After jogging for half an hour, Gretta and Rowan reached the edge of the mining pit. Smoke was still drifting up but wasn’t as thick as it had been after the explosion. The sun was high overhead, and the heat was oppressive. The wind might have helped with the heat but brought choking dust and smoke instead.
A massive mining truck lay smoldering at the bottom. On a ramp above, a grove of trees was completely out of place among the rock and dirt, with only scarred earth and metal.
Both Rowan and Gretta were panting and gasping from the exertion of running.
Rowan surveyed the devastation. “What happened?”
Gretta used her hands to shade her eyes. “It looks like Miguel must have created trees under that huge dump truck, and it tumbled over the side, falling into the pit. I think I see the remains of an ATV down there.”
“I don’t see anybody down there,” Rowan said.
Gretta grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the start of the ramp, far off to their left. “Come on, we must get down there and look for survivors.”
Rowan allowed himself to be pulled along. “Gabriela still has a gun,” he said between heavy breaths. “If we charge in, she’ll shoot us.”
Gretta released his hand, picking up her pace. “Then you’ll just have to be tricky or something.”
Movement caught Rowan’s eye. “Wait! I see something.”
Gretta looked back to see where Rowan was looking. He pointed at a spot two hundred yards along the edge of the mining pit, where a man and a child were climbing out. The man helped the child to the top and then looked back down.
Rowan and Gretta followed his gaze to where Gabriela stood, pointing her gun. They saw her hand jerk, and a moment later, the crack of the gunshot rang out. Miguel was falling. He tumbled down the pit's edge, falling fifty feet and landing on a truck ramp. The shot had been an impossibly long one. She had hit him right in the chest. Sure, Rowan knew a 9mm bullet could go well over a mile, but with wind, gravity, and simple human inaccuracy, nobody could have made that shot. Clearly, her magic did more than help her sense threats; it also allowed her to achieve the impossible shots.
Gabriela started jogging up the pit, her determination clear even from a distance.
“She might be old, but she moves like there’s a flash sale on floral print towels,” Rowan said.
“We’ll get there first,” Gretta said. “Stay out of sight so she doesn’t shoot you.”
“I don’t know if her danger sense is triggered by intention or simply because we’re nearby,” Rowan said.
Gretta started running, and together, they began the jog around the edge.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“If I had been flying behind Gabriela but meant no harm, would she have known and shot me, or did she know because I was planning to drop down and shift into a spider to attack her?”
“You think her magic can sense intention?”
“I think there’s a lot of small animals skittering about, and she wasn’t shooting any of them. As far as I can tell, many spells seem to understand intention; it’s just using the caster’s intention rather than the intention of others.”
“Your musings are inspiring,” Gretta muttered, pushing herself harder. “How can you talk so much while running?”
“Sofia looks like she’s about to climb back to her dad,” Rowan said.
Gretta looked, and Rowan was right. Sofia was starting to climb back down toward her father.
They were already running as fast as they could, but they’d been pushing themselves all day. There wasn’t anything left for either of them to give.
Rowan heard the familiar feminine voice. Keep running! Hurry! She needs you.
I’m trying, he thought. I’m all but tapped out.
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Get to the girl, and I can try to buy you a few seconds to get her out.
You are here?
The voice didn’t answer.
Rowan looked around the edge of the pit. A few workers scrambled to their vehicles to investigate the smoke and fallen vehicle, but nobody else was out of place.
“There’s a parking lot over there and a building,” Rowan said. “If we can get Sofia there, we can borrow a truck and put some distance between us and Gabriela.”
“We need to get the girl first,” Gretta said between gasps. “How are you not out of breath?”
“I run a lot,” Rowan said. He risked getting close enough to the edge to peer down to check Gabriela’s progress. “Looks like Gabriela’s magic can’t help her climb any faster. She’s pretty spry, but we’ll get to Sofia first.”
“Then what?” Gretta asked. “We let her shoot us? There’s nowhere to hide from bullets.”
“We’ll find a way,” Rowan said. Inwardly, he thought, I hope you have a plan that goes beyond me getting shot more.
