Fleeing

Charyic rode like the hounds of Malies were after her. She had gotten free of her bonds and struck the Light Bringer in the head with the hilt of her knife, that part she did right. But she knew when she made herself stab the woman in the throat she hadn’t hit the right spot. Miryil had bled but it hadn’t sprayed. And she couldn’t make herself try it again. Killing wasn’t something any decent thief had to do often and Charyic hated it. She left her there to bleed.

All of the gear that Miryil had brought was on the second horse and it was tied to the saddle of the one Charyic kept kicking and driving forward. She needed to get far enough to stop and go through the things, lighten the load, and then take just one horse. When she came to a branch in the road she bore right and rode until she came to a small burned out house in the mid-afternoon. She stopped there and pulled down the gear sorting it as quickly as she could.

She took the damned cloth that Miryil had threatened her with, the tent roll, and bedroll. Foodstuffs and water. The rest she dragged to the house and tossed into the burned mess. Charyic looked over the horses. She took the one that looked the least tired and turned the other loose with a smack on its rump. She was up on the animal’s back as quickly as she could manage and pushing forward again with desperate urgency.

When she finally stopped for the evening she moved well back from the road and tried to weave a screen of boughs over where she put the horse and set up the small tent. She didn’t dare light a fire.

In the morning she was up before the sun and listening carefully before poking her head out of the tent, like a hunted animal. She had everything rolled and back on the horse in the grey light of dawn before the sun could filter through the trees with any real strength. She rode hard again for as long as the horse could manage. As she walked next to the horse to let it rest, hoping to get another burst of speed or two out of it before evening, she began to notice the thief signs.

Charyic grinned in relief. She began to make a loud clicking chitter between her cheek and teeth, letting anyone listening know she wasn’t a mark. When a scowling man stepped out of the bushes she grinned and opened her arms wide. The man crossed his arms in response. Charyic blinked and drew in a sharp breath. He stared at her and made a disappointed clucking sound. She inclined her head, lowering her arms. More men came from the sides and began to paw through the saddlebags.

After a moment one man cursed and said, “She ain’t got a thing. Food, tent, bedroll. No money an’ no goods.”

She made an exasperated motion with her hands, fleeing. She looked back to the man in front of her and drew a line with her thumb from the base of her throat to under her ear and out along her cheek in a fluid motion, serious danger.

The man made a hissing sound and a motion of his hands and the thieves moved back into the bushes. There was no welcome to be found here. Charyic rubbed her face in frustration and started walking again.

She heard the sound of hooves behind her after perhaps an hour. She was swinging herself up into the saddle when the bird landed in the middle of the road in front of her. Charyic shook her head and put her heels to the horse.

Esus hopped and flapped barring her way and spooking the horse. It only took a moment for Charyic to realize this was not going to end well. She leapt down and ran into the woods hoping to get enough distance to find a place to hide. She skidded down the side of a hill and ran along the bottom, not daring to double back with Esus likely watching from the air. Cover was what she needed, thicker trees and hanging boughs. Bolting toward what seemed like a promising place to lose the Light Bringer she ran almost headlong into the large brown bear.

The deafening sound it made as it rose on its hind legs was the only sound Charyic registered as she began to back slowly away, hardly daring to breathe. The large bird that came diving through the branches seemed to startle the bear more than she did. It swatted and bellowed at Esus as he tried to maneuver in the thick trees and confining boughs.

She pulled out her small knife as Esus was swatted out of the air and the bear went for him.  She stabbed at its flank and kicked it. It came around fast, enraged, and ready to kill. It came at her and she attacked it, going for the nose and eyes. When she was caught by its paw and slammed against the tree trunk, she didn’t even have the air in her lungs to scream with before the world went black and red.