Lanie turned her head, scanning her surroundings, trying to make it look like every other time she’d looked around. Her eyes passed over the space where her Shadow Sight said the creature should be, but the spot was empty. She turned her attention to her mind, feeling for the pressure on her psyche that would give away a glamour, but there was none.

  The creature followed along beside them, invisible, unaware that it had been spotted. Lanie thought furiously. She couldn’t warn Nips without tipping her hand. They were high enough up the slope that the mountains enclosed them, rising high and craggy on either side. Struggling pine trees hugged the edges of the low pass, a thin and spotty border to the trail. Boulder tumbles warned of occasional rock falls. The terrain was varied and chaotic, and it would make running difficult.

  The mountainsides rising to their left and right were steep. Climbing them was out of the question, and for a moment, Lanie envied the mountain goats she occasionally glimpsed clinging to the narrow ledges high above. But, with the body of a scorpion, their stalker was better equipped for rock climbing than she was.

  She did her best to pretend that the creature wasn’t there. She focused more on her Shadow Sight to warn her of any more illusions. If the creature was the source of the illusion that had covered the spear trap, she was certain that it would try again. As ferocious as its shape suggested it was, it seemed to prefer indirect means of hunting its prey. Maybe, if she kept slipping its traps, it would give up and look for an easier meal. Lanie didn’t put much faith in that hope, though.

  “Lanie, I think we’re getting close. The compass is pointing more to the right of the trail, now,” Nips said.

  She feigned a sigh of relief and immediately hoped she hadn’t overdone it. She wasn’t much of an actress. “Finally. We’ll stay on the trail until we’re closer. Let me know when it points directly off the path. Keep your head on a swivel. I feel like we’re being watched, and somebody had to have set up that trap earlier. If whoever it was is still around, there’s likely to be more bumps in the road before we get to the exit.” There. It was vague, but it was the best she could do by way of a warning without tipping her hand.

  They didn’t make it much farther before Lanie’s new awareness of the shadows around her started to differ from what her eyes saw. In the twilight beneath the mountain’s shadow, it was hard to see too far ahead, especially with the way the trail meandered around large boulders too big to be moved. They rounded one such rock, and her eyes told her that the trail continued straight on. Her shadow sense told her that the trail curved back to the left, and that there was a small patch of loose scree in front of her—treacherous loose rock and pebbles that would send her sideways, sliding downhill. It wasn’t a large patch; it wouldn’t send her far, but she would be off balance. The scorpion-man stood at the downhill edge of the scree slope, its tail raised high, ready to strike when she came tumbling down.

  Her day of practice gave her the confidence she needed. She called the wind, casting the spell quickly. With a push of wind, Lanie jumped, but she didn’t go forward across the scree patch. She turned at the last minute, jumping over the scorpion man and landing behind him. She lifted the spear and brandished it, knocking aside a surprised swipe of the stinger-barbed tail.

  “What are you, and why are you trying to kill me?” She demanded. She wasn’t confident in her ability to fight the thing. She hoped it was intelligent enough to bargain with or intimidate.

  “What am I?” Its voice was a hiss and rattle, like the sound of loose stones bouncing and sliding down a slope. “Hungry is what I am. You smell of magic, old and rich and wrapped in shadow, and yet you are weak. An easy meal.”

  It scuttled closer, and Lanie backed away. She wasn’t going to be able to back up very far. Even without looking back, her Shadow Sight told her there was another boulder behind her. She shifted the spear and her footing, looking for a chance to lunge. “I may be new to this magic stuff, but I’m not anyone’s easy meat, beast.”

  “Beast?” Its voice rose in anger, “What little you must know that you mistake a noble Djinni for a mere beast?” The tail lashed forward, and Lanie’s spear moved on reflex, parrying it aside. “Meat? No, I don’t want your meat, foolish child. It’s that bright spark you carry that makes my mouth water.”

  She looked around, seeking any chance to escape. She’d made a mistake, confronting this thing—this Djinni. She should have just ignored the trap and found a better place to face it down. Stepping to the side, she circled back toward the path and firmer footing. Something moved on the mountainside above, and she glanced up, taking her eyes off the Djinni long enough to see that it was only a mountain goat. Her eyes were only off the thing for a second, but it was enough for it to lunge forward. It tried to grab her with its human arms as its scorpion tail came down from above, driving toward the crown of her head.

  If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  Her wind spell was still active. She jumped backward with all the speed and strength she could muster. Her leap put her out of the Djinni’s reach for the moment. It scuttled forward, trying to close the gap again. Lanie stepped back, an idea forming at the edges of her panic. She couldn’t fight this thing, but there might be another way. It was a crazy long shot, but it was something.

  “If it’s magic you’re after, then you don’t want me. I only just learned about magic two… maybe three days ago. Honestly, it’s been a crazy few days. I’ve lost track. Nips? How many days has it been?”

  “Um, three, I believe,” Nips said, cautiously poking his head out of the bag.

