Wow. Another chapter. I think I write these too fast. But they're really short. Which surprises me anyway. I have sixteen chapters and like, eighteen thousand words. Wow.

DIsclaimer: You know it. It's too depressing to say at the moment.

Losing It

Chapter Sixteen

I ran lightly, careful not to step on the pine trees. The needles would fall and give away our path even more than the shaking trees would. My head was busy handling its internal conflict while I put my body on autopilot.

I have to save Splash.

You have to save Fang, too. He won't stand a chance against the faeries. No matter how weak they are. They have magic.

Splash won't make it either! They'll probably EAT him!

Which do you need more. Fang. Or Splash.

Fang. I need him. But Splash. He's always been there. I need them both! I can't just take one or the other!

"Damn," I whispered, switching off the autopilot. I saw we had already gone miles.

Fang whispered in my ear, gripping my shoulders tight.

"We have to go back. They'll go after Max and the others if they don't find us!"

I sat down and let Fang off, feeling nothing.

"You can go back to Max. I'll get Splash," my voice was low and had no feeling in it as I looked away. I knew it was a hard choice for him, letting me go, but I couldn't let him get caught too.

He frowned and I hugged him tightly, a last one for I don't know how long. I might never see him again. I tilted my face up and caught his lips curling up at the edges. I kissed him long and hard.

I backed off and his breath caught as he gave me one last hug. I wondered if he knew what I was going to do.

I watched as his wings came out, feathers whispering goodbye. He turned around and mouthed I love you just before he was out of sight.

I dropped down to one hand, flipping over the tree branch. Needles stabbed sharply into my hand, reminding me what my mission was.

I slid off the branch and tumbled into the empty air, watching green flash by. In the middle of all that green was a flash of blue, streaking towards me.

My hand shot out and grabbed a branch, inching its way down to the tip as my body kept falling. The branch sagged under my weight and I pulled myself closer to the trunk. The streak came closer, coming to a halt in the next tree over.

I sat down abruptly, my boots dangling over the edge. I cocked my head and smiled. Better to let them think I was in control.

I had picked the wrong faerie. This was the one with bruise wings. He smirked and drifted closer, taking his time. When he spoke his voice was a slow drawl.

"What do we have here? Are you lost? Aww, you poor puppy."

He was mocking me, trying to distract me. I saw him discreetly lean down to pull a knife from the inside of his boot. Oh, no you don't. You won't fool me.

"One. I'm not a puppy," I pointed to my ears and tail, "Two. You're about to get your ass kicked." The last part I couldn't guarantee, but it was better to let him mock more than give him a chance to kill me.

He frowned, his forehead wrinkling slightly. Hi tilted his head and a smile came over his face. I frowned, thinking about why he was suddenly grinning.

I was too caught up in my thoughts to notice the knife flash out. It registered in the back of my head, a flash and a wham, he had hit me in the head, by the flat side.

He had put force behind it, but not enough to knock me out. I pulled my knives out from my boots, one in each hand. I attacked him, slashing sideways.

He jumped back, snarling, to avoid my knives. He called out for his cronies, they were heading this way. His attention slid back to me and he rushed me, one arm reaching for my throat, the other still holding the knife.

I kicked, hard into his stomach. He doubled over in pain, probably from the steel toes, and almost dropped his knife.

I wrenched it from his hand and threw into the tree up to the hilt, quivering. He glared at me as best a humiliated man could glare, groaned, and straightened himself out.

My boot had torn the shirt wide open and I could see the huge bruise, yellow and purple. I had hit him hard. Harder than I intended.

The three other faeries were coming, shouting at me. They drew their own knives, one of them barreling into me. He kept on going until my back met the hard tree trunk behind me, the knife inches away from my cheek.

All I could see were his hard steel eyes and all I could smell was his foul breath. My back shuddered, the pain leaving numbness flooding through my body. Numbness was bad, I took it, as I slid down the tree, my shirt riding up my back.

I grimaced. That would leave many marks. I felt blood start to flow, dripping down my back. It hurt, but I wasn't going to give up the fight. I closed my eyes and trusted my instincts to do the work for me.

I kept sliding, falling off the branch in almost record time, and I could feel them closing in. Before I fell off I snapped out a hand and grabbed the branch, swinging myself up onto another one, thirty feet or so above the faeries.

They flew in, surrounding me. I threw my knives, aiming for the throat and meeting it in the faeries on my left and right.

The only two left now were the one thet had threw me against the tree and the leader. If I could kill them both I wouldn't have to worry about getting caught.

But then again, getting caught was exactly what I wanted to happen. So I dropped my fists, letting the last two circle, looking me up and down, measuring how much of a danger I was.

The pain finally caught up with me. My back had landed straight on the trunk, ensuring the fact that I would pass out. Huh. Smart guy. But he hadn't hit me hard enough to pass out instantly.

My feet started slipping as darkness blotted out the faeries and I hit the layers of molded leaves with a thud.

I struggled to stay conscious but someone hit me on the neck, hard enough to do major damage, and I lost the battle.