Serial
31: Pursuant
December
22nd, 32 S.D. 03:40 Sventa-Henron Border
Some 20 minutes into her audacious escape, Losha saw that no one had come chasing her. As she reasoned, they were probably too busy handling the growing blaze at the storehouse. She was certain the flames could not be contained however. Sure enough, a great rumble sounded in the distance behind her. At that range, the explosion was no more than a dull blast to her ears. She halted her horse as they turned around at that moment. A single plume of that far off inferno rose high into the sky, flickering against the darkness. Losha but looked at it for a moment. As soon as she had confirmed her own success, she guided the horse along their course for Sventa. She had greatly pushed the noble creature during their first few kilometers, yet it was no machine. Figuring they could afford a slower pace, Losha let the horse proceed at a brisk trot.
Considering the size of the gunpowder’s detonation, she assumed there would have been a massive area of collateral damage. In reality, the acts of sabotage she’d planned had likely crippled the cannons themselves as well as the nearby metal-works. Furthermore, the Henron camp itself was probably in a state of disarray. They wouldn’t be launching any sort of offensive in the short-term. Taking into account everything, Losha felt WOLFWIND had done a lot for one night and their first assignment. However, as she was soon to find out, the mission was hardly over.
Meters and meters away, as though through a long tunnel, her image came into view, magnified. From her rear, on the side, the likes of a cross shifted around her, hovering this way and that way as it tried to mark her. By slight degrees, this cursor locked onto her. Behind all of this, a figure sat at the crest of a hill; unseen, unnoticed, they lied on their belly. In their hands, a hefty metal crossbow rested. A large bolt was already in place as hundreds of pounds of tension prepped to launch it. The sniper’s aim trembled with every breath, every heartbeat, quivering at the merest interference. As they focused more carefully, their finger stroked the trigger in anticipation. Their nerves settled; the scope’s jitter eased as the perfect moment approached.
For an instant, they stopped everything, freezing their body. Then all the angles aligned. Just before Losha’s body slipped into the center of the sniper’s targeting, the shooter pulled their deadly digit. All at once, the arrow leaped out with a snap. Quickly, it accelerated, rushing at Losha with terrible lethality. Though Losha had been oblivious to these preceding events, the very second the sniper fired, she sensed something was amiss as the projectile left the crossbow’s frame. She detected a seras frequency nearby, one she had only shortly ago encountered. The seras frequency was not completely revealed yet; she merely knew of its presence.
Instantly, she processed several connections in her mind. Given whose frequency she felt just then, and given the fact that their seras frequency seemingly appeared out of nowhere, Losha knew she was about to be attacked. Instinctively, forgoing all active thought, Losha cast a kinetic series, a large force-field meant to protect the horse and her. She did not know where exactly the threat would come from, so she shrouded herself in every direction. Although the barrier appeared before the bolt could reach her, this serialized shield was actually quite frail. The energy was spread too wide. When the arrow hit this bubble, it managed to pierce inside. Even so, the shot lost a good deal of power, and with it the ability to kill her. Its path was even deflected to some extent.
Despite the detractions, it still broke through. It tore into her suddenly, ripping across her right side. The sharp head sank into her back, poking out the other end of her internal obliques. Acute pain, like a finger of fire, stabbed her as she cried loudly in agony. She fell forward onto the horse’s mane; her grip slipped as she struggled to clutch her wound. Losha eventually lost her balance and tumbled to the ground. Her eyes closed fast; her teeth were tight and gritted as she sucked in air. Both of her hands wrapped around her abdomen only to realize the bolt was stuck in her. The horse reared up and released a desperate neigh, but it didn’t seem intent on leaving her.
In the brutal coldness of the night, her palms began to feel something warm ooze over them. On her back, she cracked open her eyes; the fierce tip of the arrow jutted from her flesh, draped in blood. Around the entry and exit of the injury, she could feel more droplets spilling out of her beneath her clothes. Her mouth moved as if to curse, but she could say nothing as her lips trembled. Through labored breaths, Losha flipped herself to her knees; she grabbed one of the saddle’s footholds and raised herself up, teetering against the horse. At this time, a voice echoed clearly across the silent plains.
“Losha!” said a man, her name ringing several times through the air. “We are not finished yet!”
