A horse sped by him, the sound of the charging hoof beats startling him awake.

He blinked, looking down from the tree he had evidently fallen asleep in without any recollection of doing so. Shaking the frost from his hair, he frowned, wondering how he’d been able to fall asleep twenty feet off the ground when he was supposed to be watching out for danger.

It didn’t take him long to climb down though it was certainly not the most graceful dismount and he ended up landing half on his feet at the bottom. He hurried, throwing his things into the bags strapped to his saddle and throwing his blanket, left crumpled at the base of the tree, back over his shoulders.

“Up now! We have to go.”

The pony raised its head, snorting and shaking its tangled mane from side to side as he climbed back into the saddle again. He clicked his heels against the animal’s sides, attempting to follow as best he could the path of the other rider.

No one traveled that quickly without a reason.

He’d run into another group of runaways but couldn’t gather the nerve to approach them or even get close enough to talk. It was dangerous to even insinuate he was running away and if the Dravara had any notion of people taking about runaways, he didn’t want to face the consequences. The thought of it all, being one of them, was a bit more intimidating than he could handle at times.

The pony snorted as he sped up, trying not to fall too far behind the other runaway that had disappeared down the road ahead of him. For a week he’d been traveling and he was still very far from where he wanted to go, south just like all the others, but he had been trying not to think about that. Even if he did reach the south, he didn’t have even the slightest clue where to go.

Perhaps the other runaway did, he thought.

Things has been easy enough and despite the cold and almost constant feeling that he was being followed, the journey hadn’t been unpleasant. He never minded the cold, not really, but after being outside for days on end, it was beginning to bother him. The south, he hoped, would at least be somewhat warmer.

“Come on, you old thing. We have to move!” he called to the pony as it began to slow.

A snort and a grating whinny later, the animal sped into a gallop beneath him.

He thought about the possibility of the other runaway knowing how to escape, how to successfully avoid being caught, and though the opposite too weighed on his mind, it was a bit too wonderful for him not to consider it. Best case, he could have a traveling companion for the journey south and worst, he’d be killed.

Either way, it was worth a shot.

~ ~ ~ ~

It was late evening by the time Evander rode into another town, quiet like the last but a good deal larger. The streets were lined with houses and buildings, some quite small and others reaching up towards the darkened skies, but unlike the other town, the streets were abandoned. For once, the snow had stopped falling and the wind had trickled back into nothing more than a breeze, leaving the night surprisingly tranquil which was almost as uncomfortable as the raging storm he’d ridden through the night before.

He glanced down at Orion, seeing the weariness in the way the hound limped and feeling it just as much as he did. Biting his lip in thought, he pulled Luna to a halt in the empty streets, and shivering at the eerie silence that gathered in the air around him.

“Come on,” he called, reaching down to run his hand over Orion’s head.

Evander started forward, feeling his legs quiver beneath him and groaned at the stiffness in his back. With any luck, he could try the inn but recalled that the first time he’d tried the same plan, it hadn’t gone so well.

By his best guess, he still had over a week before he would reach the place that Silas had specified. He’d come far enough to know that stopping wasn’t ideal if he wanted to reach his destination on time. However, he was left wondering if Silas would even be there to meet him once he did reach the south.

Swallowing, he tried his best not to think about that.

Even if he wasn’t able to get a room, he thought, he could rest in an alleyway until dawn awoke the next morning. After all, he wouldn’t need long to sleep and a couple hours certainly would do him more good than bad.

He heard Luna sigh, her head hanging low as he led the exhausted horse along behind him towards the inn. As much as he wanted to keep going, having his horse go lame wasn’t something he wanted to risk. Traveling on foot would make it infinitely harder to reach the south and impossible to be there in time.

No vacancy¸ he read, pausing on the second word, and glanced down at the image of a bird in flight crossed by a red x beneath that. He recognized the symbol at the bottom as one that had been hung on most inn signs he’d seen on his travels. Not every runaway was as lucky as he was to know how to read things well enough to know where it was safe to go.

His hands worked carelessly to tie Luna to the hitching post, leaving the knot loose enough for him to untie quickly if he needed to. Orion loped up beside him, yawning and still wagging his tail lazily despite the limp in his step.

“Mine hurt too,” he grumbled. “We will stop for the night.”

Evander glanced up again but whipped around at the sound of a snarl, quickly realizing it had come from the hound beside him.

“Whose there?”

“Psst…you there! Wouldn’t even try going in there. They don’t give out rooms.”

“Where are you?” Evander hissed to the quiet streets.

