Runescape: Return to Canifis by T. S. Church

Author:T. S. Church [Church, T. S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy, Fiction, General, Occult & Supernatural
ISBN: 9780857686657
Publisher: Titan
Published: 2011-03-22T04:00:00+00:00

17

For a long time, the land through which they passed was densely overgrown, branches and vines clawed at them constantly, and their progress was slow.

Finally they entered a lush wildflower meadow with a treeline on the other side. Pia, dishevelled by hours of travelling, sighed deeply. It had been a hard journey for all of them. The horse staggered beneath her, equally exhausted.

“Can’t we rest now, Pia?” Jack asked from his perch in front of her. He peered up at the sun, which lay directly overhead “We have travelled all night and morning. Please Pia, let us stop for a moment.”

Pia craned her head back over her left shoulder, to the west. She listened intently.

Nothing.

Nothing save the breeze among the trees.

Yet she felt unsure.

I don’t know anything about this land, she thought, studying the distant treeline. I don’t know how far we have come from Varrock, or if there are any settlements left to hide us.

Her ignorance made her angry. She had grown up in a city, in a place of crowds and shadows where it was easy to hide. Out here, in the country, she felt exposed and afraid.

But I will not show it. For Jack’s sake, I must be strong.

“Very well, Jack,” she said. “I think we can take the time—”

A horn blew from the west.

Jack gasped, and glanced around frantically. He turned to her.

“Pia?”

She tightened her grip on the horse’s reins. The horse was fast when it needed to be—it had proved that when they had fled from Varrock the night before. Even now, even so exhausted from the trip carrying both of them, its head rose determinedly in response to Pia’s pull.

The horn sounded again.

She felt Jack shiver.

“Who are they Pia?” he asked desperately. “Do you think they are after us?”

Before she could reply, the bay of hounds fought its way against the breeze to her ears. It was a sound that made her heart stop and her stomach ice-cold.

They are not far away. Perhaps only a few minutes.

“Pia? What will we do?”

“What we always do, Jack.” She dug her heels into the horse’s flank and goaded it onward with a savage pull of the reins. “We run.”

The mare broke into a loping gallop. Pia’s legs ached horribly and she grimaced with every passing yard.

“We need to hide,” Jack said. “There.” Her brother pointed toward the treeline that rose before them. It was the only place they could hide now, for they had left cover behind.

She directed the horse as best she could, as the horn sounded again. The bays of the pack grew louder until they seemed to come from all sides. After what seemed like an eternity, they reached the edge of the forest and again fought their way into the foliage. Thin branches whipped her face and hands and she heard Jack cry out in pain as the sting of a thorn cut her bare cheek, drawing blood, then raked across her face, as well. She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth.

“Pia. Stop!” Jack shouted.

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