The Dresden Fillies - deviantART

any serious wounds. Unfortunately, the pack chasing me numbered
somewhere around fifty.
One of the faster ones had caught up with me, and it flung itself forward
with a howl of fury. "Riflettum!" I yelled as I forced energy into the shield
bracelet on my left wrist. It pulsed with magic, and a quarter-dome of
translucent blue sprung up between me and the horrifying little predator.
The vearen bounced off and smacked into a tree hard enough to bring a
rain of bright red fruit down on its head.
"Yeah! How d'ya like those apples?" I yelled, and then started cursing as
his friends caught up. "This is not how my day was supposed to go," I
panted, complaining to nobody. "I mean, I know the Nevernever is
dangerous, but come on 'It's just a short stretch o' forest til you reach the
gate to Edinburgh,' " I said, mocking my mentor's accent. " 'No trouble, right
boy?' " I jinked to my right and started running along a stream, hoping that
fewer trees would mean less pursuit. It didn't. The vearens abandoned the
canopy to follow me without hestitation.
My lungs were burning, and my side felt ready to split open. I had to stop
soon or I'd just keel over, and I'd be damned if those things got me without
a fight. I stretched my magical senses to look for a path back to Earth, but
there wasn't anything. The Nevernever connected to everything, so it could
take me anywhere, theoretically. It was only a theory because the most
horrifying creatures in existence made it their home, and only an idiot would
leave the safety of the well-known Ways. In my defense, I had a few dozen
good reasons for doing so. Still, I had no idea what part of the world this
particular bit of forest might connect to.
I burst through a small clump of bushes into an open meadow and skidded
to a halt. The meadow was lovely, a beautiful, serene place, but I hadn't
stopped to admire it. I'd stopped because on the other side of the meadow
was another pack of vearens, just as big as the one already chasing me. I
stared at them. They stared at me. The first pack had caught up and halted
at the sight of the new pack. Growls filled the air as both groups started to
cautiously spread out along the edge of the meadow. Maybe, if I was lucky,
the packs would fight over me and I could use the confusion to escape. The
two alphas approached each other until they were nearly eye to eye. I
tensed to run, hoping Lady Luck would come through for once.