As they ran, Rowan occasionally peeked over the edge to check on Gabriela and Sofia. Sofia had stopped descending the steep pit wall only a few feet below the top. She looked frozen in fear, and Rowan grew even more concerned for the child. Gabriela was climbing and, through some luck, wasn’t looking up when Rowan checked on her status.
“Sofia looks stuck,” Rowan said.
Gretta gasped between words. “How far down?”
“A few feet down, but we’re getting close enough that Gabriela will see us if she looks up,” Rowan said.
“Any cover?” Gretta asked.
“It’s wide open, but Gabriela is pretty far away,” Rowan said. “I’ll be quick.”
Gretta laughed. “I’ll be quick. You get a car. I’m going to pass out after this.”
Rowan scanned the parking lot ahead, spotting a pickup truck where two workers were unloading tools and parts.
“Try not to get shot,” Rowan said. “I really, really don’t want to explain to your aunt what happened. She will not be understanding.”
“The Wild Mother expects us to use our strength to protect others,” Gretta said. “Get the truck.”
Rowan sped up, veering to the right and toward the parking lot. He sincerely hoped that Abby wasn’t upset with him for not pushing harder to be the one to take the risk of getting shot. He figured that Gretta knew the risk and that there was a risk Abby would be upset if he didn’t honor her bravery.
The two workers, a man and a woman in blue uniforms, were going back and forth from the pickup, removing tools and parts, and bringing them inside the nearby building. If they thought a guy jogging through the desert toward them was odd, neither had noticed him. Rowan found that odd. He slowed down as he approached, trying to stay out of their direct line of sight using the pickup.
The female voice in his head spoke up. Hurry up, I can only keep them distracted for so long. You aren’t going to be able to just walk away from here with Sofia.
Wow. Neat trick! Rowan thought as he hopped into the driver’s seat. The keys were still in the ignition. What are you doing to them?
The spell makes them feel tired and dulls their senses. Once they realize what is happening and adrenaline kicks in, I won’t be able to keep them tuned out.
Rowan looked to Gretta, who stood approximately over the spot where Sofia would be in the pit below. She was calling down, but Rowan couldn’t make out the words. She shifted into a twenty-five-hundred-pound elephant. She was enormous, even by elephant standards. The elephant reached down with its trunk. A series of shots rang out. The elephant bellowed in anger and pain but still pulled up Sofia, set the child on her back, and then turned toward Rowan. She was bleeding from multiple wounds.
Rowan started the truck and put it in gear, pulling away from the workers, who were nearly back inside with their final load of tools.
Thank you again, the voice said through what sounded like crying. When this is over, I’ll find a way to repay you.
I spend most of my time as a coyote, so I expect payment in the form of mice or other small rodents.
The voice laughed and sobbed. Done.
Rowan swerved the truck and slammed on the brakes. He hopped out and opened the back door to the extended cab. Gretta carefully lowered Sofia into the cab.
“She’s safe. Now shift back,” Rowan urged. “We have to go.”
The elephant closed its pained eyes, and then there was a surge of magic, and Gretta was back into human form, falling toward the ground. Rowan stepped forward and caught her.
“Easy there! Watch your head.”
He lifted her into the cab, straining with the effort. Gretta wasn’t large, but even small people could feel heavy when unconscious, and Rowan wasn’t exactly a weightlifter.
The lead woman shouted, “You can’t take our truck!”
Rowan got into the cab and looked back. “Sorry about this!” He shut his door and hit the gas.
“You okay back there?” Rowan asked.
Sofia was crying softly, huddled against Gretta, who mumbled something unintelligible and seemed barely conscious.
The female voice spoke: You’ll need to switch vehicles soon. The police, sheriff’s department, and FBI will be after you. Most of what happened is on camera. I obscured what I could, but with Gabriela’s connections, they’ll hunt you down.
“We’re running out of places to hide,” Rowan muttered.
Poor Miguel. He was Sofia’s hero. The female voice made a sound that might have been another sob.