We moved slowly away from the carnage, Ellie and Lord Boian limping along using yucca stalks as canes. Ellie wore her pack, though we transferred some of her gear to a smaller burlap bag I found in the saddlebags, and Oana was carrying that.

Lord Boian was pissed because I draped the saddlebags over my pack. He'd love to yell that he's supposed to protect me, but we've kept silent in case anything might hear us. Of course, as bloodstained as we are, the Sobecks could probably smell us a mile away.

Oana followed close behind me like some imprinted duckling. I wasn't sure whether it was because I stood between her and the Sobecks or so she could jump into the fray with Boian's knife if something happened. It had about a nine-inch blade and would be a two-handed grip for her, so probably some of both.

I wasn't scared shitless, but if a deer came crashing through the underbrush, that was probably exactly what would happen. I felt like I needed to drop a load from the moment we set off, but it was all in my mind.

We were taking animal trails rather than the more well-trodden ones. It was Boian's idea, but a good one. We tried to be careful crossing the more established paths not to leave evidence of our passing. So far, it was working. We were still alive.

I pointed out the thunderheads off to the southwest, and it was apparent they'd all seen them already. Boian said he had a spot in mind that we should be able to get to before those got to us. Both he and Oana were pretty sure we'd get wet otherwise, so I wasn't going to argue against the experts.

An hour later, I wondered if Boian was optimistic about getting to that location. With him and Ellie lame, we moved slowly, and the air temp had dropped with that pungent scent of rain—outflow boundary from a hefty thunderstorm. Then came noises. I waved the others back and down and joined them behind cover.

Two dozen Sobecks went by heading the other way, or so it seemed from the sounds. I waited five minutes before I stood, then squatted again as the sounds of more came along that trail. More than a dozen with that group. Oana's cheek was against my back, arms around my waist.

Maybe our saving grace was that outflow boundary, which shifted the wind to put us downwind of the wolf-people. Perhaps they would've missed us anyway. Either way, we were safe for the moment.

Another five minutes and Boian gestured us to follow him and took off on something no larger than a rabbit trail, angling away from where the Sobecks were coming from and into a ravine, then down it to a larger creek...not where I wanted to be when the deluge hit. I was next to last now, Oana still trailing me closely. We moved to yet another larger creek and followed a ledge until we could cluster together under a slight overhang.

"Not what I was planning on, but I wasn't expecting to have to hunker down like that," Boian said, then pointed. "That's not good. There's smoke in the air to the south." I could make out the dark band drifting east against the darkening sky. "The village of Barlad lies off that way. I'm afraid we're heading there rather than my estate once the storms are over."

Then the storms hit. Ellie and I pulled out ponchos and threw them over us to stay dry, wrapping them around Boian so his head stuck out, Oana sticking her head out from the bottom while crouching under my legs while I sat bent-legged. We weren't getting wet, but if the wind changed, we could be instantly soaked. My head, ribs, and hand throbbed while we waited.

This was a good time not to have a car outside, I thought a few minutes later, watching hail crash down. Softball-sized, some of them, and it was deafening. Then I thought of the town, probably attacked and burned, and the survivors. I hoped there were survivors.

As the hail subsided, Boian turned to Ellie. "So, Maid Elexus, tell me how it is you're still alive and not even a spot of blood on the back of your clothing."

"First, we agreed...no honorifics until we get back among people. Operational security. Call me Ellie, and I'll answer that."

"As you wish, Ellie." It sounded like it pained him to say that. "How?"

"Invisible armor." She pulled her arm out above the poncho, letting one blouse sleeve drop to her elbow, then pinched at her wrist until she caught an edge and pulled the faintly shimmering fabric off her skin before releasing it to pop back to invisibility. "It seems like a second skin and wicks sweat out quite well."

Boian's mouth hung slack, and Oana suddenly climbed inside my shirt, touching my stomach and ribs.

"I'm trying to pinch you, Uncle," came her muffled voice, "but your skin gets hard when I do."

"Do you wear this back on your world?" Awe sounded in Boian's voice. "Is this armor of the Realm."

"It was in our packs when we got here," I said. "We tried it on and discovered it protected against hits and kicks. Pointy weapons...those we found out during the battle."

"Not even a drop of blood on my back?" Ellie asked.

I shook my head. "You'll probably have a large bruise. I'm definitely feeling mine."

"You?"

"I think I would've been dead by the time I hit the ground. About three ribs up from the side and in from there. That's how I was taught to shoot a deer. Get the lungs and heart. I'm sure that's why Oana's in my shirt. I almost landed on her when I fell."

"It was a good ambush," Boian said.

"How human are they?" Ellie got Boian's attention with that. "I mean, can they breed with humans?"

"Why would you even ask that?"

"Knowledge is power, but you know that."

"There was a woman who wasn't killed outright after they were through with her, and she recovered. I heard that she bore a beast, a furry baby with a snout. It was drowned per her request. She killed herself that evening. She'd hoped the baby would be by her late husband, but even that wish was denied her."

"And a female Sobeck?"

Boian closed his eyes a moment before nodding. "I'm told that a lord had standing orders to capture the females alive. He brought virile male travelers who mated with them...theirs is a human lunar cycle if this story is to be believed. Why do you want to have this knowledge? How can it give you power?"

"The babies?"

"Furred and snouted, but not drowned at birth. This lord plotted against the Realm, planning to raise an army of these abominations. He managed this for over a dozen years before they got loose and attacked his household. His own throat was ripped out. They were hunted down, but some of the older ones escaped and maybe were accepted by the ones they resembled. Is that enough...Ellie?"

I had a thought. "How long ago was this?"

"A couple of dozen years, give or take when they escaped."

"The one I fought, who disarmed me. He was skilled, and it was more like a human looked at me out of those eyes than an animal."

He sighed and nodded. "I fought one like that and won, with help." Oana's head popped up between Boian and me, and he stroked her hair. "In my case, it was another of my cavaliers, and he grabbed the spear impaled in him to give me that opening. I hate those beasts, and it seems mutual. Their attacks have been bolder in recent years and better planned out—strategy, like the ambush earlier. Without your unseeable armor, we would all have been dead. At least I wouldn't have been alive to try to explain how I let two of the Realm die while under my protection."

"It was a horrific fight," I said. "Let's keep it at that. You're the worst wounded. Let that tell the story of your bravery."

"You're too kind."

Ellie sniffed. "I'd still be dead if you hadn't killed mine. You did save me, and don't say otherwise." She was barely holding it together.

"This material for your rain ponchos," Boian said. "This is from your world, too?"

"It is," I said, thankful for the change in subject. "Same with the medical glue, ointment and cleaning cloths, and the bandages."

"You'll need to remove your bandages before we get there. They are simple people, and I don't want to try to explain."

"So we can't treat them either?"

He grimaced and shook his head. "Not with your kit. With any luck, they will be treated before we get there. Once the storm ends, we'll wait an hour for any of the Sobecks to be clear of our trail. Then we'll leave." He looked at me. "Once we're close enough that our bandages need to be removed, I will be in the lead, and I will have my saddlebags."

I nodded. By thattime, should we live to get to that point, we should be safe...relativelyspeaking.