It had only been moments after my first attacks. The figures didn't seem to be in too big of a hurry, so I was still free. I guess they didn't want to take any chances against my sword. Even with this advantage, this fight would be over in a flash and, as if on cue, I suddenly saw a faint glow appear around one figure. Soon after, a strong gust of wind strong enough to force me to my knees came from above.

It was then that I saw it. A large floating shadow appeared from behind a nearby building and headed straight for us.

The thing turned out to be a levitating carriage and, even though the figures noticed it too, it soon plowed through several them before stopping within inches of me. I didn't know who was driving it, but I didn't care and I grabbed the poleaxe I had dropped and the carriage.

As soon as I had grabbed onto the carriage, it began moving again. I found myself and one figure being dragged by it.

I was just happy to be away from that group and so ignored the dirt tearing my legs and clothes. There was also something else I need to worry about more than my clothes and legs. That was the figure that had also grabbed onto the carriage. Fortunately, I had my poleaxe already in hand and quickly used it to slash the figure who let go to avoid the attack.

It surprised me he let go so easily I took a moment to realize that I too would soon fall off if I did nothing. Since I had been in such a hurry to grab onto the poleaxe and the carriage, I had not sheathed my sword. Because of this, the arm I had wrapped around one skid was quickly coming loose. To make matters worse, I found out why the figure had fallen off so easily.

Behind the carriage I saw a black figure. This was not the figure of a human, but the figure of a large agile looking cat, one that shouldn't be here. Amazingly, it was gaining on us.

Shaking my head, I decided that I could figure out what was happening later, and that I needed to climb aboard the carriage. I soon realized that my poleaxe was perfect for stabbing into the wood side of the carriage and had a new handhold. I hadn't got it in very well so I couldn't put much weight into it, but it helped slow my sliding off of the skid.

Whoever was inside the carriage had shown no signs of coming out to help me. If it was only one person inside there would be no way for them to come and help me without stopping it and since they weren't stopping, they must have realized that we were still being chased.

I had somehow climbed onto the side of the carriage using the poleaxe and the sword. My knees were in pain from being dragged on the ground for so long and my arms were sore from hanging on but I was up now. I was still not safe on the side of the carriage and so I resisted the urge to shoot at the figure behind us with the crossbow that had stayed strapped to me.

I opened the door to the cab and stepped in.

“How come you did not wake me?” Helnion gave me an angry but cute look.

“Thank you.”

“Can you take over? I will take care of that,” She pointed to my legs.

I assumed she wanted me to take control of the carriage and would then take care of my legs. Since there wasn't much light I couldn't see how bad my legs were, but they must be bad enough that Helnion could even tell I injured them. They hurt pretty badly, so I wasn't surprised.

Before I took control of the vehicle, I took out one tool I had made. It was a lamp made with magic crystals. They made these already, so it wasn't an original creation of mine but it had been cheaper. When I had found the lamp hook in the carriage, I pushed the button that allowed the light crystal to touch the crystal that stored magical energy and the light went on.

Helnion winced when she looked at me again. I too could now see my legs. While I couldn't see any bone, they were bleeding. I could treat them myself but I didn't trust Helnion's driving, especially at night.

Before I switched places, I went to the back window and pulled the curtain aside. Behind us, I could still see the dark cat-like figure. It was much closer and since it was dark, I couldn't tell how tired it was.

“Do you like cats?” I asked Helnion.

“Salis, please take over. I am getting tired.”

“You always got tired easily in “Concentration Mode.”

I traded places with Helnion.

“Why did you ask about cats?”

“You'll see in a few minutes.”

Helnion looked puzzled but then went to look out the back window.

“That is a big cat,” she sounded curious.

Helnion began looking through the carriage. I imagine she was looking for something to bandage my legs with. I obviously couldn't help her look at I was too busy driving. Since levitating carriages didn't have headlights, and the moonlight was dim, I had a hard time seeing ahead of me. There weren't too many trees that grew around Kein since it was mostly farmland, but I had to keep an eye out for the groves of trees and large rocks that were scattered about. To be honest, we were lucky to not have crashed by now.