She turned around, gasping all the while. Some 150 meters away, Koter stood at the hill’s top. Like before, he’d been able to mask his seras frequency. She wondered how he could have caught up to her so fast, but she reminded herself that these weren’t her lands. A hunter such as himself could easily cut her off. Holding the crossbow in one hand, Koter tossed it over his shoulder while his free hand pointed at her. Behind him, the outline of his horse appeared. Losha for once scowled at the sight of the enemy. Serialization had no place as a weapon, yet she pondered how her situation would have changed had she dealt more forcefully with him earlier. These were no times for regret, however.
The bolt, as far as she could tell, had not struck any vital regions, but its existence alone would hinder her. The first step was to rid herself of the wretched thing. Losha grabbed at each end and focused intensely for a second. She’d never performed a series inside her own body before; the faintest miscalculation could make her cure outright fatal. Concentrating on the arrow as a foreign object, she cast a quick kinetic series to break the shaft cleanly in the middle. Then, bracing herself, she pulled out the two pieces. Screaming with her jaw clenched shut, she extracted both parts. Two crimson streams leaked in front and behind her as the bolt was removed. Without delay, she wrapped a constant kinetic series against the wounds, essentially fashioning a bandage for herself. By continually pushing on these two spots, the series’ pressure stemmed the bleeding. The surging pain was still incredible; that was just something she’d have to fight head-on.
She tossed the arrow to the ground, panting. As she looked up, Koter had finished mounting his steed and was already barreling down the slope towards her. With the damage she’d taken, she couldn’t fight Koter directly. Mistakes and surprises were simply too risky to handle, and she was already pumping out a lot of seras just to keep herself stable. Losha turned to her horse and climbed up. Though she winced all the while, circumstances as they were left her with no option but haste, She didn’t wait until she was properly seated to order the animal off.
“Go, go, go!” she said, whipping the reins as she tapped its ribs with her heels. The horse snorted once, shaking its head from side-to-side before it rocketed forward. The sudden motion knocked her back, but she pulled herself upright as they picked up speed. The rapid galloping tossed her up and down, causing her immense discomfort. Leaning in, she hugged the horse at its neck, tucking her body close to it. This was how she remembered seeing riders position themselves during races. While the situation was certainly a game of the most serious sort, she thought perhaps the little technique would aid them. At the least, it made things more manageable for herself, however, it did not give them any great advantage.
Scarcely within a minute’s time, Koter had pushed his way behind her. A scant 20 meters separated them now. Though he ran with his horse charging ahead furiously, in one hand he held the reins; the other aimed the crossbow. Losha glanced but once back at her pursuer as she saw him steadying his arm. Immediately, she commanded her horse to the right, then swiftly she swerved to the left. To enhance this tactic, they dove randomly at some points, turning right twice after falling all the way left or faking the direction altogether.
“Heh,” Koter mused to himself as he tried to keep his sights lined up. He waited until they entered the zone where he hoped their image and his vision intersected. Twitching, he fired another bolt, certain that it would hit either Losha or her transport. Despite the young officer’s confidence, the shot proved trickier than he’d initially imagined. Though it indeed looked as if he’d pinned down a guaranteed hit, there were too many factors against a truly accurate attack. The crossbow, a two-handed weapon awkwardly held in only one, added to the complex adjustments needed to even aim it while dashing along at 40 kilometers. Koter’s arrow missed as result. The projectile sailed to the side as Losha pivoted left.
“Ksh,” Koter muttered as he reared the crossbow up and kicked his horse. Gradually, he started to gain on her. Sensing his approach, Losha searched her mind, trying to conceive some way she could defend herself. She didn’t have a great deal of seras to expend. For whatever reason, keeping her wounds in check was especially draining on her reserves. Even though the series she’d used to clot her blood was by no means difficult to maintain, it seemed as if her seras was seeping from her somehow. While she remained at a loss to explain the phenomenon, Losha used whatever seras she still had at her disposal.
Turning around, she raised her palm up and sent forth a pulse of pure kinetic energy. Since Losha had just as much difficulty aiming as well, she widened the area of the series’ effect, though its strength simultaneously shrank. The series produced a kind of wind, a force not strong enough to knock him over but definitely enough to slow him down. As the air pressed against him, Koter shielded his eyes with the crossbow. Realizing the drop in his run, he let his shooting arm fall behind him as he and his horse ducked down. Slimming their profile, Koter sought to reduce their resistance. Quickly he pulled his horse to the right, taking them out of the stream’s path.
