Dear readers,
Or those of you who yet remain, however few of you there are. I apologize for the dreadful wait, but here, finally, is the next installment of our story. It's been a rough year, so opportunities for indulging my authorial habit have been few and far between.
However, I have already begun to continue, and intend to eventually finish the story, I just can't promise how long it will take. I'm sorry for that, but there's really nothing for it.
That said, if you're still around and enjoying the story, then I'm more pleased than you can know to have given you some moment of pleasure, however brief.
Yours,
Enithermon.
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Normally, she would never complain.
Normally, she would preen and crow— gleefully skipping off to find someone's face to rub it in.
But sometimes not. Sometimes it just sucked to be right. Sometimes it sucked hard.
She said they should expect an attack. She said there was a good chance that they were going to triangulate in on their location. That it was going to be sooner rather than later. And voila! That's what they got.
Once Feric had taken Mirisa, Owyn, and Cyrus to check out the new headquarters for the hunters it hadn't taken the bastards long to make their move. N'chow s'wit fetchers!
Lucas had spotted movement, then come in to warn Bella. Moments later they were officially under siege.
Now they had to find some way to be 'not' under siege. Unfortunately it didn't look like simply pummeling them into submission was going to be one of those ways today. The halls were narrow and there was a chance one or two of the little fuzzballs might get underfoot in the process. Ambrose was the only one with enough good sense to run for it.
Too much was at risk.
Inanna growled as she shoved what she could in her pack and slung it across her shoulder, letting it bump lightly against her hip. Thank Azura for feathering spells. She also found the sword she'd stolen for Feric and tucked it awkwardly behind her quiver as well. She wasn't about to lose it to the likes of them.
She heard a distant shout echo in the halls and knew the place had been breached. Well, the seal she'd activated on the front door could only last so long...of course it didn't last long at all...which meant they had a magic user with them. She cursed as she skidded into the hall. Aina was already standing with the cubs at the far end, one of the fair haired twins in her arms, the other twin in Ambrose's. Mori and Talon were already in cat form and lurking behind the others.
"Good. Go!" She hissed, pointing to the hall behind them, and in the direction of the gate to the lower levels. Aina only nodded and the others followed her without looking back.
Where the hell were Lucas and Bella? A snarl coming from another hall answered that question for her. She headed toward it, trusting that Aina was doing the smart thing and leading the little ones in the opposite direction.
She pulled an arrow and readied it, nocking and releasing it as she rounded the corner. It slammed into a hunter's shoulder. Lucas used his opponent's moment of pain and distraction to go for his legs. The man was wearing leather, so the cracking sound which filed the hall was probably the man's shin splintering into itty bitty pieces.
Of course it was hard to hear over the screaming. Lucas twisted his head, still holding what was left of the leg and threw the slim man against the wall, knocking him out. Or killing him. She couldn't tell.
"Effective. But a little...ew." She muttered as she stepped over the crumpled figure. She slipped another arrow into her bow and aimed it down the hall. There was a flicker of movement, but whoever was down there was lingering around the next bend. She eyed the wall and tipped her head at Lucas. "Get going. Protect Aina. She's got her hands full and needs her back covered."
He hesitated, no doubt torn between the urge to fight—and more likely to resist any command Inanna gave— and the powerful urge to actually go and look after his girl. There was a reason she'd worded it like that instead of 'quick, run away!'
She was many things. But stupid? Not on your sweet life.
She shot him a quick look, "If you don't protect what's yours who will, Shadow?"
That seemed to be all the push he needed, and after what she imagined was a final twinge of resistance, he was off.
She turned her attention back toward whoever was lurking down the hall, grinding her teeth in annoyance. In the narrow and winding halls of the ruin it was impossible to tell how many there were. And since she didn't know where Bellane was, she couldn't exactly let loose with the crazy just yet. She crept slowly forward and cast a life-detecting spell and narrowed her eyes as two glowing spots appeared ahead and to the right.
There was a trap in the hall that Des had set up...a sort of shielding spell which could block physical matter as well as magica and keep them trapped where they were. But once again, she didn't know where Bellane was.
Or did she? She saw another light appear ahead, from farther away. A startled shout confirmed it for her, and she ran ahead, no longer bothering with caution. Well, not too much caution at least.
She still led with the point of her arrow as she rounded the corner, her back pressed against the wall.
