Read Awakening the Mare (Fall of Man Book 1) for Free Online Page B

It was so shill it hurt my ears.
    While I was trying to register all that was
happening, Iry looked at me seriously and told me in a stern voice,
“Run.”
    I backed up.
    “Run, Vala, run!”
    In my turn, my hand grazed across my sister,
I glanced at my mother and gushed out, “I’m sorry, Mother.” Then I
took off.
    The moment I ran, Nito ordered, “Get
her!’
    I couldn’t look back or wonder if they were
chasing me. I knew they were and I headed to the safest place I
could think of.
    Running as fast as my feet would carry me, I
headed to the stables. Once inside I made it to Casey’s stall, and
tried to catch my breath. What did I do? How did I do that?
    I reached down to Casey’s water bucket,
splashed my face, then brought some of his water into my mouth. As
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, I heard the motor
sounds. Peeking out through the planks of the barn I saw the
Sybaris vehicles surround the stables.
    They had come for me.
    My whole being shuddered in fear and there
was no turning back, no giving up to the Sybaris. My only choice
was to flee.
    I always kept my satchel with the time
capsule and other items in the barn. I tossed that bag over Casey’s
neck, walked him from his stall, and mounted him.
    The doors to the stable were open and I knew
the Sybaris could see me.
    They didn’t come in, but their faces were
smug, as they believed they had me encircled with their
vehicles.
    Taking a deep breath, focusing forward, I
whispered to Casey that we were going to go as fast as he
could.
    With a loud ‘Ha!”, I snapped the reins and
bolted from the barn.
    The line of vehicles were ahead of me and I
didn’t have enough distance to generate the momentum for a jump.
But I had to try.
    Thinking ‘leap over’ and ‘fly’, I pulled back
on the reins and hoped for the best.
    How it happened, I still don’t know.
    Casey made the leap and without a problem, we
cleared a vehicle. His hooves hit hard to the sandy ground surface
and we didn’t stop.
    We just kept going.

12. The Run

    They followed me with their vehicles until
the terrain of the land made it impossible for them to keep up.
    I went south, then west, away from the
gatekeepers and finally, I lost them.
    Or so I thought.
    I crossed over the old road on the edge of
town, and they turned around. I was foolish to think they ceased
following me. I slowed down my pace, feeling secure.
    In the few minutes that we trotted with ease,
I decided I would go around the Salton Sea and head toward Angeles
City. There were people there when I was a child, surely there were
still people living there. As well as the fact that the Rebels
against the Sybaris were somewhere, I just had to find them and
hoped that they welcomed me.
    The Salton Sea was never a thriving body of
water, in fact it reeked of dead fish. But it was a passageway for
refugees to make it to Akana.
    I knew I could take the long way around the
body of water, and once clear of it, I was safe. The Sybaris never
went that far west. That was Savage territory.
    As soon as I came upon my route to go around,
I realized how wrong I was in my thinking. I wasn’t safe. Not at
all.
    Six vehicles rapidly began to pursue me.
They’d figured out what I was doing. Knowing well they could outrun
my horse.
    My only option was the Salton Sea, as foul as
it was. I veered in that direction, planning to get as close as I
could with Casey, then dive into the body of water, knowing they’d
never come for me in there.
    I’d get in the water, wait it out. Taking a
refugee float was out of the question, Casey couldn’t do that.
    I smelled the salvation of the sea, and
pushed Casey to the limits of his speed.
    A little more. Just a little more.
    The water was close and there was a planked
bridge. All I had to do was get there, jump off, and dive in. I was
focused until Casey stopped and reared up on his hind legs with a
painful ‘nay’.
    He didn’t go forward, in fact, he nearly
threw me from his back. I