Losha, however, would not relent. Tossing her head over her other shoulder, she lined up another round. Nonetheless, Koter became aware of what Losha was poised to do. Mimicking her earlier ploy, he zigged and zagged sporadically with no true pattern. The jet of air whisked by without touching him. She dispensed several more iterations of this series, all to the same result. Koter and his horse kept dodging them. What was worse, their distance continually closed, and her seras only depleted more and more. Eventually, she could not sustain the cycle. Instead, Losha concentrated on pushing her horse; if they could outrun him just until they reached Sventa, they’d be safe, at least she believed as much.
Unfortunately, Koter proved a true equestrian of the finest level, one who rode a well-bred beast. Even as Losha went as fast as her steed could take her, Koter managed to tail her. With a spontaneous burst of acceleration, he swept past her rear and came up to her left side. Though the crossbow was a weighty tool, Koter tossed it up, spinning it laterally before he caught it by the front end. Using its blunt butt, he swiped at Losha.
“Ha!” he said as his arm arced towards her. At this same instant, Losha and her horse twisted to the side. Koter’s attempted melee brushed harmlessly overhead. Not one to give in, Koter shifted to the right as well. Releasing another quick stroke, this time he tried to smash her head vertically. Seeing his actions out of the corner of her eye, Losha yanked hard upon the horse’s reins, commanding the creature to slow down. Braking with its hind legs, the animal suddenly slid back; hardly an instant thereafter, Koter clubbed the empty space where they had once been.
Having expected to hit something, Koter almost toppled over as he followed through his assault. His arm strained to keep the entirety of his body in balance as he nearly tilted off the saddle. With a strenuous display of effort, however, he somehow set himself upright again. He turned to see Losha behind him; he smiled wryly as he seemed to chuckle to himself. For a brief moment, she thought he may have actually been enjoying all of this. Was it simply the mentality of a predator? Or perhaps it was just youth’s fatalistic attraction for thrill? Either way, he looked to be getting a kick out of the fight.
While Losha’s mind wondered, Koter’s was ever seeking a way to engage her. The crossbow could not practically be reloaded while he was riding, and he hadn’t succeeded in using it for close-range combat. It was all but useless to him, so he did the only thing he could with it. He chucked it, however, he deliberately sent it at Losha, hurling it like a disc. Though the crossbow itself made for a poor projectile, it was large enough to inflict serious harm.
As a flood of adrenaline all at once excited her nerves, Losha jerked the reins to avoid the awkward but potentially painful object. It missed her completely as it hit the ground, rotating and bouncing once before lamely coming to rest. This maneuver, however, was merely a cover meant to distract her while Koter too decelerated and caught up to her side. Using his own horse as a weapon now, he rammed into Losha. She recoiled from the body slam; her own horse neighed and flicked its head up. Giving her no time to react, Koter swiftly moved away only to steer himself back at her shortly thereafter. The second impact jostled her even more and sent deep pangs coursing through her side.
She spat out air, grabbing her wounded waist. Her eyes cast a glare at her opponent. Koter prepared yet again to strike, but Losha had grown weary of this all. Though she remained loathe to use serialization with such violence, the situation demanded it; her well-being was held in jeopardy the longer their battle endured. Gathering her remaining amounts of seras, she launched an acute beam of kinetic force at Koter. A narrow more refined series such as this could compress a lot of energy in a limited area, making it quite powerful. It was the total opposite of what she had done earlier.
This series leaped towards him as an unseen bullet of air. In an instant, it crashed into his torso, rending him from his seat. Through this sudden flight, his eyes opened wide as his mouth gaped. Raised to a height of some three meters, he rolled himself together tightly before plummeting into a snow bank. Losha turned around only to see the splash of a white wave; she didn’t notice what became of Koter himself. Though it now ran riderless, Koter’s horse still galloped equally with hers. She electrocuted it with a small shock, using just enough to scare it off. It neighed loudly in protest, then took to another direction.
