The Elves of Cintra (Book 2 of The Genesis of Shannara)

But at the same time, it seemed that it fled in the wake of their pounding footsteps on the city concrete, another frightened child.

Panther was ahead when they reached the T-intersection at the end of the alleyway Sparrow had sent them down, and he drew up short, uncertain which way to go.

“Go left,” she ordered as she came up behind him, her breathing quick and uneven.

He did what he was told, unwilling to argue the matter. He could tell she was beginning to fail, her strength depleted from their struggle with the Croaks and her own physical limitations. She was younger than him, and her endurance was limited. She would never admit it, not to him and probably motto anyone else. Sparrow, with her dead warrior mother and her legacy of self-expectations, he sneered to himself. Frickin’ bull.

But he held back anyway, just enough to let her keep pace.

He didn’t look around, didn’t do anything to indicate he knew she was tiring, just slowed so that she could stay close. Say what you wanted to about that girl, she was a tough little bird. She gave him a hard time, but she was a Ghost and no Ghost ever abandoned another. Didn’t matter how much she bugged him; he would never leave her behind.

They reached the end of the alley and emerged onto a street filled with swarming forms that had come up from the docks and the waterfront and maybe the square, as well. Spiders and Lizards and Croaks and some others Panther had never seen before in his short life—things dark and misshapen—all of them massed together as they ascended the hill to get away from the battle being fought below.

“Must be bad down there for this to happen!” he declared, catching Sparrow by the arm as she almost raced past him into the surging throng.

He had never seen anything like it. Normally these creatures, their strange neighbors, kept carefully apart from one another.

Some, like the Lizards and the Croaks, were natural enemies, fighting each other for food and territory. Not today. Today the only thought, it seemed, was to escape a common enemy.

“What now?” he demanded.

Wordlessly, Sparrow turned back into the alleyway, and they retreated down the darkened corridor to a pair of metal-clad doors. Panther didn’t ask what she was doing. Sparrow never did anything unknowingly. He watched as she climbed a short set of steps to the doors and wrenched on the handles.

The doors opened with a groan, but only several inches.

Sparrow pulled harder, but the doors held.

From deeper inside the alleyway, a handful of shadowy figures lumbered into view, coming out of the T-intersection and turning toward them.

Panther went up the steps in a rush. “Let me try,” he said, all but elbowing her aside. He heaved against the recalcitrant doors, and they moved another few inches. Rust had done its work. “What’s in here, anyway?”

“Hotel,” she answered, shoving him back to let him know she didn’t appreciate his aggressive attitude. “Connects to buildings farther up through underground tunnels. We can avoid all the Freaks if we can get inside.”

“Big if, looks like,” he said, hauling back again, straining against the handle. “Isn’t there some other way?”

She surprised him by laughing. “What’s the matter, mighty Panther Puss?” she taunted. “Cat’s on the wrong side of the door and can’t get in?”

He tightened his lips, grunted as he heaved against the door, and wrenched it all the way open. “Ain’t nowhere I can’t get in!”

They slipped inside ahead of their pursuers and followed a short corridor to a down stairway. Sparrow, leading now, switched on her solar-powered torch to give them light in the blackness, and they descended the stairwell to the long, broad corridor below. The corridor ran straight ahead before branching. Sparrow didn’t hesitate in choosing their path, turning left for a short distance to a second fork, then turning right. Panther followed without comment, his finger on the trigger of his prod, his eyes sweeping the dark corners of the spaces they passed through.

From somewhere farther back, he could hear the Croaks again, shuffling their way after them. Stupid Freaks, he thought angrily. Ain’t got the sense to know when to quit! He looked down at the power level readout on his prod. Less than half a charge remained. They needed to get out of there.

They hurried on, reached a wide set of stairs, and began to climb. At the top of the stairs was an open space, a common area serving a series of ruined shops. An escalator rose ahead of them, frozen in place, metal treads dulled by time and a lack of care, a black scaly snake. It was so long that its top could not be seen.

“We have to go up that?” Panther growled.