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This gave them pause, but not for long.
“Explain to us,boy, why there is only one set of tracks if you really are part of the Huntsmen?” The speaker paused, before tilting his head. “We think you lie to save your skin.”
They inched even closer, before a whirring sounded and Edrich fell to his knees, gasping. He forced himself to stand up, but I could hear the racing of his heart and hear his wheezing breath.Something is clearly wrong.
He brought an arm up and, with a sickening sound, he ripped something out of his shoulder. A bloody arrow came into view and I nearly screamed.They shot him.
Their hollow voices snickered, a haunting deadly sound that held no joy. Suddenly, Edrich spun around and instead of an arrow, he was holding the sword he kept strapped to his side. He’d moved so fast I hadn’t even seen him reach for it.
His blade met that of one of the hooded figures just before theirs could sink down into his chest. Edrich tucked and rolled out of the way of another swordsman that was approaching, and in the movement, I went flying out of his pocket and landed on the mossy ground.
It took me a moment to make the stars stop lining my vision. My chest was tight, and my back ached. I could feel another spasm coming on, while in the background, all I could hear was the sound of metal striking metal.
Then Maggie was next to me, whimpering and nudging me with her snout, trying to make me stand.
At least she seemed unharmed, which was more than I could say for Edrich or myself.
I focused my eyes as best as I could on Edrich’s prone form as four hooded figures surrounded him. Before I could stop myself, a guttural scream escaped my lungs.
16
Edrich
The hoods turned as one at the sound of the scream. I recognized Lina’s voice immediately, but until my hand felt my empty pocket, I didn’t quite believe it.
I turned my head, my shoulder cursing me in agony with the movement. My eyes frantically searched the forest floor until they found her. She was apparently unharmed. Transfixed, she stared at the spot where blood blossomed from the wound in my shoulder before turning a furious shade of red, so deep it was nearly black, and sparkling with intensity.
Maggie skittered into the bushes behind her as Pepper called out over head.
Gasps sounded from the hooded figures surrounding us as they stepped away, still keeping their weapons drawn. The unicorns stamped their feet with nervous energy, and their riders went eerily still, hesitating for reasons I couldn't understand.
Lina stepped forward, sending them skittering back even further.
Are they afraid of her?
I used their distraction to scramble closer to Lina, just in case one of them decided to trample her.
One of the creatures lunged forward, reaching for me, but another held out a hand to stop him as Lina placed a protective arm in front of me.
How hard have I hit my head?
The image of Lina protecting me seemed so real, but felt so ridiculous, that I brought my good arm up to rub my eyes and clear my vision.
She’s still there, as menacing as a four-inch-tall flame.
“It is ill fortune to cross a fairy.” The leader's voice sounded distant, and lacked some of the menace from earlier when they were all calling us “supper”.
“Are you quite done harassing us?” Lina’s voice was firm, and the figures flinched at each word she spoke. “You could’ve killed us! My friend is bleeding!”
Her color flickered a little, the red dulling ever so slightly.
“We are—” A hood to our left started to speak but another cut him off.
“It is not a real fairy.” The one who had reached for me cocked his head to the side as if trying to decide whether or not his assessment was true.
“It doesn’t even have wings,” one of the others added, looking toward the leader.
“And it’s alone,” another commented.
