Synthia kept pulling down on the throttle, determined to put as much distance between her and the mercenaries as possible. She kept her head low, eyes narrowed against the wind stinging her eyes. She pulled up alongside the car.

"We need the map! Find the closest town to take Christoph to, we absolutely cannot lead them back home! Word will spread and anybody else after the Mioja will go there. Some of them will definitely be looking for a fight."

Iggy shook her head, looking behind her. "It's in your bag, I can't get to it while driving." She blanched upon looking in the rear-view mirror.

Seeing this, Synthia whipped her head around. Sure enough, Drea was atop her horse and quickly gaining on them. Shaking her head, Synthia looked ahead. They were entering a canyon with a few mountains up ahead.

"She'll go after me," Synthia said. "I'll regroup with you later, just try to get him away from here! Worst case, I'll shake her off and meet up with you later."

"And how will you find it!?"

Synthia took a few seconds before giving her an unflappable look of confidence. "Friendship."

"That's not how real life works, you loon!"

It was already too late though. Synthia had bent down once again and was racing toward the left side of the mountain ahead, the sun shining down on her in full now. Iggy was left to keep pushing the pedal down as she went to the right of it.

Synthia's hair whipped around her head. The clopping of hooves confirmed that Drea was behind her. She could practically sense the woman's bloodlust even with how far up ahead she was. Seeing a narrow path along the maroon mountainside that led up, Synthia braced herself as she rocketed up it to the top.

The engine began to roar with the greater burst of fuel required to make the climb. A few seconds later, Synthia flew up to the top of the mountain, the flat plateau stretching outward for another direction. The bike hit the ground, Synthia careful not to bit her tongue. She had to be about a couple hundred feet above ground level now.

Looking behind her, she saw Drea climb up behind her. She was working Caraid at a furious gallop, hooves thundering as they kicked up dirt. Any other horse would have had its heart beating so fast it would shoot out of its throat, but its size made it clear he was clearly no ordinary stallion.

Focusing ahead of her, she kept the throttle pulled down as they raced across the mountain. The plateau seemed to extend for another couple miles. She could use the time that would take to throw her pursuer off.

Pulling out the Mioja, Synthia tried to make the mana flow through her again. She swung it in Drea's direction, bracing for the kickback of using its magical attack... but nothing happened. Staring at the sword, she groaned.

"You only work some of the time? What kind of legendary weapon are you!?"

Keeping it in her hand, the normally colourless blade became black as it sheared through the wind.

Drea kept gaining on her, eventually drawing over to her right side. Synthia swerved away at the sword that swung down like an axe. That didn't deter Drea, who kept up the attack. Every time the sword would plunge toward her, Synthia had to keep pulling the bike further left every time. They stabs were getting closer and closer with each thrust.

Nearing the edge of the mountain, Synthia pulled on the brakes, darting behind Drea before kicking up dirt again. The zeitcycle's large, thick wheels allowed for a generous amount of traction. She was off again in a few seconds, but Drea had pulled Caraid's reigns over in time to match her. Pretty soon she had drawn up to Synthia again, yet this time on her left side. This meant Synthia was at least able to guard against the attacks.

VOOM!

Synthia tried to keep their clashes to a minimum, because at her angle it felt like her arm was being torn out of its socket every time she would intercept Drea. There was no way that she could defend adequately like this, and even if they were on steady ground the disparity between their skill and strength was as wide as the canyon they found themselves in.

Grunting, Synthia tried slashing at the horse instead. Caraid whinnied in fear as it felt the Mioja cut a gash into his calf. The horse began to stumble. Drea snarled, swinging her sword down again in front of Synthia. To avoid it, Synthia had to swerve sharply right. The change in moment made her lose her balance. Both of them began wobbling on their chosen transport.

Synthia tried to wrest control back from the tilting zeitcycle, yet she felt herself almost dragged down as the bike fell sideways and her along with it. She slid across the ground and began rolling, putting her forearms up in front of her face. She heard Drea and Caraid fall as well, shouts and whinnies of pain accompanying her own tumble.

Rolling several meters before coming to a stop, Synthia shook her head as she sat up. She could see Drea punching her fist into the ground, ponytail wrapped around her shoulders. She had a few scratches on her face, the blood dripping down highlighting the righteous fury on her features. She began getting up, sword scraping along the rocks.

With no time to lose, Synthia pulled herself onto her feet at the same time as Drea. Fast as she could, she pulled the zeitcycle up and stepped on the foot peg. She kicked off the ground to give herself a better start and she was off. Drea's sword missed her by a hair's breadth as it swung down, cutting into the ground where she had been half a second earlier.