Helnion had taken out one of my clothes and torn it into strips. While she was clumsy, she somehow pulled herself together when our safety was concerned or my hair for some reason. I couldn't see how well of a job she had done, but my legs felt better.

Helnion turned off the light and looked out the back window again.

“Do you like cats?” She asked me.

“You never answered me before,” I replied. “To answer. I don't care about pets. They just use the money I could spend on other things.”

“I do not like that cat. It looks mean.”

“It's still back there?”

“It smiled at me. I did not like the way it smiled at me.”

I couldn't understand how the cat could still be back there. I couldn't think of any animals that could run for this long. Zoology was a weak point of mine since I never cared about animals so I could be wrong. While a levitating carriage was nowhere near as fast as a car and there were probably a few animals that could run faster that one. But for this long?

“Think you can hit it with my crossbow?” I asked Helnion.

“I can try,” she sounded uncertain.

Helnion picked up my crossbow and the quiver of bolts I had placed on one seat and fumbled with it. I had never seen her shoot a crossbow before but she would often come and watch me practice after class so she should know where everything went. It wasn't a heavy crossbow so she shouldn't have any trouble holding it. It was just a matter of how well she could concentrate and aim. It was a good thing levitating carriage didn't bounce or she would probably hit nothing.

Behind me I heard Helnion sigh with relief, which meant she had finally armed the crossbow. Hopefully. I then heard her open the back window. I could hear her groaning as she tried to aim.

“I can do it if you want,” I called to Helnion.

“I do not trust my driving,” she said back.

I heard the twang of the crossbow. Helnion squeaked in surprise.

“What happened?”

“The cat dodged it. I would have hit it too…”

“How close is it?”

“If it was a good kitty, I would pet it.”

No wonder she could have hit it. If it was that close it would be hard to miss. I would also imagine it would be impossible for the cat to see Helnion aiming at it, making it easy for it to dodge, but it was a cat. I hadn't heard of any cats or animal that could tell when someone would shoot at them and then dodge it.

“Salis, the cat just told us to stop and that it would not hurt us.”

Well, I guess if the cat could speak it was probably smart enough to dodge a crossbow bolt… Wait… What… The cat spoke?

“Tell it we don't speak cat and that we can't tell what it's saying.”

“Okay,” Helnion told the cat what I said, “I think it laughed.”

“Good for it.”

Since the cat was close enough to speak to Helnion, it was probably only a matter of moments until it got close enough to the carriage to jump on. But if it was that close then…

“Is it right behind us?” I asked Helnion.

“It is a little to the left.”

“Get on the floor,” I told Helnion.

“Alright,” and after a moment's pause, “Alright.”

If the cat wanted us to stop, I would. After testing to see if my magic power was strong enough at the moment, I swerved to the left and put my magical energy into the break orbs and stopped the levitation of the carriage.

The carriage stopped quickly after it hit the ground and almost rolled. I also soon heard a thump that wasn't from the carriage hitting the ground. I hoped that was the cat hitting the carriage but not wanting to let it get the chance to get into the now stopped carriage I began driving again.

“Uhh. Salis,” I heard a moan behind me, “Your bags landed on me.”

“Where is the cat?”

I heard her get up, “He is not behind us.”

It was dark, so it wasn't surprising that she couldn't see him. Nirca had just set, so it was getting darker by the minute. I didn't know how good the cat's night vision was but since it was a cat; it was probably good, but I hoped that it would be dark enough and that it was far enough behind us I could lose it in the dark. Even if it could still see, I had been driving west towards the river. If the river didn't stop it, I don't know how we would get away from it. The thing didn't seem to run out of stamina either.

There was also the fact that the carriage could only go so far before its magical energy needed recharging. Since they used a lot of energy Helnion and I would be able to fully recharge them but we would probably be better off saving it, so it would limit our time in the carriage…

“Such a dangerous night for a drive. You might hit something,” I heard a voice come from the direction of the door.

I glanced back. I was expecting to see a cat but there was a tall, lean man with light hair. He was wearing the same outfit that the figures I had fought earlier were wearing though his mask was off at the moment.

