"Holly, collapse!" I snapped.
She raced away, hitting the boy before he'd passed the first tree, but another dog was moving too. I didn't recognize it, but the second animal grabbed the boy's gun, shook, and rushed back to give the weapon to its owner.
Holly? She lay on the boy, snarling right in his face.
"Anyone else?" I yelled. "There are twenty of you now, and two incapacitated. There are twenty-seven of us, and nineteen dogs. Do you really want to see who'll win tonight?"
A younger hunter gasped. "Theyarecalled dogs!"
Tobias let his head drop. "Yes, Jeshiah, they are."
But beside me, Zasen was making gestures. I saw Reapers and Dragons look over, then he pointed at the group and said in Vestrian, "Have the dogs collect the guns."
"Pepper, disarm," I ordered, pointing.
She darted into the fray, and wasn't alone. One man screamed, tensing up as if expecting an attack. Another dropped to the ground, but the dogs went for the weapons. One by one, they were carried away, and some of the animals had time to go back for a second. That was when our group began to push in.
"Ayla," Zasen said, "tell them they will be detained. We will bind them, but if they don't fight us, they won't die. I don't care how you say it."
"Listen up!" I bellowed. "These men are going to secure all of you. Do not try to fight it. Hold your arms out to your sides and get down on your knees!"
"Do it!" Tobias ordered, but he looked up at me. "Ayla..." And something on his face looked worried.
I lifted a hand, knowing he had to keep his cover. "I am the Phoenix now. I speak your language, and I taught the Dragons and the Reapers."
"I know, but - "
"Knees!" I roared at him.
Tobias didn't kneel. "I have the code, Ayla, and Gideon is taking three times this many men to your town!"
The response to that wasn't the one I expected. "Demon, hold!" Xav snapped in Vestrian. "Holly, go to Ayla. Ayla, talk to him!"
My dog hesitated, unsure if she should obey him, but I patted my leg as soon as the man she was holding had Demon on him. I also picked up the gun Pepper had brought back, but Tobias had said too much. He'd just ruined his chances of going back.
I was pretty sure this was when the phrase "fuck it" applied.
"Tobias, come!" I ordered.
He sighed in relief and headed my way, but my brother called out, "Ayla, take me too!"
My head whipped to him. "Why, Elijah?"
"Because I know as much as him, maybe more." He held his hands out, watching the Reapers and Dragons moving closer. "I can help you, Ayla!"
"Fine. Come on."
Elijah hurried forward, but Pepper wasn't okay with that. Her lips curled. Holly braced. It was Tobias who grabbed his arm, stopping my brother from jogging straight toward me.
"Those are weapons, you idiot!"
Elijah stopped hard. "Oh."
"Slowly," I said, taking a step back. "Girls, guard."
"I'll help Zasen," Rymar promised, pointing at me in a meaningful way.
Kanik moved in from my other side. His bow was across his back, but he had his krael in his hands and his tail was up. When he saw me look over, he smiled.
