your trail. Instead, they’re coming straight for you, as much as the jungle will allow, anyway.”
“Any chance you could distract them again?” Isabel asked.
“I tried already,” Alexander said. “The witches have figured out that I’m just a projection, so they’re not falling for that anymore.”
“How far is the swamp?” she asked.
“At least a day, maybe more,” he said. “The jungle looks pretty thick between here and there.”
“Will we make it before they reach us?”
“You won’t have much time to work on a raft before the first Regency hunting party gets to you,” Alexander said. “Fortunately, there are only ten left.”
“We killed six plus the wraithkin,” Isabel said. “The jungle must have gotten another four.”
“I’m glad you got the wraithkin,” Alexander said. “I’ve been worrying about him.”
“Me too,” Isabel said. “If we can ambush the rest of them, maybe we can buy some time to build that raft before the Karth hunters arrive.”
“Is my brother with them?” Ayela asked.
“I don’t know,” Alexander said. “Can you describe him?”
“Black hair and dark eyes, tall, but thin and wiry. If he’s with them, he’d be leading the men.”
“He’s there,” Alexander said. “The two witches only talk to him, completely ignoring the rest of the men, and he seems totally charmed by them.”
“Isabel, promise me you won’t kill my brother,” Ayela said.
“Ayela, if we have to fight them, I’m going to focus all my efforts on killing those two witches. With them gone, I’m hoping the men will come to their senses.”
Ayela nodded. “He and my father are all that’s left of my family. I can’t lose them.”
“I understand how you feel, Ayela,” Alexander said. “Let’s focus on avoiding them, all right?”
She nodded.
“I’ll be back when I have more information,” he said, fading out of sight.
Despite their fatigue, they pushed hard for most of the day, trying to widen their lead over the Regency soldiers, hoping to avoid a confrontation or to at least buy the time they needed to prepare an ambush if it came to that. As they neared the edge of the swamp, the jungle seemed to grow denser, the trees larger, ancient and wild. Isabel started to feel like each footstep was a trespass, an affront to a place that wanted to be untamed.
When the jungle gave way to a clearing occupied by a giant tree, she started to get the feeling that they were being watched. Then she saw Shadowfang perched atop a stout trunk that rose twelve to fifteen feet and split into five giant branches, each radiating away from the base and extending toward the sky. The jaguar’s tail was flicking about and his yellow eyes were fixed on a spot in the jungle.
Isabel looked where he was looking but saw nothing.
“What is it?” Hector asked.
“I’m not sure,” Isabel said, “but I don’t like it.”
As one, Hector and Horace drew swords and fanned out, searching for any sign of threat. The jungle was deathly silent, all of the birdsong, buzzing of insects, and chattering of small mammals silent.
Isabel started casting her shield spell.
“We’re being stalked,” Ayela said, drawing her dagger, black with poison.
“By what?” Hector asked.
Before anyone could answer, a shimmer raced toward them from out of the jungle, more like a blur in the air than a distinct shape. It hit Hector, knocking him to the ground, the raptor becoming almost visible. It was large, easily seven feet tall, with razor-sharp talons and a long snout opening in a powerful mouth filled with rows of needlelike teeth. It snapped at Hector but he became a cloud of vapor, and the beast roared in frustration.
Then the spot in the jungle where Shadowfang had been watching started to move toward them—it looked almost like a mirage, but fast and deadly.
Horace stabbed the chameleon lizard twice in the side, once with each short sword. It flinched and roared in pain and fury before racing away into the jungle, vanishing from sight before it reached the cover of the dense foliage.
Then Isabel was hit from behind. The attack came without warning, knocking her to the ground and pinning her beneath the beast as it snapped at her head, its teeth landing on her shield instead. It leapt back in frustration, turning its attention to Ayela. Isabel called out to Shadowfang.
Isabel and Hector regained their feet at the same time. The beast leapt on Ayela, shoving her to the ground, her struggling impotent against its weight and strength. Isabel released a force-push spell, knocking the beast off Ayela, but not before it