(Previous)
Laughter
drifted over the root bridge, a rumble of sound that I didn't appreciate at the
moment. Edmond liked it even less. His ears went back and he hissed and growled.
And
meowed.
"Mew. Meow.
Meow!"
He
was cursing. I didn't need to know the
words. And I didn't blame him.
"Keep
back Lord Snow," I warned.
"All of us better keep back."
Something
had begun moving across the bridge. Huge and white with shaggy long hair that
covered the body: it moved on four legs, but the head that lifted had an
intelligent face; I could see speculation in the bright eyes that peaked out
from behind the hair.
Edmond
wasn't happy. As the creature got
closer, he tensed and lowered his head.
I grabbed him before he attacked.
"My
what a brave little creature." The
giant white fur ball stopped about three quarters of the way across the bridge
and took a look at all of us, up and down the path. "Do you really think you're going to
cross my bridge and at no cost?"
"I
doubt we have anything that you would want," I admitted. "We're all refugees, you know. We only want passage to a safer place."
"I
should care?"
"Then
I guess we'll find another way," I said and started to turn.
"You
never asked my price."
I
turned back and gave a bow of my head.
"What is it?"
"I
think that lovely little black creature you're holding would make a nice lunch
--"
Hiss,
growl. "Meow-ther thing threatens
to eat me I will -- oh. That's
better."
"Edmond
isn't going to be lunch," I said.
"No deal."
I
turned again. Lord Snow moved up beside
me, his own ears back. Edmond purred,
though. I was glad whatever had hit him
had been temporary. I was going to need
him to help us find another way.
"You
didn't ask any of the others if they agree," the creature said.
"They're
welcome to stay and make whatever deal they can with you," I replied,
though I chilled at the thought they might turn over one of their own. "But Edmond goes with me, as well as
anyone else who wants to come along. I
will find another way to safety."
"A
bit pretentious, aren't you?" He
smirked this time and watched as Maggie and Beth came closer. Maggie put a hand on Edmond, but Beth had a
different look that I didn't like much at all.
"You make all the decisions. Well here's my final word: You give me Edmond or none of you cross."
"No,"
Maggie said.
"Now
wait," Beth replied. "Maybe we
need --" I turned to her, stunned
by her answer. She went silent and then
frowned. "I'm sorry. You're right.
Of course you can't give him the cat."
"No,
I can't," I said. I looked back up
the long path. Why couldn't anything be
--
"But
I can," Beth snarled.
She
grabbed Edmond out of my arms. He
flailed and scratched her hands, but she tossed him straight at the creature.
"No!"
That
worked, of course. Everything froze in
place but me, but I had trouble moving.
I fought my way forward, knowing I was going to lose my hold on all of
this soon.
The
best I could do was reach out and hit Edmond away from the huge open mouth with
the dagger teeth. I'd barely made the
connection when I lost control of the magic.
Edmond,
howling, flew off to the left. I hoped
he found something to grab hold of before he fell the rest of the way. But now I was about a foot away from the
creature and on his bridge. The only
thing I had going for me was surprise.
And
it worked.
From
the creatures point of view, there had been a tasty cat morsel about a foot
from his mouth. Now he blinked and found
me instead. And I punched him in the
nose.
"Gah!"
Shocked, he leapt backwards, lost his footing, and tumbled off the bridge. I looked over to see him land on his back
about fifty feet below us. He bellowed
and sat up. Then fell back down again.
"Edmond!"
I shouted.
The
cat had grabbed the edge of the bridge and was hauling himself up. I knelt down and caught him by the scruff the
neck and pulled him up.
"I
don't much care for flying," he said.
"But thanks."
"You
can still talk."
"Yeah. I think with him off the bridge, it's
safe."
I
looked back over the edge. He wasn't
getting up. "Okay, let's get
across!" I shouted to the others.
"Go!"
"You
need to go first," Maggie said.
"In case there's more trouble on the other side. I'll stay here and keep them moving. Take Edmond and Lord Snow with you."
I
looked around. Beth stood with Lady, but
her face was ashen white and she wouldn't meet my eyes. I couldn't trust her after this. I turned away without saying anything. She knew what she'd done.
Lord
Snow stepped out in front of me and started across, his tail swishing from
side-to-side. I held Edmond who still
seemed a bit shaken as we hurried forward.
The bridge was huge and I couldn't see the other end.
"You
okay, Lord Snow?"
"Fine,
Mark," he said. "I suspect
there will be more trouble before long."
"There
is always more trouble."
"The
woman did the logical thing, you know." Lord Snow looked back over his
shoulder for a moment. "Nothing
personal, Edmond, but what she did made sense in a species preservation
way."
"If
I had to throw her to a monster to save us, I suppose I would, too,"
Edmond agreed. "But I don't trust
her. She's unstable, Mark."
"Yes,
I think you're right. We'll keep an eye
on her. But I think we have other things
to worry about."
Something
else was moving on the bridge ahead of us.
To Be Continued. . . .
970 Words
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