When I awake, I am still in the cave. That's a surprise. I thought they would execute me here on the cold, unforgiving floor. Come to think of it, the floor is really beginning to hurt. I try to sit up, but a flash of pain shoots through my back. This will take a while. I begin to flex out my muscles, slowly and one-by-one, until I can move each limb without pain. Then, I focus on getting myself into an upright position. I push up with my left arm, but the pain forces me back down. I roll onto my back and flex a little. That's good. I slowly sit up, an inch at a time. When I am mostly vertical, it becomes much easier to maneuver. I have little trouble standing. Once up, I can feel how truly worn down and beaten my body is. But I can't stay here. The might of the Solari could descend on me from above at any moment. I try to walk to the entrance of the cave, but my muscles are weak and I fall to my knees. I rise again, using the wall for support. This time I make it to the mouth of the cave. But my progress ends there. I bump into rock. I look up to see what had kept me alive all this time: a massive rock pile. It completely blocked the entryway. My heart dropped at the sight of it. I was trapped.

Looking at the pile, I couldn't for the life of me figure out what had caused it. I could have wrought it from the ceiling in a passed out fit, or there was lunar intervention. The moon had certainly helped me defeat Genj. Perhaps the moon trapped me here to save me. It could take days for the Solari to blast through the rocks. I had plenty of food and water, because the inhabitants of the houses had fled so quickly.

I turned to walk back to my home when I felt the first tremor. The Solari where trying to blast their way into the cave. I began to panic. If they caught me in here, in this weakened state, I would be dead meat. I had to come up with a plan. Slowing my heart rate down, I sat on a bed in someone's house. I needed to think. Could I simply rush the Solari as soon as they cleared the hole? No, I would be cinders before I could reach the stable. I would be dealing with some of the most powerful fire mages in the world. I looked to the pile of rubble again to see a large boulder crash down from the top of the pile. I was running out of time. I desperately cast around for something to aid in my escape. Suddenly, my eyes fall upon Genj, and a crazy, but perfect idea strikes me. Genj's hair is the same color as mine.

I quickly run over to Genj's body and strip off my clothes. I then take Genj's clothes from his body and put them on. I hide Genj's naked form and my clothes in a nearby home. I pick up the knife again, and with a quick shudder, begin to lop off my hair. Once it is approximately the same length and Genj's haircut, I head to the stove of the home. I take out some of the ashes and smear then lightly on my face. Then I take a roll of bandages and tightly bind my breasts flat under my shirt. I catch my reflection in a shard of glass on the counter, and smile. I am close to unrecognizable, and in Genj's clothes, no one will look too closely. The tremors from the mouth of the cave worsen; and I can begin to hear voices from the outside. Just in time, I fling myself down where I found Genj.

Just as I hit the ground and stop moving, there is a might blast from outside. The Solari have broken through the pile of rubble. I lie absolutely still, and slow my breathing to almost nonexistent. I can do that, since I was trained to hold my breath underwater for up to 8 minutes at a time. I hear the voices of the Solari commanders ring out, and I try to slow my breathing even further. They are systematically searching the cave, and it is only a matter of time before they find me. But they will not know it's me, hopefully.

Suddenly, one of the commanders spots me. "Over there! It's Genj!" I smile secretly to myself, knowing that my plan has worked. The commander runs over and scoops me up, not taking the time to examine my face too closely. Some other men run over to aid him, and together they carry me out into the open. One man has my legs, while two others grab under my arms. I don't know why they do this, maybe it's just the heat of the moment. They lay me down on the ground and huddle around me. One of them slaps my face a few times while shouting, "Genj! Genj, wake up!" I stop breathing, although my heart feels like it is going to pop out of my chest.

I know I need to act fast or the opportunity will be lost. The men are looking at each other, not sure of what to do, when I strike. I lash out with my right leg and connect solidly with the man's jaw. I see him crumple to the ground in a heap, just before I use the momentum to launch myself up. I pull my left leg up under me and spin on the ball of my foot, landing to face the commander. His eyes are registering only shock, for just a moment ago I was his beloved leader. I swiftly uppercut him in the throat, and he falls just like his comrade, gasping for air. The third man leaps up into a fighting position, having had the time to gather his wits. I square off to him, keeping my shoulders aligned with his. The man tries to strike out, but I deftly block the low with my left hand, then flip my palm onto his wrist and yank him toward me. The move catches him off guard, and he trips over himself. I knee him hard in the groin, and as he falls, I smash the back of his head down with my palm. He goes down hard.

I quickly head to the stable, head down, hoping no one has seen me take out those men. I saddle my horse quickly and quietly and hop on. I blast out of the stable at full tilt, but I look to my left to behold the chaos. The three men have been discovered by everyone else, and as I ride by, one man looks up. We make eye contact. The man gives me a very subtle grin, winks, and looks back down. He doesn't alert anyone. The strange thing is, I've never seen this man before. Confused, I race towards the path. My horse's footfalls have alerted the other guards, and they run into the stable. With one last glance at the man who noticed me, I fly down the path.

