He woke up to an all too familiar growl.

Evander sat up slowly, reaching up to rub the sleep from his eyes and turning towards the sound. Luna’s head lifted from where she had been munching on a pile of stale hay in one corner, whickering softly with her ears pricked forward towards Orion.

His body was taunt, fur raised, tail arched stiffly over his back and lips folded up into a snarl. It rumbled deep within his chest, sending Evander’s heart racing the longer the hound continued to growl. He got to his feet carefully, unsure as to what could have set him off.

Orion didn’t even twitch.

“Be quiet,” he hissed.

The growling didn’t stop.

“What is it?”

Evander slid forward on his knees, peeking through a crack in the door only to have his blood frozen by the sight just what was out there. Four horseman, one crouched behind his horse studying something on the ground, stood just beyond the shed. He swore, assuming the one on the ground was looking at whatever scattered remains of tracks they’d left.

The growling continued until Evander clasped a firm hand over the hound’s muzzle. “Do you want them to find us?”

The hound stopped, flattening his ears against his head at the scolding. Evander looked back outside again, feeling his heart freeze in his chest when he saw the man on the ground advancing towards them. Orion was grabbed by the scruff and hauled backwards as he scrambled for his pistol only to make it half way before the door was shoved against.

A gunshot split the air.

“Crossvale, he’s still out there.”

“Find him.”

The door shook again as the man’s weight was leaned off of it and Evander didn’t even dare to breathe until he heard the sound of their horses riding off again. He exhaled heavily, standing on shaking legs and hardly daring to move back towards his horse.

With the ever increasing number of runaways, it wasn’t ever a surprise to see bounty hunters even when he wasn’t fleeing from the Dravara. They were paid, handsomely from what he’d heard, to capture anyone who made the decision to run. It was, much to Evander’s dismay, almost impossible to reach the south on his own and he knew for a fact that very few made it beyond a few miles of their homes.
Though, he supposed, he’d already done that.

It was the brutal truth that many runaways ended up dead or even worse, in the eyes of some, captured before they reached the south where documents could be forged. The hope, however small it may have been, of being able to escape seemed to outweigh the risk of what else could happen.

The plan hadn’t ever been for Evander to travel alone, but never with anyone else aside from Silas. On most occasions, groups formed and picked their way south in small numbers but Silas had refused to even allow him to think about doing that.

“Orion, come.”

He reached into his pack, seeing his hands were still shaking, and pulled out a small bundle of cloth. Evander swallowed, feeling a pang of hunger as soon as he unwrapped the cloth and started on the roughness of the dried meat he found. Despite the sickness he felt, the stark wrongness that surrounded most everything, the impatient growling of his stomach had begun to outshine his fear.

Orion whined, sitting down in front of him and wagging his tail quickly behind him.

“You can hunt. Go get something,” Evander laughed idly. “This is mine.” But the hound only whined again and he sighed, shaking his head and tossing the last bit before moving back to collect Luna once again.

The dog nudged at his arm.
“That’s all I have, I’m sorry, pup.”

He snorted, following as Evander tugged his horse towards the outside again without another word. Climbing back into the saddle again, he turned Luna the opposite way the bounty hunters had gone and whistled softly for Orion to follow.

“Off we go,” he breathed.

They had a long way to travel without being detected if they were going to make it in time, he couldn’t delay. He shivered, wondering how it felt colder than the night before despite the patchy sunlight that filtered down through the trees above him. But just as it had been the night before, the snow still clung to the ground in sweeping drifts between the tree trunks.

It was better to avoid the towns, Silas had said, if he wanted to avoid drawing attention to himself. Some part of him hoped he could find someone to travel with despite Silas’ warning against it.

He didn’t want to be alone.

Without Silas, he wouldn’t know who to trust or where to go to find what he needed. There were some, more than he wanted to think about, who would give him up for the sake of a reward. And with their reward would come his capture, his doom and his failure. It may have seemed like a wonderful deal to those not caught in the situation but to a runaway, it was maddeningly terrifying.

Orion sneezed beside him.

“Snow in your nose, pup?”

The hound wagged.

Luna snorted when her hooves struck the road, leaping over a shallow ditch just beside it, Orion trotting up just beside them. He pulled her back, not wanting to appear to be in any sort of hurry despite the urgency that ate at his thoughts. It would arouse suspicion if he moved too quickly and that wasn’t something he could afford in the slightest.

