Dance with Darkness - Ghost Dance

Chapter 12

Nakoma muttered something that sounded suspiciously like a Native American curse word before taking off down the street in hot pursuit of Jin.  A couple of selkies hissed in disapproval as she barreled through them in her haste.  Amidst the crowds that thronged the streets, a flash of fiery orange caught her eye.

“Evanna!” Nakoma called, shattering the relative silence of the marketplace.  “He is here!  Get the others and stop his escape!”

Lightning-quick, Evanna vanished into the crowds to find the other three hunters while Nakoma turned her attention back to the air daemon.  He was now just a mere outline in the distance, visible only by the simplicity of his dark blue peacoat in contrast to the other more exotically-dressed creatures that occupied the streets.

He was getting away.

With a sigh of impatient frustration, Nakoma scanned the streets for a shortcut.  The gates out of the kingdom were nearby, and if he wasn’t stopped soon, he’d be able to take the path out of Tír na nÓg.  It would be much more difficult to find him in the mortal world.

A dark-skinned man darted out from one of the side streets and headed after Jin without a moment’s hesitation—Kamali.  The team captain was close on the air daemon’s heels, and with a giant leap, managed to tackle their suspect to the ground.

Nakoma picked up her pace, anxious to catch up to the scuffle in the middle of the street.  Passerby drew back and hissed as she pushed past, her gaze locked on the two figures.  For the moment, it seemed like Kamali had the upper hand.  Yet when Nakoma was only just a few more steps away, Jin threw out his right arm in her direction, and the veins in his hand lit up in a brilliant silver light.  The next moment, she was flying backwards as a gust of wind pummeled into her like a shockwave to send her crashing into the crowd of onlookers.

Kamali was thrown off seconds later with a well-aimed punch to the face by Jin, and once again, the daemon was off and running.

“Move!  Move!” Nakoma shouted, fighting her way out of the tangle of arms and legs just in time to see Jin disappear around the next corner.

Rapid footfalls on the street behind her told of Evanna’s return with the other hunters.

“Where’d he go?” Louise panted, out of breath.

“He is returning to Underland,” Nakoma replied shortly.  “We must stop him before then.”

“How?  We’ll never catch up,” Evanna said.

“I know of a shortcut,” Nakoma answered.  “Follow me.”

She took off down a nearby alleyway, vaulting over a pile of rubbish and turning a sharp corner down a different alley back out onto another street.  The sounds of the others behind her faded until only Nakoma was left, whose determination overruled the desire to give in to the stiffness in her muscles and the tired gasps that burst from her lungs.

Nakoma rounded another corner, and the gate leading out of the Unseelie kingdom came into view.  Jin was nowhere in sight.  With a heavy sigh, she finally came to a stop just outside the kingdom walls and waited for the others to catch up.  The mist that had brought them into Tír na nÓg had encroached further into the Unseelie area and was now only a few feet away instead of up on the cliff.

I was certain the alleyways were a quicker route, Nakoma lamented.

At least we won’t have to climb back up the cliff to get out of here? I thought, trying to be optimistic.

I could almost sense that Nakoma was about to give a bitter retort, but before she could think it at me, we were both surprised by none other than Jin who ran past at that moment.  Since we were standing behind the wall on the other side of the gate, he hadn’t seen us, and Nakoma took the opportunity to spring forward and latch onto his sleeve, just as the mist enveloped all three of us in a shroud of white.