She knew she was not going to escape. She was fit and strong; she was a world-class distance runner. But the thing pursuing her was too much for any human. She faltered slightly, preparing to turn and fight. The demon burst out of the night, a silent black predator, gathering itself to strike. She saw it clearly, revealed for just an instant in a patch of grey light, some sort of monstrous hyena, all neck and blunt muzzle, with huge jaws and rows of teeth. She swerved through the trees and out again, scattering feeders everywhere, trying to throw the demon off, but it was quick and agile, and it followed her easily.
“Nest, no!” she heard Ariel scream a final time, turning.
The demon caught up to her at a wide spot where the trail took a slow bend to the left, away from the cliff. She looked back and saw that it was right on top of her. She watched it gather itself, preparing to bear her struggling and helpless to the ground. Her fear enveloped her like a death shroud, choking off her breath, suffocating her. Something wild and fierce blossomed inside her in response, and for just an instant she thought it was her magic, trying to break tree. But her mind was frozen by the demon’s closeness, by the gleam of its yellow eyes and the certainty of what was going to happen next, and she could not find a way to help it.
Feeders streamed through the trees, leaping wildly, shadows with eyes, gathered for the kill.
But as the demon lunged for Nest, rising up against the night, Ariel threw herself into its path, a white blur against the dark, and collapsed around its head like a child’s bedsheet. Demon and tatterdemalion went down in a tangled heap, rolling, over and over on the muddied earth. Nest backed away, staring in horror at the thrashing dark knot. In seconds all that remained of Ariel was a silken white shroud that clung tenaciously to the momentarily blinded demon.
Then even that was gone, and the demon was clawing its way back to its feet, snarling in fury.
Nest, momentarily transfixed by the struggle taking place before her, wheeled to flee once more. But she had lost her sense of direction entirely, forgetting the bend in the trail and the .low rail fence at her back. She took one quick stride and toppled right over the fence. She was up again instantly, thrashing at the heavy brush.” trying to escape its clinging embrace. Then the ground disappeared beneath her feet, and she was falling head over heels dawn a rain slicked slope. She groped futilely for something to hang on to, skidding and sliding along slick bare earth and through long grass, careening off bushes and exposed tree roots, the darkness whirling about her in a kaleidoscope of distant lights and falling rain., Her stomach lurched with each sudden change of direction, and she tucked in her arms and legs and cowered her head with her hands, waiting for something to slow her.
When she hit the base of the precipice. the breath was knocked from her lungs and her head was left spinning. She lay where she was for an instant, listening to the sound of the rain. Then she was back on her feet and running, dazed and battered, but otherwise unhurt. A wide, grassy embankment stretched along the base of the cliffs, fronting the dark, choppy waters of Puget Sound, and a concrete path paralleled the water’s edge. She wheeled left down the path, heading for the lights of the residences that lay closest.
Already she could hear the sounds of the demon’s pursuit. It was coming down the cliff face after her, scrambling through the brush and grasses, branches and roots snapping as it tore through them. She gritted her teeth against her fear and rage. Feeders ran at her side, an unshakeable presence. Her windbreaker was muddied and torn, pieces of it flapping wildly against her body. If she could reach the houses outside the park, she would have a chance. Her lungs burned as she forced herself to run faster. Again she thought to turn and face the thing that chased her, to summon up the magic that had protected her so often before. But she had no way of knowing if she still had the use of it, and no time to find out.