"Conagan, run!” Noa yelled, slipping out of his jacket. As he did, She-monstrosity grabbed a fistful of his hair, and he yelped as she yanked him back. Her other hand grabbed his shoulder, and he stumbled along as she began to drag him behind the farmhouse.

“You cursed brat!” she hissed at him. “You’re messing with my farm, and I won’t stand for it anymore!”

Noa scowled as she yanked on his hair again, reaching his free hand up to pry her fist from his hair. “You screwed yourself, lady!” he growled. His attempts to unlock her fist proved useless. Instead, he punched at her and missed. Missed again. And again. Reasons he was a healer.

“Stop your wiggling, boy!” she yanked again, pulling him into a headlock at her side, and thankfully, let go of his hair. While a headlock was no more advantageous for him, especially with the grim reality that she could break his neck at any moment, it at least relieved the stress of pain, among other more dangerous stresses that he tried very hard to not consider at the moment.

Even better, he saw the glint of something in her apron pocket, his chest practically on fire as it desperately pulled him towards the thing. Damn. That was the lock!

Okay, think! he told himself, stumbling awkwardly as she pulled him further into the orchard.

“You've been a thorn in my side ever since you showed up, nearly another Bennigan, you are!” she growled, tightening her grip briefly, the panic of his airflow being cut off making Noa jolt.

Damn straight, I'm a thorn in your side! Noa cringed as she made a sharp turn, moving away from both the farmhouse and town now━towards the pastures before the woods.

Wait, thorn... side... Not a bad idea at all. Noa reached over, and just as he stuffed a hand in her apron pocket to scoop up the lock, he clamped down on her side hard with his jaw. She-monstrosity, yeah, that was a taste. Mostly sweat.

She howled, her grip on him loosening just enough for him to slip out, the lock clasped tightly within his right hand. Stumbling back, for once, saved Noa as she snapped for his arm, which fell out of reach just as he rolled. Desperate to be back up on his feet, Noa kept the momentum going, rolling right back up. He twisted around a tree as she pounced for him, heart pounding at another near capture.

He ran, certain that his life depended on it. Each thundering step behind him drove him faster, moving through the apple orchard and towards the town with a serious sense of deja vu. Only this time, the thing behind him was deadly.

Noa glanced over his shoulder, and while he was making good distance, She-monstrosity was loading up with apples on her way. Pressing forward, he figured he had two options. Either run faster and far out of apple-throwing reach, which seemed unlikely, or try to place obstacles between them. He went for the latter.

Amazingly, as he ran closer to a row of trees, weaving between them well maintaining a mostly linear line, the tactic proved useful. It still scared the crud out of him when he heard apples punching trees, bits exploding behind him as he passed another tree.

That's only going to last so long! he thought, momentarily gritting his teeth. The town ahead wasn't too much further away, but enough that it provided She-monstrosity with plenty of ammo, a deadly reminder of that flying past his face like a red haze. He sharply weaved behind a tree, another apple whizzing past him on the other side. Continuing on, and a third close call hit a tree almost directly in front of him. Noa threw his arms up to protect his face from the afterspray, and winced as apple bits pelted his skin. Yet he didn't stop.

The first time he'd done this, Noa had been running from an accusation, now death loomed behind him in the form of a linebacker. With that thought driving him, Noa pushed forward, the town so close! It wasn't a finish line this time, but it was still a monumental step, and crossing from the orchard into town brought a great deal of relief.

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That was shattered when pain flared over the back of his head. Before he knew it, he was rolling across the dirty earth, clutching the lock like it was his last lifeline. He'd be damned if he lost it!

A rather violent invisible tug in his chest jolted him back up to his feet, only to take an apple to his shoulder as well. Cringing, Noa staggered to the side, dodging another apple to the head. Come on, move! he screamed internally, She-monstrosity’s footsteps pounding louder than his racing heart.

One glance over his shoulder was enough to alarm Noa into moving, seeing a hand reaching out for him. He jumped away, sliding into a tight alley between two long buildings. Even for him, it was tight, and when he looked at She-monstrosity, he paused. She couldn't fit! Ha!

Back against one wall, and a palm on the other, Noa took this opportunity to blink away the dizziness he'd ignored since getting hit. Unfortunately, he didn't have any aether left to heal himself to help with that.

“Get back here, cur!” She-monstrosity yelled, and raised an apple.

Hell’s bells! Out of the alley, out of the alley, out of the alley! Noa thought, frantically pushing himself out on the other side as an apple flew by, barely missing him. He started into another run, moving slightly downhill.

The church stood like a stony beacon at the center of town, and was about one too many blocks off to the left for comfort. As Noa turned, his worst fear was already at the other end of the street.

Nope! he thought, and immediately turned, running away from She-monstrosity. Fortunately, she was empty handed now, and he hoped it stayed that way.

Okay, where to now? he thought, considering his options. Either lose her in the empty streets, or hope that the constable was in his jail... office? Whatever the hell that building was!

Noa looked back, eyes scanning over the church before landing on the she-monstrosity barreling after him. She didn't pant like he did, nor look in the least bit tired. That left him hoping, as he turned down a left street, that adrenaline would drive him further. While he could run faster, he never once considered if he could run for longer. In fact, Noa had assumed it.

He took a sharp right turn at the next street, a stitch stabbing his side. Already, he was slowing, a reminder that his glory days from cross country were gone.

The constable's office was just ahead. While that propelled him forward, every fiber in his soul told him he should cut his losses and try for the church instead.

A whiff of air from She-monstrosity swiping at him from behind sealed his decision. Making the final stretch, Noa barged into the constable's office, and shut the door. He leaned against it with his shoulder, not sure that would help when the inevitable occurred.

“I need help!” he yelled, and looked at the senile old man sitting primply behind his desk. Yeah, this moron wasn't investigating anything at all!

“I know, kid. That's why you're working on an apple farm,” the senile man said.

Noa scowled, and tentatively, let off the door when She-monstrosity didn't come barging in like he expected. Maybe she was actually worried about the constable? Good. This man wasn't completely useless.

He stepped up to the desk, and held the lock up in front of the constable.

“What's this?” Constable Loic asked.

“The lock; the piece of metal I told you I threw over my shoulder. Proof! This is it, and Yana and Waroc have been hiding it!” he panted out furiously, pounding the desk with a fist. Ouch.

Loic stared at the lock for a long moment, his stoic expression frozen. He shifted his gray eyes to look up at Noa, and regarded him with the same face.

“What were you running from, kid?” he asked.

“Yana,” Noa hissed, and put the lock in his pocket before holding the stitch in his side. “I think she wants to kill me, like she did to Bennigan.”

Loic’s eyes widened slightly. “And you know this how?” he asked, slowly standing up.

“Because I overheard Waroc and Yana talking about it,” Noa said, and moved towards the door. “I think we should go back to the church, get the support of Lila’s knights, and find them. Waroc headed out to the woods with a wagonful of stolen apples, I'll bet Yana will visit him soon if she's left me, and I suspect that's where they left Bennigan’s body at.”

“Curses, kid, you've done my job for me. Making me look bad,” Loic hissed, then pointed to the door. “Let's get going. If Yana shows back up, I can handle her.”

You better, Noa thought, and turned to the door. He cracked it open, peeking out to see if the coast was clear. Not seeing She-monstrosity anywhere, he opened it the rest of the way, then felt pain radiate from the back of his head.