Across The Lake by Kelly Doug & Weir Andy

Author:Kelly, Doug & Weir, Andy [Kelly, Doug]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2015-11-04T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

At first, Aton rode quickly, but his horse stumbled even though it was accustomed to the woods. That warned him to be more careful. His trusty steed knew him well and could feel the tension in his body and the unnatural way he had tried to spur the beast onward, with quick and desperate strikes of his heels. His horse resisted the gallop, and Aton’s desperation to flee acquiesced to both his and his horse’s better sensibilities. If the horse were to twist an ankle, or worse, break a leg, he would be on foot in a dangerous forest with a detachment of the warlord’s men pursuing him by the next day. With horses, they would easily overtake him, and with dogs, he would never be able to hide from their hunt.

The passage of so many horses during the last few days had cut up and destroyed the road, which had been a path of green grass through the forest, and the covered wagons had assisted in rendering it rough and broken. He rode slowly and let the reins go slack in his nervous hands. At the side of the road, farthest from all the ruts and divots, the horse went of its own accord, often brushing against the ferns and shrubbery at the side of the trail.

Still absorbed by the events that had almost taken his life that evening and had killed Malina, he could not stop thinking about his eternal love for Esina and the dark wedge that Lanzo had just driven between them, maybe separating the two lovers forever. In a daze, he forgot where he was, until the dismal howling of dogs deep in the forest roused his mind. It was almost pitch black under the tall sycamores. The highest of these trees prevented the beams of the moon from illuminating the path. Like a curtain, the thick foliage of the tree canopy shut out the sky so that no stars were visible. When the dogs ceased barking, there was no sound beyond the light fall of the horse's hooves as it trotted upon the grass. Darkness and silence prevailed; he could see nothing. He spoke to his horse and patted its neck; the animal stepped a little faster and lifted its head, which it had held low as if making its way by scent.

He felt like a man going to the gallows; gloom and despair weighed upon him. As often as he had voluntarily sought the loneliness of the woods, in his current state of mind, it oppressed him. He remembered that beyond the sycamore trees, a forest fire had cleared the ground, and left that area free of large trees, with only a few saplings rising above the tall grass. He became anxious to reach it. It seemed to take forever, but it was really only a few moments. When the trees became thinner and farther apart, the foliage above also thinned, and the stars shone. Before him was the open space he

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