Gilan gasped as he hit the ground, the impact completely knocking the wind out of him. His throat was burning with pain from where some heavy, unknown force had jerked him down by his cloak. Struggling for air, the boy tried to comprehend what had happened. In his frenzied, panicked mind, one thought came through with shocking clarity. Barric said there was a mountain lion. Spurred on by the thought, along with some adrenaline, the tall boy scrambled to his feet, teetering slightly, and found himself facing what he had been dreading; a huge tawny beast was spitting out a mouthful of Gilan's blue cloak.

Gilan froze, staring into the large amber eyes. Desperately, he wracked his brain for something, anything that his father had taught him about facing wild animals. Play dead? No, no, that's with bears. Run away? Gilan, if the circumstances were different, could have laughed at his stupidity. Running would almost certainly arouse the cat's instinct to chase, and then he would really be dead. Rush him! Rush him, Gil, it's your only chance! Gilan hesitated for a split second, then plunged forward, waving his arms, his shredded cloak flapping, and forced a scream through his protesting throat.

"BAD CAT! GET OUT OF HERE! BAD CAT!"

The lion shrank back from the boy. Gilan continued on his plight forward, fighting the almost overwhelming instinct to turn and run. "GO! GO AWAY!"

The beast gave a small snarl, then turned and slinked into the woods. Gilan yelled a few more times for good measure, then lowered his trembling body to the ground as his knees buckled. Tears trickled down the boy's cheeks, despite his valiant efforts to hold them back. He had had the scare of his life. Before this, the worst things that had happened to him was a fever his father didn't like talking about and the occasional Battleschool squabbles. The Battleschool clashes had taught him never to cry.

At the thought, Gilan made a gravelly sound that was halfway between a laugh and a sob. "Not acting very brave." He murmured to himself.

Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Gilan forced his weak legs to stand. He had to get moving. Bentley would be running back to the castle, no doubt causing anxiety in the stable hands, and more importantly, his father. A search party would almost certainly be out soon, trying to find him. Truly, sinking back to the ground and waiting sounded very appealing. A second later, Gilan shook his head angrily. "Up, Gilan." He murmured thickly. Sitting around in his numb, shocked state would make him easy prey for any return attacks from the cat or any other predators. His sore, stiffening muscles protesting violently, Gilan began his slow, painful trek back to Castle Caraway.

"How are things at Redmont?" Sir David asked his friend as he leaned comfortably back in his armchair, nursing a cup of coffee. Tall and clean shaven, with light brown hair and kind grey eyes, David had a pleasant nature and an easy smile.

Halt shrugged, comfortable in his own armchair with a coffee, generously lace with honey. "Well enough. No really noticeable change in temperature yet, though, Redmont usually has fairly mild winters."

David nodded, wistfully glancing out the window. "Wish I could say the same for Caraway. Being as far north as we are, winters tend to be pretty harsh."

Their thoughts were interrupted by a rather frantic pounding on the door. David, raising his eyebrow curiously, called out, "Come in."

The door opened to admit a rather nervous looking young man. "Rowan," David greeted him, recognizing the black haired young man. "What's wrong?"

Rowan shifted his weight uncomfortably, hating what he had to say next. "You're-You're son." He said, gnawing on his lip. "Gilan's horse just barely came back... Riderless. The horse was lathered and frightened, sir."

David's usual smile deserted him, replaced by an expression of anxiety. "Gilan? My Gilan?" David stood hurriedly, his worry clearly visible in his tense stance. "When did the horse come back? Was it injured?"

"Not long ago at all - Barric sent me as soon as he recognized the horse - the young chestnut, Bentley. The horse had a scrape on his hindquarters... I didn't get a good look, but it looked like claw marks, sir."

David swallowed nervously. "Thank you, Rowan. Now, I need to go find my son."

Rowan nodded, taking the words as his dismissal. "Good luck, sir." The sentry then turned and exited through the door he had entered in. David waited until he had left before moving toward the hook where his cloak hung.

"I'm sorry about all this, Halt... I know you don't get to come up as often anymore... But, Gilan... You understand?"

David wasn't flustered easily - Halt had been his friend long enough to know that. But his tense stance and jerky speech made Halt realize that his friend was near frantic, his calm exterior maintained only be immense willpower. "Of course. I'll go with you." Halt said calmly, standing as well to fasten his cloak. "We'll leave immediately."

"I just don't understand it, Halt." David said irritably as they moved swiftly to the stables.

"Perhaps the horse threw him." Halt offered. "The sentry said that the horse was young - maybe he spooked. Gilan could be almost home."

David considered it. "It's a possibility, but Gilan's too good a horseman to just fall off. And Bentley may be young, but Gilan's worked with him for years - he helped with the birth, the training. He's only been riding him for the past year, but they know each other from the inside out. I would trust Bentley with Gilan more then I would trust some of the older horses."

As they had been talking, they entered the barn, and as soon as David had finished his statement Halt had ducked into Abelard's temporary stall to buckle his saddle on. David had walked down the aisle slightly further to Archie's stall. Archie was a massively built grey, with a lighter mane and tail and kind brown eyes. David gave him a quick pat before lifting his saddle onto the broad back and slipping the bridle in. Barric, the stable master, approached him, the brush that he had been currying Bentley's coat with still in his hand.

"Sir?" He said in his gentle, soft spoken way. "In case you were needing any of this information, Gilan left shortly after dawn this morning. Bentley came back about an hour and a half later. Sir, there have been mountain lion sightings in the woods..." The man trailed off, troubled.

David squeezed Barric's shoulder. "Thanks, Bar'. I'll find him; never fear." Leading Archie out into the courtyard sunlight, where Halt was waiting, David mounted and turned Archie towards the woods. Barric watched them go, heaved a sigh, then turned back to continue his care of Bentley.

"Find him, David." The stablemaster whispered.

So, I really have no excuses besides writers block. I've made a goal to publish/update a story a week, so hopefully the wait won't be nearly as long this time; I plan to get the last chapter up next week.

Once again, I'm sorry about the wait!

-TrustTheCloak