Page 26 of Stitches
The days leading up to the hunt had mostly been the same, with Leviassisting Grillo, and then, upon his return, Ashmedai would walk Levi back to Braxton’s door. It was never enough time.
Nor was there enough time during the chaos of the hunt.
“Jackalopes!” Pentelyn warned, using her many eyes to steer their direction as she flew above them. She was a harpy with a second set of eyes above the first. “Grouped to the right!”
Myrra lumbered ahead, veering right until she was at the forefront, and struck the ground with her mighty fists. The path ahead rumbled, and there was a scatter of winged creatures and glider monkeys—and, farther in the distance, a shift in direction of the jackalopes.
Everyone carried a warding crystal, and the collars of the rollhounds had been fastened with crystals as well to provide early warning if they neared the barrier. The hunt was often too chaotic to recognize how far into the wood they might have traveled, and people traversed the part of the wood inhabited by edible animals the least frequently, so as not to spook them more than necessary.
Ashmedai caught up to Myrra and passed her, with everyone hurrying onward at his heels. The jackalopes were in clearer view now as the rollhounds unfurled from their contortions to further herd them.
Half the jackalopes headed left as desired—the other half kept right.
Damn.
“I’ll steer them back!” Pentelyn called as she soared overhead.
Ashmedai didn’t like the hunters separating, but if they could cut off the wayward jackalopes fast enough, it would mean twice as much meat for the month ahead.
Then he remembered why he had wanted to invite Levi, and it wasn’t only for his company.
A swift glance at a nearby tree, then back at the farthest row of hunters, indicated more than enough darkness. Leaping forward, Ashmedai dropped into the tree’s shadow like submerging in a deep lake, reemerging in a blink where additional shadows existed behindLevi.
“Quick!” Ashmedai sprinted after him.
Levi whirled, tension gripping him as tightly as he gripped his newly acquired daggers—but then he smiled.
A shadow jump could be dangerous with so much uncertainty and moving bodies, but the risk had been worth it.
“Cast an illusion to block the way of the rightward heading jackalopes,” Ashmedai explained, taking hold of Levi’s elbow to keep him moving forward.
“B-b-but what should I—”
“Whatever first springs to mind. Hurry!”
The panic that had once again risen in Levi gave way to resolve, his eyes focusing forward through the rushing hunters and scattering animals to where Pentelyn was quickly catching up with the jackalopes heading right.
Then the crystal on Pentelyn’s belt flickered.
Levi flung his arms outward, fingers flaring, other than the thumbs and pointer fingers keeping their grip on his daggers. Light seemed to dance at his fingertips, but it didn’t shoot forward to travel the expanse between him and the jackalopes. There weren’t even any telling flickers where the illusion began to form. Suddenly there was simply a horse, not unlike Braxton’s mechanical horses, but this one looked flesh, like Ashmedai hadn’t seen in a thousand years. It was all white, rearing in warning in the jackalopes’ path like a bright beacon in the darkness.
The herd stumbled to a halt and changed course in the other direction.
“Brilliant!” Ashmedai squeezed Levi’s elbow. “What made you think of that?”
“I-I don’t know.” Levi smiled shyly.
As the two herds of jackalopes got more within range, Yentriss started firing with her longbow, taking out several with hardly any effort beforetheir pace grew faster at the sign of imminent danger.
The jackalopes that had initially gone left were far enough into a clearing that Amuro dropped to all fours, sprinted ahead of them, and leapt into their midst, spreading his mist to put them to sleep. Those jackalopes were easy prey for the rollhounds after that.
The remaining section of the herd was scattering, running in between the hunters, so that even Levi would soon get the chance to show his skills with a weapon. Ashmedai didn’t expect much, but as he released Levi’s elbow and drew his sword, he became transfixed watching Levi dash forward without hesitation, whirling impressively with both daggers to fell one jackalope, then two.
Then three.
“Pentelyn!” Amuro’s call pulled Ashmedai’s attention away from Levi, and he searched for where the harpy had gone.
Only she was still headingright, following a lone jackalope that hadn’t turned with the rest.
