The wagon slowed to a stop behind a few trees, and we hastily got off. I jumped on a horse behind Arthur as per Angel’s instructions. He was the smoother rider, according to her, but when we got into the forest, I found it to be quite a rough ride.

As soon as we reached a steady pace, Angel told me to continue that exercise I was doing earlier. Arthur took the hint, and I presumed he started doing whatever Angel was doing to me on the wagon. I closed my eyes, but it was hard not to be panicking while riding a horse through a forest. It was a lot worse than on the carriage, and My legs were constantly brushing past leaves and branches of bushes. Maybe if I had tried harder back when we were on the road, we wouldn’t need to be going through this nerve-wracking scenario right now. But I suppressed those thoughts about the past and tried to concentrate on my breathing.

“Left! Turn left over there!”

Angel was yelling out commands now, telling Arthur the best routes to escape from the enemies. We all had our jobs, and mine was to sit there and breathe. I had always thought that if I ever get into an action-packed chase sequence like this one, I’d be the one leading the horses. But now, I was too scared to even breathe properly.

Then, everything suddenly became quiet again. All I could hear now was the wind howling… and a familiar rumble in the distance. I opened my eyes and lifted my head, surveying our surroundings. We weren’t in the forest anymore. We were a large clearing now, and the loud river could be seen in the distance. Did we go back to that clearing we saw earlier? No, it was a new one, but it just happened to be near the same river also.

“Damien! Remember your job!” Angel called out, clicking me back into the present. I obediently put my head back down again. It wasn’t the time to be spacing out.

Now that we were riding much more smoothly than when we were in the forest, I was able to concentrate better. I hugged on to Arthur and closed my eyes to concentrate on the feeling I had before in the back of my head.

Then again, the silence was broken by a loud “bam.” The musket shot echoed through the clearing, and I heard a few birds in the distance screech in fright. Considering the range of the rifles in the current time period, they must be within one hundred meters of us now. How unlucky was I, to have something distracting appear each and every time I start trying to feel at peace?

A few more shots rang out through the clearing, but I paid them no attention. I knew my job now, and if I were to fail, we’d be dead—or worse.

Suddenly, by chance, I felt it. A slight pressure pushing me backward, but not quite. I kept my attention there so that I could try using a muscle there to “take us out of this time period,” as Angel had said. Was it really going to be over now? Could we finally return back to safety, after these two hectic days?

The horse let out a loud neigh as if approving my thoughts. Then I felt a force pushing me inside out. Arthur and the horse escaped from my touch. I became weightless as the gravity disappeared. “Don’t worry,” I told nobody, “we’re safe now.”

Except we weren’t.

I hit the ground hard—hands first, then face. Even though I heard a bone in my arm crack, I was instantly put in adrenaline mode. It took me a moment to realize that we were in the same grassy meadows by the same rushing river. I had failed. Again.

I lifted my head and tried to pick myself up. A surging pain ran from my arms and legs, and I collapsed back down. Some bones were definitely broken.

Two people, on horses, were rushing at us, with their rifles held up. I looked to my right where Angel was supposed to be riding with us. She had fallen, and her horse was already fleeing in the distance. A few meters away, Angel’s body lay limp. We wouldn’t be escaping again this time.

It felt like it took forever for the horses to near us and finally stop. I laid there, muscles tense, waiting for them to get here. When the sound of hooves hitting the ground finally stopped, two loud thuds signaled the drop of two people. They walked around, searching.

“Oh, come on. Are you serious?” One of them exclaimed. It was a woman’s voice. She sounded almost careless and amused, but I knew she was chasing after us with worse intents just a few minutes ago.

“Well, what?” The other person asked. “She ran again? Not that it’s anything new OR surprising.” This was the voice of a man. He sounded just as relaxed as the woman, and just as with her, I could tell that his voice had been hardened by years of experience in action as well.

“Yep,” the woman continued, “but aren’t you still amazed at how persistent she is?”

The man let out a loud, heavy chuckle. “Aren’t we all the same, Dia?”

There were a few quick steps and a whoosh. I imagined the woman sending a smack towards the man’s face, only for it to miss.

“Can you please stop calling me that? It’s pretty annoying.” She switched to a lower tone. “You know what’ll happen.”

“Alright, ma’am. It’s not like anybody’ll hear it.”

“But you know what could happen. Let’s just get on with our job.”

“Sure, whatever.”

I relaxed myself. Why were they just playing around when they were clearly coming to kill us? Plus, did they say something about Angel “escaping”? Is she still safe? I remember seeing her lying on the ground, just like me.

Suddenly someone seized my hands. I bit down in pain as my broken arms were tied together. Next were my feet. I made no attempt to free myself and run away. It wouldn’t have been very useful against their weapons and horses. And my bones were broken anyway.

A piercing pain stabbed through my arms just as I thought that.

When the person finally finished tying me, they—she—picked me up, holding me in one arm. That sent another wave of pain through my ribs.

I had the chance to look up now to check on the other enemy. But I left that chance alone. I was too tired now, and only my pain occupied my mind. In the end, though, I didn’t need to look up to know what the man was doing.

“Okay, okay, guys,” Arthur spoke, “you guys just want the girl, right? Yeah, it doesn’t matter. Don’t worry, I’ll keep out of your business. I can see now why you’re following her. Hey, you know what? Maybe I can even help—”

I heard the man cock his rifle. He had finally decided to make Arthur shut up.

“Do you really think we care?” The man said, “you’ll be giving us some useful information either way.”

Arthur remained silent.

I was slung over a horse, and I guess they did the same with Arthur and Angel. Arthur landed on the other horse with a loud thud, and Angel was placed beside me. She was still breathing, but unconscious.

As we rode back into the forest, the horse hitting my broken ribcage, the fact that Angel was still alive was the only hope that kept me going.