The Road Less Traveled

[Brodon Windriver]

Brodon did a double-take as he saw Vins approaching on a horse. It did not look to have been well cared for, judging by its lack of sturdy girth. Horses were second nature to the Drykas and all he did was lean, and his mount, Lovaak understood and made it's way casually towards the approaching Dhani. Brodon was already assessing where improvements could be made in how Vins sat astride the animal.

He was less familiar with the traditional saddle and tack than with the Yvas of his people, so he could not be certain without close examination whether it was properly set. The horse's stride seemed natural enough, with no hitches in step indicative of old injuries or sickness, though it did look underfed. More it seemed that the horse was coming towards him simply of its own choice and not because of any riding techniques Vins was employing. It seemed the horse had fundamental training as a riding horse, but that Vins didn't know how to make use of it.

Brodon was not particularly skilled in the use of reins, but it was his understanding that you pulled one side or the other to pull the horses head to a new facing and it would instinctively align the rest of its body to follow. Vins appeared to be pulling both sides the same direction and was primarily only serving to pull his mount's head back.

He guided Lovaak to cross in front of Vins and stop. He took hold of each side in one hand and was starting to explain that you only pull with one or the other when he looked up to see several faces look away suddenly. On instinct, he spun and saw a bowman step back away from the edge of a balcony, arrow nocked. He turned further to shout a warning to Gracen and saw that Gracen was, in fact just turning towards him, a look of alarm on his face.

Their eyes locked and they nodded understanding. There was too much space and too many people between them to muster, and it was probably best to split their pursuit by scattering in different directions anyway. He turned back to Vins and saw anxiety in the Dhani's face. It dawned on him that Vins clearly lacked the skill to out ride pursuit.

He made a gesture to get Vins' attention, made a move of lying on the horse's back in front of him and shouted. "Be lying on your face and holding on!" He grabbed the reins hard, jerking them from Vins' hands as understanding crossed the Dhani's face. Vins mount stepped forward as Brodon pulled the reins over a flange on his yvas collar and gave a tap to a spot on Lovaak's flanks.

His mount surged forward, clumsy for a second as he coordinated with the movement of Vins' mount. Brodon fired a look towards Gracen, seeing the swordsman and the prospective guides strike off in seemingly random directions as pursuit split to follow. Lovaak built speed as the new mount began to race along side him. He did not know how long the flange would hold the reins in place, so he took the opportunity to fire several arrows in the direction of the bowman's perch, not hitting him but keeping him ducked back until they were around the corner.

Lovaak made a snort of disapproval as the collar slipped from the pull of the second horse. Brodon patted him and took hold of the reins, running them instead through one of his girth grips and hugging the big horse's neck affectionately with a laugh.

It was only the pull of the second horse and Brodon's slight hesitations at certain intersections that allowed the enemies to stay even within cursing distance of a mounted Drykas on his own horse, strider or not. Once they reached the gate, they redoubled their speed, Brodon giving a defiant hoot as they left them behind in the dust.

[Colombina]

The XP Wand Is Waved! Hello my motley crew! I'm sorry there isn't much here, but I was scrounging a bit to find some stuff to reward. Happy trails. Update your ledgers with your purchases if you haven't already Oh and Gracen made me giggle! Brodon's Loot 1 XP Riding 2 XP Observation Gracen's Loot 1 XP Riding 1 XP Observation Vin's Loot 1 XP Persuasion (horse buying) 1 XP Observation