Determined, we continued on. The five us weren't the most compatible and we often fell into bouts of fights. Whether it was Mallory and Kino or Shoshone challenging my authority. Despite this, we quickly grew close. We used each other and became heavily dependent on the little group we'd formed.
As we neared the borders of District Four, we realized we'd have to stay on our feet and travel in a straight line to get through it. Cautiously, our horses galloped along, snout behind tail, and we all kept our mouths shut. This area was known for being dangerous and just by looking around, you could eye the corpses of travelers before us who'd failed. Not only was there such little land bridging the ocean beside District Four that one slip could send you plummeting, but the area was infamous for attacks.
In the more shallow areas of the area that were just up ahead, there were tall thick grasses, ideal for anyone to hide behind and surprise us. If the mind eraser had taken the entire band of drunkards from Migo, then I highly doubted he wouldn't leave at least two hiding here to slow us down. Especially since he had Oddisya--any man with brains would expect to be followed.
We traveled slowly in a line--Shoshone, myself, Mallory, Kino, then Jude. In the corner of my eye, I saw rustling. In the grasses no more than a few meters up ahead, I noticed a few tall grasses move for a quick moment. Too soft to be heard, I trusted my eyes and immediately slowed down. I heard Mallory's quiet grunt, but other than that, they wisely snipped all complaints. Shoshone, someone without an eyesight as keen as mine, continued blindly on. I'd opted to lead the line up, in case something like this happened, but the stubborn lady fought me and I'd allowed her in favor of peace. I held my breath, preparing to watch her get herself hurt.
Again, I saw the same silent rustling. They knew we were here. There was no point in preserving our cover any longer. "Shoshone, slow down," I ordered. Shocked, she paused for a moment. Then she turned to the side to shush me and continued on, faster even this time. Sighing, I completely stopped the group as Shoshone galloped along. Swiftly, an arrow flew through the air. Before I could even process it, Shoshone was hit squarely in the side of her head and was now sinking into the ocean. Her horse kept going. I glanced back at the three behind me. They were all shocked and tense. While we were prepared to fight them head on with our swords, we couldn't anymore. They had bows and arrows, we weren't safe. Through the grasses, I saw another arrow being aimed right at us. "Run!" Helix took off.
I grabbed one of the food bags and held it above my face for protection as I clung close the Helix's mane. Hundreds of arrows flew in all directions. Dozens of hurried trots across the grass could be heard, and I could tell when a horse suddenly stopped. "Mallory!" It was Kino shrieking. The scene reminded me of losing my sister, mother, father--I had to blink back tears. Though, I didn't dare look back and continued on. "Ah!" The guy cried out once again. Far ahead, I was already in shallow waters and I drew my sword.
"Kino, let her go!" Jude yelled. "You're hurting yourself!"
"No!"
As they neared, I turned around and began to slaughter the men hidden in the grasses. I overheard a splash as Kino cried out once more. It was a scream of pure horror and it took all my willpower to not let it slow me down. After I'd killed all the men on this side of the delta, I looked up and saw Jude carrying Kino behind him on his horse. Just as I nodded at him to leave, an arrow stuck itself into his shoulder. Nonchalantly, he pulled it out and galloped off with me.
We rode fiercely for a few hours, until we stumbled upon the town of Sax. Quickly, Jude wrote a note asking for someone to help Kino and left his body and some gifts at the border. After we hurried off, I looked back and saw someone open the gate and stumble upon Kino. Sighing, we continued on.
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