“Corja! Corja!” someone was shouting.

  Avery had his eyes closed, focusing.

  He listened to the sounds and tried to assess how far they were.

  The screaming person worsened it.

  “Shut up,” he hissed, trying to make himself heard by this person.

  “Where are you? Come here; we need to hide, Corja! Corja!!”

  “Shut up!” Avery attempted to shout it, but not too loud.

  Then he heard them. Shit, their group was too loud.

  A squeak, then a long screech. Then another, three, four… eleven. Eleven at once, and they were outside.

  Shit! Why was this person screaming?

  “Luna? Luna, we have a problem,” Avery said quietly.

  She nodded; her face was calm.

  Seeing this reassured Avery; he feared she might faint or something. She looked unwell.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  In total, there were eight of them; they had gone out to help because a group had lost a child.

  Luna insisted on going. They didn’t find the child. Or rather. They did, but it was too late to help.

  They were going back. There were people in the group who were supposed to be able to fight; Luna had already shown that she could as well.

  It was such a positive surprise. Avery knew that she was trained; in dance classes, it was visible; she controlled her body differently than ordinary dancers. But she was better than he thought. Her teacher—good job. And she had energy.

  Avery could handle some of those on his own. But. He was able to eliminate two at once, as he had to do half an hour ago. Not eleven.

  There were eight of them. Two could already be let go; they were in panic. The screaming one will also crack soon. That left five, with Luna.

  They had no chance.

  “… Avery? Is there anything somewhere here that would have something around it? I would then make a barrier. I can make barriers around things. I had one like that at home. I will, and we will go inside. I wrote to Si; he wrote back that they are coming here. They will come here; I’m telling you, we just have to hide, not fight, but hide and wait. Even if we were surrounded by a horde, you know, Taj can do it; he will save us, I’m telling you. Avery?”

  She was speaking, but someone from their group interrupted her.

  “There is!”

  “Shut up,” Avery hissed. “This kind of sound attracts them,” he immediately needed to add.

  The looks he received were hostile. Shit.

  “Right… really? I need to tell it to Si, but, Amanda, where is it?” Luna asked in a quiet voice.

  The fact that Luna already remembered all the names impressed Avery.

  The girl began to speak; this time, she whispered.

  “It is two hundred steps from here. I think we have a chance if we run fast, so it is this direction. It is a small cave—” She didn’t finish.

  Avery was listening the whole time, and what he heard now made him give a sign.

  “Run,” he shouted.