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Within the hour the freshly anointed healer was astride the horse and headed toward the Elite, Caya's voice still in her ears. She was to turn east with all of the speed that the steed could muster at the very instant she noticed even a hint of the plume atop the helmet of an Elite. Until then there was nothing to fill her time but a tense wait, and a few simple spells to restore her horse for the run. When she'd whispered the final spell, admiring the relative ease that new amulet provided, she turned to her companion. Myn sat on the ground beside her, still bearing the helmet in her teeth.
"Are you going to carry that with you for the entire trip? We will have to move very quickly. I hope you can keep up," she said, eager to break the silence.
As an answer, Myn's head shot up. She smelled the air and stood, dancing about anxiously. Myranda saw nothing, and heard only the tapping of icy rain on the needles of the trees. She climbed down from the horse and put her ear to the cold ground. Faintly, almost silently, she could hear--or, more accurately, feel--the steady beat of dozens of hooves. Myn scampered up a tree and trained her eyes on the south. Her keen sight must have caught something between the trees. Something she hated. The dragon leapt to the ground and streaked southward.
"Myn, no!" Myranda called out.
Her faithful friend skidded to a stop, and looked to her pleadingly, her eyes fairly begging to be allowed to do what her heart demanded of her, to get revenge on those that had taken something dear from her. Myranda looked her in the eyes.
"Myn, we cannot. Not now. Follow," she said.
Reluctantly the dragon returned to her side, clamping her jaws onto the helmet as a replacement target. Myranda watched the trees in the distance. Soon the sound of hooves was booming in her ears. She wanted to run, but she had to be sure that they followed her, and did not continue on to Wolloff's tower. A minute more. A second more. A heartbeat more. Now!
One horse and rider came into view. It was a woman, it seemed, though her height and grace, even in the split-second that Myranda had seen her, betrayed her to be an elf. Myranda spurred her horse to the east. Myn ran beside her. She could match the speed of the horse with little effort, though carrying the helmet and glancing back at her pursuers regularly gave the dragon some difficulty.
The wind tore by them with twice the bite it would have had if they were standing still, and the rain and snow saturated them in minutes, but those were the least of her worries. Myranda turned every few moments, remembering more of the words of Caya.
If you have a chance to escape, you may not know immediately. Those men are riding war horses, bred for strength. Wind Runner is a messenger horse, bred for endurance. It will seem that they are keeping pace with you, and they may well be, but the sprint will wear down their horses quickly. The gap between you should start to widen quickly and suddenly. If it doesn't, then you are done for.
Every few strides, Myranda judged the distance. Her heart pounded harder with each glance that didn't show any headway. Finally, just when her own steed seemed at the brink of collapse, the followers seemed to stop entirely. Their horses broke stride and faltered. Even with Wind Runner slowing considerably, the Elites were out of sight within minutes.
Some relief came to Myranda, but not much. She knew that now the soldiers had seen her. They had followed her trail this far on descriptions alone. If she did not take every advantage she had at her disposal to keep her distance, they would be upon her. And so she continued to spur on her horse. The animal was exhausted and had not had a proper rest in days, but it had to continue, or they would both be caught.
When Wind Runner had run for the better part of three hours, it became clear that, despite her spells, the creature needed to rest. There was no sense destroying the beast now, or she would be stranded, and Myranda was little more than a novice in the ways of magic. Her own strength would need to be conserved as well. The Elites must have fallen an hour or more behind by now; perhaps she could risk some rest. A small stream, surrounded by the very most persistent of weeds, presented itself as the logical place for the group to catch their breath. The horse and dragon gulped at the water. She stood, stretching her legs and trying to keep the rain and ice from her eyes. Myn managed to snatch up a rabbit that foolishly wandered near while Wind Runner ate the weeds most greedily. Myranda had no food of her own, but the constant fear had left her without an appetite. She could not take her eyes off of the western horizon.
Myn had just begun to gnaw upon her precious toy again when Myranda's eyes locked onto something that she could not identify. The sun had long ago set, making it difficult to make out anything more than shapes. In the distance, far off, there was what looked to be a faint, twinkling star . . . but it was on the ground. For a moment she stood in awe of the bizarre sight. She knew, though, that regardless of what it was that was growing nearer to her with each passing instant, with her luck it could not be anything but bad news. She looked to the horse, still weak from the run. Her eyes turned back to the odd sight. It was white with a dash of blue, a single point of light with a barely visible trail behind it. She was reminded of the crystal that Wolloff used. The same light would glimmer briefly in it when he would cast a spell.
