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The
creature dashed towards us, a dark shape darting past walls and moving so
quickly I couldn't get a clear look at him.
I heard shouts of shock and dismay from the others. Worse, Edmond suddenly tore himself free of my
arms and ran straight towards it, brave little guy! I shouted in fear and leapt forward to try
and stop him, but he slid away from me.
And
then the gigantic cat came fully into view.
"Lord
Snow!"
"Mark! Praise the Goddess! And Edmond!"
The
huge snow leopard skidded to a stop, head-butted with the tiny Edmond, and even
purred. He looked like he'd seen some
hard times. His fur was covered in mud
and dirt, and maybe some blood. He had
lost a lot of weight, too. He panted a
bit, even though he hadn't run far.
I
crossed to them, mostly to show the others that he was safe. I was glad to see him.
"We
didn't think you had made it this way," I said, putting a hand on his
shoulder. The others were still keeping
back. I didn't blame them. "We
looked when we first came through, but you were no where around."
"There
was some sort of time dilation, I guess. We tried to wait to see if any of you
would come through, but we were attacked within a few moments. Lord Cayman was captured. I tried to follow them, but they were rather
too intent on killing me. I wandered
around, looking for help for a while.
There are a lot of unfriendly creatures in this reality! Then I sensed that you were near and came looking,
but you disappeared, too."
"Sorry. We were underground."
"In
an over sized mouse hole," Edmond said with a snarl of disgust. "And then they blew part of it up! These people are crazy - but they are
friends. Have you seen Maggie and
Davis?"
"No,
though I think they might be near," he said, lifting his head to look
around again. "I had a feel for
them right before the rest of you popped up.
I don't think they're very far away.
I don't like that someone has taken Lord Cayman, though. And Darman has come through, too, with dozens
of his cursed were-creatures."
I
looked around at the others who were politely and quietly listening. I could see the worry in Beth's face. They'd abandoned and even partially
destroyed their only shelter. The enemy had
found it and there was no going back. If
I didn't help them. . . .
"Lord
Snow, this is Beth. She helped me and I
promised to do my best to see her to safety."
"Ah,"
the cat said with a barely concealed little growl. "That does complicate matters. If only Darman hadn't put a guard on the door
back to Elsewhere --"
"There's
a door back?" I said, startled and hopeful.
"Yes." Lord Snow glanced around, his head up and his
nose sniffing. "But even going
close to it is dangerous. Darman is in
the area and he expects you to go there.
You didn't sense it? You've been
heading in the wrong direction, I think."
"I
had no idea." I lifted my hand and
tried to feel out something -- but I still didn't sense anything. "I think I'm too new to the magic
stuff."
"I
hadn't considered that possiblity," he said. He sat down and looked like he really wanted
to rest but knew he was going to move
soon.
"Some
of the locals were leading us to another door.
Why didn't they know about this one?"
"It's
new. Darman created it," Lord Snow
said. "We have to get to Lord
Cayman. I am obliged to see him to
safety, you know. And I would think you
--" But he stopped there.
I
gave a nod. "I'll help you. But I also have to help these others. And the ones with Maggie and Davis. I cannot just abandon them."
"Oh,
of course not," he said and seemed to understand suddenly. "So we see them to safety first and then
find a way to rescue Lord Cayman."
That
would suit me. "We need to move
quickly, then, and find the others."
I
sounded as though I knew what was doing.
Amazing.
Lord
Snow had an idea of which way to go.
Beth looked at me, looked at the two cats walking away, and back at me
again. "You have odd friends,"
she said. I looked over at Harvey and
then back at her, one eyebrow raised. She sighed. "Well, okay, maybe not that
strange."
I
noticed that Harvey was keeping an eye on Lord Snow. I guessed maybe giant rabbits and big cats
didn't get along so well, but so far everything seemed calm enough.
"Do
you know where my -- where Lord Cayman is?" I asked as we started to walk
away.
"They
took him up to that damned floating city," the cat growled. "We're going to have a hard time getting
there, but I know we'll figure something out."
"We've
been living like mice," Edmond said with a sigh as he looked upwards. "I suppose we're going to take up living
like birds next."
"If
I could grow wings, I'd already have flown up there," Lord Snow said. "He saved my life when we came
through. And he's my link back to my
true place. I have my honor and my duty,
just like you, Mark."
Since
I was still having trouble with the idea of my honor and duty, I just nodded
and glanced up at the sky.
Bad
timing. That was when the werewolves
attacked. They howled, cats yowled and
the overgrown rabbit -- well he hopped up and down a lot. This, I thought, was not going to go well.
To Be continued. . . .
996 Words
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