The Pursuit of the Desert Wolf

[Vermilion]

Against the odds, she was still coming. Beshaba be damned.

The injury to his ankle was not a fatal one, but he was sure it would prove as such if she caught him. She had evaded the rock fall that Tobias died orchestrating, scaled the cliff after Marius had cut the rope bridge into the ravine and overpowered the rogue. Now he was the only one left. Hurt, terrified but alive, and determined to stay that way.

He thought he heard a woman's scream, but then a hawk flew overhead. The raptor circled over his hiding place for a few seconds, then it was gone. Silence. The danger had passed.

He waited a moment longer in the silence, then slowly rose to his feet. Without warning a strong hand grabbed him by the hair and hurled him clear of the boulders, sending him sprawling against the rock wall. He fumbled for his dagger but her boot crushed his hand before he could use it.

He rose his good hand in a pathetic expression of surrender. The Baron wasn't worth dying for.

"I'll tell yer! Tyr's own word, lady, no mistake."

She pulled her next attack and paused, her head cocked, waiting for him to go on.

"It was his uncle, lady. Fled to Amn when the Castle first burned. They said his trail went quiet round Baldur's Gate. Nobody's heard hide nor hair of him for three years though.

The uplands near Zazesspur were bathed in the rosy light of the first falling of sunset. It would have been beautiful once the pain had lifted the dancing spots from his eyes. The huntress said nothing for a moment, then acknowledged his information with a nod.

"Don't tell him I told yer, please. If he comes after me with the Gauntlet I'm a dead man. Might be anyway."

He felt like a coward but it was the best choice right now. The Baron would have his own revenge planned and he thought his best bet was to be as far away as possible. A casually thrown weight hit him firmly in his gut and he wheezed hard.

This was it. A... healing kit?

She was already leaving. Walking away, back towards Zaz. The lights in his skull blinded him, but he might live after all. All he had to do was stay conscious long enough to...

***

On the dusty trail down to the city, she gritted her teeth. Time to charter a ship, headed north. Far from home.