Page 136 of Phoenix's Fire

"Okay?" I agreed, doing what he asked.

"Shadow? Ayla. Holly? Ayla," Lansin said, pointing at me.

Both dogs leaned in to sniff my hand. There were lots of small, shortbreaths around my fingers and the treat, but they also sniffed up my arm. The feel of their whiskers made me want to smile.

"And give them each a treat," Lansin said. "Just open your hand and they'll take it nicely. After that, we'll do it again."

In the end, I did that three times in a row, then Lansin walked away with the dogs. Facing the other direction, he had them sit, then told them to seek me. There was only a moment of hesitation before the dogs rushed over to lie down before me.

"Now tell them they're good and pet them," Lansin said. "Oh, give the bag to Rymar first."

I shoved the bag of treats at Rymar, then bent to get a few more pets of these wonderful animals while I could. Oddly, rubbing on them made a little of the fear inside me fade. Not vanish, but it pushed the feeling back just enough that I felt in control again.

"Who all are you doing?" Rymar asked. "Because I'm not going out there."

"But if we need to send a message back to town," Lansin said, "they will find you, and I have a feeling you'll be easier to get to than Brielle. They know Jeera, so I want to do Kanik and Zasen at least."

"And Drozel," I suggested.

Lansin nodded. "Makes sense. He's the other team leader, right?"

"My second-in-command. Kanik's actually the third."

"Then Drozel as well," Lansin said. "And if we need to, I can send notes to change the plan." He lifted a pocket on his shirt to show a small pad of paper. "We may not have guns, but we Reapers have never needed them to kick some Mole ass."

Forty-Two

Ayla

The sun was growing large as it sank toward the horizon, and the Dragons headed out. Keeping low, moving fast, they rushed into the forest and began to spread apart. I stayed off Zasen's hip, a pace behind him, with my bow in my hand and ready to use. We moved silently but fast, jogging from cover to cover. Our eyes scanned the underbrush. To either side of us, shades of greens, browns, greys, and yellows merged into the vegetation, but Zasen's blue tail stood out like a flag.

We made it nearly a mile outside Lorsa before someone whistled like a blackbird. Zasen and I froze, because that was one of the alert sounds. Listening to the woods, I wondered if it had been an actual bird. A second later another call came, just as I spotted movement in the trees. Hissing softly to get Zasen's attention, I pointed.

He nodded and moved to intercept. Jogging behind him, I pulled an arrow and fit it to the string. This was just like hunting. The goal was to move quickly, silently, and not wear ourselves out. Every time he'd taken me out hunting with him - which didn't feel like nearly enough times right now - he'd pushed me to be fleet and stealthy.

Now I knew why. What started as one person in the distance turned into more quickly. They moved in groups of six, spaced on either side of the road with their guns still held loosely. For the Moles, each of those groups was a team. There would be three pairs. I knew about those, but I'd figured out the team numbers in the last two fights. Hopefully, we could somehow use that to our advantage.

Just as I started to get twitchy, a hawk screamed. From the other side, a dove warbled. Zasen pointed emphatically, glancing over at a Dragon only he could see. My eyes were on the road where six Moles brazenly pulled three carts, two men toeach one. Like the rest, they were armed, but their weapons hung forgotten against their backs.

"No matter what," Zasen whispered, "stay behind me, Ayla."

"Okay," I agreed.

Then he stepped forward, drew his bow, and waited. The muscles across his chest were strained. The bulges in his biceps were impressive. Behind him, his tail hung still, lifted a foot off the ground. My breath hung, held as tense as the string ready to release that arrow.

His fingers relaxed and a dozen other arrows flew right after.

"We're being attacked!" someone screamed in English.

"Shit," Zasen breathed. "I understand them!"

"So let'sdosomething about it!" I snapped.

But he lifted a hand, gesturing for me to wait. To my right, leaves crunched and branches snapped as a dozen people rushed in at once. The suddenness of it was enough to send birds into the air. To my left, a group of Dragons screamed as they charged.

The first gunshot pierced the silence and human shouts followed. On the tail of that came a volley of pops, sending the forest into action. A moment later, all hell broke loose.

The Moles had always been careful with their shots, but not this time. Bullets whizzed through the distant trees and Dragons dove for cover. I heard a man scream, so I checked over my shoulder, looking for the cause. Pressed against a rock, a grey-and-brown-striped male held his arm. He saw me and waved it away, nodding to prove he was okay. Blood leaked between his fingers.