Ventus by Karl Schroeder

Karl Schroeder / Ventus / Page 709
"It's our only option," argued Axel. "We need to get out
of here."
"I agree," he said. "And we will. That's why we have to
go this way." He pointed.
"He may be right, Axel," said the woman who was not
Calandria May. "I can hear a lot of traffic from the swans
suddenly."
It was cold, and getting dark rapidly. The swans should
be turning on their midnight sun soon, but until then the forest
would be impassible to these people. "I'm going to make a
little light," said Jordan. "You follow it and don't let it out of
your sight. We have to move quickly if we're to keep ahead of
the cats."
He started walking; Tamsin fell into stride beside him.
As he raised his hands to create a ghost-light on the shoulders
of his jacket, he heard Axel and the others rushing to catch up.
"Well, what are those cat-things, anyway?" asked Axel.
"One of them knew my name. Damn near killed me."
"I'd never seen one until the other day. I think they're a
new kind of animal that the swans brought," said Jordan.
"They can talk, I know that much, and they seem to be leading
the army that's following us."
"Army?"
Jordan glanced back, resisting the urge to laugh. "A lot's
happening right now. How did you find us, anyway?"
"Looking for Calandria. We found her signal, followed it
down. At least, I thought it was her signal..." He fell silent.
One of the cat things had broken away from the others
and was trailing them very closely now. It was almost
completely dark now, so Jordan had to rely on his Vision to see
where they were going. Axel, who seemed to be aware of the
cat too somehow, sauntered easily beside him.