Four Horsemen: Chapter 16 Part 1 of 1

Chapter 16:

Desari rose, deathly still as she stared into the forest.

Valter stored the last of his gear, scanning as he drew a crossbow.

“Enemy.”

Valter grunted in agreement and they started towards the mounts.

“How the hell do they know where we are?” Mya muttered.

Petor threw everything into this storage devices, following them over to where their mounts waited.

“They think that we’re dead, so they must be tracking something else.”

Desari tossed Valter his riding gear, then Petor’s.

Mya caught hers with a huff. “They must be tracking our bodies.”

“Tracking our bodies,” Valter grunted, stumbling into a rabbit hole and falling.

“You okay?” Desari asked.

Valter pulled his leg out slowly.

“Yeah, just tweaked my knee.” He pushed himself up, resting his weight on the other leg.

“You think that there’s some kind of tracker in the bodies?” Petor threw on the blanket and then saddle.

“They’re tracking the bodies themselves, they made them, we’re changing them by inhabiting them, but it will take weeks before we can remove those markers,” Desari said.

Mya let out a groan. “I hate running.”

“If we keep going we’re just going to hit Rygate, we need to cross the river, put something physical between us,” Valter said.

“What about the champion?”Petor tightened his buckles, pulling out tree sugar and patting her.

She eagerly ate the tree sugar, her tail swishing side to side.

“If they interfere then the other champions and the other gods will pay attention. Send the foot soldiers and armies to do it discreetly,” Desari said.

Petor pulled himself up into his saddle, the others just a few seconds behind him.

He leaned forward to speak in Ami’s ear, stroking her neck. “You okay with this girl?”

She snorted and pawed the ground.

Mya took in a deep breath, filling her lungs.

“Follow me, we’ll trace the river and cross where we have the chance.” She clicked her tongue, her mount trotting forward, slipping through the trees.

Petor nudged Ami to follow, rubbing his hand clean on his pants before wiping his eyes, the energy of adrenaline warring with the bone weariness that gritted his eyes and spread through his muscles like acid.