With the curving of the road, he spotted a town or rather a cluster of buildings he could only assume was a settlement of some kind. It was small, regardless of it was and Evander kept his head down as the trio loped down road in front of shops that sold anything from pocket watches to children’s toys and one, the smallest of the buildings, even looked to be selling weaponry of some sort.

“Come on,” he mumbled, looking down at the dog that weaved back and forth beside him.

It was quiet despite the few who wandered through the streets but Evander kept his eyes from wandering too far. He didn’t have time nor the bravery to stop despite having been there countless times with Silas when the two were younger.

“Cold here, isn’t it?” he asked, half to the dog and half to himself.

Luna sped up again when he tapped his heels against her side, spurring the horse into a canter as they reached the end of the buildings. They had a long while to travel and every second counted if he wanted to reach the south in three weeks. He dreaded thoughts of things happening otherwise but he supposed, as much as he wanted to deny it, that was only if Silas had evaded capture and hadn’t been killed.

He tried his hardest not to think about that.

A cold chill blew in with him, swirling snow and ice at his feet.

As soon as he entered, it became apparent that he wasn’t welcome, feeling the daggers in the man’s gaze digging into his skin. He sneered, leaning his knuckles against the surface of the countertop in front of him. Orion stiffened beside him and Evander reached down, scratching him behind the ears reassuringly.

The inn was small, well lit by a fire burning in the hearth that was tucked back in one corner behind a number of worn looking tables in chair. But as much as the light stretched across the room, it felt just as cold as the wind tearing at the walls outside.

“Get out.”

Evander looked up, hesitating for half a second before he started forward towards the man carefully. He didn’t respond beyond reaching into his pocket, pulling out a small sack of coins and, watching the man as he weighed it in his hand and finally set it down.

“I can pay,” he said, swallowing harshly. “Just one night, it’s too cold to keep going-“

“No.”

“Please-“

“I don’t rent rooms to runaways,” the man replied gruffly, eyes narrowing further.

Evander frowned, emptying the small coin pouch onto the counter and watching as the coins spun before stilling with a small metallic ring. The man only gave a dissatisfied snort, grimacing and swiping the coins from the counter with one of his hands.

“I already told you-“

“If you won’t rent me a room then let me sleep by the fire. It’ll only be for the night and I’ll be gone before anyone wakes up tomorrow. I can pay for my horse to be stabled-“

The man waved his hand, bringing it down heavily on the countertop and cutting him off.

“You can’t stay here. What part of that don’t you understand? Do you know how much trouble I can get in for harboring you?” he snapped. “Get out before I call the city watch. I’m sure they’ll gladly take you out of my sight.” The man snorted. “It’s not worth it. Turn yourself in and save them and yourself the trouble. You won’t make it south before they sent bounty hunters after you.”

“They already have,” Evander replied coldly.

“Get out.”

He didn’t wait for a response, turning his back and starting off towards the other side of the inn, only making it a single stride before Evander spoke up again.

“One night,” he called, “that’s all I ask.”

There was a pause and for half a second, he thought the innkeeper was going to reconsider until he heard the all too familiar sound of a pistol being engaged to fire and found himself staring down the barrel of a gun a moment later. It wasn’t the first gun that had been pulled on him in the two days he’d been traveling and it certainly wasn’t going to be the last.

His arms raised instinctively.

“Get out before I decorate the floor with the contents of your head.”

Evander swallowed harshly, glancing down to see Orion had begun snarling again.

“Allow me to sleep in the stables. I will still pay and-“

Something snapped and Evander was sent sprawling to the ground as the gun was brought across his jaw, blinding him to everything but the searing pain that ran rampant through his head. He was vaguely aware of the sound of Orion’s barking while the dog lunged at the countertop, pushing himself upward on one elbow and spit a foul mix of blood and spittle from his mouth.

“I warned you. Get your bitch and get out!”

Stunned, he staggered to his feet, grabbing for Orion’s scruff before the hound could hurdle the countertop and pulling him backwards. Staggering, he moved towards the door again, abandoning the coins that still lay glittering in the firelight on the ground and taking only whatever remained of his wounded pride.

He didn’t look back, only spitting at the ground again before walked out into the storm and the wind ripped the door closed behind him. Squinting, he moved slowly towards his horse, taking her reigns into his hand and reaching up with one hand to feel for the gash that had opened up along his jaw.

