Chapter 10: Running
The monster growled again, and Phoenix stood frozen at Teddy's words. The Cutter? Teddy? They were taking him to the Cutter?! Oh no, no, no!
Patchfoot had told them all about the Cutter, and she knew that he would lose all of his real personality and enthusiasm after they'd Cut him. And if she went after them, what if they Cut her too? But his terrified face was burned into her eyes, and she couldn't just let them get him.
Phoenix sprang up and bounded after the monster.
The wind was as cold as ice, blowing into her face, ears, and down her throat until it felt raw and sore. The cold, hard stone of the Thunderpath scoured even her tough pads, and soon even they were bleeding. Rain was streaming down her already soaked fur, until she was shivering violently as she yowled and dashed after her friend's captors, her heart fluttering like a trapped bird. Her steps grew weaker, and the monster went faster, until finally, it turned a corner, and was gone, gone, gone...
Phoenix lay beneath a long hedge, rainwater from its small leaves dripping and splashing onto her half dry fur. Disoriented with shock and terror, Phoenix had tried to follow the path the monster had taken, but even with her newly developed tracking skills, she could neither follow them, nor find her own way home because of the Thunderpath's stench. Exhausted and beaten, she had laid down under the hedge by the side of the Thunderpath.
She began to drift easily into unwary sleep, the darkness of unconsciousness surrounding her until she was falling through it, deeply asleep, and then suddenly she blinked awake, and there was Teddy. It was still dark around them, as dark as a night without stars, but Teddy's figure was easily visible in the blackness, as if he gave off his own light. He beamed, and they ran to greet each other.
"You're okay!" cried Phoenix in delight. "They didn't cut you!"
"Yep!" replied Teddy, grinning.
"Fought them off, did you?" she purred, swatting her tail over his ears.
"Sure did," he laughed. "Where were you?"
"I was..." Phoenix trailed off, confused. Where had she been?
"Phoenix?" said Teddy anxiously. "Phoenix...?" suddenly he whirled around in terror. "Run!" he screeched. "Run, Phoenix get out of here, they're coming for me! Go; get to the Gathering, quick!"
All Phoenix could see on the horizon was a pair of lights... monsters' eyes, maybe? And anyway, the Gathering wouldn't be for another couple of days, so... then she realized what Teddy was so afraid of. Those monster eyes. They were green. "Teddy! Run, come on!" she screeched, careening off down the Thunderpath. "Come on!" she yowled again, terror flooding her. "Run!" she was running, again, her heart pounding, eyes streaming from the cold headwind, pads raw, and her throat sore from gasping for breath. Suddenly, there was no Thunderpath at all.
Phoenix barely managed to skid to a halt before tumbling into the blackness that spread out below her like an endless lake. She whirled around to call out to her friend. Then Phoenix gasped.
She saw Teddy, standing in the center of the Thunderpath, back arched, hissing, ears flat, spitting at the monster with green eyes. But it swerved around Teddy, and he let out a cry of surprise, falling back onto the stone. It was speeding straight towards Phoenix.
She shrank down in terror. There was no where to run to. It was going to hit her.
"Phoenix... Phoenix... Phoenix..." the cry echoed around her, and the monster hit her with a crash that shook her and everything inside her, and she was falling again, trying to run, yell, anything, and Teddy's cries echoed around her...
"Phoenix! Phoenix..." his voice changed. A cold wind ruffled her damp fur. A huge paw was resting on her side. Her eyes snapped open.
"Phoenix?"