There was a decline she didn’t see until she was there. She let out a surprised gasp and scrambled to keep her balance. Once she was at the bottom of the slope, she realized this was a creek bed. There wasn’t much water running at the bottom now, but it must’ve raged at some point, carving out this path.
Water helped cover scent, right? She thought she might’ve read that somewhere.
Splashing into the water, she walked downstream for a little while, the rattles echoing loudly as a constant reminder that Myrum would be coming after her soon.
Leaving the stream, she climbed up the embankment and noticed the easily visible wet bootprints she was leaving. Right, if she kept going, it would be easy for Myrum to find her without even needing to sniff her out.
She finished climbing up and looked around, trying to think of a way to cover her tracks. There was thick ground cover right next to the river. It didn’t leave any indication of her passage. Perfect!
She took a few strides onto it then stopped. Wait, wouldn’t it be even better if she could leave a false trail?
Walking backward, she took care to place her boots back into each earlier footstep back down the embankment and all the way into the water. Once she was back in the flowing creek, she turned around and ran upstream as best she could without splashing water up on the banks.
When Myrum’s rattling stopped, she froze. She needed to get out of sight.
Turning a full circle, she saw a spot on the embankment that was mostly plants and a few vines. Staying on the plants and using the vines as a handhold, she made her way up and out of the creek bed without leaving much trace.
There was nothing but tall bushes at the top, with the same kind of vines interwoven in them. Going to her hands and knees, she crawled into a space between two of the bushes, thankful nothing had thorns.
Something chittered at her angrily then disappeared with a rustle of leaves and branches.
“Hide here or keep running?” she asked the greenery around her.
She was right next to the creek, which wasn’t good. But this spot was perfect for hiding. Even if Myrum came upon the same place she did, he’d never see her. Her black long-sleeved shirt and pants helped hide her in the dark green plants around her.
Remaining hidden seemed like the better plan.
Her heart was thudding in her chest, and she was breathing hard. Forcing herself to pull in deep slow breaths, she told her heart and body to calm down. Sure, they’d just run when usually her idea of exercise was a brisk walk around the ship, but she could will her heart and lungs to obey. Wasn’t that how it worked?
The sound of splashing water made her go perfectly still, straining to hear more. Was that sound Myrum figuring out her ruse, or was that a little animals taking a bath?
The sound of pebbles rolling down the embankment came next. That could still be caused by an animals. She strained to hear more and watched the spot where she’d climbed up. She couldn’t see much through the thick leaves, but it shouldn’t be hard to spot a giant Talin stalking her.
A loud rattle sounded behind her, making her cry out and jolt forward.
“I hear you in there!” Myrum roared. She heard bushes being ripped from the soil. It wouldn’t be long before he cleared a path to her!
Scrambling out from her hiding spot, she kept moving and only caught a glimpse of Myrum’s hulking shape as she clambered down the embankment. When she got to the bottom, she jumped the creek and sprinted up the other side.
“How cute, the human thinks she can get away from me,” he declared loudly.
The sound of his heavy footfalls behind her was loud and terrifying. She ran blindly, twisting and turning around large groupings of bushes without any sense of direction.
Tripping, she grabbed hold of a nearby boulder to stop herself from falling. She expected Myrum to grab her, but when she turned around, he wasn’t behind her.
Gulping air, she turned in a circle, expecting him to jump out at her. Nothing happened.
The bastard was playing with her!
“You big—”
Her curse was interrupted when she heard a familiar ticking growl. Swinging around, she looked up to find Myrum crouched on the boulder. It was as if he appeared by magic.
She backed up, intimidated by his hulking form backlit by the sun.
“I think maybe we should talk about this,” she said.
Jumping down, he stalked toward her.