Breathing heavily, Synthia kept riding as she left Drea behind her. Looking back, she saw her standing, sword still out. She was looking down into the valley. Following her gaze, Synthia saw she was looking at the black convertible Iggy was driving.

Her eyes back on Drea, she saw her stand still for a few moments. She then got atop her horse and rode off in the opposite direction, heading for a path down the mountainside similar to the one she had gone up after Synthia.

Synthia's breath hitched sharply. It was clear where Drea was headed next. She gunned the throttle hard again, searching for the nearest path down. She saw her desired route a couple hundred meters ahead. Cursing under her breath, Synthia leaned forward as she rode down it.

The roar of her engine eventually met with Iggy's, who was also driving as fast as she could. There was only a small patch of road to follow, the trail more worn than the rest. Drea was quickly gaining on it. Synthia grit her teeth as she pressed down as low as she could. The zeitcycle zoomed forward.

Yet even so, it was too late. Drea drew pace with the car and, without wasting a moment's breath, swung her sword down onto the back left tire. It cut through like butter, and a startled scream sounded from within it. The car began spinning out, the lack of stability making it swerve back and forth until it pitched itself over a small outcropping at the side. A nasty sound of metal meeting rock rang out as the front hit the ground. It flipped over, landing upside down.

Yelling, Synthia drew out the Mioja again and tried to fire off another blast of magic. This time it worked, although she was left feeling extremely drained. Drea saw it coming too late as it slammed into her, making her fly off her horse's back onto the ground. Synthia drove past her to the crashed car, barely possessing enough strength to keep her arms on the handles.

Iggy was wriggling out of it with a bloody temple, pulling out Christoph. Miraculously enough, the man seemed to have not suffered any more injuries. Synthia rode up, propping the bike's kickstand before hurrying over to them.

"You okay?"

Iggy chuckled weakly. "No, but thanks for asking. Jesus, that bitch is crazy."

Her eyes widened as she remembered said woman was still after them through her daze. "Where is she?"

Synthia explained. "Out cold a little over there hopefully, but I don't think for long. Come on, I need to get my bag and then we're riding that bike out of here."

As she marched over and wrenched open the back door, Iggy began carrying Christoph over to the zeitcycle. She sat him down as gently as she could. Once Synthia came back, she was given the bag.

"You're in charge of holding it."

"Wait, but what about my stuff?"

Synthia gave a slightly guilty look. "I... got your stuff. At least, what you'd actually need. It's in there with my stuff."

Iggy blinked. She then looked at the bag, mouth hanging open with a look of betrayal.

"You said you wouldn't snoop in my luggage!"

"Well that was before we met Ms. Tall-and-Deadly-Ponytail! I moved your essentials at night after she threatened us, but we've gotta leave the rest of your crap."

"But I—"

Before she could finish, she saw Synthia's eyes widen in fear. It was now Iggy's turn to look behind her, and she saw Drea sitting upon Caraid once more, sword unsheathed. It was pointing downward at the horse's side. She was staring at them coldly.

Caraid leaped the same moment Iggy jumped onto the zeitcycle, Synthia wasting not a single second in revving off. The chase resumed.

Iggy used her wind magic to push Drea back, hoping to knock her off again. She found no such luck, as their adversary was an experienced enough rider to maneuver her horse around the spells. Iggy could also feel her stamina waning. Her attacks wouldn't be strong enough to knock over so much as an empty tankard until she rested.

Synthia kept driving, back warm with Christoph's unconscious form sandwiched between her and Iggy. She prayed to Apeiros he'd hold onto life long enough to see a proper doctor.

Losing her patience, Drea kneed Caraid forward and swung at Synthia from the right again, aiming to lop off her head in one fell swoop. With expert reflexes, Synthia pulled the Mioja up her back and bounced the sword off at the right angle. Another VOOM echoed out as she skidded sideways to a stop so she could manage the move.

Drea was going too fast to slow down safely. She bounced in the saddle as she slowed Caraid down and turned to face the thief. They were now some seventy meters apart, black and gold staring each other down.

"Synthia," Iggy said warningly, having hugged Christoph to ensure he wouldn't fall off. "What are you planning?"

Synthia didn't respond. She had eyes for nobody but the mercenary. She gripped the Mioja tight.

Caraid pawed at the ground, snorting. He could sense his master's tension. Giving a quick scratch to his ears, Drea gave his side a small kick to begin riding. This would only take a few seconds.

