisely in the mouth. The scaly creature recoiled and choked, inadvertently breathing the volume into the throat.

"Gash, you're such a dumbass!" - Ruslana sighed, grabbing the next massive volume from the shelf. But the reptile did not give her the opportunity to swing. The tail of the snake lashed an inch from the wolf's shoulder, but Lana managed to grab hold of the crossbar of the ladder and pulled herself out of the blow.

"Well, let's play, ugly mug." - Shouted Lana and swinging, jumped into the middle of the stairs, running up.

Lana bounced on the balcony like a ball away from snake attacks. A small treacherous fence very much prevented reptiles from catching its prey, and the girl herself seemed to be spinning as a possessed on LCD, throwing books at the opponent and everything that came to hand.

Sybil was furious to the limit, and Lana added oil on the fire, roasting the father's assistant, baiting her more.

" I wonder if my father really holds you near for your brain or cause you can swallow right up to the tail, huh?" - The wolf taunted, sticking her head out of a rather large hole between the bent metal bars of the balcony's fence. The serpent hissed and rushed at the girl, trying to bite her face off. But Lana was faster and leaped aside. The snake's head slipped into the hole and got stuck. Without losing the moment, the girl jumped near the trapped reptile and thrust the claws into the second eye. Pop! And from the orbit vile muck spattered out. The snake jerked away, shrieking wildly and literally tearing off a part of the metal balcony.

Lana managed to hop on the floor and rushed to the exit.

"Well, b*tch, now you won't see the garbage on your way! You're blind! Ba dum tss, motherf*cker!" - She threw over the shoulder and roaring with laughter, flew through the broken arch into the hall with the arena. Ignoring the rattle and hiss in her back.

Lana swung around and pressed herself to the wall near the arch, holding her breath. Looking around, she immediately noticed several metal sandwiches stuck around the perimeter of the uppermost seats, where they hung over the arena. Sofia stood at the exit from the hall. Seeing the she-wolf, the girl immediately began to wave her hand, and at that moment Sybil's head popped out of the arch. Lana squeezed herself against the wall and froze. The snake also stopped, listening. From time to time a thin forked tongue was sticking from her mouth as if tasting the air. Sophia, seeing how the beast's eyeless muzzle started to turn to Lana, folded her hands around her mouth and screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Well done, Lana, you're almost at the exit! Faster."

The snake immediately shook its head and rushed in the direction of the sound, falling from the ledge into the arena. Without losing a second, Lana sped to the metal plate and began to spray the liquid from the second bottle on them. The clatter came almost instantly. Right before her eyes, the composition started to grow almost like yeast dough. The wolf jumped to the side and ran down at full speed. But before she could even reach the middle of the seated area, fragments of stones splashed into her back. Bam! The top part of stands cracked, and huge blocks of stone collapsed into the arena, burying the body of a snake under it.

When the dust finally settled, Ruslana rose gingerly, brushing bits from herself. Sophia was already running towards her.

"Faster!" - She shouted, picking up the girl's arm. - "This explosion sure alarmed everyone. We need to hurry!"

"Wait." - Ruslana stopped her. - What about paper?"

The ascent was utterly destroyed, and it was now impossible to reach the arch anymore.

Oh! Come on!" - the fox chuckled slyly smiling and opening her bag. - "Who do you think I am?"

Lana looked down and immediately saw a pile of papers tucked into her inner pocket.

"It seems the Council really knew who to send!" - Lana grinned at the girl.

" You don't say!" - Sophia winked back at her with a foxy expression.