The Wildlands (working title)

Chapter 9 - Yala

The horse reared. Yala was still holding onto it, despite the animal doing its best to throw her off. She tried to calm it or at least lead it in the direction of her choice, but every attempt to regain control over her own horse seemed to fail. And the animal's efforts to get rid of her got stronger and more dangerous by the second. So Yala jumped off. It wasn't the most effortless landing of her life, but she fared better than the chieftain probably. As soon as it felt that its rider was gone, the horse broke into a sprint and disappeared into the dense forest.

"Luwe!" she yelled after it. "Yirol!" She whistled and repeated the command once more, but she could already tell that this horse was not gonna listen to her right now. She let out a resigned sigh and turned to the rest of the group. Sigey stopped his horse and dismounted, and Yala's eyes immediately followed the direction of his concerned look. Tiya, the Radiant, chieftain of the janti tribe, was sitting on the ground in the middle of some wide-leaved pink flowers. She was holding her hands to her neck with straining muscles. Tears were flowing from her bloodshot eyes and her entire face was twisted by fear.

"Tiya? Tiya Ikandra?" Sigey asked cautiously as he stepped closer.

Yala immediately put her hand out to stop him, even though he was way too far for her to reach. "Don't get closer to her!"

"I wasn't planning to, good madam. Not yet."

Their eyes never left the distressed woman, who seemed to panic more and more as she kept looking around the forest.

"Is she alright?" came the tentative question in Imperial from the captive.

"Wrong question," Yala stated, still looking at the chieftain.

"I mean, yes, she's clearly not... alright... Do you know what's wrong with her?"

"I don't. Second question is: can it happen to us?"

"And the third," Sigey continued her line of thought, "how far behind are the Imperials."

Khodra looked around and for a few moments they all listened. Past Tiya's terrified whimpers the only sounds they could hear were the songs and screeches of various birds.

"I don't see any movement," Khodra told them.

"Good. Let's try to fix this then," Yala announced and Sigey seemed to think it was his moment to shine.

He moved a little closer to the terrified woman and spoke to her softly, "can you hear me? Come, I'll help you get up."

This was the exact moment when said woman turned her fearful gaze toward him and let out a terrible shriek. Then, before the big man could do anything, Tiya jumped to her feet and ran as fast as her legs could carry her through the undergrowth. In the place where she was sitting a moment ago a reddish dust was swirling in the air.

"Shit! Keep away from that dust!" Yala yelled, then glanced at the other warrior. "Good job! First the fire, now this?!"

"Did you have any better ideas?" Sigey snapped back at her as they both began to run after the fleeing chieftain.

"Knock her out? Put her on the other horse?"

"I'd ask you, good madam," the big man told her as he stopped for a moment to clear away some branches in their path, "to remind me to never hire you for any job if this is how you treat the person you work for. But I don't think I'll need the reminder after this."

"Great," Yala said unaffected. "Just keep cutting."

Khodra who was trying to lead the horse through the undergrowth just managed to catch up with them when the way was cleared and the two warriors broke into a sprint once more. They lost sight of Tiya, but the occasional distressed cries helped them track her down. They found her kneeling in the middle of a clearing, but this time, she seemed more tense. She clenched her teeth and fists and just stared at the ground, slightly shaking.