He kept running. Through the woods, careful not to hit the trees that loomed high, dodging them one after the other. He saw the moon at the horizon. Large, as big as a setting sun, he could see the rabbit on its face. His cloak was being dragged, it was already torn at its bottom, but he didn’t even bother as long as his hood was intact not giving away his face in the moonlight. He could hear distant commands and cries, and the hoofs of the mounts of the guards he had been evading. But he knew he had a chance of survival, if he got beyond the gorge, the Syrus had been cutting on the rocks for centuries now. And he knew how to do it, a task even the emperor’s best men dared to do. And he relied on the ghosts, Hralls, believed to haunt these woods, to slow the riders down. He counted on their fears, which would hold them from proceeding deep into the abode of ‘Hrall’ so it was called. But then he hadn’t quite considered his own, daring to enter it himself. He had eyes only for the horizon, the moon to which he was running.

******

Major Norren knew he could not chase this intruder much longer. He was already leading his men deep into Hrall’s abode. He had been too daring, if the stories were true. He never feared ghosts, nor he believed they existed, for he never saw one. He had wandered almost all of the whole kingdom of Megh. Fought too many fights to rise from the rank of scout to a major. And to his honour, placed as the lesser commander of the castle guard. Yet, fear lurked in his heart. His men- one captain and 3 scouts- have already fallen behind, leaving him almost alone. But Norren could see the silhouette of the intruder as he ran to the moon, and so he kicked hard, called out to his men and followed. For some time he thought he was catching up, but almost suddenly he emerged into a clearing, leaving the woods behind, into a fog that blinded him about his surroundings. He kept moving forward but suddenly his horse refused and turned, neighed as it pranced its forelimbs. He tried controlling it but it refused. He looked back for his men but fog helped him less. He dismounted his ride and stepped forward. The fog cleared slowly revealing the moon and the gorge. About 200 feet wide, rocky on both sides, the walls shining in moonlight. He could hear the Syrus roaring past the rocks about 500 feet below. Norren knew he’d lost the man he was chasing all night. But he knew the man had done his mistake as Norren pulled out the cloak from the outgrowths near the gorge. There was a symbol on its back. Norren barely recognized it. Then all of a sudden he woke to the cries from the woods…

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