They spent the next few days watching over their shoulders. Everyone would be up before dawn and be moving by sun up, and would not stop the entire day. Ever east they went, driven by not just by hope for safety, but by fear of what lay behind, what now relentlessly pursued them. Durlon lay far behind them, a mere shadow on the horizon, a silhouette in the distance. There were no trees any more, but the world had given way to vast plains and open fields, with the occasional farm resting on the low hills. And yet, behind them rose a low hanging cloud of dust that chased them, pursued them unrelentingly, always reminding them that the slightest mistake could mean death. Even though they would spend fourteen hours a day walking, they could not leave the army behind. And it had been like this for a whole week.

Barret walked alone. They knew where to go, the path was clear and straight right now, and so he chanced leaving the group to continue without his guidance for an hour or so. He left to climb a small hill, where a cluster of rocks jutted out from the top, clearly an ancient marker of some kind, as scratch marks covered the rock's surface. Scaling the handful of boulders, he looked around at the surrounding farms and hills. To the west was the central plains, which they had crossed only a fraction of in the past week. He could see far off forests and cities, and even saw Nexil River, which passed by Valinos. Turning back east, he could see the edge of the Kedaria Mountain Range, which he had crossed only a few months ago. From here, he could not see Edinmire, but he knew they were close, only two weeks away. As he stood at the peak of this tiny mountain, his mind suddenly turned to the lonely, black, jagged peak of Mount Tanji. He could not see it, but he knew which direction it was. The Sentinel that had ambushed him must have come from there, but why? What was it's purpose? He knew they defended the mountain, and wandered the wilds, but never had he known them to go that far away.

Sighing, he turned his eyes back to his tribe. He could see it in their faces every day, every hour: they were tired. Not just that they lacked sleep, but they were physically and mentally exhausted, the fear weighing them down constantly. They spent so long trying to stay ahead of the Templars, but it never seemed to put any more distance between them. Was it their Fate to be caught again? No, Barret thought, it is our Fate to be free. We will do this. He scowled at his own thoughts, trying to steel his resolve.

He was used to this. He had been hunted before. He escaped before. He had done the impossible months ago. This was his home. This was his domain. Where nature reigned, he was at his best. He was a man of the wilds, a wanderer of the plains, a runner of the woods, a climber of mountains, a hunter in the dark. He was a survivor.

But everyone else? They… were not.

Vaulting down the rocks, he hit the ground with a heavy thud, and began to walk back to the group, but something suddenly felt off. He paused mid-step, his hand slowly reaching for his hunting knife. He closed his eyes and listened for the faintest of sounds, and heard a small gasp behind him. Whirling around, he caught a glimpse of something small and brown duck behind the rocks he had been standing on. Realizing that he was not in immediate danger, he relaxed, letting go of the knife. A moment later, a small furred head slowly rose back out, big green eyes staring at him in wonder. "It's alright, I won't hurt you." Barret said, trying to not scare whoever this was.

He watched as a young wolf Keidran stood up from behind his cover. The child was no higher than Barret's waist, and was dressed in lightly tattered and dirt-stained clothes. Kneeling down, Barret smiled, hoping to not have the child panic and run screaming. He wouldn't hurt the child, but he really didn't want to have more people hunting them either. "You have scales." the boy said, tilting his head in wonder. "What are you?"

"I'm what's called an Ishtaer. A dragon-kin. I'm just passing through the area, and these rocks gave me a great view."

"Ma told me dragons are dangerous."

"She's right. Dragons are very dangerous. But we are also very gentle. We have the ability to do very dangerous things, but we choose not to do so. I promise, I won't hurt you."

The young wolf slowly walked over, unblinking eyes taking in every detail of Barret, from the scales to his weapons. "What's it like being a dragon?"

The question caught Barret off guard. "I… I'm not sure how to answer you. I've always been like this."

"I heard dragons can shape-shift. What have you become?"

Barret chuckled as he stood back up. "Ah, I understand. I'm not a dragon like you are thinking of. I'm a dragon-kin. My kind shares many of the same properties as dragons, and we are able to use magic like the dragons, but we are bound to one form. We are dragon-like, not actual dragons. Ishtaer."

"Oh." The boy was quiet for a minute. "Is that your tribe?"

Barret turned around to see the refugees in the distance, pressing east. "Yes. They are my tribe, my friends. Some of them are family to me. I should get back to them. It was nice to talk with you."

"Grell? Where are you?" a voice called in the distance. The wolf turned around, his ears drooping.

"You should get going. Safe travels, young wolf." The child gave him a toothy grin and bounced off toward where he was being called from. Chuckling to himself, he smiled, but that smile faded quickly as he saw the column of soldiers in the distance. He hoped that the child wouldn't cause any issues, but there was nothing he could do about it now. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the wolf run up to someone he assumed to be his mother, and the smile came back. Settling into a gentle jog, he set down from the hill.

…

"Well, what did you see up there?" Raine asked they walked over. "Have we put any distance between us?"

Barret stood up from the tree he was leaning on, and began walking with everyone again. "Not as much as I'd hoped. We're a bit further away now, but they're right on our heels, maybe two and a half, three days tops. I don't understand how they're all able to keep up with us. They're moving heavy machines, and yet they can move as fast as we can? There's something more going on there."

"The heavy weapons probably came from Valinos." Raine frowned. "I saw them last year, remember? They're putting runes on siege weapons to make them not need as many soldiers to move and man. It could explain how they're able to move so fast. They also have horses pulling the heaviest machines, right?"

"Yeah." For a while they walked in silence, but Barret's mind did not stop. Looking back at everyone else, he lowered his voice to barely a whisper. "They're tired. I can see it."

Glancing over her shoulder, she sighed. "We all are. But we can't stop. They won't."

"I know. We're so far away still. We'll be dead if we keep this up though."

"What other choice do we have? You know we can't stop for too long and we can't just let them pass by. We have to keep going."

"I could do it. I could run ahead." Barret didn't sound very convinced of his own idea. "I could make the sprint all the way to Edinmire from here, it would take me maybe half the time. I could get there, warn them, and send people to help you all catch up. But… I would be leaving you for more than a week."

"We'd manage. We'll keep going, even without you."

"No. I can't leave you all, not now. Especially now. You're all so tired, but I'm used to this. I lived my life in the wilderness, running through the woods, chasing prey and being chased. If I left, who would drive you to keep this pace up? As much as I want to go, as much as I want to run ahead, we can't risk it. It might work, or I might be abandoning you to a Fate worse than death again. We already broke out of one prison, and it cost us dozens of lives. I don't want to have to do that again." Raine looked back at everyone. She could see it too, she could feel it. She had been traveling with Barret long enough to keep up with him usually, but this was a lot.

"We have to manage. We either end up nearly dead when we get to Edinmire, or actually dead when we get caught. There are no alternatives."

"Time is against us. We might get to Edinmire, only to have to turn around and fight for our lives there. I can't abandon everyone just for the sake of taking a day to rest. If it comes down to it, I will fight for our lives, and the lives of everyone here." Holding his glaive tighter, he sighed. "This feels awful, just knowing that if we even survive this journey, we may end up dead anyways. When they attack, it might have all been for naught."

"You would survive. No one else might, but you would."

Barret frowned. "What makes you think that? That I'd run away first?"

Raine smiled, turning her eyes to the road ahead. "No. You would be the last one out. But you have someone to fight for. You wouldn't let anything hurt Haelith, and not even death could stop you. You would defy Fate itself, but you would survive just to protect her." Barret's frown faded, and he slowly smiled. She was right. He would do anything for her.