A Short Pursuit

Well, that could have gone better. Roach senses tingling, Fred staggered back the way she had come as fast as she could manage. Her worst fears were realized when someone shouted, "It's getting away!"

"Take it down before it brings its friends!" Another voice yelled.

Three young men flailing various crude weapons broke from the crowd and rushed the hapless Fred. Instantly, she tried to run. In four steps, she tripped over her own feet and pitched forward. Catching her fall with her hands, she kept going in a sort of half-run-half-crawl born of pure panic.

Fred cursed her clumsy human limbs. In her roach body, she could have zipped along the forest floor much faster than this. Now, she was clearly disadvantaged. As the sound of pounding footsteps drew closer, she closed her eyes and braced for the first blow.

"STOP!"

The shout echoed off the trees, and the footsteps slowed to a halt. Fred kept scrambling forward until the same voice added, "YOU TOO, STRANGER!"

Despite herself, she did as commanded before glancing back. There, she saw...

1. An unfamiliar stranger.
2. A knight.
3. Belboz!

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