"We have to leave now," she said.
She climbed to the back of the steed, with Myn wearily gathering up the helmet in her teeth. She gave the beast a kick, but the mare would not budge. It could not go on. The breaking point had been reached. Myranda turned an anxious eye to the west again. The light was closer, there was no question, but what was it? For once, fate conspired in her favor. A single, powerful bolt of lightning jumped silently from cloud to cloud, brilliantly illuminating the field for an instant. In the heartbeat that the truth was visible, the answer was burned into her eyes. The elf, the leader of the Elites, was riding toward her, a bare crystal held over her head, summoning an unnatural speed that pushed her horse forward at easily twice the rate that Myranda's own could ever hope to muster.
Myranda froze in terror at the sight. There was nothing she could do. Their leader would be upon her in no time. A monumental crack of thunder shook her from her stupor and frightened the horse into motion. Myn quickly bolted. Somehow despite the long run, the young dragon was still able to match the speed she'd managed before. Myranda clutched her pendant.
There was no choice now. The time for magic had come. Enhancements such as the one the Elites must be using were not included in her education, but spells of healing and recovery could bring a strength and energy to her mount greater than many days rest could provide.
She locked her mind into the purest state of calm that circumstances would permit and began to speak her spells. One to eliminate the weariness, another to ease the pain. After a handful more, Wind Runner was running as fast as she ever had, but Myranda was much the worse for wear. She nearly lacked the will to remain on the steed's back. Slowly, she turned to see how close the enemy had become. Not more than a hundred paces separated them now, and the gap was closing with each stride. Myranda closed her eyes and prayed. There was nothing more she could do. It was in the hands of fate now. Or perhaps not.
Myn turned to face the elf. Her teeth still clenched about the helm, she sprayed forth a stream of flame from her nostrils. The enemy horse panicked, and at the unnatural speed, could not maintain control. The pursuing horse and rider tumbled to the ground. Myn dropped the chewed helm and locked her eyes on the new prize. With one powerful bite, she clamped onto the elf's helmet and tore it from her head. The horse, mad with fear, galloped wildly away. Myranda called and the dragon hurried to catch up, a fresh trophy in her teeth and a dazed and angry soldier in her wake. The elf looked after the escaping pair, but was helpless to follow. Safety, at least for the moment, was theirs.
The night passed with Myranda slowly regaining enough strength to recast her spells. In time, even Myn could not keep up with the mystically-aided horse. She leapt onto Wind Runner's back, but it did not slow the beast as Caya had feared. To the contrary, th
e clutch of the dragon's claws urged the horse forward faster than any spur could.
By first light, the forest that should have been more than a day away was in sight. Such was the ability of a tireless steed. Of course, the toll that was spared the mount was taken on the rider. Myranda was barely awake, each stride threatening to knock her from the beast's back. As she fought for each moment of consciousness, she also wrestled with what she had seen. That soldier, the elf woman. Sometime, somewhere, she had seen her before. The image of her face burned in Myranda's mind. Something from long ago.
The dappled shadows cast from the branches passing overhead prompted Myranda to wrestle her eyes open again. They had arrived. Wind shook the clinging remnants of the night's rain from the trees. The horse, sensing that this was indeed their destination, had slowed to a trot, then to a walk. Myranda stopped the steed entirely. She didn't so much dismount the creature as fall from it.
From the looks of things, they had made it quite far into the woods before she had become aware of it. The weary girl pulled herself to her feet. She had to move away from the trail that they had made thus far, and, alas, abandon the horse. As long as it seemed that she had remained on the steed, the pursuers would follow the hoofprints. All that needed to be done was to move a fair distance without leaving tracks.
This was no simple task, though. The rain had muddied the ground. Tracks would be easy to find. She led the horse to a stream, the bed of which was composed of smooth stones. As it took a well-deserved drink, she stepped ankle-deep into the icy water. Myn looked with curiosity. It took a bit of coaxing for the dragon to join in the unpleasant but unfortunately necessary activity. After more than enough time to thoroughly numb her feet to the knees once again, she left the stream in an area too covered with pine needles to permit tracks to be left behind. A thick, full tree served as shelter as she collapsed on the driest patch of ground she could find. Myn fell on top of her and almost instantly dropped into a sleep of utter exhaustion.