A figure stepped out from the shadow of an alleyway, slinking towards him slowly. Evander could see the glazed look in the boy’s eyes, dark like his hair, only a few seconds after he smelled the scent of alcohol leaking from between his teeth. The smile was unnerving even if he looked friendly enough, out of place in the lifeless streets he found himself in.

“Who’re you? Just passing though?”

Evander only nodded, reaching down to pat Orion’s back reassuringly.

“Just stopping for the night.’

“Like I said, wouldn’t try there. He’ll call the watch on you,” the boy said, arms crossing in front of his chest.

Evander glanced back nervously towards Luna, down at his dog, and then back up at the stranger once more. “What about you? Same as me, I assume?”

“No.”

Puzzled by the answer that was accompanied by no explanation, Evander frowned and instinctively shuffled a step back. The whole situation made him feel uneasy and the smile, still plastered across the boy’s face, made him feel no more comfortable. Orion’s ears pricked forward and a low growl resumed as a few more figures stepped out from the same place as the first.

“I won’t bother with it then. I should be moving on anyway.”

“No need to rush away so quickly. We aren’t looking for any trouble. I can give you a place to stay but it’ll cost you, of course. Nothing personal but we need some way to get food and such,” the boy explained. “Name’s Aldwyn by the way. Didn’t seem to catch yours.”

“Evander.”

“Well, Evander, what’d you say?”

From where he was, Evander couldn’t tell if he was being sincere or not but the offer still seemed incredibly peculiar. He took a few steps forward, patting his leg for Orion to follow.

“I don’t have much,” he said with a shrug. “It depends on the cost.”

Aldwyn glanced back towards the others behind him, locking eyes with a burly looking boy before exhaling thoughtfully and giving Evander another whiff of the liquor on his breath.

“Got coins? Anything of value? My boys and I need something to stay alive. Been running for three years, some of us. Taking care of ourselves costs more than a couple eldune,” Aldwyn replied, sounding strangely cheerful.

Evander gave a curt nod, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a few silver coins and with it came the compass that Silas had given him. He slipped it back into his pocket, cursing silently when he saw the way Aldwyn’s eyes lit up at the sight of it, glittering like the eyes of a starved hound at the sight of food.

“Now, wait a minute, what’s that?”

“It’s nothing,” Evander answered casually. “It’s just an old compass.

“Give me that and we call it a deal.”

Evander shook his head, holding out the coins in one hand.

“That’s not for trade.”

“Not interested in your money, kid. I like the idea of that trinket-“

“Forget it, I will just keep moving until I come to the next town. I appreciate the offer but the compass isn’t for trade,” Evander said crossly, eyes narrowing sharply.

Orion began to growl again as Aldwyn moved toward, the sickening smile still parting his lips.

“How about I make you a deal then?”

“What sort of deal?”

He didn’t answer, not right away and not before drawing a sawn off rifle from behind him, and only pointed the smoke black metal of the gun towards Evander’s chest. Orion barked madly and lunged towards the other runaway, teeth ready to snap down on his throat, but he didn’t make it far before he was dragged backwards with a yelp.

One of the ropes encircled his muzzle, clamping his jaws shut, while the other held fast around his thick neck. Evander raised his hands coolly, briefly glancing back towards the hound and swallowing harshly.

“There’s no need for that. I’ll be on my way and I won’t bother you all anymore. Let-“

“I could use a horse like that nag you’ve got there. I think I’ll keep her. What do you think?” he called to the boys behind him, eyes still facing forward and lips still curled into a smile.

“What about the compass?” one of them yelled.

Aldwyn’s smile twisted further into a cruel grin.

“Almost forgot about that. Give that up if you want to be able to crawl out of here. If not, I’m sure no one will miss one runaway. They don’t seem to care about us, do they?”

“I-“
“Do they?” he spat. “No one’ll care if you die in these streets. No one’ll question what happened either. All they’ll do is pass by your body and wait for someone else to take care of it. Are you getting my point or do I have to say it again?”

“They have to care if you kill me,” Evander replied simply, trying to keep his voice steady. “Won’t it draw attention? It’s still killing even if I am a runaway-“

“Can’t you read, unlettered brat, they don’t want you here. That’s why they got that picture down at the bottom of that sign. Want me to say it again, slower this time?”

Evander narrowed his eyes, clenching his fists at his side and feeling his blood boil.

