Pampir brushed his hand over the wound and came away with red-stained fingers. He studied his blood for a moment before he scowled at the group. “How dare you!”

Nan threw back her head and laughed. “How dare I? Really easily, that’s how I dare. I watched that lot rush at you when you wouldn’t let them through the gate. They went easy on you because they didn’t want to put a single strand of your hair out of place without getting in trouble.” She looked around her at her companions and grinned. “But who’s going to tell on us?”

“I certainly will!” Pampir snapped as he steadied himself on his feet. “His Majesty will learn about your grievous wrong against me!”

Great idea to tell the bullies you’re going to tattle on them I thought.

The woman threw back her head and laughed. “You think we’ll leave you in good enough condition to talk?” Her companions loomed up at her sides and all of them had the same wicked smiles on their faces. “By the time we’re through there won’t be enough left of you to feed to the worthless hound clan.”

Pampir’s eyes darted to me. “Cat, get behind me!”

I dashed toward him but my run was interrupted by the sudden rumble of the ground beneath my feet. The crowd of people rocked from side to side as the motion sent them swaying.

Nan stabbed a finger at him. “Don’t let him open a crack!”

I darted behind Pampir as he slammed his foot on the ground. The trees and roots were violently torn asunder as a huge crack fifty feet long and five feet wide appeared in the earth between us and the horde. One of the crowd skidded to a stop and slid over the side but they twisted around and caught the lip of the gap. Another leaped across the crevice and swung a scaled fist at Pampir.

He threw himself backward and flung up one arm. A stalagmite shot up out of the ground and the point slammed into the bottom of the man’s jaw. His head jerked back and he stumbled toward the abyss. The man flung himself to the ground rather than drop into the dark depths of the crevice.

Pampir’s glowing brown eyes glared at our foes. “Would you like to continue your assault on me or will you stand aside?”

Nan clenched her teeth and a growl escaped her. She snapped her head to one side and stabbed a finger at the man dangling on the edge of death. “Get him out of there!”

Two people scurried forward and helped their companion out of the hole. The other man scampered off into the woods to the edge of the crack and scooted around to rejoin his comrades.

Nan glared at us from across the gap. “Just you wait. You’re still in our territory and I’m not going to let this go, so you’d better watch your back or I’ll stick a scale in it.”

Pampir disregarded the pain in his throbbing body and stretched to his full height. “I look forward to your future failures, madam.”

She sneered at him before she spun on her heels and marched off into the woods. Her cronies scurried after her, leaving us alone.

Pampir held a brave front until they vanished when he collapsed to his knees. He caught himself with one hand and bent over. His other hand still clutched his side and the stain had doubled in size. He shut his eyes and let out a deep, shaky breath. The crevice closed in front of us and the stalagmite sank back into the earth.

The pampered Pampir was the picture of a beaten man. His clothes were speckled with blood, if not outright stained with it, and the use of his earthen magic so close to his person had thrown dirt all over his person. Even his face and hair were faintly dusted with earth. And here I was a picture of health, minus the old wounds, and all because he had protected me.

I slunk over to him and softly meowed. He turned his head and offered me a shaky smile. “My apologies, Lady Cat. I did not know the turtle clan would hold such a grudge against me for my judgment against one of their own.”

I rubbed my cheek against him and purred.

A faint, gentle smile spread across his face. “Thank you for the kind words.” He shifted and grimaced, and his hand tightened its grip on his patch of blood. “We must hurry now. Lord Leiren is a man skilled in magic we must first cross much of the land of the turtles to reach him and those fiends will no doubt keep their word.”

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He gritted his teeth and eased himself onto his knees. I scuttled around him unsure whether I wanted to weigh him down, feeble as he already was.

Pampir took a deep breath and dropped his gaze to me. “Hold still so I can pick you up.”

I stepped back and shook my head. “Meow.”

He frowned and beckoned to me. “There is no other way and we are wasting time, so come here.”

I hung my head and crept over to him. He scooped me into his arm that didn’t hold his side and closed his eyes. His magic surrounded us and we were whisked away to our interrupted destination, the top of Turtle Rock. Now I knew why it had that name, barring the obvious physical similarities. No longer would I be able to appreciate those adorable animals.

Even such a short distance was too much for my driver. Pampir collapsed onto one knee and his rapid breathing came out in horrible rasps. He set me down so he could support himself with his hand.

Sweat trailed down his forehead as he looked at me as his last hope. “Where is Emperor Eastwei now?”

I nodded and scurried to the highest tip of the rocks that overlooked the forest. I knew I could help even more on what was turning out to be a dangerous follow mission. The turtles had a distinct scent to them, like crusty scabs such as the ones that covered my front legs. If they wanted to keep their word then I was going to make it hard for them to do so.

I lifted my nose and inhaled all the many odors that rose from the forest. The scent of dew and roses came to me quickly, as did the odious odor of the scaled ones. I used my keen sight to zero in on the location of the scabies before I scurried back to Pampir.

Still, I had a problem. I had no idea how to communicate everything I’d learned. That obstacle was quickly overcome when I noticed my paws had left marks on the dust-covered ground. I used my paws to draw out a rough map and marked an X for the bad guys and a circle for the direction Eastwei and Yushir had gone.

Pampir studied the map and nodded. “I understand. I will have us travel farther than before in the hope we will get ahead of our foes.”

I cocked my head to one side and meowed.

“I can travel very far but only if I am sure of the destination,” he admitted as he drew his bloodied hand away from himself and inspected his wound. “I would send us to Lord Leiren’s home now if I had enough strength but I fear the exertion would force us from the sky. I need rest and hopefully, we will catch up to my friends.”

I nodded and meowed.

Pampir scooped me up and stood. His magic fluttered up around us and we were whisked into the sky. However, the quick travel was no more, and for the first time I was able to see what went on during these flights. Our bodies were almost completely transparent and the magical flakes swirled around us like a wind devil of breakfast cereal, sans the milk. The ground beneath us flew past our feet at sixty miles an hour and would have been faster if he hadn’t been forced to dodge the torrent of attacks.

Yeah, those were many as green shards of light shot out from the trees. Pampir dodged all of them or managed to completely skirt the areas. The effort needed to swoop from side to side took its toll on our speed in more than one way. I could feel his heart thump hard against his chest and sweat slid down his brow. The bloody patch at his side also grew.

Our speed sputtered as we neared a large open field that abutted a small mountain range. I caught a glimpse of an even larger chain of craggy bluffs in the far distance before we began to lose altitude. Pampir started to tremble even before he landed us in the meadow. He landed on his feet but quickly fell face-first onto the ground, crushing me beneath him.

I yowled at the squeeze and wiggled myself out from underneath him. His eyes were scrunched shut and his labored breathing matched the blood that dripped from the wound in his side. My tale swung to and fro as I tried to think of something, anything I could do to help him.

A laugh caught my attention. I whipped my head around and my heart stopped when I saw the group of turtle shifters striding toward us.

Nan was in the lead and there was no mercy in her gleeful eyes.