Avesa was not human. She wasn't fae, either. I only now realized she was a manifestation of nature. Avesa was a nature Goddess. I couldn't imagine how Maude got hold of her, but it was plain Dorian was having trouble just trying to help her. Everything went bright and loud. The birds screamed and would soon attack.
She still had hold of me. There was only one thing I could do. I had warned her.
I twisted, turned, clawed my way free of her arms, and scrambled up high enough to bite her on the nose.
I had warned her.
The bite startled her and shorted out the surge of magic growing in her. It dissipated, and Dorian stumbled away into Luna's hold.
I wanted to be there, too, but Avesa had too tight of a hold on me. I had stopped her surge of rage, but the despair grew stronger. Children wept. Ogres howled. Both fae went to their knees.
Luna cursed and ran straight at us.
I was not the only one surprised. Colin tried to say something, but it was gibberish. Or maybe a hamster. Avesa squeaked.
I don't know what Luna thought she could do --
She grabbed me out of Avesa's hold.
"How dare you hurt Neko after all he's done to help you and the others! Now stop it. You are upsetting the children!"
I looked to see the children huddled together and still weeping. A glance around showed no sign of Maude in any form. Her slaver partner had slipped away and now the ogres took off running. The hawks had taken refuge in a nearby building and didn't look inclined to come back down.
A couple owls landed on a building opposite the hawks. They didn't make me feel any safer from the hawks.
It was the lack of Maude that bothered me most, though. I wanted to --
What? Stop her? If we did, what happened elsewhere?
"We can't stop her," I said aloud, my voice steadier than expected. "Not in any permanent way. We can't know what we might change. We can free the others she has trapped, but she's jumping around her own timeline. What if we disrupt it?"
We all gathered around -- but not too near -- Avesa. She contemplated the situation as she looked at the children. I wondered what would happen to them.
"The despair is gone," Avesa said, and I could sense that truth, even if I couldn't figure much else out. She looked around again and gave a decisive nod. "I have questions still. Where is Maude? How did she get control of me?"
"How did she get hold of so many of us?" I dared to ask. "Even without Avesa, it showed an amount of power she'd never had when I was her familiar. Maude was good at casting curses but not very good with powerful spells."
"I suspect everyone trapped was more cursed than under a spell," Colin replied. "Even you, Neko."
"I'm not going argue about that one," I told Colin. "And besides, we still have the remnants of despair and rage. Maude must have an ally, and I don't mean that blob of a man who came with her here. I don't like the idea of her teamed with something powerful. Something that must have its own reasons for what it helps Maude do."
The two fae nodded and then so did Avesa.
I wanted to say that it was time to go home. I'd had enough adventure for all nine lives and then some. But there were still too many loose ends, the most obvious ones sitting on the other side of the fountain looking scared.
"I am going to settle in this fascinating city," Avesa announced with a wave toward the buildings. "If all of you agree, I will take in the children and find them homes and futures."
I wanted to jump up and down shouting yes. I kept quiet. The humans and such had to work this out. There are times when even cats need to know when to stay silent.
They soon clarified the details and included the older children in the conversation. The fox who had led us into this mess -- oh yes, I had kept an eye on him -- still looked shocked and maybe dismayed at what had happened. He might still believe the entire world would soon fall apart because we had stepped in to save the children.
I would have been unsettled if I believed what he did, but the fox was a bit over the top. When a breeze stirred up a few leaves, he jumped like a kitten on his first trip outside. I glanced at the leaves and back -- and the fox was gone.
My reaction was probably much like his at the blowing leaves. My ears went back, my eyes narrowed, and I stared where he had been -- which happened to be straight into the wind.
Cold wind.
I was the first to see the snow, although the others noted the cold and tried to decide what to do with the children.
"I have had it!" I yowled with enough force that everyone looked at me in shock. "Snow! "Why can't we hold this meeting at a nice warm beach where I can chase seagulls? Why does there have to be snow?"
"Too much magic," Dorian explained. I started to say something rude. "I am serious. Most magic disrupts nature. Even if we all moved this discussion to Malibu, chances are that it would snow there, as well."
"I am doomed," I whispered. I batted at a large snowflake.
"But here is the good news," Colin added. "We are done talking."
"And now?" I dared to ask, ignoring the snowflake on my nose.
"Now we go back to our vacation," he replied. He picked me up. "And we wait for Maude."
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