  “See, only three days. I barely have any magic. But the guys chasing me? They’re loaded with the stuff.” Lanie took another step back, her Shadow Sight letting her back up with confidence. “Hell, one of them is a summoner.”

  The Djinni hissed out a laugh, “Perhaps, little spark, but you are here, and they are not.”

  “Oh, but they will be here, and probably soon. I don’t intend to go down easy, either. I think I can hold out until they get here. So, the way I see it, you’ve got three choices.”

  “Oh, and what choices are those?” It scuttled closer.

  “One: You and I keep dancing, and they catch up. They’ll kill you and capture me. I’ve escaped from them before, so I’m not so worried about that. Two: You kill me, and they show up while you’re still eating. They’ll be pissed because they want me alive, and Cole has a nasty temper. You probably won’t survive. Or, three: You agree to let me go, and I tell you all about them so you can set a trap. That way, you live, I live, and you get three tasty sparks instead of just one weak one.”

  “And if I just kill you and drag you into the rocks? My illusions will hide me, and they will pass by, looking for a ghost.”

  “They’re using magic to track me. Will your illusions block that?” That was a gamble. If his illusions could block tracking magic, she was out of arguments. A bead of sweat rolled down her cheek. Her body vibrated with adrenaline and fear, but she fought to keep her face and voice steady. She needed to appear confident if this was going to work. Bluffing was all about confidence.

  It didn’t answer her question, but the hiss it let out was answer enough. “And why should I believe you, little shadow? Your words twist and turn like so much smoke.”

  “I’ll vouch for her. The Djinn have different rules from the Fae, but you must know the constraints that bind us. I tell you this three times: three men hunt my mistress. They seek to take her alive for what she carries. Again, I say it: three men follow, rich with magic, and they will kill you if you take what they seek. Thrice again and done: a greater meal awaits you if you set us free. We can tell you how to trick the ones who follow. Three sparks are better than only one.”

  “Thrice said by a Fae, and so it must be.” The Djinni eyed her, scuttling from side to side on his alien limbs as he turned over what she and Nips had said. His head cocked to the side in consideration, turning just a bit farther than a human head could manage. Lanie suppressed a shudder.

  She was starting to think that her play wasn’t going to pay off when the creature finally spoke, “Tell Vahraksh about these juicy flies, that I might spin a web to catch them. If the table you set is worth my effort, then we will have an accord.”

  “You will let me go free?”

  Vahraksh hissed again, annoyed that she’d caught the omission in his words, “Yes. If your hunters will make good prey, I will let you go.”

  “OK, then,” Lanie said, turning over what she knew about her pursuers before she spoke again. “Cole is the big one in the leather jacket. He’s strong, like really, really strong. Magically strong. But he has a temper. Get him angry and he’ll rush headlong into whatever trap you set. He’s also not big in the brains department.

  “The one in the suit is Dieter. He’s the summoner, but the Polwuch on the plains have been running them ragged all day--he won’t have had time to summon anything. He’s arrogant and likes to be in control. If you can make him feel like he’s losing control, I bet he’ll go on tilt in a big way. The quiet one in gray… I never caught his name. He’s something of a wildcard, but I get the feeling he doesn’t like the other two and doesn’t want to be working with them. Don’t target him until last, and I bet he’ll hang back and let the other two meet their fates. Then he’ll be all alone and will be easy pickings. He’s observant, though, so you’ll need to be subtle to trick him.”

  Nips chimed in with his own thoughts, “They’ve been chasing us non-stop since yesterday, and the Folk of the grass have been bedeviling and slowing them. They will likely be exhausted and not thinking well by the time they get here. And I doubt they can see in darkness as well as she can.”

  “Mmmm… a finely set table indeed. Three meals later to let the one before me pass.” Vahraksh looked down the slope, lost in consideration. Then, he nodded to himself, coming to a decision. “Very well. You may go, little morsel. But, if our paths cross again, do not think I will let you slip my grasp a second time.”

  “Vahraksh is wise, and a being of true taste,” Lanie said, giving the Djinni a shallow dip of a bow before backing away up the slope. She didn’t turn around until the path curved around the boulder beside the scree patch and Vahraksh was out of sight. She kept her attention on her Shadow Sight, alert for any double-cross from the creature. Her breath still fast, and her heart hammering in her chest, not trusting her fortune just yet.

  “I thought Djinn lived in lamps and granted wishes,” she said once they were a little farther up the trail.

  “Lesson one for dealing with creatures of myth: Don’t trust The Mouse when it comes to folklore,” Nips answered. “The real stories have a lot less singing and dancing, and a lot more blood and guts.”

  Lanie snorted, “Yeah. I get the feeling there’s going to be a lot of reading in my future.”

  “Well, I can point you to the best books on the subject. The compass is swinging more to the right now. We should probably head off the path. That way.” He pointed to a cluster of boulders between two clumps of pines well off the trail. It was snugged right up against a cliff face, about a quarter mile from the path.

  Lanie turned and headed that way.