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Up they went as the surge of rain thickened around the in fascination as the rain dribbled down its surface, but the pointers continued to direct towards the su appeared in the lower half of the orb She wiped water froreedily, unable to understand the The suhtning lit up the twilight, streaking between the scudding clouds Boo thunder shuddered in the heavens

"I cannot read Pry-rian," Colvin said, hands on his hips He scoith frustation "Is it a warning?"

The hunter is patient The prey is careless

Martin’s words came back to her in a whisper She stared down at the orb, then back at the suuise his trail?" Lia asked

"Maybe he thought the rain would hide his tracks during the storm How could he knoe would follow him?"

"True, but why co rose froood place to find shelter, especially during a storues in every direction There really is not any place you can hide…up…there…"

She stopped and stared at Colvin He stared back at her

"We are outside the Abbey’s protection," Colvin whispered

Lia stared down at Muirwood, seeing sht shrouded the valley Deception – Scarseth’s greatest talent

"A trap," she said, realizing it ed back down the hill, struggling to keep fro fools The slick footing, the squish of theto the foot of the Tor with broken ankles or worse Was their asps, fresh thunder, and the ha of her heartbeat in her ears The stor of hooves from the hilltop behind therily

"To the woods," she answered Holding the orb in her hand, she thought, Guide us to the nearest tunnel! The orb flashed brilliantly, the spindles turning and pointing to the right

"Put that away, Lia! They will see it!"

"I need it to find our way! There is a tunnel entrance in the woods over there An old oak and a Leering guard it We can cross back to the Abbey underground if we can get there The woods will throw off the horses too If we can…"

The hill dipped suddenly and her footwith shock

Colvin caught her beneath her ar "Careful, Lia!"

She wanted to snap at hibow out of the sleeve and string it Every moment in their escape was precious With the stor the dusk, the darkness would help thwart their pursuers in the woods They reached the bottom of the hill and started towards the woods at a dead run Lia glanced back at the Tor and saw half a dozen horses coallop The riders were crazed to attempt it, but that fact only acted as spurs to her and Colvin

"Hurry!" she called, chuffing Her heart battered inside her chest, her breathing caulps of fire

A horrible animal scream sounded froined one of the horses had stuainst the danced across the sky, revealing Colvin’s clenched jaw, his locked expression The wall of oaks stood in the distance, offering the false promise of shelter Neither spoke, for it was all they could do to keep their legsclosed in behind them There were no words spoken – no calls or threats Only the thick thudding of the hooves, the snorts and frothing of the steeds The silence of thehunted Nothe intent

Lia’s ht now, every lightning flash round would hide them for a while, possibly confuse their pursuers, but the woods would cloak their movements better Earlier the wind hadand hot, pressing as fast as she could Colvin barely kept up with her His face was haggard

One of the horses screaht it was over With a final surge, they reached the edge of the woods and darted inside Lia grabbed a fistful of Colvin’s drenched shirt and pulled hi pattern to disguise their trail Beneath the crown offro wind The darkness o of his arm and pulled the bow sleeve off her shoulder, untied the end and then stopped