We continued down the road. Why Murphy didn't drop us off nearer to the city is anyone's guess. Though, it is possible he wanted to conserve the power to our ship, so he landed us where he could allow us. He didn't even want to turn on the invisibility cloak, at the risk that it would drain too much power. Considerate, I'd give him that, but it meant that we had to take a long walk. But when that thought hit, I noticed we were walking very slowly. I could be just me, but I had the feeling that we were slowing our pace. I looked at my two companions. Merlin was in deep thought about what he had just seen, and Saya was walking ahead of us. So Merlin and I were just following her, and if she slowed, instinctively Merlin and I would slow too. I started toward her, and when she was in arm's length from me, I reached to tap her shoulder. Before I had any idea of what was happening, I felt the asphalt road hit my back, and had Saya's sword up to my throat.
"Saya, what are you doing?" Merlin asked, his voice trembling with panic.
That look on Saya's face, it was the same one that Aslan had when he was ready to kill me. Why would Saya have that look on her face? She held that look for only two seconds, after which she let go of me, and got off me.
"What's the matter with you?" Merlin asked her, "You've been uneasy every since we arrived."
As I picked myself off the road, I saw Saya looking at Merlin, but making no effort at answering his question. Merlin was right, she had been uneasy. I would dare say that when she looked ready to kill me, that was only because she was expecting to see someone else. Or was she expecting some thing else?
"It was a mistake for us to land here." Saya whispered, then turned to me. "M, can you create a portal before the timer runs out?"
There was an idea I never thought of, pushing the button before the timer ran out. But should we? Murphy had it programmed in this very specific way, to take us to Artemis Fowl's world if he isn't back in twenty-four hours. So if we push the button before time runs out, it may not work at all, or not take us where want it to take us even if it did. Either way, I didn't want to risk it, so I shook my head.
"Saya, what is going on." Merlin didn't ask this, he sounded like he demanded an explanation.
Saya growled, but she gave in, "I caught a scent in that trunk. It's getting stronger."
"Does that mean we're getting closer to whoever killed that man?" Merlin asked, "Well... good, right?"
Saya shook her head.
"I don't understand." Merlin said, "You've fought an army of Cybermen before. As well as Borg, Wraith, and many others."
"Those were methodical and thinking beings." Saya replied, "Predictable. I can handle an entire planet of those people. But... if we are after what I think we are after, they are nothing like that."
"They?"
Saya took a deep breath, "As we're getting closer to the city, their scent becomes stronger. Too strong to be just one."
The look that appeared on Merlin's face must have been the same as what I felt my face form.
"All right." Merlin tried to keep his composure, but there was a tremble in his voice, "What are we talking about?"
"Predators." Saya explained, "With teeth sharp enough to bite off your head, and claws strong enough to cut through concrete. They don't think as methodically as our enemies have so far, they just follow their instincts. Think that giant fly we saw, in the last world. He had the mind of a scientist, making him a thinking being. Take that away, and he'll be closer to what I'm sensing here."
I remembered that. She could barely hold her own against that one. It was one huge monster, with more arms and more muscles. Most of our enemies were human-sized, or smaller, or even partly mechanical. Saya had an advantage over them. But she's saying that there was something in this world that is worse than this fly? And there was more than one? I could see why she felt so uneasy about that. If she could barely win against one of them, try an entire group of them.
Merlin's eyes widened, and he shared whatever thought came to him, "Then this world has a lot worse to fear than Smith!"
Saya shook her head, "No, they don't."
This, Merlin didn't understand, "But you just said..."
"I know what I just said." Saya interrupted him.
Merlin's mouth hung open, as he was at a loss for words.
"But you are right about one thing." Saya said, "If Smith did make it here, and he manages to convert these people, who knows what he'll be capable of."
Saya finally put her sword away, and continued our walk, at a faster pace than before we stopped.
"Do you understand this?" Merlin asked me.
I just shrugged, as I had stopped trying to make sense of Saya a long time ago.