"Synthia—"

Ignoring Iggy, Synthia pulled down on the throttle once again as she raced toward her opponent, weapon out. They drew closer, closer, so close that they were about to collide. Iggy shrieked in terror. Drea drew her sword up high, preparing to slice through all three of her targets—

And then at the last second, Synthia darted right past Caraid. A few inches closer and the bike would've hit the horse right in the leg, making them all collapse. Drea turned sharply around again, resolute in her desire for revenge.

Synthia had made a decent head start, but Drea had proven she could outpace her atop that monstrous mount of hers. She prayed for even a small shred of luck, some little amount of fortune that would come her way and allow them to escape. Iggy grabbed her shoulder from behind.

"Never, ever do that again! You hear me!?"

Chuckling, Synthia shook her head. Iggy's usual abrasive attitude was a welcome bit of consistency against how her entire world had shifted in the past few hours alone.

As the sound of hooves closing in, they also heard a horn. Looking further ahead to their left, the girls saw a train barreling along. Even at a distance, they could tell it had a lot of cars strung up behind it. Synthia gasped in relief and began riding diagonally alongside the tracks. Drea saw the train too and followed suit, determined to catch her.

"Synthia, we're not going to make it!" Iggy's hair flew around her head as she looked from the train to Drea, breathing fast and shallow breaths.

Synthia didn't respond.

"SYNTHIA!"

"RAGGGH!"

Drea had swung her sword down again as she drew alongside them, yet Synthia had seen this coming. She eased off the throttle, braking a little and grinning victoriously as the sword missed them by a wide margin. She took a brief second to drink in Drea's look of shock before driving straight ahead along the tracks.

By the time Drea had managed to turn around, the train had already begun streaking across the tracks. Her quarry was riding off into the distance on the other side.

She sat on Caraid for a full minute, blankly watching the train pass by. She then got off it, sword still drawn but completely lax by her side. She took in every car as they passed, every window, every flatbed. All obstacles that had been placed in her path at the worst moment.

She slammed the sword into the ground with a SHUNK, screaming out in frustration as she fell to her knees. Her fist hammered the ground, wishing to pulverize it, make it submit. Her fury was let loose as she howled.

The faces of her friends floated through her mind. Erik, sly and cheeky but always reliable in pinch. Latanie, a woman who had taken to swordplay like a fish to water when she'd managed to teach her all those years ago. She still remembered the first time she'd managed a successful parry.

And then there was Yurvin. Away from the claustrophobia and explosive heat in the mine, Drea had to acknowledge that the cave-in had been due to his own short-sightedness. She'd probably never stop cursing his stupidity. And yet, his earnest nature had always been endearing in its own way. He'd been loyal. Too loyal, evidently.

A clop of hooves sounded behind her. She could tell without looking it was Hyfe. The train continued passing along.

"We're following them, am I correct?"

"We have to."

Rationally, Drea knew that what had happened was an unfortunate accident in the end. The mine had collapsed entirely because of one of her own member's foolishness. Her own too, now that she thought about it. Yet in her heart, she knew she'd never be able to forgive the worthless thief who called herself Synthia for as long as she drew breath.

She stood up again, drawing up to her full seven feet. She pulled the sword out of the ground. Pulling a rag out of a pouch in Caraid's saddle, she began polishing it. "We follow them to the ends of Nelen and beyond if we have to. They have the Mioja. That makes them a priority target."

Hyfe nodded, still atop her pony. "Priority target number one?"

"After that scrawny halfwit stole it from us? Absolutely." Finishing with the sword, she sheathed it and brought out Caraid's brush. She began combing it through his mane. Looking at his leg wound, she could see it was fairly shallow but would need a few stitches.

"I'll find her. And when I do, she'll pay."

...

The zeitcycle roared along the road, Iggy trying to make sense of where they were with the map. Synthia kept her eyes peeled for Drea to come after them again.

"There's Protea, Barong, Shakti... a lot of towns or cities to choose from."

"What's the closet one without a train station? I've marked up the ones that do."

"All of them except, uhhhhh... Doras? Doras an Sah, sahhhhh... Tsaorsa. Doras an Tsaorsa."

Synthia nodded. "That's where we go."

"Why?"

"Because she'll be expecting us to make a quick escape on a train or an airship. Better hole up somewhere she won't think we'll be."

Iggy grimaced. "It's still not as close as the others though."

"It's better than waiting for her to kill us!"

Iggy nodded, accepting Synthia's reason. "Then it's a plan."

With Iggy giving Synthia directions along the way, they raced to Doras. They were both well aware that Christoph's lifeline was rapidly burning out the longer they took. The sun beat down on their backs mercilessly, no car roof to protect them from it.