"DESERTER! SOMEONE GET THE BOY!"
The moment Riven heard those words, he immediately broke into a full sprint without daring to look back, as he knew that slowing down even for a single moment would most likely mean getting caught.
*Crunch* *Crunch* *Crunch*
The sound of several pairs of boots crushing through the snow entered his ears from behind, as his breathing shortened and his mind became painfully alert to the fact that more than one Yellowtail warrior was chasing him.
’Three... maybe four...’
Riven guessed, as the rhythm of the footsteps behind him grew louder while his fingers tightened around the strap of his satchel to keep it from bouncing too violently against his side.
Without even realizing it himself, Aether began circulating through his body, as his legs suddenly carried him forward at a speed that no ordinary boy of his age should have been capable of sustaining while carrying such a heavy load.
However, despite making good pace, Riven knew that speed alone would not save him.
The village around him had become too chaotic to be considered safe, as every road ahead contained either corpses, fire, broken carts, fighting warriors, or terrified villagers stumbling blindly through the snow.
’Don’t run straight. Don’t panic. Remember the path. You’ve got this.’
Riven told himself, as he forced his eyes to keep scanning the road ahead despite the fear steadily rising inside his chest.
For the moment, it did not seem like the Yellowtail warriors were closing the distance between them and him, which meant that his greatest enemy right now was not the men chasing him, but rather the possibility that he could make a silly mistake leading to a fall or stumble, giving them the opportunity to close the distance and catch him.
Which was why he took extra care to avoid every potential mistake.
’Shit shit shit, why did you have to die there of all places?’
Riven thought, as almost immediately, his concentration was put to the test, as the corpse of an Ashfang warrior suddenly came into view lying across the road ahead with one arm twisted beneath his body and a spear protruding through his back, while blood continued seeping into the snow around him and staining it a deep crimson.
The body posed a problem because it had collapsed directly across a narrow drainage ditch, while the melting snow and spilled blood had turned both banks into a slick layer of slush that offered almost no reliable footing, meaning that if Riven attempted to step around it, there was a real chance that he would lose his balance and fall, while there was no way to bypass it altogether without deviating heavily from his current trajectory and risk slowing down.
Left with little choice, Riven adjusted his stride at the very last second before pushing off the ground as hard as he could, as he committed himself to a long leap over both the corpse and the drainage ditch while praying that his footing would hold the moment he landed.
*LEAP*
*LAND*
For one terrifying instant, he felt himself tilt forward.
’No!’
Riven thought, as he threw his weight to the side and managed to land awkwardly on his feet, stumbling only two steps before regaining his rhythm.
While behind him, one of the Yellowtail warriors cursed loudly.
"Damn brat moves like a fox!"
The insult barely registered inside Riven’s mind, because the next turn was already approaching, and he knew that if he took the wider road ahead, he would expose himself to the warriors fighting near the central square.
So instead, he veered sharply left and headed towards a narrow passage between two huts that were both on fire.
*Sizzle*
*Crackle*
Burning straw continued to rain down on the passage between the two huts, as despite the danger, Riven lowered his head and charged through.
*Step* *Step*
Heat brushed against his face as he passed, while sparks scattered across his coat and forced him to slap one sleeve against his body without slowing down, while the warriors behind him hesitated for only a moment before following.
"How is he still so fast? Wasn’t he supposed to tire out long ago?"
One of them shouted, as the distance between them failed to shrink despite their larger strides.
"Somebody get in front of him, damn it!"
Another voice roared, as those words immediately sent a fresh wave of panic through Riven’s chest.
’They’re trying to cut me off. If some third party jumps in front of me, I’m done for.’
Riven realized, as he began scanning every intersection ahead with even greater urgency.
A few steps later, he saw exactly what he feared.
Two Yellowtail warriors were fighting an Ashfang defender near the mouth of the next road, and although they were not yet looking at him, their position meant that if he kept running straight, he would pass close enough for either of them to grab him.
And so, Riven changed direction immediately.
Instead of continuing down the road, he jumped onto the side of an overturned cart, using one broken wheel as a step before climbing over the tilted frame.
The cart rocked beneath his weight.
For a moment, the wooden frame shifted dangerously, as though it might collapse under him, however, Riven threw himself forward before it could.
*THUD*
He landed on the other side with a painful jolt running up his knees, as the breath nearly left his lungs, however he forced himself to keep moving before the men behind him could close the distance.
"Cut around the cart!"
