"I think they want us to stay for dinner," Sarraya said archly as she zipped down under the ledge of the roof. The angry buzzing of several more arrows followed.

"The roof's in my range, but I need a running start," he told her, sheathing his sword, then scampering back to the center of the roof on all fours. He rose up and accelerated nearly to full speed in two steps, and his foot hit the ledge and pushed off as he suddenly appeared over the rooftop. Tarrin sailed through the air as if flying, paws leading as he rose up and moved over the heads of Trolls and men, until his paws hit the outer ledge of the warehouse's roof. He used his inhuman strength to literally haul himself up and over before the archers could draw a bead on him, sliding over the ledge seconds before several arrows struck the space where he had been.

"I think they like you," Sarraya teased as she zipped over herself, her form hidden from sight by her veil of magical invisibility.

"Think you could stop making jokes and give me some help here?" Tarrin demanded hotly, swatting an arrow down that had come over the far side of the roof, fired at a trajectory. He got up as Sarraya held her arms out, something she tended to do when using Druidic magic, and a glimmering field of soft glowing light appeared around his body, then winked out of sight.

"There, arrows can't get through that," she told him. "And since they can't see it, it'll give you several hits before they realize it's not working."

Tarrin growled in his throat. He'd been hoping for something a bit more substantial, but it was better than nothing.

A quick glance over the far side of the roof showed that the Trolls were swarming out onto the rocky flat between the post and the escarpment, blocking his escape route. Trolls, and more importantly, wizards, were rushing towards the warehouse, trying to surround it. There were also men running into the warehouse on the far side of the alley, the warehouse to which he needed to jump to get to the edge of the compound.

They were cutting him off!

Swearing, Tarrin leaned back from sight of the archers and considered his options. And just about every option he could think of involved Sorcery in one way or another.

"Sarraya, I need some ideas here!" Tarrin said urgently. "I'm going to have to use Sorcery!"

"Tarrin, look out!" Sarraya suddenly screamed.

But it was too late. Something struck him in the back, struck him like a Giant's hammer, bowing him and knocking the breath from his lungs. The sky blurred slightly, and he could feel himself hurtling forward, over the ledge of the roof and out into empty space.

But there was no stomach-lifting sense of falling. The force was still behind him, around him. Something had hold of him! And whatever it was, it was either thirty spans tall or able to walk on air!

Greetings, came a highly amused voice, a voice that spoke directly inside his mind.

It was feminine.

Tarrin recovered his breath and his wits enough to look around and above him. What he saw was the sleek outline of a female torso, and a large bat-like wing appeared over her back, swept down, and then rose back out of sight.

Shiika!

For a moment, he panicked. Shiika probably wanted to take his head off and mount it on her wall. He grabbed the hands locked around his chest and tried to pry them apart, writhing and struggling to get free of her.

Stop, or you'll fall! she protested.

Tarrin got a sense of that voice, and he realized that it didn't sound like Shiika. He managed to get her scent, and was sure of it. She was one of the Cambisi, one of Shiika's half-Demon offspring. One of the females. He looked down, and saw them soaring over the startled Trolls, out over the rocky flat towards the escarpment. The Cambisi had him in a powerful grip around the chest, carrying him towards the desert.

She was helping him!

"What are you doing?" Tarrin demanded in confusion.

What does it look like, you silly Were-cat? she replied mentally, her amusement obvious in her tone. It looked like you needed a wing. Just be glad I was in the neighborhood.

Tarrin's mind raced as she crossed over the escarpment, then started descending towards the sandy ground. Why was she helping him? Shiika probably wanted him dead for what he did to her. And Shiika's offspring didn't do anything without their mother ordering them to do it. So Shiika had sent this one, but to help him? That didn't make any sense!

Her wings catching the air gently, the halfbreed carried him well out of arrow range from the escarpment, and for a moment Tarrin got caught up in the sensation of flight. To see the ground flow underneath him so quickly, to feel the pull of gravity, yet not be a slave to it. It was a feeling of exhilaration that overwhelmed his shock and confusion, caused him to look down with wide eyes and feel like a child again.

And then it was over. The Demoness pulled up, and then she set him gently on the sand of the desert. They were nearly two longspans away from the escarpment, so far that no foot party could ever catch up to him.

With a calm sigh, he realized that he made it. He was now beyond their reach. They weren't insane enough to come into the desert after him.

I think that little bug will catch up in a few minutes, the halfbreed remarked mentally. Tarrin turned around and got a good look at her. It was the blond one, the tallest of the females. She had her mother's beautiful face, but her features were a bit narrower, and she wasn't quite so busty as Shiika. She wore a half-shirt that left her midriff bare, that was tied onto her so it didn't foul her wings, and a pair of undyed leather breeches tucked into soft doeskin knee-boots. She carried one of those black-bladed swords in a scabbard on her belt, and three daggers were sheathed on the other side. Surprised to see me? she asked with a disarming smile.

"What do you want?" Tarrin demanded instantly, backing away from her. "I'm not giving up the Book."

I'm not here for it, she replied. Mother was a bit put out with you over the damage you caused, but she likes you. I'm sure you already know that. She's more or less gotten over everything, and she sent me to watch over you. And if you needed help, to put a hand in. You and her are trying to do the same thing, you know. Keep that book out of the wrong hands. Since you took it from her, she decided that it was in her best interest to make sure it stays with you.

"Shiika's helping me?" he said in surprise.

I certainly hope so, since it's what she told me to do, she said with a bright smile and a wink.

That bowled him over. Helping him! After everything that happened between them, Shiika was helping him! How amazing! He thought that she was certainly still miffed over his taking the book from her. Shiika certainly seemed to be the kind that held grudges, but he saw that he was wrong. He knew she wasn't lying, because it all made a strange kind of sense. Shiika did send her, Shiika was giving him some help.

I'm Anayi, she told him with that same smile. And we've met.

They certainly had. She'd tried to kill him not too long ago.

He wasn't quite certain what to do. She was a stranger, but the strange circumstances of everything kept him from recoiling from her like other strangers. After all, she wasn't the average stranger.

"Uh, well, thanks," Tarrin said hesitantly. "What are you going to do now?"

Oh, I don't know. Mother only told me to follow you as far as the desert. We're here now, so I guess I'll go back. I think she feels that you'll be alright now.

Tarrin stared at her for a long moment. He still couldn't believe it, that Shiika had sent one of her brood to help him. But he couldn't argue with her reason. It was in Shiika's best interests that Tarrin kept the book. He guessed that she considered that more important than any personal animosity she felt.