It was Blaine who led the way into the house, once the bullet-splintered wood of the doors had finally given way. Ducking through the narrow hole, his sub-machinegun raised before him, he found himself in an open entrance hall. The area was festooned with splinters of wood and bullets littered the floor, however, there was just one thing Blaine was looking for as he surveyed the hallway with expert discipline. Panning his weapon as his gaze swept the area, he quickly came to the conclusion that their target had moved on.

After a silent gesture, Elise and Karl followed him through the damaged door, advancing into the house. While Karl kept his rifle raised, Elise turned his attention to the tracker, quickly pointing along a corridor with his gun, the bearing taken from a rapidly pulsing red light.

Blaine wasted no time in following his second’s direction, breaking into a jog away from the entrance hall, his gun swinging from side to side as he scanned the empty rooms they passed. Elise and Karl stayed close behind him, following his lead through the unfamiliar building.

The first sign of their quarry came as they passed out of the living area, and through an age-blackened door, creaking heavily on rusted hinges. Elise gave the signal for the group to pause, as his gaze fell to the open doorway. His keen eyes picked up on the subtle signs that the door had only recently been opened, shortly followed by the disturbances to the fallen leaves covering the floor.

Meeting Blaine’s questioning expression, Elise nodded, indicating the passageway on the other side of the door. Blaine was immediately moving once again, cautiously descending a narrow stone stairway, into the house’s kitchen wing.

The layer of leaf-matter covering the floor quickly made Elise’s tracker unnecessary, as the imprints of footfalls were instantly obvious. Blaine was soon leading once again; his gave flicking between the trail left on the ground, and the corridor in front of them.

It was only when the trail came to an abrupt end that Blaine stopped as well, his focus turned entirely to the aged doorway before them. The door itself had been pushed to, leaving just a narrow crack between the door and the frame. A cursory examination revealed nothing; the view through the crack obscured by shadow.

Stepping back, Blaine raise his gun, his entire body tense and his expression fierce. He gave Karl a silent signal to open the door. The spiky-haired biker lowered his rifle, before delivering a powerful kick to the wood. It flew open with little resistance, revealing a room hidden behind a haze of dust.

A wave of surprise and disappointment hit Blaine at the same moment as the sound of shattering glass met his hearing. He caught sight of an oil lamp crashing to the floor, as the spilt oil it had contained caught light. An instant later, Blaine was struck by the fireball.

The blast lifted the three bikers from their feet, flinging them along the corridor amidst a shower of smouldering splinters of wood and burning leaves. They each struck the ground hard, tumbling along the stone floor, before being dashed against the walls, and falling to silent, immobile heaps.

-

Pinioned between Gaelan’s arms as he gripped the reins, and wedged to the front of Veridus’ saddle, Alexia settled uncomfortably into position, struggling to fall into the same rhythm as both mount and rider. Behind her, Gaelan had been silent since they had left the house, his stern expression the only clue to his thoughts.

It was just a few seconds before Veridus’ hooves met the tarmac of a road, cracked and potholed, leading through the house’s grounds. The equus fell into a steady stride, picking up speed as Gaelan threw furtive glances over his shoulder at the house, and through the treetops at the overcast sky. Alexia managed to shift into a position allowing her to look back at the building they had just departed, watching it for any sign of pursuit.

“Did we lose them?” she asked, after a few moments in which no figures presented themselves.

“Unlikely,” Gaelan replied shortly.

“Then can we outrun them?”

“I doubt it.”

“Well, if you hadn’t wasted time playing around with flour, we would have an even greater head start,” Alexia accused, furiously. She looked back to the house once again, before letting out a discontented sigh, and sinking lower into the saddle. Just as she began to believe in the competence of the man Aaron had sent to protect her, he revealed himself to be an idiot who seemed to take pleasure in making it easier for their pursuers to catch, and likely kill them.

