They took off through the woods, heading west. She raced between the trees, zig-zagging around them. She was about a mile when she heard the echo of hoof beats behind her. She looked over her shoulder and saw the three men chasing her. They were still a good way back but they were gaining fast. She had to make it to the river. She couldn’t understand how they had gained on her so quickly. She also prayed nothing had happened to Conor. She prodded her horse faster but realized she was weighed down too much with supplies. She had to make a decision, and fast. She decided she’d rather risk starvation and cold than the hand of Fallon. She took her knife from out of the bag that was tied to the pommel and cut through the ropes that held the other two bags to the saddle straps. They fell to the ground with a thump, and she watched as they rolled a ways, then stopped in the dirt. She prodded her horse again and picked up speed. She peered behind her again and found that they were still gaining on her.
“Damn! I’ll never make it to the river with these guys on my tail.”
She raced further ahead and saw a small glen up ahead to the right. When she reached it, she reined her horse and sharply turned, racing ahead through the meadow. If she remembered correctly, there was an outcropping of rocks which climbed up a few degrees and dropped down into the river. If she could get up a ways, there was a cave. She could hide out in there, then leave after they had passed. No, that wouldn’t work. If they were smart, they would figure it out, then she’d be trapped by the cliff and have nowhere to go. She continued on through the meadow then zipped her way through the trees again. The forest was getting denser the further in she got. If she went in too deep, she’d have to slow her pace in fear of running right into the bole of a tree and knocking herself off her horse, or worse, blacking out and falling right into their hands. They weren’t going to get her without a fight. She continued on her pace, hoping if she zagged enough, they would lose her trail, or be confused and have to split up. She rode as fast as she dared, hoping no surprises jumped out at her. The trees here were so dense, she could hardly see the sun (not that the clouds allowed her to before), but it was dark in here, and colder. She pulled her cloak tighter, her hood covering her head, and hunkered closer to her saddle, using the heat that emanated off her horses skin for warmth. She rode on, peering behind her every few minutes to see if she was still being followed. There was another outcropping of rocks ahead of her, and she looked from one side to the other for a way up. She didn’t remember a cliff face this far over, but here it was just the same. She cursed under her breath. Not good. It seemed as though she would be trapped anyway. Well, she thought, she had to get to the river somehow so she could cross it. Maybe from the height, she’d be able to see another way down. She prodded her horse forward, the outcropping looming over her, higher and higher the closer she got. She spotted what looked like the likeliest trail she was going to find and headed in that direction. When she reached it, she tried her best to get her horse to go up, but she kept rearing her head and snorting. The horse was frightened. The only way she was going to get up there was to get off of her and lead her up. She slid from the saddle and tossed the reins over the horses head. She grabbed them and started to pull. The horse wouldn’t budge. She pulled again, the horse snorting and stamping her feet. Melenthia looked around her and could see the men, a ways off still, but not for long. She had to start climbing. She nuzzled her horse and cooed.
“Come on, Lila. I promise I won’t let you fall, girl, but we have to go.”
She rubbed the horse’s nose and tried again to get her to move. She slowly started forward, testing her hooves on the rocks. A few loose stones slid underneath, and that was enough for Lila. She reared again and almost knocked Melenthia off her feet. She looked up the cliff face and decided there was no way a horse could go up that anyway. There were several spots where it was straight up with nothing but scree and scrub to hold on to.
“You’re right, Lila. I understand. I guess I go alone.”
She led the horse backward a bit, into a small copse of trees this side of the meadow to keep her hidden. She tied her reins to one of the smaller trees and untied her remaining bag from the pommel. She flung it crossways over her back and rubbed Lila’s nose again.
“I’ll come back for you, girl.”
She could hear the sword calling to her as if warning her not to leave it behind, but she shook the feeling off. Climbing with a sword on her hip would be difficult. “I will come back for you,” she promised in her mind. The sword must have believed her because it hummed no more.