Here Be Dragons: The Protector

Chapter six: Fugitive

Lukas and Jenna had returned to their team and reported what they had found. After a quick discussion, it was decided that until further away from the town, Lukas and Jenna would track the sparks from the ground while the other riders – including Jenna's dragon, Zephyr – followed from above. The idea was that Jenna would send her partner a mental message if they found anything. During the hasty remount that ensued, Lukas gently tugged his connection to Kaolin. He didn't feel the response until well after they had left the town – it would be a long time before they were reunited.

They had entertained a slim hope that the sparks would abandon the wagon after fleeing town, but they were disappointed; they needed a faster way to travel if they hoped to catch their quarry. Lukas turned his head to the side as he asked "Have you ever been ferried before?"
She shook her head before replying "I've never been the passenger, no; though ferrying is part of the lessons now, so I'm familiar with it." They continued to walk briskly along the road until they crested a hill, hiding the town from view. They stopped just off the side of the road. A quick check to ensure there were no onlookers, and Jenna stepped up beside him. She planted her legs wide and leaned forward slightly, bracing herself against the ground. He matched her pose before cutting out the square of stone beneath their feet. He raised it upon a dirt pedestal used that to push them forwards. Speed was required, but judging by the number of Turned bodies they had found at the town, he would need as much power as he could hold onto. These two instincts wrestled within him until he let the platform accelerate. He decided that roughly the speed of a galloping charger would be a good compromise, as the wagon would be driven by a pack horse – slower even before being laden with the cart and its contents. He left the tracking to Jenna while he concentrated on directing them. The world faded into the rumbling churn of the earth behind him, the bumpy ground ahead, and the beads of sweat steadily dripping into his eyes.

A tug at his shirt made him slow them down and look around. On the most part, the scenery around them looked identical to any other point on the road – on either side was a thin band of grass leading to a thick forest, the floor not visible through the undergrowth. The detail separating it from any other point was the ransacked wagon beached on the side of the road. The tracks they had been following seemed to lead to this, so he set them down to get a better look. He splintered the stone square and swept any debris into the forest. The cart was a simple yet sturdy wooden design that had obviously used to hold fido, judging by the grains Lukas found in the wagon bed. The back-left corner was badly singed, and the missing wheel there exposed the broken stoke. There were small smudges of blood all over the vehicle, and Jenna pointed out more drag marks around the side and hoof prints sprinting away. Seeming satisfied they were now to follow the horse's trail, she once again prepared to ferry. Lukas was less convinced. "Just let me check something before we head out, I have a feeling this isn't quite what it looks like." With that, he closed his eyes and radiated his mind outward – pressing it along the ground until it fell into a small divot in the mud just within the tree line. Striding over, what he found confirmed his suspicions: it was a footprint. It was the first of a trail that led into the gloom of the forest. However, the foot itself was pointing out of the forest, as if they were walking backwards. Or dragging someone. Realising this, he called back to his companion, "Jenna? Look, here; I don't think they actually got on the horse."
After a brief look at the scene, she seemed to come to the same conclusion. She bowed her head slightly before looking up at him and saying "I agree. They're probably hiding somewhere nearby, hoping that whoever was chasing them would follow the false trail. Although I did tell Zephyr to carry on down the road looking for the girl on a horse, just in case." With a nod, Lukas turned and pushed through the brush, leaving Jenna to follow on behind him.

They were forced to travel slowly, as they couldn't see the footprints through the brush. They could've followed broken twigs and the like, but they had seen a few large animals which obviously dwelled nearby, so decided it would likely be the wrong trail. Quickly growing frustrated with their pace, and loath to start hacking away at the vegetation, Lukas repeated his scan from earlier. After finding a few footprints and judging their direction, he set off that way and repeated the process. Other than swerving around trees, they had travelled in a straight line. "They obviously knew where they were going" he stated, "there must be something around here that they're looking for." Eventually, they came upon a small cave. There was no clearing before the entrance, so if they hadn't had the footprints to follow, Lukas was sure they never would've known it was there. Unfortunately, that gave those inside the advantage; they surely must've heard their pursuers coming, as they hadn't been trying to mask their movements until now – it would have slowed them down too much.

Still, Lukas motioned to Jenna for quiet, dropped into a slight crouch, and began watching the placement of his feet among the vegetation. He knew he would see very little, so he concentrated instead on his hearing. That was what saved him. A sharp twang to his right announced the firing of a bow, and he quickly raised the shield. The incoming arrow rebounded off the stone plate, knocking loose a few chips. His sword was already in his grasp before he realised that he was not under attack from the Turned. If he was, it wouldn't be arrows assailing him. He lowered his shield slightly so he could shout at the source of the arrows. "Wait, please; we're not here to harm you." He threw his sword on the ground for good measure – he could pick it up with his mind, of course, but it would reassure whoever was wielding the bow. "We're not the things that attacked you last night, either; we're here to help."
A female voice carried "We don't need your help" from the treetops before a slight rustle announced she was moving.
Jenna had obviously picked up that the voice was not young enough to be one of the sparks. "You may not, but your daughter does."
The tightening of a bowstring came before her fierce reply "What do you know of my daughter?"
"We know that your house was attacked last night. We know she had something to do with the fire that killed the monsters attacking you. We know still hasn't woken up. But, more importantly, we know how to keep her safe." Jenna was brusque but confident, and Lukas was impressed at her negotiation skills. The arrow that he nearly missed told him the woman in the trees was not.
"How do I know you're not the same monsters that attacked us?"
Lukas automatically raised an eyebrow at that, and threw back "I take it you didn't get a look before your daughter incinerated them, then? Skin made of black stone, glowing eyes?" His temptation to twirl sarcastically was quashed by the threat of an arrow in his back.
"Why should I trust you?" the voice wavered, uncertain – she may not have seen them clearly, but she'd obviously noticed there was something distinctly inhuman about last night's assailants.
"Because we're the same as she is." Lukas replied, and then lifted a pillar of rock from the ground to show what he meant.

A few seconds later, the bow hit the ground next to the sword, and a woman clambered to the ground. There was a brown crust on her forehead, and mud spattered the hem of her torn green dress. Her hair was a dark brown, made paler by the strands of grey running through it. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes as she looked them over, gestured for them to follow, and led them into the dark maw of the cave.