Even as Alexia’s unspoken accusations and abuse directed toward Gaelan continued, the muffled boom of an explosion struck her ears, followed a moment later by a concussive shockwave. Struggling to right herself in the saddle, Alexia realised that it was only Gaelan’s arms that had prevented her from tumbling to the ground.

She turned urgently, surprise and fear striking her as she searched for the source of the blast. It was only a moment before she caught sight of a plume of smoke rising from what had been the kitchen, as shattered masonry rained from the sky, tearing craters in trees and the forest floor.

“What was that?” Alexia demanded; her voice strained with fear and anger.

“The bakin’ you were so critical of,” Gaelan replied. For a moment, Alexia was lost for words.

“Did it kill them?”

“Only if your luck is far better than mine. Give ‘em somethin’ to think ‘bout, and buy us some time, though.”

“But... That was flour,” she said in disbelief, as she realised exactly what Gaelan had been setting up during their brief delay.

“Yeah?”

“But it exploded. I’ve used it for cooking, I mean...”

“Never heard of flour mills goin’ up? All it takes is a spark from the grindstone.”

Alexia fell silent, unable to fully form an appropriate response, as once again, she was force to re-assess her conclusions about the man now acting as her protector. Her eyes fell back to the road before them, following its route, curving between the trees. A few seconds later, the crumbling form of the house’s perimeter wall loomed into view, a fallen archway, the gates long lost, marking their exit.

Veridus needed no encouragement, and made straight for the archway and the wide road visible beyond. As the equus gained speed, Alexia noticed that Gaelan continued throwing uneasy glances, both to the road behind them, and to the sky above them. Despite the apparent calm, Alexia couldn’t help but feel that something in Gaelan’s manner suggested he thought their troubles were yet to truly begin.

It was only a moment before Alexia’s fears were confirmed. As Veridus passed smoothly across the fallen masonry of the archway, a dazzling flash split the overcast sky, the afternoon sun lending the storm clouds an ominous purple edge.

Even as her eyes flicked skyward, Alexia realised that the weather was the least of their worries. The pounding rhythm of Veridus’ hooves against the tarmac was momentarily drowned out as an engine roared into life. It was immediately echoed by a second, and behind her, Gaelan hurriedly turned in the saddle.

His curse was lost in a roll of thunder, but his meaning wasn’t and Alexia turned swiftly, fixing her gaze upon the pair of bikers hurriedly swinging their vehicles onto the road. Gaelan carefully drew his crossbow.

“Keep your head down,” he ordered Alexia, readying his weapon. Alexia didn’t need to be told again. She was quite capable of working out for herself the danger that they were in, and her heart raced.  Even as she swallowed nervously, attempting in some way to prepare herself mentally for what she was certain was coming, a second flash of lightning lit up the sky, followed a moment later by the first drops of rain striking the ground.

“Wonderful, a storm is exactly what we need to make this day even better,” Alexia muttered bitterly, allowing herself to vent some of her frustration on the elements, although her words were drowned out by the thunder. Gaelan offered no response, still focussed on the two riders behind them. They were gaining ground quickly, and Veridus’ narrow lead was being rapidly whittled away; even the equus was no match for a motor-vehicle on an open road.

“Take the reins,” Gaelan ordered bluntly, glancing to Alexia.

“What?” she demanded in response, looking over her shoulder. Gaelan’s only reply was to thrust the worn leather of Veridus’ reins into her hands.

“I take it you know how to ride?”

“Yes, but...”

“Fine. Just don’t treat him like a horse,” Gaelan stated, to Alexia’s bemusement. “And keep your head down.” No sooner had he finished talking than he was once again staring over his shoulder back along the road.

Struggling to reassert some kind of control over the situation, Alexia took a firmer grip on the reins, and turned back to the road before them. However, she soon found herself blinking heavily against the water running into her eyes as the rainfall grew steadily more intense. The air was quickly filled with acrid dust, thrown up from the tarmac by the rain, only to be replaced a moment later by a sheet of water as the storm-clouds unleashed the full fury they had been storing.

