Page 263 of Phoenix's Fire

Holly didn't even look at them. Instead, she slammed into Tobias, grabbing his rifle in her teeth and then shoved off. The man staggered, the dog spun, but I saw men aiming their guns at her.

"Away by!" I screamed desperately, directing her retreat as she freed the gun strap from Tobias's body.

And she turned into the woods, vanishing almost instantly in the undergrowth, but the first shots rang out. Pops, many of them, all in the direction of my dog. I felt my heart hang with fear and worry, but below me, the Moles were grouping up together, whipping their heads around, and trying to figure out what was going on.

All but one.

Tobias was staring into the trees. The smile on his face was visible even from here. He'd recognized her! Yet before I could figure out how to tell him to follow her, a rustle of leaves announced Holly's return. She raced right up to me, dropped the gun, then wagged enthusiastically, waiting for her reward.

"That's a good girl!" I whispered, petting her as much as I could. "Oh, you're such a good dog!"

"And now they're all together," Zasen said before cupping his hands before his mouth and making another bird call.

Halfway across the forest, it was repeated, then again further on. That was the sign to attack, but for a long moment, nothing happened. Then a dozen arrows slammed into the group of Moles, many hitting their mark.

Men screamed. Tobias turned, clearly intending to head for the woods, but chaos had just taken over. The guns began to pop as men fired without knowing what they were shooting at. In the bright light of late afternoon, they were finally at the disadvantage, and the arrows weren't stopping.

"Grenades!" someone yelled.

I'd just pulled my bow, intending to take out a few when I saw men hurl things towards the forest. One hit a tree, bouncing back. I watched it, planning to shoot the man that went to retrieve it, but the Moles didn't. Instead, they yelled, hurrying away from it.

The first one exploded. Then the next, and more, the devastation rippling across the trees around us. Men screamed - Dragons this time - and I'd ducked back, shielding myself from the volume of that weapon. When I lifted my head again, Zasen had moved behind a tree, firing as quickly as he could.

"Where's your Mole?" he demanded, no longer trying to keep his voice down since everyone was screaming.

I looked again. The thing that had bounced back? It had two Moles lying near it, their bodies ravaged and bleeding. A little further away, I saw men wearing black,but covered in dirt. Trees had shattered around them, leaving sticks and leaves still wafting down, but where was Tobias?

I found him as he pushed to his feet, getting off a smaller man. The other guy tried to follow, but Tobias pushed him to the south before running into the woods the same direction Holly had gone.

"Found him!" I said, and took off.

Holly ran beside me, keeping pace. Doing my best to stay behind hills, brush, and out of sight, I arced around, scanning the forest around me, hoping to see Tobias before anyone else saw me.

Then Holly turned, rushing ahead. Her ears locked back and she moved faster, clearly aiming for something. One more step and I saw what she was after.

"Holly, no!" I called. "Come!"

My dog skidded to a halt and pivoted on her back end, returning like an arrow seeking its mark. Behind her, Tobias followed. I waved for him, and kept going, racing further from the fighting, looking for someplace we'd be safe enough to talk. If anyone saw him now, they'd be sure he was chasing me.

Finally, I found it. A creek had dried, leaving a sharp depression in the ground with a lot of growth around it. I slid down in there, pulled my krael, and waited. A moment later, Tobias skidded, slipped, and tumbled into the ravine with me.

"Is anyone following you?" I demanded.

"No," he panted. "I'm pretty sure I got away. I said I needed my gun."

I nodded, then waved for Holly to lie down. "I have a package for Callah. What's the code?"

He was already reaching into his own pocket. "Ayla, I couldn't get it. Gideon let us back in and he doesn't trust me. Well, anyone." Then he thrust a thick letter at me. "She sent this."

I traded him for the mass of mine. "That's a book about the world as it is now. I also gave her a list of all the missing Dragon women. Your mom is in there, and mine, and hopefully Callah's too."

"Whoa," he breathed. "How many?"

"More than thirty," I said. "We don't know how many made it down there, but we know they went missing in raids. There could also be Reaper - er, wild women, too."

He nodded, then looked down at my weapons. "Can you put those away for a second?"

So I put my krael back on my belt. "Why?"