Talea broke into a sprint at the sight of several knights. They weren’t far behind, heavy boots thudding and armor clanking. It struck her that their burdensome armor was probably the only reason they hadn’t outran her already.
Her heart raced in tempo with her feet. She forced her weary, frazzled mind to stay sharp and vigilant, watching for possible hindrances or opportunities rather than running heedlessly. That alley was a dead end, don’t turn there. That street was open, go that way. There was a fence over there that she could easily jump, while their armor might make it difficult for them. Someone was coming out of that shop, don’t run into them. There were more knights to the left, swerve right. On, and on, until her breath came in ragged gasps and her muscles were on fire.
A nearby stable caught her eye. A small corral was right next to it, holding several male yuleys. Bulls were far more irritable than cows, and they had horns. They were dangerous enough that they were almost never used for anything other than breeding, unless they were castrated. The roof of the barn was just above their pen, within reach of the top of the fence. And from there, a housetop was close enough to jump to…the knights were far enough behind her that she should have time…
Did she dare enact the bold idea? It had plenty of potential to end poorly. Then again, so did being captured.
Talea directed her path toward the corral. She came to a panting stop beside it, just long enough to unlatch the gate with trembling fingers and swing it open. Then she darted through, praying none of the bulls would get angry yet, and went to the back of the enclosure. There she touched the nearest yuley and exerted electricity from her hand into its hide.
The creature bellowed and swung its huge, horned head savagely. She mounted the fence just as it went berserk, ramming into anything in sight: other bulls, the barn wall, the knights that had entered the corral after her. Soon an entire stampede was in motion. The soldiers gave up on her and instead focused on escaping the raging yuleys that charged from the pen and trampled anything that got in the way.
Talea, meanwhile, had hoisted herself from the fence up onto the barn roof. From there she ran toward the opposite edge and jumped, sailing over the small gap and crashing into the house. Picking herself up, she kept going, scurrying along rooftops with arms outstretched for balance and gut contracted with anxiety.
Gradually the noise of the pandemonium she’d caused by freeing the bulls ebbed until she could no longer hear it. Without a Kaydorian in sight, she warily crept to the edge of the rafter she was currently atop. Could she hop down from here? It seemed awfully high. It should be alright though, right? She sat down and wiggled forward until she was right on the rim. One, two, th—
“Talea, wait!”
She jerked her head up, a grin already forming. “Yhkon!”
He materialized from seemingly nowhere, grinning back. “I thought I’d never find you. Now don’t jump, you might hurt yourself.”
Okay, just stay up here indefinitely? Until the knights catch up and can fetch me a ladder?
The Warden moved forward until he was standing directly under her. “Now jump.”
“Wait, what?” She scrunched up her face and leaned away from the edge.
“I’m going to catch you,” he said as if it were foolish of her to question him. “Oh, come on. I just watched you run into a pen of bulls, zap one, and climb onto a roof while they trampled your pursuers. And you were about to jump off and sprain an ankle, but now you won’t jump and let me catch you?” He smirked.
Talea puckered her lips. “Fine.” She squirmed forward again, examined the unnerving amount of empty space between her and Yhkon’s open arms, took a deep breath, and slid off.
He caught her easily and set her down. “See? What’d I tell you.” Before she had a chance to respond, he was already pulling her down the street. “Come on.”
They jogged through alleyways, undisturbed by knights. It was necessary to avoid confrontation with the citizens, and stay out of sight, but conversation was possible. “What happened to Eclipse?”
Yhkon’s lip curled in something between melancholy and venom. “Those bloody knights took him.”
“Oh.” She sucked her cheeks in. “Sorry.”
“Anyway.” he shook his head as he stopped at the corner of a building, peering out from behind it to scout the next open square they’d have to pass through. “I wanted to say, you did well. I never intended for you to have to spend the night by yourself. But then when I finally found you,” he sent an amused look her way, “you seemed to be doing just fine.”
She beamed and ducked her head.
Yhkon turned back to observing the square. “Too bad all my gear was on Eclipse, or I’d have some food to offer you.”
“Oh! I completely forgot—food!” She pulled out the apple and the canteen, holding them out to him with a smile. “Because as it is, I have food to offer you.”
His eyebrows lowered with skepticism even as he eyed the apple hungrily. “Where’d you get that?”
“A woman met me at the well and let me come back to her house for a bit. Don’t worry, I didn’t trust her right away. But she was really nice. And I already had some bread, so the apple is yours.” She moved it up and down in an enticing gesture.
The Warden paused only a moment before accepting the fruit. He crunched away at it while they strode across the square. Probably made them blend in more anyhow, she figured. Well, okay, not so much. The tall, broad-shouldered man with an assortment of weaponry, an unusual pauldron and gauntlets, and a hood that shadowed his face did not blend in—whether or not he was eating a crunchy apple.
~♦~
“Yhkon...” She closed her eyes and stopped walking, reluctant to complain, even more reluctant to keep forcing her exhausted body on. “Can we take a break?”
The Warden kept up his constant scrutiny of their surroundings, only casting a brief glance her way. “Just a little farther.”
So Talea trudged on after him. A little farther until what? Her gait was more of a stagger than a walk, but at least he had slowed down considerably, no doubt to accommodate her. Muscles were sore and stiff, her palms stung, her stomach was past growling and instead just hurt, and her head pounded with a dull ache. Keeping her feet moving in a straight line was more and more difficult. Still, the eerie shadows of the coming night made her increase her efforts to keep up with Yhkon.
Her brief respite and bit of food at Lerese’s that morning felt like days ago. They had been walking—and sometimes running or hiding—ever since. Yhkon wasn’t very talkative, but he’d made it sound as though they would be out of the city soon, where they could rest more safely and hopefully find the other wards and Wardens. She wished soon would come a little sooner.
Even talking sounded exhausting, but she wanted a distraction. “How will we find the others?” As she asked, she thought she saw trees up ahead, between buildings.
“Theoretically…” Yhkon made a gesture for her to stay where she was, while he—for reasons beyond her comprehension—climbed on top of a shed, and then onto a higher roof beside it. From there, he peered through the darkness, toward the trees she’d seen. “We won’t have to.”
“What?”