The Ascension by Kailin Gow

went?”
    “Oh,” the woman waved a hand vaguely at the doors, “I think he went… somewhere. Frankly, I tend not to keep track when they clearly aren’t interested in me. He didn’t even compliment me on my dress!” She twirled happily so that the skirt of it bil owed. Gem took the hint.
    “It i s a lovely dress, and I’m sorry Rio didn’t pay you more attention. He can be a bit hard to understand sometimes.”
    “Oh, not that hard,” the fairy woman said. “I think he went out into the garden.”
    Gem nodded her thanks and set off in that direction, stepping out into the cool air of the garden.
    She looked around, trying to find some sign of Rio, but there didn’t seem to be any. Gem kept walking, deciding that Rio had merely hidden himself away somewhere. She walked past the ornate fountains, trying to think of something that would make a suitable conciliatory gesture.
    The howl of a wolf cut through the air, and Gem started. In her haste to rush after Rio, she had forgotten Dr. Brown’s warning that many of the denizens of Myriad could make a brief meal of a human. Deciding that even Rio wouldn’t be foolish enough to stay outside when there were wolves around, Gem turned and headed back towards the palace.
    Out of nowhere, strong arms wrapped around her, pinning Gem’s arms to her sides as they her, pinning Gem’s arms to her sides as they crushed her back against someone behind her. A glance back revealed a leering human face topped by goat horns. The satyr licked his lips. A second satyr approached Gem from the front.
    “We’ve been watching you, little human,” the second one said. “Watching you ever since the hunt.
    We’ve always wanted to eat human, we have.”
    “Of course,” the one holding Gem said in a bleating voice, “that’s not al we’ve wanted. The way you humans smel … so al uring. We might have to keep you alive a while. After al , the Summer Court is known for its hospitality.”
    It laughed at its own joke. Gem decided that talking her way out was probably better than trying to fight two magical creatures, both of whom were connected to the Summer Queen’s court.
    “I’m not human,” she said. “I’m Anachronian.
    More than that, I’m the Queen there. Do you real y want that kind of trouble?”
    The second satyr shrugged brusquely .
    “Human, Anachronian, who cares? It’s the same thing. As for being a queen… there’s only one queen around here.”

    It took a step forward. It didn’t get to take a second. With a snarl, a large, grey wolf bounded forward, pouncing on the satyr. It bore the creature to the ground, pinning it there as the satyr thrashed. Its teeth fastened onto the satyr’s throat and there was a snapping sound.
    The satyr holding Gem let her go, then stepped slowly towards the wolf.
    “Nice wolf,” he cajoled , “good wolf. You just stay there while I-”
    Gem stepped forward to place a hand on the satyr’s shoulder.
    “Deleterious.”
    The creature fel back, dead. Given what it had tried to do, Gem didn’t feel particularly repentant about it. It did, however, leave her facing up to a huge wolf that was staring at her with deep soulful familiar brown eyes and blood on its muzzle.
    Gem tried to judge whether she would be able to make it back inside before the wolf could leap on her, and decided that no, she probably wouldn’t make it more than a yard or two.
    It was at that point that the wolf made a low whimpering sound, wagging its tail as it did so.

    whimpering sound, wagging its tail as it did so.
    Unless the habits of wolves were very strange, it looked a lot like it was trying to be friendly. That certainly fit with the fact that it had just saved her.
    Even so, Gem couldn’t quite bring herself to pat it on the head, and the two of them stayed there staring at each other for several seconds.
    “Hey, where are the others?”
    “Do you think they’ve found that human girl?”
    “I hope so. Though if they start being stingy