“Vex it all.”

The innkeeper wouldn’t notice one extra horse in the stables and only a fool would venture out in such a storm to see if a pesky runaway had really left. Evander headed towards the stables, fighting through the snow and ice that had piled up by the door and bursting into the darkness. He grunted with the effort of shoving it aside enough to where Luna could enter, whistling for Orion who quickly ducked inside behind them and shook the snow from his coat.

He squinted against the darkness, the only light filtering in through cracks in the wooden walls, and pushed his way through towards the back of the building. A whinny sounded out from one of the other horses as he led his mare towards the third and only unoccupied stall there was. As quickly as he could, he removed the tack from his horse’s back and tossed it into the opposite corner.

“Orion,” he hissed, “where are you?”

The hound came trotting forward, munching loudly on something and Evander cringed when he heard the hound’s jaws crunching down on his prize.

“I don’t even want to know what that is, dog.”

Evander sighed, reaching up to press a gloved hand to his face and moving off towards the far corner of the stall. He was tired, hurt, and his limbs shook with exhaustion. Orion licked his lips, removing whatever residue clung to his muzzle and padded over slowly as Evander slid down against the wall.

“Come,” Evander called, shivering and pulling his blanket up over himself.

Orion wagged his tail, settling down beside him and resting his large head on Evander’s belly. He shivered despite the warmth that came from the hound and the blanket he kept wrapped around himself. The cut in his cheek, though it had only bled briefly, still throbbed but even that, as well as the cold, became only a whisper in his sleep.

Voice outside woke him the next morning.

Before he was even sure he was fully awake, his was on his feet and sliding Luna’s saddle carefully back onto her back and slipping her bridle back onto her head. Orion yawned, uncurling from where he’d been beside Evander for the night and rising to shake the straw from his fur.

“Sit,” he called and watched as, for once, the hound listened.

Evander scarcely dared to breathe as he looked back towards the stable door, feeling instinctively for the pistol at his side. The thought of having to draw it was more than terrifying despite Silas’ advice to pull the trigger if his life was in danger. He warned him about other situations, ones where things could be solved without the use of a firearm, a waste of life and led, he’d once said, when a gun went off in a situation it didn’t need to.

He understood the waste of life but a waste of lead just sounded insensitive.

Luna snorted, pawing at the ground and stomping bluntly against the stable floor while Evander held her reigns tightly in one hand. A moment ticked by, silence falling for a brief moment, before the door sprang open and Evander reached down to grab for Orion again.

“Had a runaway come by here last night.”

A laugh.

“Tried to bribe me into giving him a room and said he would pay whatever I wanted just to let him sleep by the fire.”

A snort.

“What’ya say to him?”

Evander drew back slowly when the innkeeper passed by Luna’s stall.

“Told him to get out, of course. You know how hard they’re cracking down on people who are keeping them from going east. Had to go east once myself,” he said, pausing to run his hand over one of the horse’s noses, “and I don’t want to go back.”

Evander pulled Orion back against the wall with him, hoping no one notice the extra horse that had miraculously appeared in the stall. He motioned for the hound to stay, climbing quietly into the saddle while the two continued a conversation he wasn’t listening to. Orion stayed, much to his surprise, and his ears perked forward towards the two men in the stables.

“Don’t you feel bad for them?”

“Sure, I do. I just don’t want them getting me in trouble. I’ve done by share and they should do the same.”

The man paused and Evander flinched, watching as his head turned slowly to face the silver horse in the third stall. Panic set in and he drove his heels into his horse’s side, spurring her forward and throwing both men back as they fled from the stables and out into the cold again.

“Get back here!” the innkeeper roared, chasing after the horse on foot.

Orion tore up beside the boy and his horse, tongue hanging stupidly out of his mouth as the trio raced down the road. Evander looked back to see the inn disappearing behind them, turning Luna away from the road and diving into the trees once more. He laughed, unsure as to why he was laughing in a situation that could have spelled the end of his escape, but his heart was racing too quickly for him to dwell on it.

He pulled back at the reins once he was sure they weren’t following, still breathing heavily and trying to stop his hands from shaking so badly. Laughter had faded, replaced by a residual fear, and he bit his lip to keep back the tears pooling in his eyes. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the compass to find the needle still pointed firmly back at his chest. He was going the right way and he was getting closer no matter how far away it seemed.

Next Chapter: Chapter 3