“No, I understand perfectly. But step off before I kill you myself-“

Laughter erupted from most all of them, ringing out in a series of cruel sounding cackles that reverberated off the walls and down the empty alleyways. Aldwyn reached up to wipe his eyes with one hand when he’d stopped laughing, smiling once more and, much to Evander’s surprise, setting the gun down gently beside him.

“I like you. I really do. Why not settle this the best way I know? We’ll fight, just you and me. You win and you get to keep the compass, dog and your nag. No guns and no weapons, just your hands. I win and I get all three.”

Evander thought for a moment, assuming it was his only option but certainly not something he wanted to consider.

“You have six men including yourself. How do I know you will fight fairly?” Evander asked, shaking his head. “And won’t a street fight get noticed by anyone?”

Aldwyn waved the questions away as if they were far from relevant.

“The town doesn’t care, like I said. They don’t give a shit what we do. Only thing they care about is catching us. A street might is nothing more than entertainment to these people. So, what do you say? If not, I can just shoot you dead and I’ll get all three anyway.”

Evander hesitated.

“I can tell you’re a smart kid. Do the right thing and agree.”

“You and me, your men will stay back?”

He had a chance, better than none, against Aldwyn as long as the rules were listened to and he didn’t go back on his word. The boy was taller than him, no heavier, but he reeked of alcohol and goddesses only knew what else. It would be easy for him to make an escape while he was inebriated but Evander supposed his own exhaustion leveled the field some.

“Give you my word,” Aldwyn purred. “So, what’s your answer? I really would hate to shoot you, kid. Seems like a waste.”

“Are you trying to flatter me?”

“Oh, that wasn’t a compliment. I’m sorry, wasn’t sure if you could recognize sarcasm. I thought you were smart but guess not as smart as I thought.”

He glared, clenching his fists again.

Evander looked back at the hound behind him, seeing he was still trashing and writhing against his captors to free himself. He then gave a reluctant nod, knowing he had no other choice but to agree.

“Alright, I’ll do it. You and me,” he said, swallowing, “your men will stay out of it.”

“That’s what I said, isn’t it?”

No matter how badly the fight went, he still had a better chance against Aldwyn than a bullet to the chest. Aldwyn smiled, eyes wandering behind him for a moment before he kicked the gun behind him.

Chances were that Aldwyn wasn’t going to fight fairly and he was going to end up bleeding in the streets no matter what. But as bleak as it seemed, he would rather risk what didn’t involve being shot. He was expecting Aldwyn to do something, anything that would give him an advantage.

However, he didn’t expect to be bashed in the head with the butt of a gun before the fight had a chance to begin.

~ ~ ~ ~

The pony’s hooves clipped steadily along as they pressed on through the night.

“Is he insane?” he wondered aloud.

They had been riding for hours and his eyelids were drooping with every stride his pony bounced along. He yawned, reaching up to rub one eye tiredly and wondering if he was even following the other runaway anymore. He’d slowed down once they were in sight of each other but the runaway didn’t seem to notice and instead had sped ahead once more after a short while of walking.

There was a town in the distance, building tops cresting over the darkened trees around him, and the thought of rest was all too alluring. He spurred his pony onward, mumbling words of encouragement that were mostly to himself, and only tugged back on the reins when a group of figures came into view.

He didn’t want to get mixed up in some sort of a chaotic mess he wasn’t a part of, knowing better than to get involved if he could avoid it. Most of the time, he tended to avoid any sort of confrontation if at all possible. He wasn’t afraid, he told himself, but knew very well that he was terrified by the idea of it.

A crash sounded, followed by shouting voices and he was beginning to get a bit more curious than scared. He halted, dismounting and standing alongside the pony that gave a loud sigh as its head tugged down towards the ground.

“Don’t worry,” he assured, “we will start moving again in just a minute.”

He brought the runs over the pony’s head, starting towards the racket carefully and trying to avoid being seen if he could. They trudged down the road a few paces, only stopping when they crossed into the shadow of the first building.

“Hush,” he called when the pony beside him snorted.

He couldn’t make them out all that clearly but from what he could tell, it wasn’t a friendly gathering. There were seven from what he could tell, including one that was sprawled out on the ground in front of another. A pair stood back, each holding some sort of struggling creature bound in ropes.

“What in goddess’ name?”

Squinting, he recognized the runaway on the ground as the same one he’d been following earlier. The runaway was still for a number of moments before he began to stir, twitching once and letting out an audible groan from the street.

“Is he dead?”

Swallowing harshly, he backed up a few steps until he saw the runaway move again and realized what it was going to become.

It was a street fight and it wasn’t anything pretty

Next Chapter: Chapter 4