I considered what to do. We were well away from the city; at least four hours from Salfrey on horseback, and longer on foot. It was longer still since we’d left Korlas. We weren’t going to reach either place in a hurry and I wasn’t sure if the badly-injured man had allies who would harm us.
With a lack of other options, I checked on Karulo again. I couldn’t tell how badly injured he was, but he was still unconscious. He wasn’t bleeding like the other man.
The stranger was in a rapidly-worsening state. I searched him for weapons but I found none. I had little desire to help him, but if I didn’t then he would probably bleed out. I didn’t want his death on either of our hands, so I decided to help him.
I tried to tear up the cloth of a skirt to bandage his wounds, but either it was too strong or I was too weak; I couldn’t tear it into useful pieces. I found a scarf I’d brought with me—it had been a gift from my mother, and tied it around the bad gash on his leg. He’d likely never know that.
I washed his other wounds using some water I’d brought with me and patched him up as best I could. I hadn’t noticed that Karulo had awakened until I heard movement nearby and saw he was sitting up, watching me.
“Be careful, he’s dangerous,” Karulo warned me. “He attacked me and he’d probably have attacked you too, given the chance.”
The man was still unconscious on the ground. He didn’t look capable of hurting anyone, but I knew that likely wasn’t true. He was here for a reason. With a sinking heart, I expected that reason was me.
“I’ll be careful,” I promised. “He’s in a bad way. I’d suggest getting him some medical treatment, but there’s no one around for miles that we know about.”
Karulo shook his head. “I think we need to leave now, in case he has friends coming. I know it’s late and we’re tired but I think we should go.”
“How injured are you?” I asked.
Karulo seemed alright, but I knew he probably wasn’t. It would’ve taken a lot to knock him out.
“You don’t need to worry,” he said. “I heal quickly. My kind are strong. Did you find any weapons?”
“I didn’t,” I replied. “Did he have any with him?”
Karulo nodded. “He probably dropped them in the woods. Let’s get our things and go.”
“I don’t know if we should leave him,” I said. “He’s vulnerable like this and he might need our help to survive.”
“We could alert the authorities in the next village we pass or in Salfrey, and send them back for him. It’s not a safe place to stay, and we need to go. Now.”
When Veria had brought in my guardian, she hadn’t told me he was bossy, but Karulo was right. I was curious about why this man had attacked him, but it was better to go now, even if it meant we didn’t find out. I could think of several reasons offhand that I might be a target. He might have wanted to abduct me for his own reasons, or perhaps political ones.
“I wonder if he followed us from Korlas,” I replied.
It didn’t take long to pack my possessions back into my bag. I hadn’t lit a fire, so there was no need to put one out. Karulo was waiting for me close to the road; he’d already shifted into the shape of a horse. The injured stranger was still on the ground when I left, and I climbed onto Karulo’s back. We left toward Salfrey at a fast gallop.
“We need to be careful in case there’s an ambush ahead,” I told him. Even though Karulo didn’t respond, I was certain he understood me. If there was a safe path off the main road, I likely would’ve taken it, but at that time there wasn’t. It would’ve been riskier and far slower travelling through the woods.
We travelled for hours, but it felt like longer than that to me. The clouds thinned, revealing more of the moon’s light that gave us a slightly better view of our surroundings. I knew that Karulo could check out the view from the sky above, but we chose not to stop, instead trying to reach Salfrey as quickly as possible. There was no one on the road apart from us, though we passed several buildings illuminated from within. The hour was late as we got closer to Salfrey; it couldn’t have been more than two hours before dawn.
Even if I’d been able to sleep on horseback, I was too worried in case an ambush lay in wait for us or pursuers were on our trail. We passed more farms and buildings the closer we got to Salfrey, and then Karulo stopped. I climbed off his back, checking on him and he immediately reverted to his gryphon form and collapsed on the road. His breathing was heavy and he laid his head against the cool ground, unable to go on any further.
I was tired from the journey, but he’d been running and carrying me the whole time.
“Thank you for bringing me so far, my friend,” I told him, and he looked up at me with kind eyes. “There’s a dip in the ground not far away. We can rest there, and riders won’t see us from the road.”
I helped him closer, and when he collapsed into an exhausted sleep, I covered him with my blanket. I fell asleep beside him and didn’t remember any dreams later. I
