The men kicked up their mounts, urging them to a grueling pace. Most creatures would have long since gone lame or had their hearts burst from the punishment but these kept on as if fashioned on Vulcan’s own anvil. The beating of their iron hooves upon the rocks made Lydia wish to scream for the sound filled her ears with dread. She struggled against the bond that held her fast. She tried to summon magick but none did come to her fingertips. The necklace they had strung about her neck must negate her power, she thought as she bit down on the gag.<br/><br/>Where was Shenyo? She thought frantically. Had he escaped? She fervently willed it so. The fires in the city, she thought. Who was Shenyo’s confederate? He had never truly mentioned the scope of his work. They had never had time to discuss this, so busy had they been in fleeing and fighting. The time in the tree had been one of much needed rest, but she wondered had it been a gift from the Goddess as she had first supposed? Now, she pondered the ease with which these monsters had felled it. Had it been pulled them to lull them into complacency for this very moment in time?<br/><br/>Lydia would fall asleep, her head bouncing on her chest only to be rudely awakened with pinching, questing fingers and then her mind would whirl with more questions and anxiety as they neared the city. She knew they were still a ways distance but the sky was now a rosy glow along the horizon. That would be the fires in the city, she thought with grim satisfaction. Oh, Shenyo, she thought, I need you. If only he was safe and well away. She could bear her own fate.<br/>