“Whatever happens, just keep goin’,” Gaelan instructed, raising his crossbow to his shoulder.

“But...” Alexia began, tearing her concentration away from the road. Behind her, Gaelan had water streaming down his features, yet his grim expression gave the impression that he considered that to be the least of their worries.

“Don’t stop for anythin’!” Gaelan ordered fiercely. Before Alexia could respond, an engine roared, and Gaelan spun in the saddle once again.

Alexia felt a wave of fear course through her. One of the bikers had overcome his caution and thrown open the throttle, tearing after Veridus in a wave of spray. Even as he charged, he tore a baton from his belt, his intention clear. Her horror only grew as the weapon suddenly extended, telescopic barrels sliding smoothly past one another, until the biker held a weapon closer to five-foot in length.

A surprised curse from Gaelan did little to alleviate her fear, and she felt him tense, swiftly sighting along his crossbow. Then the biker was charging, weapon raised. Gaelan responded instantly, his crossbow bucking with a dull thud. A cluster of steel darts filled the air behind the equus, and the biker’s expression turned to horror. Even as he snatched at his brakes, they struck the front wheel of his vehicle. The tyre exploded, and the bike slewed, out of control, its rider fighting desperately to maintain balance. A moment later, the front wheel locked, and the bike flipped, throwing the terrified biker through the air, before slamming him into the tarmac of the road.

It was only seconds before the metal carcass of the fallen bike was lost from sight, concealed by the torrential rainfall, yet the image was still clear in Alexia’s mind. She gasped, letting out a brief cry of shock as the reality of the situation struck her with renewed force, the fragile line between life and death, and the sheer luck that was holding them on the right side of it becoming painfully apparent.

Alexia wasn’t given the time she needed to regain any form of composure, as the narrow road suddenly joined a broad highway, the ancient tarmac bearing the scars of its age. Veridus followed it on instinct, galloping easily around the corner without breaking stride. Still struggling to pull herself together, Alexia glanced over her shoulder once again, in time to see the second of their pursuers screeching around the bend, his bike barely under control, its back wheel sliding across the slick road.

However, it was apparent that nothing was about to dissuade him, and Alexia felt her breath catch as she caught sight of his expression – one of pure rage, intent on revenge and nothing more.

She heard Gaelan fumbling with his crossbow, but his attempt to reload was interrupted; the biker’s lance crashing into his weapon as he was forced to use it to block. Even after Gaelan beat away the first blow, they were offered no respite. The biker drew in closer, offering no quarter as he threw blow after blow toward them. Gaelan did all he could to protect them both as Alexia sunk into the saddle, gasping in terror at every clash of steel, fighting her own mental battle as fear threatened to overwhelm her.

“Don’t stop!” Gaelan’s sudden bellowed snapped Alexia’s attention back to him once more. She turned in the saddle in time to see him come to a crouch, the biker’s lance locked into the crook of his arm. Alexia cried out in alarm as he flung himself from Veridus’ back, the lance still firmly clasped in his fist. To Alexia’s horror, he landed heavily on the bike pursuing them; the vehicle swerving under the sudden impact.

Panicking, the biker dropped the lance, wrestling with his vehicle as Gaelan clung to the saddle behind him. Its rider still fighting to regain control, the bike suddenly slewed, and then toppled, striking the road and sliding, spinning with a shriek of metal and a shower of sparks. Both men were thrown clear, and Gaelan went limp as he struck the tarmac, his arms shielding his head as he tumbled along the road.

“Gaelan!” The scream had left Alexia’s lips before she had a chance to think, his body twisted into an immobile heap, blood slowly mixing with the water pooled around him. It was only when she found herself hauling on Veridus’ reins that she remembered the man’s instruction. However, it was apparent that, whether she chose to obey or not, Veridus knew what it was that Gaelan had ordered, and his body was soon concealed by the gloom.