"There you go," I told Milly, patting her neck. "Shane said the ground was smoother once we got through that rocky section, so you should be fine now."

She snorted her opinion but resumed her amble through the underbrush, trying to find a deer trail after having lost our original path while crossing a large section of pure rock and gravel. Standing in the stirrups, I finally spotted the worn track and guided Milly over to it. I hadn't seen any deer on these trails, but with Shane in the area, they probably fled the moment they noticed the werewolf.

The moon had finally risen above the trees and was shedding some light on our surroundings. It wasn't much, but I wasn't going to complain since it was only a matter of time until another massive storm rolled through. The storm season was just starting here, and we'd been lucky so far, but I was sure there were reasons most guides and travelers wouldn't enter these mountains after the first storm swept through.

A high-pitched whimper made me look sharply to my left. I spotted three fox kits peering out of a den beneath some tree roots a mere second before the vixen blasted out of the shrubs with bared teeth. Like any mother protecting her children, she ignored the odds stacked against her and launched into an offensive.

She raced toward Milly, snapping at her back legs. Milly kicked out but missed the agile fox. The vixen wasn't dissuaded and came right back. I swung my spear around, but didn't have a good angle, nor did the overprotective mother even take note of the moving stick.

When the vixen snarled and snapped at Milly's legs again, Milly decided enough was enough and jumped forward. With how I was twisted around, I dropped the spear in my desperate attempt to grab onto the saddle horn. I didn't bother reining her in since the fox was still on her heels.

Like a re-enactment of her run the other day, Milly took off down the trail as if dire wolves were after her.

Thankfully, the fox didn't follow far.

"Easy, Milly. It's gone," I said, gently pulling back on the reins, only to discover she had the bit clamped between her teeth.

She slowed down to a canter, but continued rushing along the trail. I shook my head and simply held on, waiting for the elderly mule to tire. I hadn't been able to get her to trot for more than ten minutes, so this shouldn't take long.

"Relax, Milly. It was just a fox. It's gone. You can slow down now."

She continued to ignore my steady stream of calm reassurances, apparently determined to win some sort of award for running away from canines. I tried the reins again, but she still had the bit between her teeth and was determined to remain in control. Minutes passed without her showing any signs of being ready to throw in the towel.

Even though we were crossing a lot of valuable distance, there were protruding roots and slippery rocks on this dark trail, and it wasn't worth the risk in case she hurt herself. I leaned forward in the saddle and scratched behind her ears.

My gamble paid off, and she came to a stop, glancing over her shoulder at me and the empty trail behind her. I kept scratching as she reassured herself the fox was gone.

As I sat up, I patted her shoulder. "Good girl."

With a shake of disapproval over how our night had gone so far, she plodded down the trail at her normal pace. Her heavy breathing and occasional clack of hooves on rocks were the only sounds that disturbed the silence.

I shook my head at the elderly mule, finding it ironic I couldn't get her to trot for ten minutes, but toss a fox into the equation, and she decided to pretend she was a racehorse.

It wasn't long before Shane skidded onto the path ahead of us. He stood on his hind legs with his ears perked alertly in our direction. "What happened? Where's your spear?"

"We passed by a fox den, and the vixen snapped at Milly's heels. I dropped it when she decided to vacate the area," I replied dryly.

He shook his head in disbelief. "I was wondering what you were running from. I'm positive that thing is part deer."

"Doubtful. The seller would have mentioned it in an attempt to increase the price."

"Then there's a racehorse or something in her family tree. Mules normally won't run at night."

"It's usually hard to spook her, but she might still be on edge from her encounter with the dire wolf."

"I haven't found any recent trails, so that shouldn't be an immediate worry. You can follow this trail for a while. Just ignore the side paths. I'll come find you when you have to move to a different path."

"Sure."

He dropped to all fours and slipped between the bushes. Despite running from a fox such a short time ago, Milly hadn't slowed down when Shane appeared. I shook my head, although I was grateful she wasn't skittish around him. He also took care to not approach closely when in his werewolf form and she'd heard him speak many times, so that might have been part of it.

I slowed Milly to a stop as I gazed at the valley below. A mudslide must have torn down the trees years ago, leaving an open area. The saplings were still small enough to give me a clear view of the lights bobbing in several areas.

"Hey, Shane. Do you see this?" I quietly called out.

There was no reply, so he must not have been close by. I watched the distant torches and lanterns, noting how they followed fairly straight lines that must be roads.

At least a dozen different lights were visible, with more likely being hidden by the trees. With a frown, I wondered how many soldiers were wandering around and relying on the moonlight like I was.

The search efforts were clearly moving into this valley. I didn't see any camps yet, but I suspected there would be at least one or two set up by tomorrow night, assuming they weren't already present and just well hidden.

It was probably a good thing I'd been sweeping Milly's road apples off the trail and under shrubs. I'd greatly prefer it if the soldiers never realized we were taking the longer route halfway up the mountain slopes.

I clucked to Milly and gently tapped my heels to her sides, and she ambled forward once more, completely oblivious to the danger those tiny dots of light represented. We entered the shelter of the trees, blocking my view of searchers below.

The stars shifted overhead as the night wore on peacefully, until a horn blast echoed up from the valley, clearly summoning others with an urgent tone. More horns answered it, coming from quite some distance behind us, but not high enough up the mountain to have found our trail, so that couldn't be the source of their excitement.

I stopped Milly to listen since these notes sounded very different compared to any I'd heard previously. Very distant clangs of metal against metal reached my ears. It sounded like a fight, and if I had to guess, they had stumbled into the bandit camp.

When a horse's high-pitched scream reached me, I shuddered and sent Milly onward. Bandits rarely treated their horses well, but no horse deserved to die because their rider was a lawless brigand. Even if the horse had belonged to one of the pursuing soldiers, I felt sorry for it.

Rustling in the underbrush betrayed the approach of something large, but I recognized Shane's distinctive bounding pattern, so I wasn't surprised when he spoke.

"It looks like our followers found a distraction."

"I'm not sure how long it'll distract them, but if they all go in that direction, I'll take it," I replied, glancing his way, but unable to see him in the shadows.

"None of those bandits spotted you that night, right?"

"No, although they saw some of Milly's droppings and knew someone was around. They rode down the road to try and find us."

"Hopefully, it won't occur to the soldiers to keep one alive for questioning. But even if they do, all they'll learn is that someone used a road."

"What are the odds of us getting into another valley and evading them while they're distracted?" I asked.

He was silent for some time, before finally replying, "It's not easy. The mountain we're on is between this valley and the previous one, both of which have soldiers in them. The valleys here tend to be long and fairly narrow. If we stay on this side of the mountains, the other valley branches off, and we'll be able to cross into a different valley in two days. As for cutting across this valley to get to the other side, I don't think we'd manage it without being caught."

"That's what I figured. So the wisest course of action is to continue as we are and do our best to stay hidden."

"Pretty much."

This wasn't how I planned to cross these mountains – hiding from soldiers out for revenge for a fallen comrade – but at this point, simply getting across alive was my main goal.