Arrows of Time - Kim Falconer [140]
I’ve got it, Mistress.
Run hard! Lead them. I’ll be waiting at the entrance.
She dropped lower with each spiral until the treetops brushed her wings. When she alighted on a branch next to the portal, she gasped for breath, screaming out a single cry that was instantly cut short. A weight had dropped over her, pinning her down. She tried to shriek again, talons spread wide, beak snapping.
Mistress! Are you all right?
Get them out…she called back, unable to say more. A shadow hovered, a rock the size of a man’s fist. The blow struck, and Kreshkali knew only searing pain and then darkness.
Teg morphed, running on four legs ahead of the others, making sure they could keep him in sight. He’d heard her command. He had to get them out. He led them deeper into the forest, straight towards the point where she had dropped down. The dogs were closing, but An’ Lawrence could handle them, surely. Teg’s mind was on fire.
He’d heard that last cry cut short, though no one else seemed to have noticed, not even Jarrod, the one Kreshkali said was ‘more than’ human. Well, Lupins were more than human too, just not in the same way. He was certain he’d heard distress and the sound of it stabbed repeatedly in his mind. Were they completely unaware, these others? He tuned into each of them, feeling their energy as if it was cloth in his hands. Jarrod and An’ Lawrence were confident, protective, enthused—they seemed to be enjoying themselves. The temple cat was nearly playful too, though she stuck close to the Sword Master’s side, alert. The other man was worried, at the point of exhaustion, though he ran on. The woman was angry, her strength astonishing. They would make it.
As the portal came in sight, he quickened his pace, steeling himself against an array of possibilities. What would he find? Regardless, he knew his charge: stay aware and do what he was sent for—get these people through the portal as quickly as he could. Kali would be all right. She was the High Priestess, their queen. What could touch her?
When he saw her waiting for them, waving them on, a rush of exhilaration coursed through him, and relief. She was unharmed. The concern was for nothing. He laughed at himself. Of course Jarrod and An’ Lawrence were relaxed. Nothing had threatened Kreshkali. She was a powerful witch with awareness in many-worlds, wasn’t she? He shifted to his human form with that thought resting at a strange angle in the corner of his mind.
He was panting from the run and the baying dogs were making him edgy. As the others gathered around her, he hung back. He could stop the dogs if necessary, though he’d be loath to harm them. Dogs were his favourite—simpler minds than the temple cats but so much fun on the hunt.
Kali was motioning them into the corridor, her slender arms open wide. The sound of horses was not far off. He could hear shouts and hoof beats tearing up the loam. He squeezed into the crevice after An’ Lawrence. They locked eyes briefly. Scylla didn’t hiss for once, and she made room for him as he brushed past. Her hackles remained down. They had an agreement now, centred mainly on those sheep they’d nabbed.
Kreshkali followed behind, moving past him as her hand went over the Entity’s plasma discharge. He frowned as he crossed the threshold, bowing in turn to the guardian of the corridors. Something didn’t feel right. Inside the corridors it was still, no wind and little scent, all sound subdued save for a distant echoing of water—like waves lapping a shore. All as it should be, but…
An’ Lawrence approached him, adjusting his sword belt. ‘I guess I owe you my gratitude.’ He said it like his teeth ached.
‘I don’t require it.’ Teg waved it aside. He didn’t want to be distracted right now. There was something at the edge of his thoughts, like a spark trying to ignite. He needed to focus.
An’ Lawrence stepped back. ‘Kali, I think you need to teach your apprentice better manners.’
Teg flashed his eyes at the Sword Master. ‘You’re welcome,’ he said. Teg knew it didn’t sound genuine, but he was preoccupied. It was taking all his concentration