Six hours earlier…
Borin's boots scorched earth with every step. Even as Lyra thrashed on his shoulder, fists hammering his back hard enough to bruise.
Her voice raw from screaming but she didn't stop.
"PUT ME DOWN!"
He didn't listen, just kept running. Distance from the excavation site increasing with each stride. In no time he was nearly a three hundred metres away.
"That's an ORDER, Borin!"
"Can't do that, my lady." His breathing was heavy but steady. Forty years of demon campaigns taught him how to do this. Lyra was just another one of his comrades.
She pulled at his armor straps and kicked. "I command you—take me back to him!"
"I respect his decision." Borin emphasized. "Not yours. Not on this."
Her struggles intensified but Borin's grip didn't loosen. After two hundred more metres. Borin saw a clearing ahead close enough to Verdant Springs that the air smelled like sulfur and salt.
