"It was the damned sword's fault," Merlin said with a snarl.
"Merlin," Dorian warned, and winced when the mage looked his way.
Merlin buried his own glare and shrugged. "I still have issues. I spent too many lifetimes building up to Arthur's reign to have a pretentious slab of metal and jewels get jealous because Arthur spent time with his wife rather than in battle."
Neko glanced at Colin, who sat on the sofa beside him. Neko liked the hotel and thought they were going to have a nice rest for a few days. Then Merlin and Dorian showed up at their door.
Neko and his companions thought they had left the worst of their problems -- including Maude -- behind in Merlin's magical realm. But here was Merlin, and he plainly wanted something. Neko wanted to remind everyone that he and his companions were heading back to the bookshop. They'd had enough adventures of their own lately, and they did not need to take on legends and myths.
"This realm, the largest and most powerful of the human lands, is not doing well," Merlin said. He stood and crossed to the window, pulling open the curtains to the dark night. Neko's ears went back -- they had been on the run and hiding for too long.
"Is it magic causing the trouble here?" Colin asked.
"More from the loss of what little magic it had. There are spots like Maude, but nothing unified. Fae rarely come this way, and now darker powers and chaos are slipping in."
Neko wanted to protest. He stood and then sat back down.
"You have something to say, cat?"
"Neko," he corrected with a hardly concealed snarl. "And this is Sosha."
Neko had expected dismissal, not surprise and embarrassment. Merlin went back to his chair and nodded. "I apologize. I know none of you are simple familiars. I fear I have trapped myself in some old prejudices, simply because they were easier. That also applies to you, Dorian."
Did he imply Dorian was also a Familiar? Neko looked his way to find Dorian red-faced and choking ... on laughter. Merlin looked confused, and that would surely give way to anger --
Luna explained it to him. Merlin started with denial, but soon gave way to laughter.
"A night's rest," Merlin suggested.
No one argued. Even though Neko still had an unresolved question, he decided that curling up with Luna and Sosha was far better than chancing another bout of giggles. Others in the hotel were bound to hear them. It was not the kind of attention they wanted.
He would have slept for a few more hours, but an insect kept buzzing in his ear and then bit him. Neko cursed and sat up from the moss--
Moss?
Trees covered in vines dripped water onto the spongy ground.
A pair of large, multicolored birds flew past, making some sound of protest.
This was not where he had gone to sleep.
"Colin! Luna! Shosha! Dorian!"
No answers. No touch of magic in the air.
"Merlin!" he shouted in desperation.
The sounds went wild throughout the jungle. Birds screamed while other animals howled. Neko started to run and then tumbled to a stop. Which way? He found nothing but madness on all sides. That sound drove him toward a madness of his own, and he howled as well.
Neko ran both faster and farther than he ever had in his life. Part of him decided that if he ran fast enough, nothing could catch him. But traps were lying in wait. He leaped over snapping snakes only to become entangled by weeds and vines.
Something grabbed him, rough hands tight around his body. Neko yowled with fear and indignation, all his claws flailing --
"Neko!" The hands shook him. "You called for me!"
"Merlin?" Neko gasped and tried to grasp what he had fought away a moment before.
Trusting in his calmness, Merlin pulled him closer. "We have to go. Hold on -- to the tunic and not the skin.
Neko started to apologize, but they were already moving by magic, the scary jungle blurring around them. That did not make the place any less terrifying. Neko dug his claws into Merlin's jacket, possibly reaching the skin again, but Merlin did not comment. They just moved, and Neko almost dared to close his eyes. All he wanted was to get back to Colin and the others.
There.
"Good work!" Merlin praised aloud. They slightly shifted direction, as though they were in a boat, and the sails found the breeze.
Neko could finally feel them getting closer and could help direct them, which Merlin apparently approved. They arrived with a puff of steam that kicked them out onto a huge, empty butte without a sign of a jungle anywhere near them.
However, the others were there.
Merlin carefully put Neko into Colin's hands, and the cat practically rooted himself on the fae's shoulder. Colin winced once before Neko pulled his claws in.
"Everyone here?" Merlin asked as he looked around. "Good. We need a destination, and one with a solid magic base. I do not suggest the fae lands. It is likely our enemies would be more powerful there --"
"The bookstore," Neko said. "It is time to get home and prepare for trouble rather than chase after it."
There was a pause of silence, but no one disagreed. Colin, Neko, and Dorian made the link so quickly that Neko barely had time to take a tighter hold again.
For one moment, Neko saw the jungle -- but they passed that before he could blink, let alone complain. Afterward, there were only colors, and no sense of time.
Neko could feel he was getting closer to home, and he knew it wasn't safe.
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