“That was not nice of you to stop suddenly like that,” He rubbed his shoulder, “It allowed me to grab on though.” He smiled at me. “You humans are always such a pain.” He was still smiling.

He walked past Helnion, who had only glanced at him when he came in and was now rummaging through my bag.

“I think it would be a good idea to stop now. I have caught you and I would not be happy if we ran into a tree.” He said in a polite voice, though now I could tell he was straining to keep his smile.

“Don't want to,” I said.

“I would rather do this the easy way.” He said, his smile showing a bit more strain to it.

“I am almost to my love,” I said before turning back forward.

“Your love? Are you not too young for that?”

“Love knows no bounds,” I heard Helnion snicker after I said this. She knew I was playing with him or it was that she thought how I said it with no emotion was funny.

“Quit playing with me, child,” He was sounding irritated now.

“Oh, my love. Why must we be obstructed so?” I said and Helnion snickered again.

“Stop this carriage immediately. If I do it forcefully, I will not guarantee your friend’s safety,” He moved towards Helnion and pulled a dagger out of his shirt sleeve.

“Almost there,” I said to Helnion. Now that I thought about it, why hadn't we gone to Kein? Oh, Helnion… and me…

“Almost where?” I heard Helnion and the man at nearly the same time.

“Periscope up.”

“Periscope?” They both said together.

“Dive. Dive. Dive.”

They both looked confused.

I stood up, taking my hands off of the controls and raised my hand. Above my hand appeared a bright light which I pointed towards the man. It took him by surprise long enough for me to get around him and grabbed Helnion.

“I should have taught you how to swim,” I told her.

She cocked her head to the side.

We hit the water hard. I didn't think crashing into the river would help much, but I hoped that this cat man hated water and couldn't swim. We would find out soon enough as the water was coming in quickly and the carriage was sinking.

“Can you get the stuff?” I asked Helnion.

She nodded and grabbed the poleaxe and crossbow while I slung the bag over my shoulder with my free hand and checked to make sure my sword was still at my hip.

There was still one problem. He was still there. He also did not look happy anymore.

“Nice trick,” He said icily, “But I can swim.”

Well, so much for that plan.

“But I cannot let you die here,” He moved to the side, “There is no way you can outrun me.”

Hmm, that was easier than I thought. Thinking, I pulled Helnion past him and pushed the door open. The water was already past my head, and I was swimming but instead of swimming to the shore I pulled Helnion to the side of the carriage and we both climbed on top. Hopefully, this thing floated.

“What are you doing now…” said the man who had exited soon after us. “Staying up there will not help any.”

I ignored him and pulled out my sword.

“Why did I have to get a stubborn one?” He sighed.

“Bad kitty,” I said as my sword started sparking.

The man's eyes widened as soon as he saw the sparks.

“Bad Kitty?” said Helnion right before I plunged my sword towards the water.

I was happy my sword was coming to good use. I was also happy for the one I had chosen. In my case, I had chosen electricity. I figured it was the best for use against metal armor and swords. It would also arc to other people if enough power was put into it, though it was hard to control to whom it would arc to.

It worked. Not only was sword close enough to him, but my magic output was fortunately high at the moment. I didn't know if it would be enough to kill him, but as it was, he had lost his grip and was now drifting away from the carriage.

“Bad kitty!” Helnion shouted at the cat man as he drifted away.

“Yes, bad kitty,” I said back to her as I contemplated what to do next.

Now that the man cat or whatever he was, was gone I finally felt how tired I was. I didn't know if I had enough energy to pull Helnion, let alone my things, to the shore. It also wouldn't take long for the cat man to catch up to us no matter what side of the river we went to.

I would stay on the carriage if it stayed afloat. It seemed to have stopped sinking at the moment so it should be fine. I also might even get the thing started again if I dove inside. Levitating carriages worked over water so it was worth the chance and the cat man would have to run by us on the shore if he wanted to keep up with us as he probably couldn't swim fast enough to keep up in the water.

“Stay here,” I told Helnion who looked like she wanted to fall asleep.

