There was no need to call for help now. Lars and Levi were startled awake by Obsidian's call and the man paused before he could get to me. He let out another curse, glancing around fretfully, then turned to flee into the woods. He crashed through the undergrowth with a grunt, vanishing out of sight.
"What's going on?" Lars asked, already at my side with his sword drawn. "Are you alright?"
My hands were shaking so much that Lars's dagger in my grasp was useless. "There was a man," I stammered, "he—he had a blade and he..." I could not force the rest of the words from my mouth.
Hold still, I told my hands. If I couldn't control my trembling, I might as well not have a weapon at all.
Levi's voice cut through the dark. "Where did he go?"
I pointed straight ahead, past Obsidian. "Into the woods there," I said.
The Volthonian gave a sharp, shrill whistle and his horse, a white blur, started towards him. He rushed over to it, untied the reins from a tree and leapt up onto the saddle. Ignoring Lars telling him to wait, the Volthonian was off, racing after my attacker, deeper into the forest.
"We must follow him," Lars spoke urgently, already striding over to his horse, "this might all be a trap."
I nodded, bolting over to free Obsidian from the branch he was tied to. I hopped up onto his back and gave him a pat. "Thank you for your warning," I whispered. Directing him to face the woods Levi had disappeared into, I waited for Lars to take the lead. His silhouette atop his horse passed me by and Obsidian and I followed close behind. Lars's horse broke into a canter.
"They can't have gotten far," Lars called back to me.
That would only be true if the man was running on foot. Wouldn't Levi have caught him by now? Where could they be? It was highly likely the man had had a horse waiting for him for a quick escape.
"We need to go faster," I told Lars.
"Yes, you're right. I see we've both come to the same conclusion." He ordered his horse Reydelf onward, launching into a gallop.
Obsidian was a cannonball in the night, crashing into bushes and barreling through thickets. I had to duck down several times to avoid the low-hanging branches of thick, leafy trees. It wasn't until Reydelf's alarming call pierced the air up ahead that Obsidian came to an abrupt halt, hooves slipping on earth. He stood on his hind legs suddenly and my heart stuttered. All I could do was wrap my arms around his neck to keep from falling off, hugging tightly. Once his front legs hit the ground again, I was safe enough to hold onto the reins.
We had come close to colliding with Lars and Reydelf. Peering around them, I was able to make out the Volthonian thanks to his ghost of a horse. He climbed down from his saddle, hammer at his side as he approached a crumpled shape on the ground. There was another horse neighing a few paces away.
"Who are you? Why were you at our camp?" Levi questioned, standing in front of the shape. The man hid his face, began to mumble something. Levi stomped on the stranger's boot. "Speak up."
Lars and I got down from our horses and crept over to the interrogation. With what little light from the moon, I could see that the man's clothes were tattered and smudged with dirt. "I was only after the girl's treasure, I promise. I did not mean to startle anyone," he said. Finally, he lifted his head and met each of our eyes, his gaze pleading. He looked like he could be around my pa's age, his dark hair streaked with strands of gray. His mouth was barely visible through his unkempt beard. "I only wanted the necklace. That is all."
