My arm shot up when we were a few hundred yards off.
We couldn’t go to the camp. At all. Never.
“They’re guards,” I said.
“Huh?” Agatha tried to push past my arm.
“They’re guards, Aggie,” I said. “Lady Skol’s.”
“What’re they doing out here?” she said. “How?”
“That’s a good question.” We both crouched, took cover at a nearby rock and rose up to view them again. “Why would they be so far out here?”
Agatha shrugged. “Maybe they’re expecting us?”
“We both know that’s not true.” I chuckled, but Agatha’s face was serious. “But it is odd,” I went on. “I’m sure if Roman was here he’d know.”
I felt awkward immediately, an old habit having come forth. We passed the moment in silence and kept watching. Agatha had been with them practically alone for a week, she knew them differently now.
The sun rose and soon the whole landscape lit up in pockmarked dimples, depressions, and small rises. Slowly the sun traced its way across the desert and then hit the squadron of men. Their burnished plates shone and winked. More and more kept winking. Then horses. Cannons. It was a small military here.Why?
“Well you could just kill them all?” Agatha said, off-handedly.
“Aggie! No.” I hoped my face was as shocked as I was internally.
“Sorry,” Agatha said. “But you didn’t see you like you were as a wolf. You were impressive. You were huge. It was crazy, Fey. You were the same size as Dion.”
I went red, from joy and shame. “Be that as it may, I can’t shift now. I tried while I was tied up many times and I couldn’t. There’s something stopping me. I can’t risk that to us.”
“I know, I know. It was a joke, kind of. I just- I’m so afraid of someone capturing us again,” she said.
I squeezed her shoulder. “That’s not going to happen.”
“Then what’ll we do?”
I watched the camp, then looked at the lands and mountain range. “What we were going to do withthem.We’ll walk the range parallel to the squadron until we get back to the trail, or enough out of sight from the guards, then head down.”
Agatha shrugged her shoulders,what else could we do?
We continued on. I walked in the lead, wanting to guard Agatha for some reason. We climbed over the rocks and found that traveling on this side was easier, quicker. We were beginning to think we’d come to some good luck, and to say goodbye to the sight of the military men, when a foul smell caught us.
I stopped, the smell invading my nose and rushing down into my lungs. I coughed, and Agatha dry retched.
“What is that?” Agatha asked.
“I don’t know,” I said, but my skin had lit up. Gooseflesh covered my flesh and my hair was tingling. I could feel something nearby. Something bad. Something wrong. “Stay close with me, Aggie.”
I held out my hand and took Agatha’s in mine. We continued on slowly, but the smell only got worse. I could still see the squadron of men, and as they were almost out of sight, the smell became unbearable.
Agatha finally did vomit, throwing up on our trail. I wanted to do the same but fought every urge in my body not too.
There was a small whine. A few clicks.
Then two enormous wings spread wide above us!
Perched on a flat rock a few yards above us was a hideous monster. It was a mixture of a human with reptilian skin. The wings had claws and were semi-transparent. Large fangs hung out of its small jaw. It blinked to wake itself up as it watched us. But once it realized what we were, it shrilled a small growl. Shook its head in joy.
Then raised its mouth to the sky and let out a piercing wail.
