But then he saw how she reached for Colin with fire in her hand. Colin had been his best hope in centuries to escape this curse. But even if he hadn't been, Colin had still treated him like a friend. There have been very few since this witch had cursed him to stay here.
"I think it's me you're looking for," Neko said.
Maude spun toward him, and he was lucky that his appearance had taken her so much by surprise that the fire died in her hand. She had always been bad about being surprised in the middle of her work, and Neko had counted on that reaction. He also called up every bit of rage he'd felt for centuries, yowled like a banshee, and leapt straight at her.
Maude screamed.
Clawing her face was not nearly as satisfactory as Neko had long imagined. Biting her nose was far more rewarding.
Seeing Darion, Clara, and Eric appear -- literally appear -- as she grabbed Neko gave the cat the pleasure of seeing her shocked and dismayed. He wouldn't survive to see how the battle ended, though. She had both hands wrapped around his neck – –
"Put down That Cat, or you won't survive any longer than him," Dorian warned. "And you know I'm good for my word."
Her fingers eased slightly, though she wasn't ready to be rid of Neko yet.
"Darion," she said, her voice softer than Neko had expected. "How are you here? It is not possible --"
"I followed the trail, witch," he said. The words seemed to mean something to her. Maude shivered. "Give the cat to Colin. Don't do something to make me angry."
Maude turned to hand Neko to Colin, but the fae met the cat's look, and they both knew not to trust it. Neko let himself go limp, which made him harder to hold. Colin took a step forward and took him --
Maude had a knife in her hand. She must have had it up her sleeve because there was nothing magical about it, although such a blade could quickly kill a fae. Neko twisted her hand, dug teeth and claws into the hand with the knife, and probably saved them both.
It was no easy battle. Neko helped as best he could and did well, being the one who knew her best. She still didn't want to let go of him or the knife, and he took one cut across the back of his neck, but that just infuriated him.
Lucky for Neko that the fae stepped in about then. He had lost his hold and went flying, but Darion grabbed him out of the air and spread magic to heal wounds before he gently put the cat down.
Neko threw himself back into the battle. Maude wore sandals; it was amazing how much a bite to the toe upset her.
Maude also had magic and a powerful book sitting on the counter behind them. When she started backing up to the counter, Neko quickly ran to get behind her and managed to trip the woman just as she began to turn.
And then the fae took care of the rest of the battle. Neko had begun to feel his wounds despite the magic used, and it was all he could do to jump up on the chair by the counter and carefully watch what was going on. He was the first to notice that the shield around the door was starting to fail.
"Ogres!" he shouted, although his voice was hardly a croak of sound.
Colin still heard. He shot magic at the opening, but three ogres crashed on through and added their own screams to the battle. They wanted Maude, and the others mostly just got out of the way while they dragged her out. With only a sigh, the fae banded together again and went out to deal with the trouble. However, most of the ogres were already disappearing in puffs of light. Four remained, two holding onto Maude and the other two with weapons still in hand. Neko watched from the ruined door, wondering what would happen next, especially for him.
"We make no protest," Dorian said with a nod. "So long as she is tried fairly and nothing that would be counted evil happens against her."
The ogre looked startled. "You are Darion Sapphire Wildling," it said with a growl of words.
"I am. I worked with the ogres in that former time, and we chose exile for this human with the understanding that if she came back, then she must fall as she may. I do not choose to dispute your claims against her."
"As it should be," the ogre answered and seemed as pleased as such a creature could be. "We should like to have our stone back if we can win it from her."
"There might be an easier way for you to get it. We may have happened upon what she did with it and why she is back in this area."
Neko saw that Maude was upset for the first time, and she tried to pull free of those who held her. The apparent leader of the ogres gave a wave of his hand, and the two holding Maude disappeared with her.
Neko wanted to protest because the spell was still well in place, and he could not take a step beyond that door. However, it was done. He turned around and walked back to the counter, jumping up on the chair and then to the countertop with a slight wince of pain. The book was still there, and maybe he could still learn something from it.
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