First Day

TOVA

We splashed through the river for many miles. The moon was full, and I was grateful for the light but the sleipnirs were surefooted animals and did fine in the water. My traveling companions were exhausted, and we rode in silence, it being broken by the noise of the hooves clacking on the rocks where the water ran low. We left the river a few times to traverse around rapids and deeper areas but always came back. It was the only way I knew to avoid the trackers.

Daybreak broke slowly and as soon as I could see, I led the way out of the river in a particularly rocky area, hoping to not leave trackable hoofprints. My goal now was to put some distance between us and the river and we needed to ride hard.

I led the way into the forest at a canter. I pointed us back to the east, backtracking, but angling north. I let the lead rope to Troi slack a little bit so that she could comfortably follow Bo and he started climbing the rocky hill.

I closed my eyes, thinking about the map