“Okay.”

I climbed down the side of the carriage and dove inside. It was even darker now that it was underwater. The carriage wasn't too big, so it only took me a moment to find the controls and I soon felt the carriage rise. It would have to rise quickly because my breath was running out quickly.

Just as I started to get some strange peaceful feeling that came after the burning lungs, my head broke the surface of the water. I gasped for air while feeling a great sense of accomplishment and maybe a little bit of relief.

“Helnion,” I called. There was no reply, and I called again.

“Ah! Bad Kitty! GO A W A Y KITTY!!!!” she bellowed.

“Where is it?” I called to her.

“The bad kitty is on the shore,” and then, “BAD KITTY!!!”

This wasn't good. The cat man had already caught up to us. Fortunately, it was on the shore now and wouldn't be able to get us as long as we were still over the water. Now all I could hope was that the carriage could make it to the city of Herth that was a few hours south still. Helnion and I would have to take turns recharging the magic crystals. I just hoped it would be enough or that the cat man would finally run out of stamina. He had to run out sometime. If he didn't, I would have to ask him how he did it.

I eventually got Helnion to come back in the carriage. She had thrown in the bag and poleaxe; the latter getting stuck in the wall opposite the door. Helnion herself fell in with the crossbow, almost rolling back out the door. She had then frantically checked the crossbow over, worried that she had broken it.

When Helnion had finished her check of the crossbow, she sat it down. “I do not know how much longer I can stay awake.”

“I don't think the kitty will get us anytime soon, but before you go to sleep will you charge up the carriage some?”

Helnion smiled, nodded, came to the front and then placed her hands on the storage crystal. One thing Helnion had going for her was her large magical capacity. Most nobles had a large capacity and often only married those with high capacity to ensure their superiority. She should have enough to refill the front crystal and some of the one in back. I would easily fill the remaining crystal and have enough left to rival Helnion at full power. It still wouldn't be enough to make it to Herth, but we could float the rest of the way if we could get rid of the cat man.

When Helnion had finished, I had her take the controls. She was tired but there were no trees in the river and I needed to finish charging the rear storage crystal. It took me longer than her to refill the front crystal since my magic output had diminished.

I took my place back at the controls. Helnion was indeed tired as the carriage had been weaving from side to side. I was tired from the journey I had yet to complete. Not that I was tired from the walking, it was that I was tired of riding in carriages as I had been in one almost non-stop since leaving Flae.

I had to keep myself awake. Helnion's yawning wasn't helping either.

“Goodnight,” I said to Helnion who soon laid down on the wet seat with a squelch.

It had been a long night. I had run out of magical energy as had Helnion. The cat man had disappeared sometime in the night, but I didn't stop because I didn't know if he only needed to rest for a while or if he was hoping we would think he had finally gotten tired. It didn't matter. The carriage was low on energy again and would soon be a floating carriage instead of a levitating carriage.

“Salis,” said a still damp and drowsy Helnion, “You need to sleep too.”

“I'm fine,” I told her, “But will you take over for a while so I can stretch my legs?”

“Okay,” she took my place.

It was now dawn. Until now I could only see for a few hundred feet around us, but now, I could get a better look. There was also the chance that we would soon see traffic along the road that ran along the river and get help. There was also the chance of meeting a riverboat.

I climbed onto the roof of the carriage. My clothes were still damp where they had been against the soggy seat cushions and the wind gave me a chill. I looked all around me. It was relatively flat so I could see far despite the dim morning light. I could see no sign of Herth in the front and there were no signs of traffic coming from that direction. Behind us there was no cat. It was indeed gone.

There were four carriages.

The carriages were smaller than the one we were riding. They were also painted black. This did not look good. There was no way they were carrying normal passengers. There was also no way for us to outrun these either. I hoped that they were as low on energy as we were, but I doubted that.

I had taken the controls back from Helnion. She was now looking out the door on the approaching black carriages. I don't know what she was thinking, but I hoped that she had entered Concentration Mode and had thought of something good. Eventually, she sat back down on the seat and began looking through my bag again.