I only had time to open my mouth in fear before the front of Marrianna lifted up, and then too where I sat, in the same rippling motion. The only thing for me to hold onto was a thin spike between me and Jack that didn't even come up to my belly button. I clutched it for all I was worth and closed my eyes as I had in her claws.
Jack whooped ahead of me, and I squinted at him. My eyes bulged. He had half risen in his seat and was only holding on with one hand. The constant swerving motion became too much and I closed my eyes again. Why had I climbed on? I longed for Marrianna's claws to close around me once again. At least that would afford some illusion of safety. Not to mention the fact that I wouldn't have to hold on constantly, teeth clenched, whole body braced for movement. Sure I'd have held on anyway, and been tense enough, but this was far worse. Each twist and turn nearly jarred me from my perch on her waving back.
"You okay?"
My only response was a moan.
"What on Sky's Ground. . ." Marrianna muttered. (As even her mutters had some volume to them, I had no problem picking out her voice through the wind.)
"What is it?" Jack asked. (Even he could hear it, which was saying something.)
Marrianna didn't answer for a moment. We hung there long enough that for a fraction of a second I considered opening my eyes. Then she shot forward. "Metal beasts."
I felt myself slip back and tightened my grip, whole body trembling.
"Metal beasts?"Jack asked.
"Partly metallic creatures. They just appeared out of the blue not too long ago. No one knows why or where they came from. That's where Zi and Ze went- to follow one herd. It's-" She cut off and abruptly dropped.
I opened my eyes. "What happened?" I yelled over the wind whipping in my ears.
Jack partly turned around. "Something shot at us. I don't know-"
A ball of steel spikes appeared, shooting towards us, and Marrianna dropped again.
"What are those things?" I yelled.
Jack shook his head. "They kind of look how porcupines do when they're curled up in balls, but..."
I shook my head. Leave it to Jack to know the name of a dangerous monster.
"Hang on!" Marrianna yelled.
No need to tell me twice. Jack, however, nearly got his wish to fly. We were now moving so fast- far faster than any Horse I'd been on- that I almost couldn't believe he managed to hang on.
The force of the wind brought tears to my eyes, but through them I could just make out more metal beasts.
We were on a collision course.
They were smaller than Jack's horses and larger than his snakes and porci. . . porca. . . things. Actually, they looked kind of like the creature I'd called to yesterday. The cat thing. These ones didn't have wings and were striped orange and black (and, you know, partially made of metal), but other than that, they really looked the same.
"Marrianna!" My voice rose an octave. She didn't move to either side, just kept shooting towards them as they shot towards us.
My hands had at some point left the spike; now my arms were wrapped tightly around Jack. When had that happened?
The metal beasts' legs weren't still. Like with the snakes, it seemed they needed to propel themselves forward. All four legs pumped, almost like instead of flying, they were running on air.
My arms around Jack tightened further (if that was even possible) as I noticed one of the cats' eyes- intense orange, with a reflective black slit. That was one thing about machines- they never looked back at you.
The cats' teeth were bared and claws poised to strike as the gap closed. When we were mere inches away, Marrianna dove straight down. I looked back to see three of the four left in the dust. The last had latched onto her tail, but she violently flung it off. I lost my seat and my legs flew up behind me for an instant. Then I landed.
At a high pitched shriek reminiscent of metal scraping across metal, I risked a glance over my shoulder. One of them had landed on Marrianna and was running over her. She twisted and rose and dove (sending my stomach every which way), but it never slowed. Its eyes, intelligent, hungry, never left me. Didn't Jack say they couldn't think?
I let go of Jack with one trembling hand and reached into my boot, fingers seeking out the decorative leather handle. My knife glinted as I pulled it out, and I was careful to hold it well away from me.
The cat snarled. I looked into its eyes. I knew if I tried to fight it unarmed, I wouldn't have a chance.
I'd used my knife to save my life on a number of occasions, but never hurt anyone past a warning scratch.
The cat's face was bigger than mine, all sharply defined curves and elegant power. How could I hurt anything so beautiful?
Still, it didn't stop. I could feel its hot breath. I didn't have a choice. It limped even nearer.
I held up the knife, ready to stab as it lunged for me, but at the last possible moment, Marrianna rolled.
I started to slide, but Jack reached back and grabbed me.
"Get ready to jump!" Marrianna called.
"What?!" Jack and I both yelled at the same time.
"I'll get close to the ground," she said, as if it should have been obvious. "We're almost to the castle grounds. Jump when I say."
"What about you?" Jack asked.
"I'll hold them off," was her instant reply. "Get ready!"
"But-" I started.
"Ready. . ." We were diving so fast, I was sure we'd crash.
Instead, she leveled out and slowed. "Now!"
I might not have had the courage on my own, but Jack peeled me off and together we dropped the last few feet and rolled. The glass ground made for a hard landing, but was perfectly smooth, so it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been.
"Come on!" Jack yanked me to my feet and started running, pulling his duffel over one shoulder. When I looked back, all four of the cats were soaring toward us. As I watched, teeth closed around the last cat's back legs and whipped it back and fire swirled toward the others.
"Come on!" Jack repeated. I turned back to the front and put on some speed. Only then did I see our destination.
The glass further ahead rose up in sharp ridges, forming the most breathtaking building I'd ever seen. At its base the glass was clear, but the further up it rose, the darker it became. The very tips were deep black. The semicircular doors looked to be made of gold. And no, the Hoshaldrian magician had not underestimated its size. Even the stones scattered around the empty grounds dwarfed me. The stone closest to us was a deep blue. The next was green. Others were red or purple or black. What was this place? And more importantly, why couldn't it have some cover?!
Jack and I ran, feet pumping, eating ground until suddenly. . . we weren't. Whatever it was that we ran into appeared out of nowhere, and we bounced back, hands jarred apart.
I lay there, eyes closed, world spinning out of control. "Uhhh. . ." Jack moaned beside me.
A growl blasted above my head and I reflexively kicked upward, weight in my heel. The cat swiped at my face, but Jack whacked it with his duffel.
I leapt to my feet. What had we run into? There was nothing but empty air ahead. I walked slowly forward, shouts and growls sounding in the background. I still couldn't see anything when my hands hit something solid. Flawlessly smooth, cool beneath my fingers. Glass.
I turned back to Jack, who was still battling the cat with his duffel. Where had I. . . There! I stooped to pick up my knife and turned back to the imperceivable barrier. It was worth a try.
The leather handle was warm and fitted to my hand. This knife was one of the few things that was truly mine. My father had made it for my twelfth birthday.
The first time I stabbed the glass barrier, a small dent was the only result. I pulled back and brought the steel point forward again. Upon contact, a beautiful, crystalline note rang forth. The tip drove through the barrier. With a little work, I was able to rotate it, creating cracks in the surrounding glass.
"Skai, whatever it is you're doing, you might want to hurry it up!"
I spun around. "Farm Boy!-"
What I saw stole my breath. There were no longer only four cat things. Five were injured, limping towards us. The sky was alive with flight.
Just a few more tries should do it.
I stabbed it again, a little to the right of my first hole. Whole sections shattered. Now I sheathed my knife back inside my boot and kicked the hole bigger.
Jack was at my side in an instant. "Go!" he said. I hadn't yet gotten to the glass right at the ground, so we had to jump through. Then together we made for the giant blue stone like there was an orphanage director behind us.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Comment below: what did you like? Dislike? I'd love to hear from you!