KILLYAN PICHÉ's Arc

Chapter 6 of 8

The cat sat safe in the purple light, but the growl never stopped. Every night the thing with gears crept closer to the barn. Tonight Killyan heard the clicking right at the barn's edge. He looked up and froze. A brown mechanical bear stepped out of the dark. It wore a tall black hat and a purple tie. Its red eyes burned. Steel teeth flashed when it opened its mouth. The cat flattened itself in the gravel. The bear was between it and the forest now, and it was reaching. Killyan had nothing. No wand. No light he could move in time. His chest went tight. The bear's claw swept toward the cat. Headlights hit the yard. Catou's truck skidded on the gravel. She jumped out before it fully stopped. "Get back," she said. Flat. Hard. She had seen the clicking thing on her way in. She knew the sound. She reached into the truck bed and grabbed the only thing there, a jeweled dagger with a deep red stone in the handle. It belonged to Raven, who called it her princess blade and never let anyone touch it. Harlow ran up behind, mohawk stiff, a crinkled chip bag clutched in one fist. "It wants the cat," he said fast. "It guards it. So we don't fight it. We blind it." He pointed at the dagger's ruby. "Catou. The light. Hit the stone with the light." Catou got it at once. She swung the dagger up into the purple glow. The ruby caught the light and threw it wide, a bright red flash straight into the bear's red eyes. The thing jerked back. Its gears screamed. The flashing light hurt it. Catou slashed the blade again, and the ruby scattered more light across its face. "That's mine!" Raven shrieked from the porch. "That's MY dagger!" But she didn't come to grab it. She stayed on the steps, watching the bear stumble. The bear swung blind. Its claw raked the barn wall and left four long scratches. Harlow pulled Killyan down behind the truck. Catou kept the red flashes coming, step by step, backing the thing toward the trees. The gears clicked slower. The bear turned. It lumbered into the dark and was gone. The clicking faded. Killyan crawled out. The cat still crouched by the wall, shaking but there. He reached slow. It let him touch its head. Its glasses caught the purple light. Catou lowered the dagger. The ruby was scratched now, one corner chipped. She handed it back to Raven without a word. Raven stared at the damage and, for once, said nothing. "We drove it off," Harlow said. He crunched a chip. "But it knows where the barn is now. And it's not gonna forget." He pointed at the four fresh claw marks in the wood. "Next time it won't come alone."