Alice left the tree-sprite to handle the fight on its own and turned her attention to the shack. Only a few creatures remained by the door, just as she’d hoped. Come on, Isaac. Come on, come on, come on. At the rate the things were tearing her oak to pieces, the distraction wouldn’t last much longer.

As if in answer to Alice’s mental urging, the Siren swept down from her perch on the top of the shack and landed directly in front of the door. The two bird-things still waiting there got the full brunt of her song and toppled over like they’d been pole-axed. The door opened, revealing Dex with her arm around Isaac’s shoulders. One of her legs was badly hurt, so she could only walk with his assistance. Soranna hurried out behind them, glancing nervously at the flock clustered around the beleaguered tree.

They weren’t moving fast enough. Already a couple of the bird-things had noticed them and sheared off. Isaac sent the Siren to intercept them, and they toppled, but the pile of sleeping bodies around the entrance was beginning to stir. He can’t keep them all down. And in spite of the damage the tree-sprite was inflicting, the flock was going to demolish the oak sooner rather than later. They need to run.

Alice yanked hard on the Swarm thread. A dozen of the tiny creatures appeared, then more and still more. The effort left her gasping. She sent them toward Isaac in a unit, flowing over the neat lawn like a living carpet. The Siren intercepted another curious bird-thing, but Isaac’s face was going white with strain. One huge limb of the oak was severed and crashed to the ground, where the furious creatures immediately set about reducing it to splinters.

The swarmers reached Isaac and the others. Alice jumped up from her hiding place in the shrubs, cupped her hands around her mouth, and shouted to them.

“Drop her! Drop Dex!”

Isaac looked up, blinking, but thankfully Dex got the idea at once. She said something to Isaac, and he let go of her hand. Dex spread her arms and let herself topple gracefully forward. Alice was there to catch her, positioning the Swarm in her path like a living mattress. A hundred tiny legs worked in unison, carrying Dex over the grass at a speed that left Isaac and Soranna hurrying to catch up.

Alice dismissed the tree-sprite, who had retreated to the very tip of the tree trunk while the bird-things chopped it to pieces, and concentrated on the Swarm. In a few moments, Dex was by her side, laughing as if she were on some kind of amusement park ride. Isaac and Soranna were close behind, both panting. Alice couldn’t help wrapping her arms around Soranna in a hug, though it made the girl give a startled squeak.

“You did it! I knew you’d make it.”