Red Star

Yelis lifted her head from the thick body of the mist, licked her lips, and met her friends' eyes. Everyone was nervous. Night and fog had taken them captive. The Narqs were out there somewhere, and the Yilbes were perhaps in the next corner. The mist was approaching them. Yelis forced herself to stop thinking. They would follow the red star. She could hold on to the thought. They had to back up three times down a street that was blocked from side to side by a hill of stone and brick that the horses could never cross. Yelis could hear the others' short, sharp breathing, she was simply afraid of panic. She grit his teeth to stop his own breathing. At least to make them think you're not afraid.

They turned the next corner. A street of fog covered the wall with a bright light. Shadows shot towards them. Nobody expected this. Turning, they galloped away. In front of them, ten inches away, two Ñarqs came out into the street. They looked at each other for a moment, each more surprised than