Let me go

  Starland:

 Of eternal shadows and moons,

 where the night reigns with its dark, starry mantle.

 (...)

 The Tireless's Chronicles.

Erin opened her eyes only for a few seconds because the sunlight blinded her sight unceremoniously. It's already dawn... She thought as she moved slightly to get comfortable. But, just at that moment, she realized that something was wrong. Actually, many things were wrong. For starters, she wasn't in her bed. What's more: she was moving.

Without wasting another second, Erin opened her eyes and straight up.

"Oh!"

She had been too optimistic. Everything was going frightfully wrong. She hadn't been lying down, in fact: ¡she was sitting astride a beast! She was so absorbed in looking at the creature that, at first, she didn't see the arm around her rib cage. However, pretty soon, she was aware of a person's body close to her back. What's more, until now, she had remained asleep while leaning on that person. She then remembered the past night's events.

Darek…

Erin's back tensed. No... Half denying reality, half expecting to wake up from a bad dream. She took a few seconds to compose herself. She had this urgency of clearing her throat before speaking so that her voice didn't sound shaky. She'd be damned if she showed any signs of weakness.

"What does this mean?" She finally said and immediately regretted not taking precautions because her voice came out like a mixture of squeak and snore. She was wary of turning around since a bitter feeling told her that it was not Darek who was carrying her on that hairy beast. No matter how much she tried to separate herself from the person, her legs were indecently stuck to the stranger's long limbs. Not to mention other areas that she did not dare to name in words. Despite her uncomfortable situation and her growing restlessness that almost threatened to strangle her, Erin noticed that the beast seemed to be tame. It docily allowed them to ride her. Erin also glimpsed the handle of a dagger in her captor's right boot. But why hadn't he answered her question? Was he not planning to speak? Or was it that he didn't pay importance to her words? With that last question, a hot fury began to replace the fear. Well, it seemed that he definitely wouldn't answer. Was he going to stay silent? Well, she wasn't going to stay still.

Whoever was carrying Erin was holding her with his left hand. With his right arm, the stranger kept holding the straps that seemed to control the beast they were riding. 

A plan quickly took shape in Erin's mind, and she didn't think twice. Suddenly, she crossed her left leg over the beast and let all her weight fall to the right. Thanks to that surprise move, she broke free of the arm around her waist, and as she slid under the right hand of her captor, Erin tried to reach the knife in his boot.

Three things happened then. She managed to get hold of the dagger. However, the man's formidable right arm wrapped around her waist. So Erin ended up hanging from her captor to the right side of the strange beast. Finally, that beast that was carrying them reared in a way that shook her painfully, threatening to split her in half.

"Let me go…!" Erin demanded between gasps as the stranger tried to calm the animal without releasing his hold on her. "Let me go… or…" She didn't want to carry out her threat. She didn't want to. Really.

"Stay still!" He said coldly, finally speaking, and if his clothes hadn't already given her enough clues, his steel voice convinced her.

Ahian.

By then, the animal had already calmed down, and they were stopped in the middle of the road. Erin looked briskly around for the first time, barely making out other beasts behind them. She didn't recognize where they were, but there were many strange, leafy trees to the right of her. If she managed to get into the forest, perhaps she could lose the party. However, first, she needed to escape from the leader. With her whole body trembling but determined, Erin grabbed the gear the beast was wearing with one hand. Then she stared at the foreigner's muscular leg for a few seconds until she raised the small dagger and, with all her strength, stabbed it into Ahian's thigh.