“Drop your weapon,” the Vermin ordered me.

When I didn’t obey, the man swung and I dodged to the side. He lunged. I backed away. He swiped at my neck. I ducked. He hacked and I danced.

Winded with the effort, the Vermin said, “You will not be harmed if you surrender.”

After another attack, I realized what he was doing. “You’re not allowed to kill me,” I said. “Jal wants me alive so he can feed me to his pet Fire Warper!”

My smugness infuriated him. He increased the pace of his swings. Bad decision.

“I can still hurt you. Bleed you. Torture you.”

His blade sliced through my cape. I stepped back as blood welled from the slash along my arm. Really bad decision. He advanced. I retreated. His scimitar found more open areas and soon my arms and legs were crisscrossed with bleeding cuts. I felt light-headed and my feet moved with an unusual slowness. My energy drained at an alarming rate.

My bat appeared. He flew at the Vermin, diving and pulling his hair. The Vermin flailed his arms, giving me an opening, but my switchblade felt so heavy and my body reacted too slowly. The Vermin must be a strong Warper. He had weakened my mental defenses without my notice.

The Warper stared at the bat and the poor creature crashed to the ground.

“Is that all you have?” he asked. “What about your great soul magic? I think the Fire Warper will be disappointed.” He shrugged. “Orders are orders.”

He swung his weapon. My arms moved, but couldn’t block the hilt of his scimitar from striking my temple.

My vision blurred as I crumpled to the ground. The world spun. I rolled away from the Warper. When I reached Kiki’s hooves, I let the blackness claim me.

A hammer pounded on the side of my skull. Wake up, it pounded. Open your eyes. More hammering. I refused. The next time, a dull throb intruded on my oblivion. Come on, it pulsed. Open your eyes. Please.

I woke, feeling like a cutting board. My arms and legs burned with pain and my head hurt. Valek hunched over me, pouring water on my cuts, inflaming them.

“Ow! Stop that,” I said.

“Finally,” he said. But he didn’t stop. He dabbed at them, cleaning the lacerations, and sat back on his heels. “That’ll have to do for now. Come on. We need to go.”

When I failed to move, he pulled me into a sitting position. A wave of nausea swelled.

“Here.” He thrust red leaves into my hands. “I found them in your saddlebags. The note said to eat them for head pain.”

I chewed one. My stomach settled, but my sight remained blurry. I peered into the semidarkness, assuming the fuzzy white blob in the sky meant the moon had risen. Had I slept all day? Valek’s words finally sank in.

“Go where?” I asked.

Valek yanked me to my feet. “We need to find the barn.”

My thoughts still moved as if coated with sap. “Barn?”

Valek shook the rest of the canteen’s water onto my shorn head. A jolt went through me when the cold breeze hit my wet skull.

“When the Vermin don’t come back with us, the others will know something has happened and will either kill their hostages or move to another location.” Valek ennunciated each word as if speaking to a simpleton. “Here.” He handed me a set of clothes. “Hurry.”

I changed. The carnage around our campsite made me sick and I sucked on another red leaf. Valek had killed the woman and Tauno. Traitor! Marrok remained where he had fallen asleep. And the Warper lay on his side. His head looked misshapen, as if kicked by a horse.

Kiki? I asked.

Bad man. No one hurt Lavender Lady.

Thanks.

Peppermints?

When we’re done. And apples, too!

I wore my coral-colored shirt and matching skirt/pants. They reflected the moonlight. No hope for me to blend in. Valek dressed in the Warper’s clothes and he applied makeup to match the Warper’s skin tone. Fear twirled up my spine as I figured out what he planned. At least, I wasn’t going to be bait for a necklace snake. This time.

We untied the other horses. The smell of blood made them skittish, and they were happy to leave despite being tired. Valek and I rode Kiki and Onyx while leading the others. We traveled the four miles to the barn in silence. Approaching the edge of the woods with care, I strained to see a sign of the Vermin hideout. An eerie red glow shimmered above Diamond Lake. The small structure looked deserted, but after a moment, the figures guarding the doors became visible.

“Which horse?” I asked.

“Onyx. Kiki is too well-known.”

I dismounted and told the horses to stay in the woods until I called.

“Take off your cape,” Valek said. “Lie in front of me.” He took his foot from the stirrup.

I pulled myself up and lay across the saddle. He handed me my switchblade. The weapon had been cleaned and the blade was retracted.

“It’s been primed with Curare.” Valek grabbed the reins with his left hand and held a scimitar in his right.

“Pretend to be unconscious,” he ordered as he clicked at Onyx.

We entered the open area, hopefully appearing as the Warper coming back with his prize.

Feigning to be a dead weight, I bounced on Onyx’s saddle. The motion made me nauseous. A whoop of joy cut through the air as we neared. I prepared for Valek’s signal.

“Where are the others?” a male voice asked.

“They’re coming,” Valek said in a rough tone.

“Finally! We have her!” another man said as he tugged my legs. “Help me.”