Hunters of Sian - Book 2. The Užaren Canyon

A Dark Night

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Chapter Twenty-Three

A Dark Night

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Nell stared without comprehension for several long moments. The sparks had flown high, but it struck Nell that they weren't from the same direction that Marshall and Artimel had just left in. They looked...

'Sallos?' Nell yelped as Sallos suddenly slammed his heels into Shade's side. The drack whirled around and galloped back the way they had come.

'Sallos!?' Nell shouted again. They were breaking the rules! The sun was going down. They needed to be going back to their camp. Nell rocked in the saddle, too stunned to move. Seconds later and Thorn was galloping after Shade's retreating form. Nell's heart was in his throat as he ducked under thorn branches and shifted in the saddle when Thorn leapt a large rock. The path narrowed, curving one way and then the other.

It split into two corridors, but Nell just saw Shade's tail whip around the corner of the left path, so he turned Thorn toward it. Nell wanted to yell for his master again, but he couldn't bring himself to make any more noise. Someone clearly needed their help, but Nell had no idea how close the danger was. Even now a Callidus could be closing in from behind, following the noise of their mounts. The shadows were stretching longer.

Sallos did not slow down.

Nell tried to force Thorn to go faster but neither the young drake nor Nell knew this path very well. There were holes, loose gravel, sharp turns and cacti. Nell yelped in pain as they nearly crashed into the wall of the canyon, several cacti barbs scraping across his leg as they galloped past. It was no good. They weren't catching up. Finally, they broke out into a small clearing of burnt bracken and dead saplings. Nell's heart sank as he saw not two but three paths leading off.

He had absolutely no idea which one Shade had taken.

'Sallos!' Thorn spun in circles, confused, and lost. Nell looked desperately from one path to the other. All three looked exactly the same and the creeping gloom and hard rocky floor meant that Nell couldn't see any tracks. He now had to make a decision. Pick a path, choose the wrong one and end up lost deep in the canyons until someone or something found him, pick the right path and maybe he would catch up. Maybe. Or he could go back the way he'd come, trace their tracks back and return to the cabin.

Nell was trembling with his indecision. He wasn't the only one. Thorn's head swayed back and forth, looking one way and then the other. This was not a good sign. It meant that Thorn couldn't pick up Shade's scent. Nell gave him all the rein to let Thorn drop his nose to the ground. The drack did, huffing but the long day, the hot, dry air and stinging dust seemed to have muted his senses.

Every second Nell waited was another that Shade galloped away. With trembling hands and a heavy heart, Nell picked up the reins and turned Thorn back up the track they had come. He dug his heels in, but he might not have bothered. Thorn broke immediately into a fast trot, desperation making the young animal eager to escape. The cabin was the only safe place the animal knew so it was there that he headed. Nell looked back over his shoulder many, many times but the sparks never came again, and nothing came out of the dark behind them. All the while, the sun got lower and lower, plunging each crevice and pathway into darker shadow.

He had Thorn gallop, canter, and trot as much as possible. They had come a dangerously long way into unknown territory. They had to get back fast or be taken by monsters. Thorn gave a huffing sort of growl as they past into a section that Nell actually recognised. Encouraged, the drack went faster. Finally, they broke out into their cabin grounds. Nell had never been so glad to see it. He hadn't realised he'd been gripping the reins and panting in his anxiety until they finally came to a stop.