As she rode, Kyra scratched by branches still wet from the long rain, she marveled at how different the wood was on this side of the river. The trees were all white, the branches white, the leaves white, quite beautiful, the world glistening as they rode, catching her eye even as she rode for her life. They rode south, using the River Tanis as a guide, hearing its gushing as they went. Kyra had hoped to wake rested and refreshed, but now she was startled, still unsure if she were awake or having a terrible dream.

Kyra checked back over her shoulder, hoping the hornhogs would be out of sight, especially given Andor’s speed—yet was dismayed to see they were not. They were, in fact, closer. They were incredibly fast creatures, especially for their size, and they bore down right for them, like hornets on a trail.

Kyra kicked Andor, but it was no use. Andor was faster than Dierdre’s mare, and Kyra gained some distance on her—yet even so, he was not fast enough to outrun the beasts. Kyra realized she could not let too much distant come between her and her friend.

No sooner had she had the thought when suddenly Kyra heard a cry, followed by a horse’s shriek and a rumble. She looked back and was horrified to see the lead hornhog, faster than the others, had caught up to Dierdre and her mare. It pounced, piercing the mare with its long horns, then sank its fangs into the mare’s back.

The mare went tumbling down, and Kyra was horrified to see her friend go down, too. She flew off the mare and rolled into the wood, while the hornhog, preoccupied, attacked the mare, tearing it to shreds as it shrieked. Kyra knew it was only a matter of time until it set its sights on Dierdre.

The pack soon caught up, all of them distracted as they pounced on the mare and tore it to bits.

Kyra could not let her friend wallow there. She turned Andor around and charged for Dierdre, Leo at her side. She rode up beside her, reached down, grabbed her hand, and yanked her up. Dierdre sat behind her and they all turned and took off, while the hornhogs, preoccupied, continued to devour their kill, fighting over the pieces of the horse.

Kyra tore through Whitewood at a gallop, and Kyra was sure, given Andor’s blazing speed, that they would soon put a great distance between them.

But her heart dropped as she heard a familiar sound behind her: a hornhog broke away from the pack, its face covered in blood, and hunted them down, still not satisfied.

The creature bore down them, and Leo, snarling, suddenly stopped, turned and charged.

“LEO!” Kyra shrieked.