For a few moments, she half-expected Koter to come at her, but as the minutes passed, she saw and heard no one behind her. The stress gradually faded from her system, but she remained in no position to relax. Until they made it into Sventa, and until she rejoined her comrades, neither she nor her horse were free from danger. Nevertheless, now that the hype of the struggle had disappeared along with the enemy, she felt exceedingly tired. Her seras was at its limit. She really wanted to sleep, and at times she even closed her eyes as she let the horse do the work. The pain from her torn side had dulled down extensively, but it never fully dissipated.
They came out of their gait, cooling down and walking at a more casual pace. Losha recognized that the horse had been through many ordeals tonight as well, and she couldn’t push it too far. She did, after all, depend on it with her life now. For many kilometers, their journey out of Henron was uneventful. Everything was quiet, dark, and lonesome between the two of them.
After a time, as it neared a quarter after four ‘o’ clock, they came upon a vast dip in the land. Dropping rather steeply, the ground fell some 15 meters. Below, the rushing waters of a thick river sounded off. The moon, still present at this hour, glistened within these currents. This must have been the Sholat River, a natural boundary that historically separated Sventa and Henron’s southern territories. She recalled that it cut off the Talimer Forest, partitioning it to the east into Sventa. Now Henron was intent on seizing that land for themselves. So much for history...
It didn’t freeze during the winter, given its size and the speed with which it moved. Unfortunately for her, Losha’s country sat just on the other side. The long-standing hostilities between Sventa and Henron meant she was unlikely to find a bridge of any type. She’d simply have to find a point along the river where they could wade through, but that could have entailed hours of yet more travel. In the midst of all the action, she hadn’t exactly, crossed the way she’d sneaked into Henron; the river hadn’t been a problem before. Her eyes went up and down the river’s length as she contemplated just where she might locate a good spot to cross. North seemed the best way forward.
While she speculated on the matter, her ears picked up heavy movements through the snow, and much to her dismay she detected an all too familiar seras frequency bearing down on her. Though she’d thought she’d seen the last of Koter, the Henron officer was uncannily persistent in his pursuit. Losha had to credit him for that; quitting was not a choice he could easily make. She and her horse turned around to see him come plodding along on his steed. Somehow, he’d recovered himself and the animal in time to chase her here. She’d actually only bought herself six minutes of lead, but she’d also wasted that since the river was impassable from where she stood. Koter stopped before her, stationing himself a mere five meters away.
“Close,” he said, waving a finger at her; a smirk peeked out the corner of his mouth. “You almost got away. But I,” he slapped his hand against his chest. “I always catch my prey, one way or another. I am the Velhast Hound. Loyal to my people, loyal to the hunt. Looks like the- Hey!”
Deciding she had heard enough of him already, Losha turned back around towards the river. The chasm only spanned seven meters or so. She tallied up a number of estimates, ignoring Koter completely while she determined the viability of an untested series. Her horse huffed audibly and shook its head as if it were disagreeing with her very thoughts. She patted the horse on the neck, leaning close and whispering into its ear.
“Trust me a little bit.” They backed up somewhat as they prepared to move.
“What are you doing?” Koter asked, but he got no response. Suddenly, Losha dashed off, gunning straight towards the river’s gap. At the very edge they leaped. Koter raised a futile hand as if to halt them. Yet a fleeting spark of light shined beneath the horse’s hooves. With the rest of her usable seras, Losha created a huge speed-step but applied it to her partner. They flew over the Sholat River in a single bound. On the other side, they slid for a moment before gaining traction and walking off.
Speechless, Koter balled his hand into a fist and swung it to the side. However, true to his nature, he smiled and tapped his temple. Losha looked over her shoulder but once to see him turn around at a slight run. She figured he was finally retreating, yet she did not notice how he soon came about. Heading for the river too, he rode at the fullest speed his beast could achieve. Sensing his charge, Losha whirled around just in time to see Koter attempting the same stunt, without the aid of serialization however. Though his horse jumped, its limbs extended in best form, those two only cleared three-quarters of the way. Rather than falling into the icy waters churning below them, they hit the incline where the land abruptly dropped.
“Haaaaaah!” Koter yelled as he worked the horse feverishly. Kicking and straining, they clawed their way up the sharp bank, rising by bits until at last they surfaced. Koter reared up his horse on two legs, then set it down on solid ground. Losha shook her head as they stood face-to-face once more.
“As I was saying earlier, looks like the dog has finally beaten the wolf.”
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