The Annex

Chapter 21

I was awakened to jostling and the ground lurching beneath my face. My hands were tied with rough rope that chafed against the skin on my wrists, but was rather loose. Not a smart move. I was situated on top of a horse with a rider behind me. My head throbbed as I screwed my eyes shut before blinking several times, as if I could blink this reality away. To the best of my hearing, I could only hear this horse, so the man was traveling alone. I kept myself in a slumped position to give myself the element of surprise. My mind raced as I devised a plan to free myself from my captor. I had to disarm him somehow and without the horse, he would hopefully be unable to pursue the horse and I.

With a swift and smooth movement, I sat up and threw my head backwards. The back of my head made solid contact with my attacker's nose and he cried out in pain as I felt blood drip onto my hands.

"You bitch," he cried out. I had precious little time before he recovered. I balled my fists and smashed them into his crotch before using my body weight to push him off the back end of the horse. In shock at the success of my plan, I almost forgot to flee. I slipped my hands from their bonds and kicked my heel into the horse. The horse took off as we circled around to go back the way we had come and I spared a glance over my shoulder into the darkness at the figure of a man curled on the ground.

I didn't know where I was riding to, but I wanted to put as much distance as I could between me and my kidnapper. I could feel the heave of the horse's chest between my knees as it's hooves pounded against the ground, soft thuds. The moon lit up the star scattered sky and without my cloak, the cold bit at my skin. I hoped that Tomas and Mimi would pick it up for me. I shook the silly thought from my mind. I had more important things to worry about, like getting far away from here. My headache was still there, but the adrenaline from my escape had dulled it.

I knew I couldn't push the horse much further, so I slowed it down to a walk. I had put more than enough distance between us. If the man could catch up with a horse being pushed to top speeds, I was at a loss anyway. I risked the reveal of my location and let out a sharp whistle, hoping that Torr and the rest of my group were close enough. If Torr flew to me, I might be able to get a message to Tomas when he realized Torr was gone. I was hoping that if Tomas found Torr gone, he would then whistle and bring Torr and my message right back to him. But I heard no wingbeats, no hawk cry and my face fell.

I decided to continue in the direction I had started off, determined not to end up circling back to my attacker. But I was still dangerously helpless. Left without warmth, with no weapons, no map and no idea where I was, I was in a bad position. Even my necklace had been taken. A tear slipped down my cheek as the hopelessness expanded and enveloped me. I had never been lost, and I had never been alone. The combination wasn't any better either. I let the tears stream down my face as I rode. They left cold tracks running down my cheeks.

As I felt like I had lost all hope, I noticed a light off in the distance. I knew that the light could be the exact opposite of what I needed, it could be a trap, or more danger lurking. But my chances at survival outside in the open were worse. It came down to a decision between the lesser of two evils. I pulled the reins to the right to turn the horse in the direction of the light, and hopefully my salvation.

As I drew near, I could see that the light belonged to a village. I wasn't sure if this is where my attacker was from. I also didn't want anyone to awaken anyone in the village with the sound of the horse, so I tethered it to a tree. As I dismounted, I checked the sex of the horse and determined my new companion to be a boy.

"Be a good boy, Cooper," I patted the newly named horse softly before making my way into town by foot.

The light came from an alehouse. My eyes narrowed and as awful as it made me feel, I realized that drunkards might be my only way to score a few coins to buy a map, food or information when morning came. I sucked in a breath and made my way to the door of the alehouse. I paused for a moment before I opened the door.