Split Attention

Renat was stunned as the chains fell like shed scales from his body. It wasn't until Tessa peeked around the side of the tree with a key in her hand that he began to make sense of what had happened.

"Go, Your Highness!" Tessa whispered as she tucked the key away. There was no telling how she had gotten it, but he was sure of one thing: Tessa would pay dearly for helping him.

The scientist started to ask why she would do such a thing for him when his eyes slid past her and spotted a second figure. Ami was standing there with a horrified expression, her eyes shifting frantically between Tessa and Renat.

"Ami, please!" Tessa ran towards the woman as she begged.

"Escape! The prince has escaped!" Ami yelled. "Sorry," said helplessly as Tessa grabbed her shoulders to stop her shouting. "But they will kill us..."

The camp began to stir. There was no time to lose. Yet Renat could not just let these women die.

He came to a decision. "I will lead them all away. Go the opposite direction and find help. Both of you. Take anyone else who will go. Anywhere has to be better than staying here."

"Fates be with you," Tessa said. Ami nodded. Even though she had been the one to sound the alarm, it was clear she wanted to be free of Lady Livie's influence. Renat only hoped that if Ami made it out, the timid woman would be able to find peace of mind once again.

The women took off away from him to make an escape of their own. They made it out of sight just in time.

For the wolves and lizards in the camp were already beginning to circle. Renat balled his clawed fists; the prince would never let them take him so easily. He had places to go and people to see.

"Hey you mutts, follow me!" The brown wolf took off suddenly through the camp and out into the open mountainside. It was now very dark, but his heightened senses barely struggled to pierce through the veil of night.

Renat was running full out, yet he did not feel winded as trees passed by him in a blur. Coming to the water's edge, the scientist turned down stream in hopes of leading the monsters away from Oblivion so that the humans might have a chance to escape towards there if they had enough time.

Time was very precious indeed, and he would try to give the human captives as much time as they needed to get clear of the camp and to freedom. Yet he could not help but peek over his shoulder to see that his time was likely to be cut short if he did not do something very soon.

For how could he possibly outrun hundreds or thousands of monsters indefinitely? Realistically he at most had a half-hour to an hour of energy left before something would need to change drastically. And Renat still had to find a way to reach Oblivion to warn Mairwen and the others of the imminent attack. The scientist needed to come up with a solid plan very soon.

He cut back up into the forest. It was harder for the monsters to follow him as a group when they were bumping into one another to avoid the trees. For a little while, Renat seemed like he was gaining ground.

Perhaps, just perhaps, he might get far enough ahead to lose them altogether.

That is when he heard a frantic, pleading voice. "Renat? Renat!" His pointed brown ears swiveled slightly at the sound. There was no mistaking the lovely feminine voice he had heard. Mairwen was calling him from nearby.

'What is my wife doing here? And after dark!' The scientist realized he had made a grave error. Unwittingly, he had brought the entirety of Livie's army to meet the princess in the middle of the woods. Such an event would not end well for the woman he loved. Renat would have to warn her.

Veering from his path, the brown wolf headed directly for the shouting just as it went quiet. He held the angelic voice in his mind, determined to find its origin.

Getting down on all fours, the scientist gave into the powers of the wolfish animal in order to achieve his goal. It was dangerous but necessary. He had to find Mairwen.

It was only a moment before the moon lit up two figures in the night not far off from him. In his mix of fear and excitement, Renat called out to them to try to let them know that the meant no harm. However, his emotions caused his impassioned plea to come out as a howl. In answer, the pack chasing him added to his enthusiastic cry which drowned out his warning.

The scientist knew he needed to get closer, but he also needed them to get to safety. "Run," he screamed, trying not to stumble as he passed a fallen log.

The warning seemed unnecessary as both Mairwen and presumably Alaron--who else would be out in the darkness with the princess?--began to run towards the water.

"I hope you have a plan," he muttered.

Fortunately the Guardian was inhumanly fast, and he was pulling along the princess with him in his break-neck speed. But if they had no way to cross the water, they were going to pin themselves against the shoreline. He had to make sure they were safe.

Pushing himself to his limit, Renat pulled away from the pack of monsters and drew close to the royal twins. His gangly nature made him not as strong as the other beasts, but the lean build made him much faster.

He huffed as he drew near, an exhausted groan escaping his large maw. When he finally felt that he was in a good range for them to hear him, disaster struck.

Alaron turned around from running, a silver flash radiating from beneath his inscrutable hood. He lifted his arm with something dangling from his hand.

'What is he...no!' the bola wrapped around Renat's jaws and crashed against his throat. A stifled yelp eeked out of him as a second bola wrapped around his front set of legs, or rather his arms.

Renat tripped and rolled to the ground. While he couldn't blame the Guardian for the action, it was still a devastating blow. Desperate not to lose the pair when he was so close, Renat rose back onto two legs and continued his run even as he unlaced the knotted rope around his hands.

The split attention cost him some time and distance, but once he was able to remove the bonds, he raced, determined to make up ground. He even neglected getting the muzzle of the other bola off his mouth for a moment in favor of making sure he did not lose sight of his wife.

Clearing the trees, Renat was relieved to see the boat and that Junayd and Eira had already pushed it into the water. He raked his claws along his muzzle to remove the balls and cord from his mouth, but they were stuck tight.

The brown wolf choked. By trying to get the cord off of his nose, he had only tightened the section around his neck like a noose. Why did his brother-in-law have to have such deadly aim?

The boat was pushed off into the water and began to row away. His love would likely make it to safety, but he was now stuck between the water and the wolves. On top of that, he had not given her the message about Livie's planned attack.

Renat huffed through his nose. There was only one thing left he could try.

Leaping through the air, the brown wolf caught hold of the back end of the boat right where Alaron was straddling to make sure the boat made it free of the shore. With pleading eye, Renat looked up at the hooded man, but he did not seem to notice.

Alaron's boot came crashing down on Renat's injured nose. The brown wolf's vision went red for a moment as he released the boat and grabbed his nose. In his anger and indignation, he ripped off the bola from his mouth as he sputtered river water and blood.

Getting control of his emotions, the scientist dove into the water after the boat, hoping to catch it. However, Eira and Junayd were strong and motivated rowers, leaving him behind without a second thought.

Renat tried to call after them, but his throat and mouth ached from the trauma inflicted on him. He managed barely a whimper. The brown wolf looked over his shoulder. The blood lust of the other wolves must have been waning, or they knew they were beaten, because only one dared to enter the water before quickly returning to the shore. The lizards hissed angrily at him, but stayed put on the land.

It was a victory, though not as resounding as he had hoped. Shifting his gaze, the scientist tried to paddle a moment longer for the rowboat, but knowing it was a futile effort, he turned on his back and floated. The wolf's body was spent.

Renat's heart was heavy after coming so close. Yet he could not lose hope.

If Mairwen was heading downstream as well, he would find her eventually. He just needed to wait.