Crunch.

'It bit me! The thing bit me!' The owl banked left to avoid a hanging light fixture. Then it took a sharp right, but the dangling creature still wouldn't let go.

Tark suddenly found himself spitting cobwebs as they reached the house's uncleaned heights. Then his eyes opened wide. 'Duck!'

Coop did as his brother said, and the pair narrowly avoided getting squashed against the ceiling.

'Get off!' The owl dove to shake loose the unwelcome guest this time; however, the otter only sunk its teeth in deeper.

Tark leaned over the side. 'Bugger, the little critter's latched on tight.'

'What?' Coop moved to investigate further, then felt something sharp pierce his finger. 'You bastard! Get off! Get off!'

The owl hooted and steadied out; it seemed much more relaxed now that it wasn't the one being eaten. Then it turned its head. 'You fools had to go and unleash a feral, didn't you?'

'What the hell's a feral?' Yelled Tark, clutching the owl's neck as they dashed towards the far side bedroom.

'Feral beasts have no purpose. They have no reason for existing. Without hearing the Song of Friends, they are lost and alone in this world.'

'What can we do?' Asked Coop. 'There must be something.'

The owl turned its head again, its yellow eyes boring into his. 'Sing the song, you idiot. Make the creature whole.'

Tark laughed. 'Better sing better than last time.'

Before Coop could respond, the otter squealed, clawed his arm and began to climb up. So, with one hand, he reached for the folded music sheet, but as he stretched, he felt the otter's latch widen.

The owl flapped its wings to gain altitude, and all four scrambled over the still-made bed to glide through the parting between the green curtains. Then as they tumbled out of the broken bedroom window, they narrowly avoided the jagged edges of the shattered pane glass. And yet still, the otter climbed until it was wrapped around Coop's shoulder.

The weight of the three seemed so unbearable for the owl now that it repeatedly dipped and rose as it tried to remain airborne. Fortunately, there was no sign of Kalroth yet, but they knew the Dread Witch could be hiding in any of the evening shadows, and there were already far too many of those to count.

Tark thought that the view was scenic, at least. Neighbouring red-brick houses had chimneys puffing out white smoke, and almost all of their lights were on, the humans inside likely oblivious to the perils lying right outside their doors.

Coop's eyes bulged. While his brother was sightseeing, he was struggling to breathe. Of course, the battering cold wind didn't help his cause either.

'Through the breeze, we stride, my friend. Through the trees, we climb.'

The otter's jaw slackened as its rage subsided. The last thing Coop wanted was for it to fall, though, so he kept going.

'Through the skies, we soar, my friend. Up the mountains, we rise.'

'Mountains?! Mountains?!' Shrieked the otter. The poor creature appeared utterly confused.

''Easy,' replied the garden gnome, holding out his hand. 'Through the oceans, we sail, my friend. And through the gardens, we ride!'

Just as it was with the owl, the otter lost consciousness, and if not for Coop, it'd have plummeted thirty feet.

The garden gnome dragged the creature onto the owl's back and held it so close he could almost taste its wet fur. 'We'll get you someplace safe.'

No sooner had Coop uttered the words did they become jinxed. Bright, watchful eyes suddenly peered from within a nearby plume of chimney smoke, then came swift thudding as Kalroth galloped across the roof tiles, steadily gaining speed as it prepared to clear the couple's house.

'Faster!' Yelled Tark.

The owl turned its head again. 'You try flying while carrying a ton of weight. It's much more complicated than it looks.'

The more they distracted the owl, the more altitude they lost, but it'd been a blessing in disguise because Kaltoth misjudged its leap to tumble into the leafy branches of a mature maple tree. However, the resulting crackle and clatter threatened to arouse every sleeping beast nearby.

'Get higher, now!'

'I'm trying!' howled the owl with another turn of the head.

Instead of gaining some much-needed altitude, it shot past two other trees to land at the highest height of the third. Luck had stopped them from falling to the ground, well, luck and perfectly placed nests. However, the camouflaged birds were not so impressed as they pecked and chirped at the intruders before flying away. Then, the squirrels a few feet below began to bark.

The last thing Tark and Coop wanted was to be mobbed by bush-tailed rodents, so they slowly slid away from the perched owl and down the pitted trunk, the soft bark almost like a pillow on their backs. Then, satisfied with their cover, they crouched behind a stacked twig wall.

Coop sighed with relief, not realising that he'd just blown hot air in the otter's face.

The creature blinked awake to see not one but three squirrels scurrying from the tree's base to get them. The little monsters were always searching for food, and now they thought they'd found it.

They were already gnawing, scratching, and biting everything in their path, from bark to clothing, until the owl opened one wing to sweep two aside.

'We can't stay here.' Said Tark with a glance at his brother.

The owl hooted. 'Where would you suggest we go? We had to shelter somewhere.'

Tark climbed the twig wall to kick off yet another ravenous squirrel. 'Does it matter? We've outstayed our welcome.'

'Come now,' said the owl. 'Discretion is key here. We must address the situation with-'

The owl didn't get the chance to say more, for its body and that of the otter's suddenly crumbled to dust.

'What?'

Tark gestured as the black dust settled into two streams, swirling about each other as they climbed and shot down into Coop's pocket. Then, sure enough, as the garden gnome took out the paper, there sat the still image of an otter and the other of an owl. There were no signs that the creatures had ever lived.

'Crap,' whispered Coop. 'What now?"

Tark held his finger to his lips and then pointed down. The squirrels were still hunting, and if they were, then so was Kalroth.

A few minutes of silence passed, and then Tark hunched forward. 'I have an idea, but you won't like it.'

Coop made a face. 'I rarely do. Out with it.'

Tark bit his finger and began to etch a Ranar sigil. If there were any hidden doorways nearby, the blood magic would find them.

Red lights started to glow in the distance, most too far away, but one was at the bottom of the garden.

Yes, the closest was barely two feet in length and width, tiny by even garden gnome standards but wide enough to see them through to the other side. At least they would hope as much.

'That's one hell of a jump,' answered Coop, still studying the route. 'And I thought the Ranar closed all of these doorways?'

Tark shrugged. 'I've made worse leaps than this, and maybe they've missed a few gates.'

'Yeah, right. I bet.'

Tark ignored his brother and kept talking. 'My only concern is not knowing what's on the other side of that doorway.'

Coop nodded and waved around. 'Well, we know what's here.'

Put like that, the uncertainty of what lay beyond seemed like a trivial matter. The fleeing garden gnomes would face better odds no matter what. So long as they could make it past the demonic squirrels and the Dread Witch, of course.