Chapter 32

Astria's grip tightened on panett as she turned to look just west of them, her friend had been true to his word; there tied to a post waited two horses, both white mares. Yet, tarian’s men still pursued them, there was no time to catch their breath, they still had to get away. They stopped once they reached the mares, the medical man quickly untying the reigns from the post as she stood guard, ensuring that no one reached them. The bandits were closing in one them, surrounding the horses in an attempt to cease their efforts.

“get on.” Panett ordered, moving to the side as astria hoisted herself up onto one of the mares. His action frantic as he moved to climb onto the other horse.

“now what?” The young half-breed asked, glancing out at the men that now surrounded them.

“now you come down from those horses and accept whatever punishment i deem fit for your actions!” Came a voice they recognised all too well, tarian moving out of the crowd and stepping towards them.

“we can’t do that.” Panett smiled down at him, before turning to look at astria. “go south, don’t stop galloping until i do.”

The half-breed nodded, clumsily turning the horse around and sending it into run, forcing herself not to look back. The mare beneath her was strong as fast, as if she knew that they must get away from the camp at all costs. Panett caught up with ease, though astriadidn’t know why he had waited for her to exit the confines of the camp before he made speed. The half-breed slowed slightly when they hit the thick woodabout five miles south of the camp. There was no sign of anyone tracking them,

though the girl couldn’t be certain, she had thought they had lost them before, and then they attacked in the night; ripping her away from her mother and dane.

Astria sighed deeply, her heart saddening at the thought of tuviel and her friend being caught by the deus in her absence; not knowing what to do. She had no inkling of where they would go, or where to even start looking for them, she had never been separated from her mother for so long and wasn’t entirely sure how to get back to her. If only there was some way of contacting her, letting her know that she was safe witH him, that she had escaped tarian... Or at the very least, she had eluded his men for the time being.

Panett slowed to a trot, effortlessly moving the mare to walk beside the girl. “what is troubling you? I thought that you wanted to escape.”

“i did.” Murmured the half-breed as she tightened her grip on the flawless mare. “but that is not what troubles me. My mind wanders.”

“you may lay your burdens upon my shoulders; i can bare them as well as my own.” He said with a soft smile, reaching out his hand and pulling up her hood; ensuring that the mistake of her birth was concealed. And yet, tarian had ordered that the points of her ears be cut off, so what was there to hide?

“we are not out of danger yet, we may have eluded tarian and his men for the time being, but that is not all that pursues us.” Astria whispered lightly, her eyes scanning the nearby trees in panic, what if the deus found them before they managed to reach tuviel?

“ah, you are worried about the deus and the fact that they are searching the entire realm for you.” He said, as though he needed to speak the words aloud to truly understand what she had meant. “let me give you a little advise astria, there will always be something that blocks your path. That will try and destroy the things that you love and mould you into something other than what you were destined to be. But that is the way of the world. That is just how things are. But it is how you spend the time that you have that counts, whether you waste it on trivial things thatmean nothing, or use your time to help others as you have aided me. You are not a burden on this world as the deus believe, in fact you are a gift that we should cherish, there are not many left in this world that have a heart such as yours and it must be protected.”

“is that why you chose to help me? Because you believe that i am worth saving?” Asked the girl, her dark coloured hair seeping through the hood.

“i helped you because you gave me hope, something i haven’t known in all my years with tarian.”

“hope?” Laughed the half-breed, “i don’t believe i have ever known it, not in all my years.”

“you are still young, there is still time. Perhaps you should hold onto the hope that you will see your mother again, it is a powerful thing. Without it, well; everything seems a little less manageable.”

“but i do not know how to find her? So how can i hope that i will? It is foolish to believe in something that seems impossible.”

“is it? So, you would call me a fool for believing that one day i will see my loved ones again in the afterlife?”

“that is different.”

“are you sure? Because to me they seem very similar, you hope to see your mother again, and yet you say that it is foolish to hope for something that may not come to pass.”

Astria smiled down at the mare, knowing that he was right; she couldn’t help but hope to see her mother and dane again, no matter how foolish it may seem she held onto it tightly, just as she did the mare. It was hard at times knowing that it may never happen, but she would keep it alive within her heart, no matter how tough things may seem, she can dream.

“you are right.” Was all she said, watching as the sun began to descend behind the trees.

The road through the forest became almost impassable, the narrow turns between the trees difficult to navigate for the young half-breed, though panett seemed to manage quite easily. She pulled to a halt as the road split into two separate paths, not knowing which one she should choose. She had never been this far from the swamps of lacus, and yet with each day that passed she wished that she could go back there; that she could return home and wait for her mother. But that just wasn’t possible, she had been banished along with tuviel, their presence there causing a war; one her friend may not survive. One that may kill all the fera. No one had beenable to withstand the might of the deus army in all the years the land had been formed, entire civilisations being wiped out at the flip of a coin.

Astria couldn’t understand why the deus hated half-breeds so much, why they wanted to kill her, all she knew was that she must get stronger in order to survive. Use her power against them, as they would against her.

“why have we stopped?” Panett asked, quickly realising why she had come to a halt and adding; “take the road to the left.”

The girl nodded, doing as he asked almost instantly. “where are we going?” She asked.

“i have an old friend south of here, i’m hoping he is still there and that he will welcome us.” He smiled towards her, though she could tell that he wasn’t entirely sure what they were going to do.

“what if he doesn’t welcome us? Where will we go?” Asked the half-breed, her pulse quickening slightly. What would they do if he was no longer there? If he didn’t want to get involved.

Panett sighed heavily, “then dear one, i do not know what we will do. I have lived under tarian’s rule for many years, i’m afraid i am new to this.”

“what did you do before all of this happened?” She asked nervously, fearful that the memories of the past would

hurt him more than tarian ever could.  “i owned a small farm; i had a wife and child.” He smiled at the fond memory, but it quickly faded when he realised the truth. When it dawned that he would never see them again. “i also had a small office where i took care of those who needed it, it was only a small town and i was the only doctor there.”

Astria thought for a moment, searching each tree that they passed for anyone who may wish to harm them. “can we go there?”

“no, it will be the first place that he will look for us. If we go there, we may as well just turn ourselves in.” He said, an anger in his voice that she didn’t understand; horrified that she had done something to anger him. She seemed to be good at that.”

“i see.”