I thought it’d be chill.  Guess I should have known this wouldn’t be the kittycat run Sateen described.  Just a second a go all the chummers were laughing at my jokes and impressions of the pompous priest of the white god, but now the team just linked an alert about those go-gang scum headed this way.

I turn to face the booster gang, eyes still hidden behind my shades.  Nobody seems to like the shifting of my eyes when the power flows.  Be less obvious maybe, I don’t know. Fuck, juices are surging, I can’t even remember the name of these fucking goons.

Cowards attacking a bunch of juvies.  Guess maybe these crazy christo’s ain’t so bad, who else even gives half a shit about a bunch of street juvies.   I guess its probably just a scare tactic.  I am sure the others have it, doubt its more than just a scare run.

Holy fuck!  Bullets raining.   Sateen yells to get everybody inside, but some of my new friends are going down.  Those good looking twins both just took at least one bullet, and one of the real little ones is down too.  The rest of the team has opened up, but why the fuck am I just standing around?

“Elder Spirits, grant me favor in defense of the young.  Mighty Horse, assist me as you can!”  Behind my shades, my eyes turn dark, stormy, like thunderous clouds right before the tornado strikes.

The air darkens, solidifying into mist and the pale blue and white horse appears to my astral sight.  He’s so beautiful, power, light, and thunder, charged with the destruction of the storms.  There is no fucking high like this! I gaze into his eyes for a moment, “Wise one, thank  you for answering my call.  As you may desire, destroy the cowards who attack these children.”  I bow slightly, still shocked at the power,  which probably looks really weird if I thought about it since I am the only one who can see the majestic being. Storm gazes intently, then nods and whinnies and I feel him move towards the gangs.  I feel the energy sag into me, he’s a powerful being and I am paying the price.

As he begins to materialize, I hear the screams and crying of the injured juvies.  I turn in their direction, a couple have been gathered up by the fossils, and at least one more is limping in the direction of the new center, but there is one who is barely whimpering in pain, collapsed on the ground with blood flowing freely.  I move towards her, but there is just too much gunfire.  I turn and with a jerk of my hands summon the power of Horse and toss a couple glowing blue bolts.

Storm is wreaking havoic, he and the team now have the attack covered.  I pick up the little girl, just as two blows hit me in the back. Fucking street cunts, that fucking hurt. I am pretty sure the armor stopped most of it, but as I lift her I feel blood soaking into my new shirt.  I stagger for a moment, and her blood starts to soak into the silk shirt from the front.

I turn and jam up the steps to the reading center. I feel Storm sowing destruction and pain with electrical charges through our astral link, and the gunfire has started to cease. I’m home free until the next bullet slams into me again and I stagger into the door frame, but then stagger through.

The fossils have laid out the injured on some tables at the back of the building.  I lay the little girl on top of one.  She’s bleeding out pretty quickly, and there’s a bloody froth bubbling round her tusks.  It’s not even really much of a thought as I reach out and lay both of my hands around her sucking chest wound.   I mutter the words of the healing chant, calling out to the power of the wild horses to channel through me.  I’ve been told that my eyes flash this weird green and gold clouds when I am healing, and the bone ring on my left pinkie adds its golden glow to the power I shove into her.  I see the power begin to knit the lung tissue, re-inflating, mending the blood vessels that have been shredded and finally smoothing over a hole in her grayish skin, leaving just the hint of a puckered scar.

I shut the juice down, but a wave of exhaustion hits me.  That was a tough one.  I take a step to the side, not really even seeing the first of the twins.  A few minutes ago I thought she was the more attractive of the two, but the the shattered bones in the shoulder have sprayed blood all over her, and pooled onto the desk and the floor.  Her brother sits beside her, blood pouring out of his leg, but its propped up and he’s cradling her head, moaning.  Takes me a second to realize he’s calling her name.   Kerrie, I think he’s saying. Not really sure and I don’t remember if he had said his earlier.  I glance up at him for a second, but her wound is mucho Oo’zhas.  Guess all that first aid and medical training Talon taught me is useful after all.  Study is good, who fucking knew?  I chant, again calling on the power of the wild and free to assist me.  The ring flashes gold, and I force the energy into her shoulder.  Have to move like a tortoise as I weave the tendrils of power through the shoulder and chest.  She must have been running or ducking or something because the bullet track and damage passes close to her heart before shattering bones and tendons in the clavicle.

I dampen the flow down, and again, her expression clears, less panicky. She really is quite beautiful with gorgeous red hair and bright blue eyes.   Never mind, no time for that yet, maybe later.   She’s going to have more of a scar, but that is all.  I pause for a couple of deep breaths, that burst was painful, and its aggravated at least one of the bullet wounds in my back and I can feel life leaking out down by back.  I lay my hands around the hole just above her brother’s knee and call upon the glorious mana again.  It’s a little tougher to control it this time, and I grunt as I push it into his leg, the green gold magic echoing off me in waves.  I can feel the blood vessel burst in my nose as it starts to trickle down my face into my mouth.  Can they tell how much this excites and exhausts me at the same time?

My thoughts buzz, clogged a bit but as I look up there are three more wounded kids to fix, an elven boy of about six, and then a couple more human girls.  I smile dazedly at the twins, and then move towards the boy, licking the blood off my lips.  I reach out and place my hands on him, he has a least a couple of wounds so I start to place one hand near each of the ones I can see.

Something knocks my hands away, and the gruff, wild rage settles into me as the healing is interrupted.  Vaguely I hear someone telling me that “there is no need for help from YOUR kind.”  The power settles over me, the anger from long abuse, no one restricts me, NO ONE rages in my mind.  Instinct . . . and then I am standing there with one hand on the boy’s head, and the other with a bloody grip on my Colt America, pointed straight at the fossil’s head.  His age distracts me for a second, I mean, he’s fucking ancient, not like Donager and Sateen, but truly fucking beyond death old.  I pause for another long few seconds, the rage and anger warring with the elder face in front of me.  My voice roughens and I growl, “My job is to protect the children,” and I grimace, showing bloody teeth.  As I am about to squeeze the trigger, Sateen sets her hand on my arm and I release the trigger tension.  She distracts the man with some nonsense but I keep the gun out and ready, and while its more difficult to focus I channel all the power through the my left hand and the ring arcs again with gold light, the healing power is rougher this time, angrier, gold and green streaked with orange and I know it shocks the child more than the others, but there won’t even be a scar this time.

I quickly heal the last two chicas.  Again, they were near me at the beginning, both pretty. After the last one I slump for a second, and drop the gun to my side, spitting out blood onto the floor.  Then Shade is there and Sateen is saying something about get him out of here and he leads me towards a rear door.

Never let it be said that a good deed goes unpunished.