A slight breeze became a sudden gust filled with sand and dust, and the scent of something unwelcome. The creatures that had moved in on them chattered, their clicking growing louder and then stopping. The silence didn't make it better.
They seemed to come out of nowhere, a line of black that topped all the boulders in the area. I couldn't name them, but they looked like hand-sized monkeys with vampire fangs and long, spiked tails. Their eyes glittered red and green.
They didn't look happy to see us.
"Mesar, Karo -- you two ride on Golden Mane," Adon ordered. "Don't argue, either of you. Give me your blades. I want nothing unfortunate to happen between the two of you."
I thought I should argue, but Mesar didn't, so I went along with the order. Adon got the humans ready to move and put Golden Mane and the two of us at the end of the line.
"Keep watch," Adon said softly. "We still don't know who attacked you two."
"What are these things?" I asked with a nod toward the boulders.
"I have no idea. Despite all their yelling and snarling, they don't appear to be very brave. Be ready for them when we move."
"You took our blades," Mesar pointed out.
"You have Gold."
He walked away and arranged the humans in sets of three for protection. It was a basic fae formation. I supposed Mesar, Gold, and I made another set.
"Gold on the right," I said. "Do you want left or center?"
"Center. I have never worked with Gold."
Gold gave a huff of agreement, and I found no reason to argue. Adon looked back and nodded as well. I put my hand where my knife should have been and almost demanded he give it back.
There was no time. We moved, and the creatures grew louder. Now was the time to pay attention to the trouble at hand. The creatures swept off the boulders and flew toward us. I hadn't seen the wings until now.
One of the ugly little things latched onto my hand using claws and teeth. I yelled something impolite and grabbed it by a wing. The wing pulled out of the shoulder, and the little guy screamed in shock and fainted.
I grabbed him before he fell and got trampled. I saved him because I thought he might have answers for us. You believe that, right? I even pushed the wing back into place and gave it a quick healing spell. Why not?
Adon looked my way with a shake of his head.
Mesar leaned forward so I could hear him over the screams of the beasts and the humans. The humans were behind shields, but that didn't stop them from panicking.
"Why did you do that?" Mesar demanded.
"Why not?" I put the little guy in my pocket. "There is not much that is going to change what is happening here."
"We have one chance," Adon said as he dropped back to us. The cloud of creatures had circled back toward the boulders. "We have to form a portal and take everyone to Nerian."
"Take them to the fae city," Mesar said. "The humans."
"And quickly. There is more trouble coming, and I don't think we can handle it."
I realized he was right. Something very large -- several of them -- were heading our way.
"But humans," Mesar said with a wave of his arm. "We can't just --"
"They already know about the fae. What more will happen if we take them there?"
"The elders will be unhappy."
I laughed at that line. "When have the elders not been unhappy?" I asked.
Mesar frowned, and I realized he might be one of those still attached to the elders, despite their lack of help over the last few centuries. I schooled myself to be more polite.
The pounding got louder. They didn't have much time.
"Give us another option," I said. "And quickly."
"The city of Sunrise."
It was a reasonable compromise. Adon even nodded and turned in that general direction.
One human stepped forward. Mary. No. Martlyn, and she was a bigger problem than I had anticipated. My head pounded, and it wasn't from the blow she had given me.
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