Chapter 207: Laughing Cats (2)
The group stopped, and Evanna swore she heard Garrett curse under his breath. The cackling grew louder, and the iciness running down her spine also grew intense.
"Might as well light that fire now, fairy!" Ronan shouted as steps started pounding towards them. The light of day had gone entirely, and within minutes it was too dark to see straight ahead and not long enough for their eyes to adjust.
Evanna leaned into her stance, aiming her swords in front of her and to the side where her body responded in tingling chills the most to the incoming threat. She didn’t know what to expect when the blue flames of Fiza’s magic blew up into a giant bonfire between everyone, but it wasn’t the creatures surrounding them.
The group faced outwards in a circle facing these large brown spotted animals, spotted cats standing on their hind legs. Their arms were longer than their legs, and their paws were more humanistic, holding a blade in one and spear in the other and their torsos covered in red leather armour. The one facing Evanna at her side seemed to grin, baring a wide set of sharp teeth. Its lips twitched slightly before it cackled, and the others responded with more laughter.
She could see why they were simply called the laughing cats, and although there were seven, their sheer size was packed with the muscles of at least two men. They didn’t need many to fight or hunt. She could already tell this would be a hard fight, but she’d faced worse odds and wouldn’t let that deter her.
Evanna flicked her gaze between the two across from her that seemed to zero in on her. She looked to the side, seeing Garrett had his own to deal with and knew it was the same for the others. The clanging of metal proved it before she dodged one swing of the first cat only to barely miss both spears jut towards her. Before she could right herself, feeling imbalanced, both laughing cats lunged towards her with their blades, cackling all the while.
Evanna jumped up, hissing as they moved their spears to her height and jabbed at the bottom of her feet. But she somersaulted forwards, landing behind them and swung her leg out to the first cat as they spun around. She cringed as her foot felt like it kicked into the side of a stony wall; the pain and shock vibrated up her leg. Instead of the muscular beast falling to the ground, it giggled and stabbed its blade at her ankle.
Eyes widening, she rolled to the side and hopped to her feet, glancing behind them where she could see the blue fire and the night fairy sitting atop one of the beasts her throwing star in its head and the other she slit across its throat. She looked to the others; Arawn, skilful with his blades, instead shot ice at the laughing cat’s mouth, irritation lacing the prince’s voice as he commented on their annoying laughter. To the side, she watched as Ger, Ronan, and Axel fought two like her yet still struggled.
The princess returned her attention to the cats before her, dodging another two jabs from each one. Evanna narrowed her gaze. She was barely keeping up with them; their attacks were synchronised. She blocked the first blade and then swung her sword down on its spear, risking the movement to break the weapon. In doing so, she felt the other cat’s spear punch into the side of her ribs, knocking the air from her lungs.