---
The two guards pushed Lily ahead, then one of them glanced back.
"We cannot keep this pace," he shouted.
Sekhmet's voice came out low, rough.
"We have to," he replied.
Lily's breathing was heavier now. Not weak, but strained.
"How many," she demanded, voice tight.
Sekhmet answered without looking.
"Too many."
Bat Bat swooped down and bit a kobol's eye, then yelled, "Stop chasing! Ugly Dogeey!"
The kobol screamed, swinging.
Bat Bat dodged and shouted proudly, "I win!"
Sekhmet hissed, "Fly ahead and scout!"
Bat Bat blinked.
"Scout," it repeated, then shot forward, wings silent for once.
Flap…
The canyon opened ahead into a wider field of broken stone and sparse dead trees. The moonlight returned, pale and cold. Shadows stretched long.
Sekhmet's mind raced. Wide open space meant the kobols could swarm again. But it also meant he could maneuver.
He could use his bats. He could use terrain. If he had chaos energy. His energy was near empty.
