Fairy twisted to fight Menagerie, but she was partially trapped by the harness that was ironically meant to keep her alive. She pulled out a stiletto blade with one hand and fumbled to undo the belt across her lap with the other.

“Do not unbuckle,” Wolf said. He jerked sideways midair to dump Menagerie off his back.

The ryuu let out a yell as he tumbled off. But he fell only about ten feet.

“How?” Fairy gawked at him, dangling beneath them but trailing everywhere they went.

“I’m holding on to a rope of ryuu magic that you can’t see,” Menagerie taunted. “It’s also a noose around your pack mule’s neck.” He yanked on it, and Wolf gasped.

“He can’t strangle you from there,” Fairy said. “He doesn’t have enough force to pull the rope tight enough.”

Wolf growled. Fairy knew it wasn’t much in the way of reassurance. It hardly comforted herself.

She looked down again. Menagerie wouldn’t stay there for long. He was already climbing up the invisible rope. And where were Firebrand and Hana in all this?

Meanwhile, the bats attacked again. Fairy ducked as they came in screeching. Their talons and fangs grazed her neck and arms and Wolf’s back. “You’d better not have rabies!” she shouted as they retreated, regrouping for their next assault.

“They don’t have tails,” Wolf said.

“That’s a Liga-like non sequitur that makes no sense. Do tailless bats not have rabies?” Fairy held tightly to Wolf’s fur as they swerved again. Menagerie was making progress climbing up his rope of ryuu particles.

“I don’t know. But most fruit bats don’t have tails. Sora saw them before, after I’d left Prince Gin’s ship. Another ryuu battled Menagerie in a duel by drawing the bats away with fruit.”

“My persimmons!” Fairy said.

“Exactly what I was thinking.”

Wolf swooped, swinging Menagerie beneath him. The ryuu cursed as his grip slipped farther down the rope.

Fairy stretched over Wolf’s side for one of their supply packs. She flipped open the top, grabbed the first persimmon she could, and threw.

At first, the bats in that part of the formation scattered. But then one of them realized what had been fired at them, and it broke off to chase the falling fruit. Several others, catching on, also dove off to pursue.

She pumped her fist. “Taigas: one; flying rats: zero.”

“Don’t get too cocky,” Wolf said.

“No such thing,” Fairy said.

She threw another persimmon. More bats peeled off to chase the food.

Fairy began a full-on assault, igniting a feeding frenzy. The bats’ neat formation fell apart as more of them got distracted by the prospect of dinner.