The Escape - Part 2

They had no map to guide them through those woods, and so it was Vol's intuition that they went off, which didn't always prove to be too much better than a map. Not when the routes that he led them on seemed so much more treacherous than the main trail.

Treacherous though they might have been, he continued to lead them in the right direction. Travelling in the dark as they were, that was the most important thing. His route exhausted them more quickly, but it also allowed them to progress more quickly.

Only when the moon was high up in the sky did he judge that they'd made enough distance to stop. He gave the order, and they made camp for the evening, with the faith that no mounted men would easily be able to run along the trail they'd taken. Just as Nolan had needed to do on the way there, they'd need to dismount and walk on the steeper parts.