How it ends
Part Three
Just as she thought would happen she was overtaken by the group of hybrids. One grabbed her by the arm as another twisted their hand into her hair. Phaedra let out a yelp when she was yanked backward and lost her footing. One foot left the ground but the other stayed put, it was just her knee that buckled and gave out. The leafling fell hard and landed on her back. Before she had time to react to that pain another source exploded at her side. The male that had been in front of her before she'd taken off running had just kicked her in the side causing her ribs to hurt.
Phae rolled to her other side and attempted to get to her feet. She needed to get off the ground! That was really all she was thinking. When another kick came at her it hooked under her waist and slammed into her stomach. The force left her breathless and she coughed, almost getting sick.
“Stop.” She gagged out. The hybrids laughed together at her words. Too confident in their numbers they momentarily halted their assault to share in the mirth at her pleading. It was the window that she needed.
Instantly she was on her feet and stumbling. Phaedra didn't intend to go far. She'd tried running already and it hadn't worked too well for her. Instead she made it over to a broom that was leaning against someone's house and once that was in hand she felt a bit safer. It wasn't near as deadly as her trident but it would do in a bit of a bind. She certainly needed a weapon to even the playing field now that she face five attackers.
“I told you. It wasn't like what the rumors say.” She tried once more to talk to them but they advanced again and didn't seem too keen on listening to her. The leading male spit at the ground as he advanced, his glare murderous.
When he made the move to fully come at her she planted her feet and gripped the broom handle. When he got in close enough she thrust the bushy end of the cleaning utensil at him and hit him square in the stomach. A bit of payback for the hit she'd taken, even if it was the wrong attacker.
“Stop this. You got it all wrong!” No matter how intent they were on hurting her she would try to talk them out of it as she defended herself. When the male showed no signs of stopping his advance she brought the broom up quickly and slapped him under the chin. She used only enough force to make him bite his own tongue. No one could ignore pain like that.
She was right. He brought both hands up to cover his mouth as he groaned and mumbled something. Still, he moved away from her and she was thankful. Only, what came next was the two that had blocked her retreat. One male, that looked scrawny, and a female that looked like she'd been in her fair share of fights. Phaedra gave a groan of her own.
“Please just leave me be. I didn't mean for that girl to get hurt and I don't want to hurt you.”When there was no sign that they intended to do as she asked she shook her head. Phaedra didn't like this. She usually was gentle, however the trip to Neued had shown her that she had a bad side. One that was hateful and it was that side that was the cause of this. The brunette needed to call upon that side to help her out of this. When the two attacked at once she reacted to them. First she stepped toward the boy, since he was the smaller of the two, and she hit him with the blunt end of the handle. Her hit landed on his shoulder and caused him to have to stumble back a bit. That also opened up a window for her to focus on the female as she swung. Phaedra looked in time to get the right hook to the jaw.
A bright light burst into her vision and she fell back, landing on the ground with a hard thud. It was enough to jar her spine. Within seconds of her landing there the hybrid was upon her and landing blows left and right. No one else joined in, thankfully, since it seemed she had things under control. Phaedra could only defend where she was able and curl into a ball where she was not.
The beating lasted for what seemed like forever to Phaedra.
“Maybe now you'll think twice before you go around hurting our kind! Worthless earthling” The girl landed a final blow to the leafling's face and withdrew. The others of her group were grinning ear to ear and seemed pleased with what had been done. Since there was a metallic taste in her mouth Phae knew she was bleeding. Likely in more than one spot too. Satisfied that punishment had been dealt the group walked away from her.
When she felt they were far enough away she uncurled herself but didn't bother trying to get up. Phaedra lay there for a bit longer. Tears of pain had built up in her eyes and she wondered if beatings like this were going to be a frequent thing. If so she really needed to learn to fight. First she needed to get home. When she had that thought firmly in her mind she began looking around through her blurred vision for her vegetable.
“Where the hell did the lettuce go?”|| Word Count - 945
OOC 
