To Anora’s surprise, the beast did not so much as step to the side to avoid her attack. She felt the collision like a gentle thump through her entire body. The electricity sparking over the front of the shield sizzled as it seared away rotting flesh, filling the alley with a fetid odor that nearly made her gag. With a quick push of her right hand, the shield shot forward, the ghoul still on its front like the world’s ugliest hood ornament.
	As she readied to order the shield to wrap around the ghoul, too late, she saw a snake propelling over it, part of its scaly body gorged and burned. She gasped and staggered back, her eyes wide in fear, but it’s sharp fangs pierced the fabric of her short sleeve and latched into the top of her shoulder.
	It took her a short, precious second to remember how to move her other hand, her mind screaming, “GET IT OFF!” like a holy mantra. With her attention no longer on it, her forcefield burst into a formless, glittering mist that quickly dissipated. She reached up, gripped the animal’s head tightly, and pulled. She hissing through her teeth as its fangs tore at her skin. She threw it to the ground and stumbled away from its writhing form as a crackling purple-and-gold bolt surrounded one of her fists, then shot desperately at the creature as it reared its head at her in a furious hiss.
	“[i]Why[/i] snakes?” she breathed with a shudder as the snake fell still, its head now a hideous, smoldering mess.
	Hoping it was not venomous, she swung her attention back to the ghoul just as it readied to make its own attack. Ignoring the stinging in her shoulder, she raised her hand and another translucent shield spread out from her palm.
	She jumped and dared to spare only a quick glance around when the reptilian woman’s voice sounded once more as the beast advanced to strike.
	But then it shrunk back, turning into a snarling, frightened beast as it backed away. It looked about the alley and its body hunched in a defensive position as if ready to fight or flee from a foe it could not see.
	Anora barely had time to register its actions before whatever had overcome it flooded through her as well. It was almost a [i]distress,[/i] as if she was about to witness someone dear to her fall into an unparalleled rage, ready to take down anyone who came too close. Yet, it was not the angered she worried for, but the people in his path. [i]His.[/i] Somehow, much like when one sees someone they are sure they had met before, but cannot remember from where, she [i]knew[/i] this sensation radiated from a man.
	Like one of her dreams trying to creep up on her, a vision formed in the back of her mind, its appearance disorienting as her brain registered both it and the alleyway with equal clarity. She reached out to the wall closest to her to help keep her balance, a twinge spiking through her injured shoulder at the action.
	In her mind’s eye, she saw a man, his body surrounded in a silvery aura. She tried to see beyond it, to catch a glimpse of the features of the person she inexplicably recognized as the source for this sensation. His image brought a sense of security unlike anything she had ever known, mingled with a respectable fear. This was a man to whom she owed more than she could ever repay.
	Anora swallowed and closed her eyes, trying to shake the image and thought off. Though she had scarcely gotten a look at him, she was sure she had never met him before. Right now, she had to finish her fight with the ghoul. [i]Then[/i] she could worry about that man. [i]Then[/i] she could follow the pull to find him.
	Opening her eyes and trying to focus on the physical realm around her, her face twisted in determination. Unsure whether she could do what she had in mind, she held both hands at her side and her powers manifested around them into two solid strips closely resembling her barriers.
	With the creature distracted, Anora reached toward it and the two solid masses released from her fingers. They connected mid-flight to form a lengthy shackle that, if successful, would wrap around the ghoul's neck, and embed into the wall of one of the buildings. She shot two more in quick succession in an attempt to pin its arms as well.
	Hoping it would detain the creature, she reached down to her boot, pulled her long knife from its hidden sheath, and rushed toward the beast, energy crackling to life over the blade, ready to drive it into the ghoul’s throat.