Rykka (Beastborne: Book 1)

Part 7: Mad Dash

Song: Smile - Wolf Alice

It only took an hour to reach the other cliff face opposite of the one she had spent the night at. The valley was much longer that it was wide. She used the cliff as more cover than the unreliable tree coverage. Her clothing and companions blended in better in rockier setting anyway. They moved faster once she managed to get a large branch for further stability on the unstable terrain. By afternoon she faced a decision. There were two exits for the valley. The one she had originally planned was smoother, a thin alley between two large cliffs, it required speed but led into a thick forest on the other side that would provide cover for anyone fleeing. It was perfect.

The problem lied in the innocent people she had unintentionally put in harms way. They were on horse back and could not take the other route, one that required both climbing and squeezing through a large maze of boulders, some the size of her former home. The only advantage to that path was her agility. Even with her injury she was fast and light on her feet. Her companions were made for this terrain and were more adept to it than any human could ever wish to be. The problem with this circled back to the innocent lives. She was going to have to throw her lead by giving some obvious sign of where she was so that her enemies didn't go for the obvious choice.

She took a moment to rest as she formed a plan in her mind. Smoke was the obvious answer for revealing her position to her enemies, and to signal the Knights to move. Her spell fire was smokeless unless alighting an outside force. Spell fire always had smoke that matched its flames so it would be clear who had lit a fire here. Her enemies has to know something was wrong with her. Why else would she have allowed herself to be pinned down in the first place? She should've been through the pass by now. She hoped that would be enough for them not to suspect her true purpose.

So with curses leaving her tongue she stood at the base of the boulders and gathered as much of the driest tinder she could find. She made her way a bit further down the slope from the exit and started the fire with her magic. It hummed to escape and she was beginning to feel nauseous with the amount that thrummed under her skin. She had been attempting to conserve essence in case of a fight but it came with a price when that essence built up past her comfort level. It only helped a little as she released it now. Just enough to get a decent amount of smoke in the air. It was clearly smoke from spell fire, she hoped they would assume she had come across an obstacle or even that she had made the rather thoughtless assumption that she had lost them over the past few days of being holed up.

Whatever the case she made quick work of covering any traces of the fire with fresh snow and scrambling back towards the rocks. She had no way of knowing how close her enemies were but she had to be fast. Scrambling up the first few boulders was relatively easy but they only got steeper. It was time consuming and even with her swift movement and agile feet she had been up for the better part of half an hour when she heard a commotion behind her. She only moved faster. Othanis and Aakine were weaving through the boulders high above her head, able to climb where she could never hope to. The growled in sync to warn her of her pursuers closing in.

She knew it and was also aware that even is she made it to the other side of the maze she would be met with a steep slope that she would have to navigate both quickly and carefully to avoid spell fire and falling to her death. She managed to keep moving a few more minutes before she heard voices behind her. They were close enough to make the hair on the back of her head stand up. Her companions had gone silent as they stalked their prey from above. This was their element. Scanning around she noted the her next major obstacle was a large boulder, a few feet taller than herself and many times as wide, stood in the end of a diamond shaped clearing of rocks. Worn handholds that marked a somewhat climbable path were all that gave the impression the path continued.

Approaching it quickly she noted there was also a small opening between it and a neighboring boulder that she might be able to squeeze through on her hands and knees. She was about to try it when she felt the air around her charge with energy. She ducked just in time for a sharp gust of wind to slam into the boulder where her head had been level moments before. The essence infused wind sliced a thick cut into the solid stone. She had no time to think about what that would have done to her skull. Spinning she found three armored figured facing her. They wore the deep blue cloaks signature of their nation and in front of their covered mouths each bore the insignia of a six pointed sun that appeared to be melting.

Her leg protested the crouch but she didn't care. Othanis and Aakine were prodding her mind, eager for her signal to jump in. She was hoping she could avoid that all together. The space she was in would hardly fit the three men if they stood shoulder to shoulder and the end they came from was more narrow than that meaning they could only come at her two at a time. They also seemed to be carrying swords that would be useless in this space if they could even get them out. Pulling two bone handle daggers from her belt she held them both so that the blades pointed downward at a deadly angle. Shifting her weight she took a stance.

The obvious issue was the wind mage so with a single flurry of essence and a quick whistle, two growls shook the surrounding rocks hard enough to loosen smaller debris. In seconds two of the soldiers were on her, the mage had been plucked from his spot as if by a giant bird. He wouldn't be so lucky, the two beast waiting above were quite angry about their home. Being magkin they had some resistance to essence fueled attacks but they didn't need it when they were together. She doubted he would ever even get a good look at them. His friends were now on her as a result of fleeing in her direction out of

For a moment Lithias allowed herself to slip into a more dangerous mindset. She forced herself to remember the seasons she'd spent traveling with Kilthra packs, time spent as more beast than human. It was a dangerous mindset given the consequences of her powe but it was all she could think of that would make it easier for her to cope with what came next. Heart racing she took out the first one before he even remembered she was the real enemy. Her blade sliced first the tendons behind his knee and then his throat in a blur of motion. She didn't have time to think, the space was barely longer than it was wide and he had all but ran into her in his panic. The second one had a moment to regain his senses while she dispatched his friend.

He even had a chance to pull out duel shortblades as he faced her. Her heart sank as she noticed something peculiar about the symbol on his mouth. There was a braided cord forming a triangle around the entire bleeding sun. This man was no ordinary soldier, she was facing a knight. Panic threatened to set in but she forced it back. Her boys would be done with their enemy soon enough, she just had to survive until then, or until she managed to get really lucky and  escape to the top, maybe bringing him with her to her friends for a trap.