So I shoved mine at him. "Then use this and stay behind me," I told him, passing over my quiver next before lifting the gun to my shoulder. "Holly, find Tobias. Pepper, guard!"
We didn't have time to dawdle out here. The Moles knew where our forces had stopped, which meant that was where we didn't want to be. So, the two of us headed off to the left, making a wide arc. Everyone else seemed to be going to the right, but I trusted my dog.
Just as the battle cries started, the horses began to move - and then I heard the thing I hated most: gunshots.
The pops were almost too soft. They never sounded as terrifying as the damage they did, but they were definitely too fast. Once, I heard a dog yelp, but since I could see mine, I tried to tell myself it was from surprise, not a wound.
"Where are we going?" Rymar asked when our path curved north again.
"I think we're flanking around the back," I told him.
"Don't like this," he grumbled. "Ayla, I'm a walking banner of color out here, and you peoplecansee it in the dark!"
"Then duck," I told him, reaching back for his hand. "Trust me, Ry."
"I do," he swore, tangling his fingers in mine as we hurried to keep Holly in our sights.
Around trees, past boulders, we sloshed through newly fallen leaves and old ones. From the sounds of it, the fight was moving away from us, but that was a good thing. When a stick tripped me, Rymar's hand kept me from falling, but mine kept him from losing sight of my dog. Her brindle coloration blended into the night, even for me!
Then a man cried out in English, "I saw someone over here!"
Rymar jerked his hand back, I lifted the gun, and a man rushed out from between some trees. Immediately, an arrow slammed into his chest, fired by Rymar. A moment later, Pepper did - and this time she didn't hold back.
The snarls were low and feral as she sank her teeth up to the gums and thrashed. It was so fast I didn't have time to see the man's face before his body was slung to the ground and Pepper was on him. Sadly, he hadn't been alone.
"We've been - " a young man cried, making the mistake of looking back.
I squeezed the trigger, putting a couple bullets in him. I'd been aiming for his chest, but hit his throat, then his shoulder. I was pretty sure the Mole was dead before he hit the ground.
His friend wasn't.
The Mole roared as he grabbed the trigger and held on. I heard the stream of bullets heading toward me just as something big slammed into my back - and then I got a face full of leaves. A glimpse of yellow and red made it clear Rymar had pulled me out of the way, but he was up before I even had my bearings.
He didn't yell.
He didn't grunt, or pant.
Rymar was as silent as death when he tackled the last Mole in this group, slamming the pair of them back down into the dirt. I heard the Mole cry out, but Rymar's tail was already lashing, stabbing the man repeatedly.
"Move," I ordered, talking to both him and my dogs. "Pepper!"
And again, we ran. Once, Holly barked. Twice more, Rymar spotted Moles, managing to get an arrow into them before we were seen. Then, without warning, Holly put on a burst of speed. I couldn't keep up, but she had her command and was likely obeying it.
"This way!" I told Rymar, heading away from the fight a bit.
The pair of us slid behind an outcropping of rocks and gasped for air. That much running made my chest hurt with the effort, and Rymar's mouth was hanging open. And yet, when leaves rustled, he was on his knees with his tail up before Holly came back into sight. Tobias was right behind her.
"Ayla!" he gasped, throwing up his hands and looking at Rymar as he said it.
"You're fine," I said, waving Rymar down. "He's fine. Everyone's fine. Girls, guard!"
That was when Tobias saw Pepper. "There'stwo?" he asked.
"I buy her nother dog," Rymar said in his almost understandable English. "You Tobias?"
"Yeah..." he said.
"That's Rymar," I explained. "His English isn't the best, but we need to know what's going on."
