War Bird

36. In Your Lonely Flight.

"Ed?!" I push past Finlay and jump into his arms.

"Alright Princess," Ed says. "Good to see you." He lets me go and looks over me, grins with relief. He looks taller, for some reason and dead smart; the Kestrel gear fits him well. He's wearing a padded helmet and he has one of those bayonets, like Asher's. He gives Finlay a nod. "How do, Captain?"

"Yes, we're well, thank you." Finlay coughs and picks up his jacket from the floor. Ed watches him shrug it on with a knowing look.

"We were just working on an escape plan," I say.

"Of course.” Ed raises an eyebrow.

"How did you find us?" I change the subject as Finlay clears his throat, annoyed.

"Long story," Ed answers, then flicks a glance behind him. "Asher raised the alarm and I offered to join the search party. Don’t worry-” he clocks my face. “I convinced him to stay behind, he’s fine. But we need to get out of here, like now."

"I can't believe you even came here, you could have been killed!" I grab his arm. "Why didn't you let the others find us? Do you even realise where we are?"

"I wasn't going to sit back and wait!" Ed says. "Besides, I once told you I could find anything if I put my mind to it. And you wouldn't have let me hear the end of it if I hadn't done just that, right?"

"Maybe you really are a secret genius." I smile. 

"Well done, Kestrel!" A voice says and a man suddenly appears out of thin air. I nearly fall over backwards in shock, whilst Ed and Finlay just nod confidently in greeting. "Are you alright, True?" The man says. "I'm Captain Joseph Drummond, Kestrel Two search party. Arkwright sent us. We're to escort you back to base via Flight."

"Yes, thank you," I say. "But Hawk Christopher- he vanished from his guard. I think he’s hurt.”

“We’ll look into that,” Captain Drummond assures me. “Shall we get out of here?”

“Yes!” I nod. “We need to hurry, though." I look past Joseph to where I see four other men in the Kestrel's trademark dark uniform, their eyes narrowed and tense. I feel a cold prickle at the back of my neck and my stomach flips. Now the door's open, even though I'm surrounded by strong and powerful Sorcerers, I feel totally vulnerable.

"I'm fine, by the way," Finlay mutters as he passes Drummond.

"We weren't worried about you, old chap!" Drummond says, shooting me a quick glance. "So what happened?"

"We should really just get back to the Compound," I say before Finlay can reply.  "Then we'll tell you."

"Cap?" One of the Kestrels slinks up beside Drummond. He's short, nearly my height, and slender, with pale eyes.

"Yes, Fuller?"

"We're detecting a Fester slightly North of here." Fuller nods towards the Chateau,  a small dark smudge in the night.

"Damnit." Finlay moves closer to me.

"What's a Fester?" I ask.

"It's what we call the trail a Sorcerer leaves behind," he says, whipping his head all around. "Only experts like Drummond's crew can detect them."

"Like dogs do with smells and rabbits and that?"

"Exactly," he replies. "A Fester near here might mean nothing, it might be the residual trail of a Sorcerer leaving the area or going back to base."

"But it could mean the Traitor is on her way to us, here." Now I know we definitely need to move fast.

Drummond tells us we are to make our way off the grounds by foot and then attempt a Flight spell well outside the property line. To try magic so close to the Chateau would be too risky, apparently. I look at Finlay in the semi-darkness. He's standing tall, but his face is screwed up with pain and his breathing is still heavy. Another attack will finish him off, I know it.