The Dragon's Rogue

Chapter 24

The Quatori following us through the swamp suddenly made more sense. They had not attacked at any one point, only drew near enough to push us onward. I shook my head, Quatori with the capability to plan...to lay traps.

Illaise was a blur, winding and struggling around the half transformed creature that attacked her. She deftly avoided the thing's bite, and it was trying to bite her, its exposed teeth snapped toward her throat and limbs. I raised my dart launcher, feeling rather stupid. Six darts would do nothing for me, not with more creatures than that already racing my direction. My time was short, and my aim would have to be perfect. I raised a shaking arm, using my left hand to support it slightly. As soon as Illaise worked herself free for a moment I shot.

I didn't even have a chance to see if my dart flew true, a half formed wolf charged in from my left. Like a true Quatori it paid no attention to what happened around it, simply dove toward me, all hunger and instinct. It was too close to raise my dart launcher, the only thing I was capable of doing was scrambling backward out of the way. That didn't stop the beast, it turned from its path, skidding on the loose rocks, using its arms to pull itself back.

My heart thudded loudly, it felt as though its rapid beating stole all the space in my chest to breathe. I managed to get my arm, and the dart launcher up between us. Desperately I pulled at the lever that would settle the next dart into place. My fingers trembled, the stench of rotting flesh overwhelming my senses for a moment.

The lever was stuck.

I whimpered as panic surged through me, I gave up on the lever for the moment, rolling awkwardly out of the creature's path once more. A fist sized stone ground into my naked hip. I grabbed it and whipped it toward the beasts head. It glanced off of the furred temple, a surprisingly accurate shot that should have caused the creature to collapse...or at least blink.

As if I hadn't struck it at all the beast pressed forward, some unholy driven gleam flashing in its eyes. I pulled at the lever once more, ready to cry when it finally released and did its job. In the next instant I shot. The beast slammed into the ground, Illaise, in human form on it's back. She placed one hand on each side of the beast's head and turned it sharply, eliciting a sickening crack.

"Now!" She cried, the sharp tones echoed against the canyon walls. Her words were not for me, but her team, yet I did not have the mental focus to see what she signaled. She grabbed my arm, pulling me from the dazed stupor I found myself in.

Three more of the possessed were closing in.

"How many more of those darts do you have Rogue?" she asked, releasing me once I began to follow her on my own. We dashed now toward the underground entrance once more. I could hear the sound of creatures on the slope behind us. They were much faster than us, in their recklessness, and I felt terribly exposed with my back to them.

"Four."

Illaise grunted but it was not an impressed sort of sound. Her head tilted toward the east and she considered the sky.

"Looks like we are on our own. Let's see if we can't surprise our way to that entrance," she panted.

I peered around her, pressing myself to keep up. The threat of being overtaken helped push me to speed, even while my legs were crying for rest. It was hard to even estimate the number of bodies watching us from below.

"Surprise?" I managed. We were quite obviously barreling down the side of the slope, in full view of those at the bottom. Even if most of them were blind, the sound we were making as we ran was nothing short of thunderous.

Though I had been forewarned it still disturbed me to see whole and healthy shifters mingling among the beasts.

"Yes, perhaps we can get a feel for how badly they want this," she flashed her hand at me and my stomach sank. The glyph shone slightly in her palm, reflecting light that wasn't there to reflect. No wonder the Quatori had found us in the swamp, that thing was like a beacon to them. Even now the focus of the creatures seemed to be in our direction.