Chapter 4 #2
“Hey, I’m here.”
“W-What’s going on?” he whispers.
“We need to find your horse before this kills you.”
“Don’t tell me you went through the Door.”
I can feel his tremors and all too soon, he chokes back a moan as his grip on me spasms.
“Riley, stay with me. Where is the horse?”
He’s not responding, and I’m afraid that I lost my chance.
“Riley, please,” I beg as I reach back and gently nudge his leg.
He lifts his head again and then manages to pull his hand up and point.
Kit’s looking in the same direction now, so I scoop her back up and start running.
The less time I’m in here, the better. The realm seems almost desolate…
like mine. Is this a world they’ve already destroyed and now inhabit?
I hear no birds, no wildlife… but that doesn’t mean there isn’t any.
And it doesn’t mean that I’m not already being watched.
The sky is overcast, with streaks of gray and purple cut through it, but I can’t tell what time of day it is here.
The trees all have leaves with hues ranging from rich red to dark purple.
It’s oddly beautiful but also eerie at the same time.
Kit and the creature attached to my shirt both cock their heads.
Kit’s large dome-shaped ears flick this way and that as she tries to track the direction the noise is coming from, but the creature on my shirt has already pinpointed it.
I rush over to one of the broad trees and press our bodies against it.
I keep Riley against it so his back is safe while I press my hand to the ground to see what I can feel.
At one point in my life, I could have felt the power of whoever is heading here long before seeing or hearing them, but now I have to rely on the magic given to me by the ground and the spirits that roam among them.
My problem is, I don’t know whether the spirits here are willing to assist me or will give away my position, so I just carefully probe before pulling back.
Closing my eyes, I try to sense what it is before I determine that it must be a horseman.
I doubt it’s Conquest. He didn’t seem to be in the best shape when we saw him a week ago, especially after the god apparently bound his horse as well.
Will he begin to suffer like Riley? But Riley took over thirty years to get to this point.
Though was it because he hadn’t unlocked all of his magic?
The creature hanging from me crawls to the left side of my shirt and peeks over my shoulder before hastily scurrying back down. I uneasily look around, uncertain what I should do. Could I fight another horseman?
Possibly, but my fight with Conquest told me that I’m definitely underpowered—and that was without Riley strapped to my back. And with Riley’s help.
I can hear the sound of hoofbeats, and it’s not just one set. It’s a multitude of them… and hounds. I can hear hounds. Will they sniff me out? Thankfully, the souls didn’t follow Riley through the Door, or I fear we’d have given ourselves away immediately.
Instead of standing up, I quietly crawl toward another large tree, trying to get farther away while hoping Riley doesn’t make a sound.
A god of war should ride straight into battle, yet here I am, reduced to crawling along a forest floor and hiding like a coward. But I will beat down my pride to keep Riley safe.
I see a small ledge, an area where the water has washed away the ground, but the trees haven’t yet fallen into the river, still supported by roots holding strong.
I slip over it and crawl under half-exposed tree roots as I press Riley back into the dirt. I pull my scythes free while I listen to the sound of hoofbeats on hard rock falling silent.
“What is it?” a woman asks.
“We’re not alone,” a man says.
“Who would venture here?” she asks.
“We’ll find them,” a mousy-sounding man says. “The hounds will find them.”
I don’t know whether I should move or stay where I am. How quickly will the hounds catch our scent? It’s not like it’ll be easy to hide our scent with a human, a genet, and whatever this monster attached to my shirt is.
I can hear a horse moving closer to us as Kit takes a step forward, and I fear her plan is to draw them away from her precious Riley, but I’m not going to lose her.
I snatch up her tail and shake my head. I can hear the horse snort and the jingle of its tack when it walks right past us.
I don’t know how many there are, but fighting one horseman is more than enough for me.
I’m not quite sure I can take on a horseman and whoever else he has on his team, including hounds, all while protecting Riley.
I hear a commotion behind me and hastily move forward.
Riley’s hands tighten on me, telling me that he’s coherent, even if just for a moment.
I raise a hand to keep him quiet, but he must hear the baying of the hounds because his whole body tenses.
Kit then looks back toward the Door that really isn’t too far from here, but I shake my head.
I’m not letting him die. We have to get his horse and we have to get it now.