I still felt frightened.
I growled under my breath. I should have calmed down— it had been two days since the attack. But it was like a cloud was still lingering above my head, a cloud that smelled of Phantoms and stung with cold, hard fear. And this cloud seemed to be the only thing keeping me from Eternal.
"They're almost here." A huge orange wolf, one of the top members of the Alpha's Guard, was pacing back and forth in front of me. "The search party is coming. I can smell them."
"Who's in the search party?" I asked shakily.
"More members of the Alpha's Guard," the wolf, delightfully named Carrot Cake, answered. "I can smell Snowy, Fang, Topaz, and Orchid. But there's more. They found three willing Jammers— there's a horse, a rabbit, and a hyena."
I shivered. Hyenas were so creepy looking. I could picture the large spotted creature, with snapping teeth and odd gleaming eyes.
"I imagine you and I can join them, and then we'll set out," Carrot Cake murmured. "Of course, I may want to return to Greely."
"Aww. I wish you'd come with us."
Carrot Cake looked confused. "Why would you want me with you? We're not exactly friends yet. I'm a member of the Alpha's Guard, and you're a survivor of a Phantom attack."
"It's not a friend thing. You're hard— er, I mean tough. You could probably intimidate a Phantom," I stammered.
"Ah," Carrot Cake said, folding his paws. We were silent for a few moments.
"I can see them!" I exclaimed suddenly, pointing with my snout. "There's all the Jammers you told me, and a few others— a tiger, a sloth, an… an arctic fox, and a cheetah!"
"Is that the only survivor?" the horse asked anxiously
"No, of course not," the tiger growled. "We haven't investigated the attack yet— we found him stumbling outside the Adventure Base Camp. And we'd better introduce ourselves."
"Welcome, Fang," Carrot Cake nodded. "This is Handsome Rowdyfoot here. And I'm Carrot Cake, young Jammers.
"Ah, hi, Handsome Rowdyfoot," purred the cheetah. "I'm Topaz."
"I'm Snowy," chimed in the arctic fox.
"Orchid," the sloth nodded slowly.
"And I'm Fang," the tiger added. "This horse is Juniper Bravebelle, and those two over there are Rosy Cottoncloud and Snickety Fastclaws." He nodded to the rabbit and hyena.
"We'll set you guys out immediately," Carrot Cake said. "My fellow Guards, you know your protocol— but I'd better explain this to the Jammers."
He turned to Juniper and Snickety. "You two will focus on looking for survivors. Even unconscious Jammers are better than nothing— we can revive them immediately. Report any and all clues of life you find."
Carrot Cake then looked down on Rosy. "You're small. You can look in places that huge animals like Fang and Topaz can't. So you'll be looking for anything the Phantoms might've left behind— absolutely anything. A bit of pipe? Half a signpost? An incredibly detailed outline of their exact plans?" At that the Guard members laughed. "Whatever you can find," Carrot Cake finished, then he turned to me.
"You survived the attack," he said. "You have a better feel of where things are than anybody here, even the Guard members. I'm not giving you a specific job— like I'm not giving my fellow Guards one— but just a small notice: if anybody has a question about what happened or why they found this, you're the best one to turn to."
I gulped. That sounded like a hard job.
"Are we done here?" Carrot Cake asked.
"Yes," Topaz purred.
"Of course," Snowy squeaked in her high-pitched voice.
"Affirmative," Fang said.
"Er…" murmured Orchid. "Yes."
"Good. Run like the wind, my friends. I'm going to report to Greely," Carrot Cake announced.
"Run like the wind," Fang answered.