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

He almost didn’t. He almost told her what she could do with herself. But there was something in her eyes that told him not to. Instead he surprised himself by dropping the cat on the floor, opening the door, and staggering out of the AV like he was suddenly ill, dropping down on all fours and making retching sounds. There were shouts and cries from the other Ghosts, both in the AV and back on the hay wagon. The two guards in front of the AV came running, a mix of suspicion and surprise mirrored on their faces, not sure yet what was happening.

Panther spit into the dirt and looked up at them as if he were too sick to do anything else, at the same time hoping that this wasn’t a mistake, that the girl had something more than words to offer.

He needn’t have worried. As the two guards at the front of the AV got to within a few yards of him, she whipped about, cloak flying out in a swirl of fabric. Panther caught a glimpse of bright metal objects spinning through the air, bits of glitter caught by the weak light. An instant later he heard the guards grunt sharply and collapse where they were. Even before they were down, she was moving the other way, waiting for the Lizard to come around the corner of the vehicle. As he did so, her arm whipped out a third time, another flash of metal snapping from her hand. The Lizard gasped and dropped to its knees, its weapon falling from its hands. It swayed like a big tree caught in a wind and went down.

It was over so fast that Panther barely had time to register what had happened. He got to his feet and went over to the guards lying in front of the AV. Pieces of bright metal protruded from their chests.

The girl came up beside him, reached down, pulled the metal bits free, and held them up for Panther to inspect. “Iron Stars,” she informed him. “A throwing weapon. Coated with a powerful drug that leaves the victim paralyzed for up to three hours after it enters the body. Works instantaneously.”

He stared at her. “Where’d you learn about that?” he asked.

“From other Freaks,” she replied, slipping the stars back into the pockets of her cloak. She gave him a look. “Freaks like me.”

She walked back toward the last guard, leaving him to stare after her. He didn’t know what to think. She might be more capable than she appears, he heard Logan Tom saying. He shook his head. She was a Freak, but a scary one. “Cat, huh?” he called after her. “You got some serious claws, Miss Kitty.”

She waved back at him without looking, her fingers curled into claws. “Weird,” he whispered.

WHILE CAT STOOD off to one side holding Rabbit and ignoring the rest of them, the Ghosts bound and gagged the paralyzed guards, making sure their restraints were tight enough that they couldn’t free themselves without help. When that was done, Panther and Bear examined the blockade of derelict vehicles and quickly found that a section of pieces had been fused and attached to wheels that allowed it to be rolled out of the way once certain catches were released. Fixit came up to lend his expertise, and within minutes they had the barricade open and the way forward cleared.

Clustered together, the Ghosts stood looking at the roadway where it stretched into the distance, the twilight beginning to settle in with the close of the day. No one said a word, all eyes on the concrete ribbon and the hazy horizon that lay south.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Fixit demanded.

Panther stared at him, and then shook his head. “We don’t stand a chance against a whole camp full of armed men.”

“We can do something! We’ve got his AV and weapons. We can’t just give up on him! He went with them to protect us!” Fixit was incensed. “Owl?

What should we do?”

Owl sat in her wheelchair, staring straight ahead. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I don’t really know what he would expect us to do.”

Panther looked at the others, his dark face mirroring the gloom he was feeling inside. Bear stood to one side, eyes downcast. Candle looked to be on the verge of tears. River and Sparrow were talking together quietly, their voices too soft to hear. No one wanted to say what every single one was thinking. No one even wanted to admit to it. They all knew what they should do, but they all knew, as well, that doing it was suicide. His gloom deepened.

That Knight of whatever he was, he wasn’t their problem.

Not really. Not when you thought about it. He wasn’t one of them.

“Let’s go,” he said. “Let’s get out of here.”

He was walking back toward the AV when he caught sight of Catalya, standing there staring at him, petting her stupid cat.

“What are you doing?” he asked irritably.

“Waiting for you to leave.”

“Waiting for…” He trailed off. “You’re not coming?”

She shrugged. “I’m going after Logan Tom.”

“Alone?”

She fixed him with her dark eyes. “Looks that way.”

Panther stared at her in disbelief. If she had any brains, she’d get back in the AV or climb up on the hay wagon like the rest of the Ghosts and get out of there. She’d go right now and not give Logan Tom another thought. It was one thing to stand up to three stump-head guards. It was something else to go charging into a camp filled with men with weapons—a girl, no less, kitty-cat claws or not. It was beyond foolish; it was suicide.

Shouldn’t give him a second’s pause, making this decision.