For a Coffee house fiction contest

Mila watched the shadowy riders as they looked around the darkening landscape. They gestured between themselves. Quietly, the group tried to decide which way the she had gone. Marin, Koal and Artore began to quarrel about whether she had gone into the forest to their right, the swamp to their left or back up the trail to the narrow cliffs scaling the mountains. Soon they were shouting at one another. The rest of the group, lesser solders, awaited the decision of their officers.

Mila attempted escape several times in the past but this time if Marin captured her, she wouldn’t be returned to the mines. This was her fifth escape attempt and she was farther away from the mines this time than any of the other four times. If she was caught she was supposed to be sent to the magistrate for a trial. The sentence could be either death or indefinite solitary confinement. She was sure Marin would arrange for her to have an accident before that happened.

After being in the mines her whole life the girl didn’t know what to expect from the world outside, but the darkness of the depression beneath the fallen log where she hid was comforting and the chase had tired her. She pushed her dark, matted hair out of her face, pulled her stolen cloak close around her and fell into an uneasy doze. As she slipped in and out of sleep, she listened to the group of riders trying to decide where she was.

“I told you she would give you the slip.” The elder of the group sneered under his breath. “We should have brought the dogs.” Mila frowned in her sleep; the man just plain scared her.

“We have to find her again. I won’t return without her.” Marin’s stallion reared and snorted, blowing steam from its nostrils in the chill of the evening air. Mila knew that Marin had his own reasons for finding her that had little to do with the magistrate or the emperor’s laws. She had been lead in shackles to his quarters more than a few times. She was well acquainted with his ways. She knew things about him that no one else did and he wanted to keep it that way. He had told her so two nights ago when he tried to strangle her. A bird flying into his window and shattering the glass had distracted him enough to allow her to slip thorough his fingers. She had snatched up his hunting cloak and a knife while slipping out a secret door she had seen him use to get things out of the castle, and beyond the walls; things he didn’t want his father, the Emperor, to know about.

“Night is falling and we are no closer to discovering where she was headed when we lost her tracks. I say we find a spot to camp and sleep. In the morning we can go back to where we lost the tracks and scout around some more. She can’t get very far in the dark.” Koal was the youngest rider and the most optimistic of the seven. His still youthful face was eager while the rest seemed resigned for a long, tiring chase.

“Quiet,” roared the eldest, “She is a Rewath and no smarter than any other animal. They are trained to mirror the actions of their master. She is hiding somewhere close by probably listening to us.” His twisted arthritic body could no longer back up his fierce demeanor but that didn’t stop Artore one bit. Artore was from a family of barbaric warriors who believed the slave race to be lesser beings.

Mila heard the commotion that was taking place above her. She was uneasy but she paid the men little attention. She heard the riders leave the trail and set up camp on the banks of a nearby stream. Mila could hear them unsaddling their horses and setting up tents. Koal was ordered to take first watch. He was to wake the rest if he heard or saw anything. Koal stalked to the edge of the firelight, breaking through the underbrush, and leaned upon a tree to watch the darkness beyond. She was thankful there was some distance between them as her stomach began to rumble from the smell of the rabbit they were cooking. She finally fell asleep waiting for the men to settle down into their blankets.

It was the darkest part of the night when Mila awoke in a terror. At first she couldn’t remember where she was. When she did remember she was afraid she had cried out and who ever was on watch had heard her. Then she heard the sound of breathing and snuffling. It was just some animal was trying to figure out what she was. She cautiously poked her head up and, not seeing anyone, slipped out of her hiding spot back onto the trail.

She could see the firelight of the search party a short distance to the right of the trail. Cautiously, she slipped into the trees on the other side. She looked at the firelight to see if she could see who was on watch. She saw no one, but she could hear one of the men snoring. The brush shielded her from any look out and if she crawled in the underbrush for a while she would be able to get back on the trail. She remembered seeing a fork in the trail before the forest began. So she slunk from bush to bush until she was well out of range of anyone who might be looking in her direction. Fortunately, it was a dark evening; clouds obscured most of the light from the near full moon. She could barely see where she was going and only occasional glowing roots of rotting trees lit the forest.

She almost missed the trail that lead north along the edge of the forest. As she turned to follow that path the clouds dissipated and the moon lit her way. She broke from a slinking walk to a run as the light became brighter. Her little rest rejuvenated her enough for her to keep going until sunrise. She didn’t pay much attention to her surroundings until it started to get light enough to see a little ways ahead of her. The forest and trail seemed to hook back west toward the slave camp. She definitely didn’t want to go back that way and was relieved to see a game trail through the woods that seemed to continue almost straight north. Her bare feet made little impression on the hard packed trail. She didn’t know if they could follow her trail or not but wanted to put as much distance between herself and them as possible. By the time they figured out which way she went and did follow, she wanted to be well hidden.

She ran on as the morning turned into mid-day. As her stomach rumbled, she wished that she had grabbed some food in her flight. The trees were thinning out now allowing more visibility. She could see piles of rock lying between the trees. The trail seemed to pass close by a group of mountains shrouded by the forest. As the trail got steeper, she turned away from it and headed east toward a cliff wall. Soon, she found a cave hidden by briars and brambles. A few berries grew on the brush covering the cave face and after testing one, Mila ate what she could find. Wishing now for water, Mila snuggled down into it to wait for the darkness to cover the direction of her flight. She fell asleep almost immediately.

She had been asleep for a couple of hours when she heard some noises coming from deeper in the cave. She had no sooner rolled over when she saw something move. She was startled by the strangeness of the creature. It was about the size of a large house cat and scaly. She eased closer to it, trying to identify it. She had little experience with animals other than pack beasts, or cats. The creature seemed as startled as she. Its luminous green eyes seemed large for its tiny head. Its skin was also a shiny green. Tufts of wiry hair stuck out of its back along the ridge of its spine and a large mass of hair swung from the tail that was as long as its body. It had tiny, leathery wings and claws on the ends of its dainty feet. It looked back at Mila with an intelligence that shocked her.

It smelled her. The serpentine tongue flicked to taste her scent. Its tiny lips pulled back to reveal rows of sharp little teeth. She was scared until she realized that it was smiling at her, tail wagging like a dog.

“Hello,” she pushed herself upright, pulling an uncomfortable stone from her seat as she did.

“Hello,” the creature seemed to mimic.

“You can speak?” Mila smiled.

“I speak.” The creature confirmed.

“I am Mila, What are you called?”

“I am called Uth. Come with me, others come.” She followed the tiny creature further into the cave, trusting some intuitive feeling that it was a friend.

The cave opened up to a large cavern deep under the mountain. Mila followed Uth to an underground stream and drank deeply from it.
<<<<<<<Not finished>>>>>>>