At first I ran in a straight line away from Ordin, trying to put as much distance as possible between myself and the village before anyone raised the alarm. When enough time passed that I was sure the pursuit must have already begun I stopped and removed the shawl from my head and readjusted the scarf around my neck. I needed my ears to better hear my pursuers, and to be comfortable while running. Next, I cut an opening in the back of my dress. I uncoiled my tail and passed it through the tail hole in my undergarments and dress. I needed it for balance.
With my preparations now complete, I was back to my full physical capacity. When I resumed running I employed the same methods I used when I ran away from Quetzal village for confusing my tracks: climbing up trees and hopping between them to break the trail I was leaving on the ground, and whenever I crossed a stream, traveling for a while in the water either up or down stream before emerging from the other side.
I faintly heard what sounded like shouting and barking from far away in the distance behind me. My heart skipped a beat. The chase had begun, and if I could hear them, that meant my lead was not nearly as big as I hoped.
I wanted to know just how far ahead I was from the pursuit, so when I came across a hill with a tall tree on its peak, I took the opportunity to climb up to survey the area behind me. After looking for a short while I detected strange disturbances of birds flying in the distance and tendrils of smoke, and realized that the villagers must have formed a long line perpendicular to the path I took, and were following my tracks like a net chasing after a fish. The smoke must have been from torches. Although it was daytime the sky was cloudy, so it was dark beneath the canopy of the trees.
My chest tightened. If that net caught up to me, I didn't want to imagine my fate. Death would be the least of my worries. Flashes of memory of the beatings Trevor had dealt me passed through my mind, but with an effort I chased them away. I couldn't dwell on the past. I had to hurry up and get away from them, somehow.
The fact that the villagers were on my trail and that they weren't even farther away meant that my efforts at obfuscating my tracks weren't working. Having such a long, spread-out line would make it quick and easy for them to find where I had emerged when crossing water, and they must have been using trained hunting dogs to find my scent whenever I landed back on the ground. Perhaps they had an advanced scouting party tracking me until I reached the water, while the rest followed quickly but at a distance. It occurred to me that I might be losing just as much time on confusing my tracks as I was gaining from the delay it was causing them, only the effort was causing me to grow tired faster.
What I needed was to keep going, to stay far enough away from them for long enough that they would be forced to give up. Surely if this chase lasted for a few days they would go home. They couldn't possibly leave their farms and families unattended for a week. Perhaps then they would bring the Royal Militia to deal with me, if they hadn't alerted them already, but by the time the militia would arrive I would already be long gone, and my trail would be cold. I knew the Royal Militia kept beast-kin in its service, but even a wolf beast-kin would be unable to find a scent trail after the rain.
I climbed down from the tree and kept running. The shouts of the men and the barking of the dogs followed me, haunted me. My heart pounded and my breathing was ragged, and my muscles burned. Knowing what they would do to me if I was caught gave me the strength to go on, but I was beginning to grow weary. I didn't know if I had the strength to stay ahead of the mob. Despite running as fast as I could, the distance between myself and the villagers didn't grow. It was like trying to run away from a monster in a nightmare.
Despite wringing my dress after every time I crossed water, the lower half of it was soaked and weighing me down. The cold wind, which was gradually intensifying, set my body to shivers, and the rain clouds hadn't even quite reached me yet. Once the rain started pouring down I would be completely drenched.
I'd been running all day, from morning until the late afternoon. The mountains didn't seem much closer than before, but I was finally entering the foothills. Once the rain started coming down it would wash away all scent. If only I could find a cave in which to hide I could get out of the cold wind, dry myself, and change into fresh clothes. The villagers won't know that I stopped running, so I could even wait for them to pass me by, then go in a different direction.
I desperately searched while going deeper and deeper into the hills, but while I was looking the rain started pouring down. My jacket fended it off for a while, but eventually the rain started seeping through and making my clothes wet, and my shivers intensified.
The rain blocked my nose, making me feel like I was partially blind. The noise it made blocked my ears, making me feel like I was partially deaf. Each time I heard the sounds of the men or the dogs a chord of fear was struck in my heart, but at least that way I could have an idea of how far they were behind me. Being unable to hear them was more terrifying. It made me feel like they could be just behind me, breathing down my neck. It was a feeling that was hard to shake off, and I found myself frequently turning around to check that they really weren't there.
I was exhausted, thoroughly miserable, and barely able to keep making any more progress. I could only hope my pursuers were similarly suffering and seeking shelter. Finally a small shadow midway up a hill caught my attention. I slowly climbed up to investigate it, my teeth chattering. It was a cave.
I carefully made my way inside, searching for any signs that it might be inhabited by an animal. The last thing I needed was to fight some bear or wolf. I doubted if I could even beat a raccoon in my present condition, but fortunately it was empty, save for some bones and scat that were weeks old. There appeared to be an opening at the back, either for a tunnel or another chamber of the cave, but there were no tracks in the dirt, and I had no strength to spare on exploring it.
I set down my pack from my sore shoulders. I was ready to collapse on the floor, but held myself firmly upright. If I rested now I would undoubtedly fall asleep while wet and cold, and I couldn't afford to fall ill while alone and running for my life. With shaking hands and a shivering body I stripped off my clothes, then pulled a blanket out of my pack and used it to dry myself. Once I was dry I put on a fresh set of clothes and spread out my wet clothes on the floor to dry. Only then, too exhausted for fear to keep me awake any longer, I finally curled up on the floor and allowed myself to fall asleep.
