Gregory raised his chin confidently. "You want me to release your friend and children? Sure. I will do it if you are willing to trade."
Talia was confused. What trade? She wanted to shut him down, but this was a good chance to confirm where Yasmin was. "It seems you have something on your mind."
Gregory pointed in the direction where the Wilkow sisters were still singing. "Those five females seem interesting."
"What did you say!?" Maddox exploded. He came here to help Damon and Talia, but now it has become personal.
Tony, Grady, Jordan, and Pierce glared at Gregory, ready to punch some sense into him.
Gregory ignored Maddox and pointed at Evanora. "And the blonde gal there."
Evanora's eyebrows shot up. "Me?"
"I heard you say that those three are your bloodline. Is that your sister?"
Evanora's temper flared. "That's my daughter and grandkids!"
Gregory's interest swelled. That was a fine-looking grandmother, which confirmed that she was special. He will take her! But he was not done.
Gregory turned to Talia. "And you."
"Did I hit you too hard, and you turned delusional?" Damon growled.
"He was always delusional," Talia said.
Gregory knew that Talia and Damon wouldn't agree, but he had another agenda for talking.
Gregory could feel his abilities returning, like a battery charging slowly. If he could keep this chatter going, he might be able to activate sense-blurring restrictions.
"Seven of you in exchange for one female and two pups. What do you say? I am just covering my bases to ensure you don't come back for another intervention. After all, I am mostly interested in Natalia. Don't think that coming here in these numbers gives you an advantage. This is our land, and we are not someone you can defeat easily..."
Everyone was focused on Gregory, and no one realized at what point Keith reached there.
Keith jumped on Gregory and slammed him on the snow-covered ground. "Keep talking after I rearrange your face with my fists."
'POW!'
Keith's punch landed in the middle of Gregory's face and broke the latter's nose.
Gregory tried pushing Keith away, but Keith felt like he weighed a ton. He was not sure if his abilities were still so weak, or if Keith was immune. What the heck?
"Ezra! Arthur! Simon! Why are you standing there!?" Gregory shouted at the Guardians, who were staring at the scene in disbelief.
They tried using their abilities, but it all went through Keith like he was not there, confusing them further.
"Arya!" Keith shouted. "Are you coming? Don't tell me later how I'm excluding you!"
'POW!'
Another heavy hit landed on Gregory's face.
"Leave me some!" Arya exclaimed while running to Keith, and then the area exploded into a mass-fight.
Several Guardians wanted to block Arya and pull Keith away from Gregory, which caused (non-pregnant) werewolves to jump into the fray, and witches started chanting from the side.
Punches, kicks, spells, and Alpha auras clashed with the resilient bodies of the Guardians, whose abilities had limited effect due to the ancient artifacts everyone wore. It was chaotic.
Gregory was pinned on the ground and beaten black and blue by Keith and Arya.
The five Guardians stood their ground. Each of them could defeat an army in normal circumstances. But these were not normal circumstances.
The more hits were exchanged, the more confused Guardians became. Was it possible they would lose? What did that mean? An unfamiliar sensation seeped into their bones. Fear.
Damon tried using his ability to aim at the Guardians, but the success was close to nil. He remembered the sensation when his ability exploded, but that went everywhere indiscriminately. He didn't want to impact allies negatively. What were his options?
Talia wanted to hop into the fight, but Damon held her back.
"Let our friends handle this," Damon said. "All of them hold grudges against the Guardians."
Talia gave up on going there, but she couldn't help but notice, "The Guardians don't seem to get fatigued, and they are good at resisting the magic of witches." And Alpha's aura didn't affect them in the slightest.
Damon observed the same. "It will be up to us to deal the final blow. Can you help me control my ability?"
"Help you? How?"
"Do you remember what happens when we are in sync? We resonate and glow." Damon reminded her. "I think that might be the key. When we resonate, our powers amplify each other and become one. You can control it."
Talia's eyes widened, and her face exploded in fierce blush. What nonsense was he talking about? Whenever they resonated, they were naked and indulging in carnal pleasures. Did he want to get frisky here?
Damon's eyebrows shot up, and a sly smile slithered on his face. "What are you thinking about, kitten?"
He could feel her emotions, and even with all the scents mixed in the air, he would never miss that sweet citrusy scent that got amplified due to her arousal.
Talia cleared her throat awkwardly. "I was wondering how we are going to resonate. Here."
'Stop teasing mate and tell her that it's about you wanting the same thing,' Sapa growled in Damon's head.
Moments of their intimacy included Talia and Damon truly wanting the same thing, to be together, totally devoted to each other, forever.
"Let me worry about it," Damon said. "Can you control my power?"
"Yes," Talia responded with confidence. "But if you want me to target only those six Guardians, they will need to stay put. With them moving about, I will hit our allies unintentionally."
Damon's eyes moved to look at Evanora murmuring something under her breath while frowning at the fight.
"We will need your assistance," Damon said.
Evanora waved impatiently. "I know what you are going to say."
"You do?"
"You want me to take them out, but if you didn't notice, those bastards are resilient to our magic, and it has limited effect."
"I don't need you to attack them," Damon said. "Can you immobilize them? Keep them in place for a few seconds or slow them down."
"Spells affect a specific area," Evanora said. "I can make it big, but that will trap everyone in it."
Damon pursed his lips. If it's an area, they have six Guardians and a lot of allies to account for. He thought of something. "Do you have a spell that immobilizes the body but leaves the mind intact?"
"Yes. What are you planning?"
"Fight like this will be won by the one who has more stamina, and things don't look optimistic for us. We need to divide tasks, so each of us uses our strengths. That's the only way," Damon explained. "You keep them down, Talia and I will weaken their powers, and our allies will beat them into submission."
Talia looked at Damon with stars in her eyes. She loved when Damon strategized. It was sexy.
Evanora agreed with Damon's plan. "We will need to prepare the area in advance."
"Give us a signal when you are ready, and we will notify allied units to step away from the Guardians."
"Serena, Feya!" Evanora called her helpers. "Tell others to prepare for Suprinio Impairitus."
Serena and Freya quickly scurried to talk to the other witches present, and Evanora spoke to Damon. "Once the area is ready, we will need to lure Guardians there."
Damon's and Talia's eyes lost focus, and they spread the word for everyone who could hear them to follow the plan and to tell others who didn't share their mind link.
