With the aid of the bottom box of her makeshift seat, Elayra pulled herself to her feet. She did not need to look to know Ghent would be taking a beating. As fast as she could, she hurried to collect her sword as Ghent threw his second punch.
	Drust easily turned and slid back, avoiding Ghent’s attack, and reached to grab his extended forearm. Using the force of the missed punch, Ghent's disadvantage of his weight being temporarily on one leg, and his own strength, he moved to pull Ghent's arm down and over to force him to turn, and wrench it behind his back between them. Upon success, he used his other hand to jerk Ghent’s free arm into the same position.
	As Elayra, with no intention of leaving, grabbed her sword, she bumped into one of the shelves, making the contents rattle and shift. But the shadow of the objects quivered as if confused, and expanded for a short second before settling back down.
	“Drust!” Elayra spun toward the two, a sense of panic in her eyes at the prospect of having more than just Drust fighting against them in this too-small space. “Shadowmire!”
	No sooner had the word left her mouth, then the shadow hiding beneath the shelving spread over the boxes covering the back wall near her. Its wispy grayness deepened into a swirling black oval nearly the same height as her. 
	The lines in Drust’s eyes pulsated and receded a fraction from his pupils as they looked from Elayra to the pair of menacing red eyes that had begun to glow in the heart of the darkness. A short, grinning whiskered maul emerged from the shadow. He tossed Ghent none too gently to the side and drew his katana with a fierce, “Get out of here!”
	Elayra ran by him, pausing only to reach to take Ghent’s wrist and pull him toward the exit behind Drust, the door still cracked open.
	At the exit, Elayra cast a quick glance back as a roar like a wild panther echoed from the shadow. A mix of concern for Drust and resentment for not being capable of fighting the shadowmire rested on her face, but she did not stop.
	Just before the door started to close behind them, another shadow flitted out into the night behind Ghent and Elayra like a serpent slithering after its prey.