AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Metal clanged behind me as swords collided. Someone cried out. A horse whinnied. Rumi’s scream echoed in my mind. Kelvin yelled out, “Mirror!” three times before falling silent.
“No!” I shrieked.
Poseidon snorted and picked up his pace, carrying us deeper into the forest.
I took one last look at my home. This was where I’d been born. This was my birthright to inherit once my father had passed. It was my duty to oversee things here on behalf of the sea king. That evil witch had taken it all from me. One day, I would get it back. I didn’t know how or when, but I vowed on my life that I would. My father’s death would not be in vain. That witch was not going to get away with her crimes. I’d fight for what I loved. For what was mine. For the lives of those abducted by the witch. That was my promise.
Leaves crunched beneath my horse’s steady gait. Small branches smacked me in in the face. I hunched low to avoid them. Poseidon’s steamy breath hit me.
Boots thumped in the distance. Men shouted. Hounds barked. Firelight from torches bounced in the depths of the forest. The assailants had me circled. Trapped. Even if we did get away, they were going to hunt us down.
My heartbeat pounded like a woodpecker’s beak. I wasn’t going to make it. With all my strength, I tugged at the reins, trying to get my horse to turn back. There was a narrow path leading to the salt mines. It was barely wide enough for a horse. Very treacherous and risky. But we might be able to make it through there. If only I could get control of my horse. Wild with terror, he raced through the woods, the pounding of his hooves beating as fast as my pulse.
I tried to get my bearings. There were oaks older than my father’s manor. Ferns consumed the spaces between the trees. A gradual incline led us downward. Poseidon was headed for the creek. We weren’t getting through the wild patch of blackberries lining it without scratches.
The pitch of the hounds’ barks intensified. They’d picked up our scent. My father’s did the same when they detected game. This was their cue to my father. Then he would let them go hunt the animal down.
Poseidon and I both shrieked, but the horse didn’t slow. I held on to him for dear life. He was running too fast down the slope. If he tripped, he’d roll and break a leg, and we’d both be as good as dead. The hounds would feast on us both.
“Get us out of here, boy.” My voice…my entire body shook with fear.
We careened down the hill. Thirty feet away, I spotted the blackberries.
Flipping hell.We were going to charge right through them.
I dug my fingers into my horse’s mane for extra grip. I buried my head against the back of Poseidon’s neck. The front of his body lurched, and he launched himself over the bushes. I jolted as we struck the ground. Several moments later, water splashed as we hit the river. The horse did not stop until the water rose up over his stomach and covered my boots. He snorted and shook his head. I knew he couldn’t navigate down the river with me on his back.
I climbed off him, sinking into the icy depths with him. The cold froze my limbs. It was hard to breathe from the pressure and temperature.
Poseidon complained beside me, shaking his head.
“Come on, boy,” I said, holding his reins, leading him deeper into the water.
Eventually, I lost my footing in the water’s depths, and the currents carried us away. Water rushed in my ears, drowning out the shouts of soldiers and the hounds’ barks. In the distance, torch fire carried down the ravine toward the river. Thankfully, the water would mask our scent somewhat. But if the hounds swam after us, we might be in trouble. I doubted the soldiers would enter the water. They’d probably track us along the banks. But for how long? The currents were traveling faster than anyone could on foot. Almost as fast as a horse galloping.
Poseidon panicked and flailed his legs, trying to swim for the shore.
“Calm, boy, calm,” I said, holding on to his reins so I didn’t lose him, too.
Grief quaked through me, and my throat tightened. My beloved horse was all I had left now. I stroked his neck, but it did little to soothe him, and he nickered.
“Quiet, boy,” I said. “If you don’t stop making a racket, the hounds will hear us.”
Doing the first thing that came to mind, I hummed to him, a tune Rumi used to sing to me when I’d been frightened of shadows in my room. At first, Poseidon didn’t seem to hear me. But when I pressed my head to his neck, holding on to him with one arm, he stopped kicking. I kissed his cheek and kept humming.
By now, the river had carried us at least half a league from where we’d entered, building the distance between us and the soldiers. I could barely hear the howl of a hound over the bubbling water. After some time, the hounds’ cries vanished in the night, replaced by the calls of owls, bats, and other nocturnal foragers.
My whole body shook from fear and the frozen water. We couldn’t stay in here much longer, or we might perish from the cold. But we didn’t have much choice. To go ashore might lead to being attacked by the hounds. Staying was equally as deadly.
***
Poseidon draggedme from the river as the sun climbed into the morning sky. I was surprised he could still move. My muscles were cramping and shivering from being in the cold so long and from all the paddling I’d done to remain afloat. Unable to stand on my weak legs, I collapsed into the mud on the bank. Water flicked on me as my horse shook himself.
“Thank you, Poseidon,” I joked, brushing off the water droplets, even though I was already soaking wet.
He stomped a couple of times, then trotted around, investigating our new surroundings, prodding the shrubs huddled between the larger canopy of trees. He even scratched his behind against one tree.
I laughed as I removed the fresh dress Rumi had packed me from the satchel strapped to the horse. Under different circumstances, I might have removed his saddle and the bags, allowing him to have a better rub and a lie down. But danger might strike at any time, so I kept the stallion ready to depart at a moment’s notice.
