Ventus by Karl Schroeder

Karl Schroeder / Ventus / Page 704
opened its arms.
"Axel!" it shouted as it wrapped its arms around him.
Someone screamed. Axel struggled to pull free of the
cat-thing, and after a moment he did--or rather it let go of him
and he fell. He levered himself onto his elbows, then froze.
One of the horses was down. A very large bear reared
over it, bawling loudly. One of the soldiers was down too,
with his hands up to fend off the hawk that was stabbing at his
face.
Two foxes raced out of the forest and leaped at the
remaining soldiers. Way back there, something else big was
crashing in their direction.
"Fight, you cowards!" shouted the white cat. It moved
with astonishing speed, knocking one of the foxes out the air
mid-pounce. Then it spun on one foot and jumped backwards,
disappearing behind Axel.
"Axel, run!" shouted the hawk. It ducked in close then
burst in a flurry of feathers as one of the soldiers shot it pointblank.
Something iridescent, half-visible, twirled up from the
falling bird, then flashed into flame and drifted down as
another of the soldiers emptied his musket into the chest of the
bear. It staggered back snarling. Then a third man fired, and it
fell dead.
Axel turned to run--and found himself eye to eye with the
white cat. It held out something. His pistol. "Take it!" it
hissed.
He hesitated for a second, then grabbed the pistol and
ran. Animals big and small crashed past him, all converging
on the soldiers and their cat-like companions.
Axel had no idea what he'd just seen. He didn't want to
know. All he wanted to do at this moment was run and keep
running until he'd forgotten it all.