“I had such a sense of déjà vu back there,” Drew expanded, hooking his thumb over his shoulder towards the inn. “The cloaked figures searching the inn and the protagonists making a hasty getaway. It was a bit like the scene at The Prancing Pony in the firstLord of the Ringsmovie, when the Nazgûl are looking for the hobbits!”
“Sweetness, is this really the time for this?” Zach asked, sounding half amused and half exasperated. “We’re in the middle of escaping here.”
“Yes, I would really prefer it if we could be far away from here by the time they’re done searching the inn,” Andras agreed. “You know, since it’smyhide they’re after.”
“Oh, yeah. Sorry,” Drew said, feeling a little foolish. “Let’s go.”
They hurried down the dark road, not quite at a jog since they couldn’t see the uneven ground beneath their feet, but faster than a walk. Zach reached out and took Drew’s free hand, and in a conversational tone said, “You do know that I’m totally Aragorn in this situation, yeah?”
Drew snorted. “Yeah, alright, Strider. That’s fair. So long as I get to be Frodo.” He glanced down at Leila, who didn’t seem at all perturbed by their dash for freedom. “Leila would be my faithful friend, Samwise.”
“Which one does that make me, then?” Andras asked.
Without missing a beat, Drew and Zach said unanimously, “Gollum.”
They were lucky that Andras’s shout of protest didn’t reach the inn behind them.
Chapter 6
Avoiding cat-astrophe
They were several streets away from the inn when they heard the jingle of armour and were forced to hide from guards mounted on weird moose-like creatures. The Shadow Blades must have expanded their search from the inn and into the surrounding streets. They crouched down behind a waste pile, and Drew recoiled as his hand landed in something disturbingly moist and squishy.
The Shadow Blades were conducting a thorough search, and they came closer and closer to their hiding spot. Drew held his breath, trying to make himself as small as possible without crushing his familiar as he held her securely. He shifted just a little, but it was enough to displace something behind him, sending the unknown object clattering to the ground.
“There!” one of the Shadow Blades cried, pointing in their direction before quickly dismounting. The other two with them also got off their steeds.
“Shit,” Drew hissed, wondering how they were gonna get out of this without a fight.
“Leave it to me,” Zach whispered against his ear.
The atmospheric pressure dropped, and where Zach had been was now a brown and white cat with horn-like tufts of fur on his head. Noodle butted his head once against Drew’s arm and then darted out from their hiding spot and directly at the advancing Shadow Blades.
“What the fuck is that?” one of them barked, as Noodle circled around their feet, his tail flicking against the hem of their cloak.
“Some sort of small mammal,” one of the others said. “It looks a little like the felines you get on Earth.”
“Probably brought back with one of the Summoned for dinner and it escaped,” the third mused.
“Not much of a meal,” the first said, toeing at Noodle with their boot.
Noodle hissed and darted backwards, watching them warily.
“Must be a delicacy,” the second Shadow Blade said. “Not that we have time to try it. Come on, let’s check the next quadrant.”
They mounted their steeds and a moment later were gone, the click of hooves on cobblestones fading as they moved away.
I’ll scout ahead,Zach said in Drew’s mind.Wait here.
“Where’s he going?” Andras demanded as Noodle headed down an alleyway in the opposite direction to where the Shadow Blades had gone.
“He’s checking to see if that way is clear,” Drew explained.
“You can speak mind to mind?” Andras asked, shocked.
“Um, yeah?” Drew replied, unsure why that seemed like a big deal when Andras hadn’t batted an eye at the other magic they’d performed in front of him.
Andras cast an inquisitive eye over Drew. “Your bond must be deeper than I assumed. The ability to communicate telepathically is usually only seen in partners who have been together for many years.”
