Page 7 of A Tale of Mirth & Magic

“To what?!”

Our pursuers were a dozen feet away now. The coppers ordered us to halt, shaking their fiery torches. Felsith’s twisted face screamed, “I’ll TRACK YOU DOWN, you wretched elf!”

I blew him a kiss with an impish grin. The half-giant kicked, his horse lunged forward through the open gate, and I was pressed back into strong arms.

We were off.

4

BARRA

I was sweating. A disgusting amount, actually. Now that the adrenaline of the chase had faded, I realized how close Elikki was to me and how drenched I was from the run and the stress. She could probably smell me. Could she feel it on my chest, my arms, where they wrapped around her to steer? This was a nightmare.

I pulled back a bit on the reins, gently slowing Pebble down to a walk. With the sun nearly set, we couldn’t keep up our pace on the forest road any longer. Anyway, we’d been cantering for at least fifteen minutes, with no sign of anyone following us. We were safe.

“Take the reins, please.” I passed them to her and leaned back. She took them, surprisingly, letting go of her hold on Pebble’s mane.

As far from her as I could get, I unlatched the thick cloak from my neck and tucked it behind me on the saddle. I surreptitiously pulled the damp linen of my shirt away from my chest. A cool breeze drifted across my skin. Its touch was blissful. Watching the back of Elikki’s head with a wary eye, I slowly waved my arms around a bit, trying to get some air circulating through my sweaty shirt.

“What are you doing back there?” she asked, twisting on the horse.

I dropped my arms, lunging for my waterskin tucked into a saddlebag.

“Water,” I said, thrusting it forward.

“… Thanks.” She took a glug. “So. I guess I’ll be going now.” Judging by the way her fingers strayed to absently check a sheathed dagger at her waistbelt, she may have been second-guessing this mad dash with a large stranger into the forest.

“Going… where?”

“You know”—she gestured vaguely toward the dirt road in front of us—“off. On my way.”

“It’s nighttime.”

“Ehh, not quite yet.” She tugged the reins back, slowing Pebble to a stop. “Horse, can you kneel down or something? I’m a mile away from the ground here.”

“Wait, you can’t be serious.”

Muttering to herself, Elikki started to inch to the side, foot searching around for the stirrup to dismount. When she started to slide off, I leaped down. With a shrieked curse, she half fell off the horse into my arms, hands hanging on to a saddlebag for dear life.

“You can let go. I’ve got you,” I said, not quite able to keep the amusement out of my voice.

“No, you don’t!”

Shifting for a better grip, I swung her legs up and then placed her carefully on her feet.

She leaned a palm against Pebble’s flank, blinking.

“Right. Um. Well, thanks for nothing. I’ll just be on my way.” She snatched her pack, hefted it over her shoulders, and stomped off.

“Nothing? I got us out of there!”

“I never asked you to!” Elikki paused, swirling around with flushed cheeks. “Who even are you? Why did you come after me?”

“I didn’t. They were chasing me too.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “I may have… fanned the flames a bit with my diversion.”

“Ahh, so you are to blame for me getting driven out of town.”

What? She was truly blaming me for our predicament?