The guards who got horses burst out of the stable and follow me in my erratic flight. They scream along, not very close behind but gaining slowly. They are very experienced riders; I have only ridden my horse for fun. I quickly gain speed down the steep path, and I clutch the horse's mane with one hand. The other is occupied trying to steer the horse. I am scared to death that the horse will trip over its feet and fling me to certain death down the mountain. The wind is another issue. It's blowing so hard I think that I might be lifted off the horse and flung up the hill. My hair is swept out of my face, and I can't hear anything, not even the horse. My breathing comes fast and shallow, and my heart punches my rib cage unrelentlessly. I risk a quick glance over my shoulder to see the other riders gaining on me. I whip my head forward again and hunker down. All I can do now is hang on.

The end of the mountain is racing up to meet me, and I realize that I might be going too fast to even out smoothly. The horse realizes this, and starts to slow down. But we don't slow down enough. The flat ground rises up and we crash into it. The horse sticks out its legs to absorb the impact, but the maneuver costs the hose its life. Its knees snap, and its shin bones shoot up over its legs. Blood splashes out, spraying from the ripped skin and tissue. The horse bellows and crashes to the ground, still travelling very fast. I am thrown into the air, and I fly for a good five seconds before slamming into the earth, twenty feet away. The impact knocks the wind out of me, and I see stars. I lie on my belly gasping for air. My chest screams at me; I might have broken a rib or two. I know I have to recover enough to get hidden, for the other riders will have seen my mistake and taken precautions to avoid it. I struggle breathlessly to my feet to see an awful sight: My horse was impaled. Its own shins had stuck right through its chest and neck, puncturing its heart. I shudder at the sight. There is a small lake of blood forming around the horse, soaking the grass. I stagger over to a nearby bush and collapse in it. I can still see black spots and lines at the edges of my vision, and my breathing is rasping and shallow. I pull my knees up to my chest and wait there, in the bush for the riders to find me.

I don't know how long I wait in the bush, but it feels like years. My breathing begins to even out, and I the intense burning in my chest has turned into a dull throb. I risk a peek out of the bush, but instantly jerk my head back in. The riders are circled up around my horse. I can't hear what they're saying, but from the look of things, they are likely exclaiming about what an unlikely fate has befallen my horse.

I risk another peek out. The other riders have moved on from my mangled horse and are beginning to sweep out over the field. I pull myself in even further. My vision is starting to fade out around the edges again, due to lack of oxygen. If I have to stay like this any longer, I will pass out. I force my knees out of my chest a little, and make myself take a deep breath. I can't hear the riders yet, so they probably can't hear me breathing.

I'm wrong.

Suddenly, a rough hand slams down around the back of my neck, and I can feel myself being dragged up, straight through the bush. My attacker rends me from the branches and throws me down onto my back. The air is knocked clean out of my lungs, and there is a flash of white in my vision. I lie on my back, staring up at the darkening sky, gasping for breath. I see a huge man loom over me. I believe I have met him before. His name is Sergei. He was one of the fiercest bruisers in the clan. I'm in trouble. I roll away from him, just as him massive foot shatters the air right next to where my head was. This party is not here to reason.

I scramble to my feet, but I immediately stagger to my right. I am still shaky on my feet after my fall. I see Sergei leaning in to charge me, so I continue to stagger around. But by this time, I have my balance and some of breath back, so the stagger is just a façade. I look at Sergei, and I see the wicked glint in his eyes. His intent is to kill me, at any cost. Then he begins his charge. I fake continuing to my right, hoping to lead him in that direction. Then at the last second, I throw myself down to my left and roll. I'm not so lucky, though, and Sergei's fist catches my floating rib. I hear a crack, and there is a horrible pain in my side. I cry out, but stop myself from falling. I see Sergei stopping himself, and take my chance. I sprint up behind him and leap up onto his massive shoulders. I wrap my arms around his neck and yank, hard. I feel my arms dig into his Adam's apple, and I hear him let out a little gasp. Suddenly, he drives his elbow into my rib cage. My already snapped rib screams at me, but I hold on. Sergei staggers around like a drunken man, trying to smash my chest to pulp, but I can shift my weight enough that his blows strike only air. I feel his breath rasping up his throat, but I don't let go. Finally, he stumbles over a tough bramble and crashes to the ground. I spring free, but don't have the poise to land on my feet. Instead, I throw my arms out to break the fall, but end up landing hard on my stomach anyway. Everything goes black.

I drag myself back to reality quickly though, and hoist my abused body to my feet. My right side screams in agony, but I know I can't stay here. There are the other riders to worry about. I look frantically around, expecting an attack to come from anywhere. I am not jump on though. I guess the others left Sergei to take care of me. I shuffle off towards the forest, hoping to find a little knoll to sleep in. The progress is slow, thanks to my rib, but I do eventually reach the tree line. Immediately, I spot a little ditch to lie in. I set myself down gingerly, testing my position before committing my weight. I lie sleepless for a while. The pain has lowered from a sharp stabbing to a dull throb. I finally drift of to fitful sleep.