Oriana let him tug her along for a while, her eyes still latched on the scene behind them. It was two minutes later that she came out of her fugue, broke free from Elleth's hand, and started running freely through the treeline to the lakeshore.  The copse of oaks was like an old friend, and just as she got to the front of it she heard a sound like fracturing glass, and the world behind them went quiet for a moment.<br/><br/>That silence had the taint of madness in it, if she listened too long or carefully. The boats were two-person recreation vehicles, but she knew there had to be a trademen's boat somewhere, they used it to go on long trips..<br/><br/>After a few minutes of frantic searching, she decided the drying boat-racks were a lost cause and ran to the shoreline, ignoring Elleth in her panic and desire to flee that awful lack of sound. The boat she was looking for had been anchored under a willow, further off then the rest of the boats and mostly obscured. She could see from here there was light cargo on it, but she knew they could dump off what they didn't need to gain speed.<br/><br/>Dragging it out form behind the willows, she got in and got the oars ready. It was only when she was about to push off that she remembered Elleth, but apparently he'd been with her the whole time, looking and flipping boats. It's amazing what fear can do to you. He must have pushed them off of the soft shoreline, because suddenly the river was carrying them, Oriana working the oars unceasingly, refusing to stop and hand them off to Elleth until they were safe.<br/><br/>About twenty minutes later, the hairs on the back of her neck quit standing on end. She passed the oars over without a word, and started to look at the cargo in the boat, trying to decide what to toss over and what to keep. They would travel faster without half of this junk. Her mind ept carrying her back to what had just happened, but Oriana was shoving it aside as hard as she could.<br/><br/>After a while, she spoke. Her voice was entirely different, emotion thickening that musical voice.<br/><br/>" Once we hit civilization, we part ways. Eckl and his cause can rot for all I care. He lied to me my whole life and I don't owe him a<span style="font-style: italic">damned </span>thing."