One of the Yellowtail warriors yelled.
"No, throw something and kill the boy now!"
Another said, as a third threw an axe straight at Riven’s head.
*WOOSH*
A sharp whistle cut through the air behind him, and the sound was so sudden that Riven’s body reacted before his mind could understand what was happening as he ducked.
*FISHHHH*
A thrown axe sliced past his head so closely that the cold edge grazed the tip of his ear before burying itself into the wooden wall of a hut ahead, as Riven’s eyes widened in surprise.
’The hell?’
He wondered, as for a fraction of a second, his steps faltered.
’They aren’t trying to catch me.... They want to kill me.’
The realization struck him so hard that his stomach twisted violently.
Until that moment, some part of him had still assumed that if he failed to escape, the worst possible outcome would be capture, chains, and another life of servitude under a different master.
However, this axe throw made him realize otherwise.
’If I slow down, I die.’
Riven concluded, as fear flooded his body so violently that it seemed to burn away the fatigue gathering in his legs.
’Must survive....’
He thought, as his breathing became harsher after that, while his steps became faster.
*Lub* *Dub* *Lub* *Dub*
His heart pounded violently inside his chest, as his body’s fight or flight response completely took over while the world before him narrowed into nothing more than paths, corners, obstacles, and enemies, as a powerful surge of adrenaline coursed through his veins and forced his exhausted body to keep moving.
Ahead of him, the road bent toward the eastern storage sheds.
Riven knew that route well, as ever since Garron had begun training the children of Ashfang Village, he had travelled along that same stretch of road twice every single day.
And so, just as he rounded the next bend, his eyes suddenly locked onto a dense wall of black smoke rolling across the street ahead.
Several burning huts had filled the entire road with thick smoke, reducing the visibility to almost nothing while completely swallowing everything that lay beyond it.
For a brief moment, Riven instinctively slowed, as even from several meters away he could already feel the smoke burning his eyes while every breath scraped painfully against the back of his throat.
Behind him, however, the Yellowtail warriors continued closing the distance.
"We got him now, let’s see where the bastard goes now!"
One of them shouted, as the warning immediately caused Riven’s eyes to widen, as he suddenly realized exactly what they expected him to do.
’They think I must run around it...’
He thought, as his eyes remained fixed upon the wall of smoke ahead.
However, instead of slowing down any further, Riven lowered his head, drew in one final breath of clean air, and charged directly into the smoke at full speed.
The moment he entered, the world around him disappeared.
Heat wrapped itself around his body while thick smoke instantly assaulted his eyes and lungs, forcing him to tightly shut his eyelids as tears immediately streamed down his face, however despite no longer being able to see even a single step ahead, he never once reduced his speed.
Instead, he trusted his memory.
Every morning and every evening, he had walked this exact route between the brothel and Garron’s training grounds, as the road ahead had long since become permanently etched into his mind.
As relying on his perfect memory, Riven knew exactly how many steps remained before the first bend, where the road narrowed, where the storage shed stood, and where he needed to turn to stay on course.
As though following an invisible map that existed only inside his mind, he continued weaving through the smoke without slowing down, while behind him the Yellowtail warriors recklessly charged in only to stumble and fall moments later, as their organized pursuit collapsed into complete chaos.
"Where the hell did he go?"
"I can’t see a damn thing!"
"Move, you idiot!"
Confused shouting, violent coughing, and frustrated curses echoed throughout the smoke cloud, as the warriors rapidly lost sight of one another while blindly stumbling through unfamiliar streets they had never walked before.
Several seconds later, cold air suddenly struck Riven’s face.
He burst free from the smoke while coughing violently, as tears continued streaming from his burning eyes before he hastily wiped them away and forced himself to keep running without daring to look back.
By the time the first Yellowtail warrior finally stumbled out of the smoke while coughing and wiping tears from his own eyes, Riven had already become nothing more than a faint silhouette disappearing toward the southern outskirts of Ashfang Village.
"Tch..."
The warrior spat in frustration, as after watching the distance between them continue to widen, he eventually lowered his weapon and shook his head.
"Forget the brat. He’s a lost cause. Even if we chase after him now, it will likely take us a good half an hour to get him again.....
We don’t have such time to waste."
He growled.
"We are better off finding another target."
He concluded, as upon his order, the remaining warriors reluctantly abandoned the pursuit, while Riven continued sprinting toward the southern edge of Ashfang Village with Garron’s final directions firmly fixed inside his mind.