Crow nodded as she said she needed to leave as well. He felt a bit warmer as she kissed his cheek, and then followed her lead, turning to go south as she began to make her way north. Unfortunately, he didn’t get far before a movement off to the side made him stiffen in surprise. A group of knights was making their way towards him and Penelope. His heart began to race as he stared at them, wide eyed like a stag cornered by a hunter. This was bad. He had been hoping to put enough distance between himself and the patrols that they wouldn’t catch sight of him. It seemed that hope had been too much to expect.

The thief blinked in surprise as he felt Penelope take hold of his hand and pull him along with her. He stumbled at first, not expecting the sudden motion, but caught up easily as soon as he got his feet underneath him. Now following after her, he felt a wave of anxiety for a different reason. With the knight determined to escape with him, he couldn’t put any distance between them, and he couldn’t stop running or else the patrol would kill him. He swallowed, glancing worriedly over his shoulder as he saw them giving chase.

[i]Maybe it will be okay this time,[/i] he thought, clinging to the last bit of hope he still had. [i]The fatigue has never been consistent. Maybe I’ll get lucky and it won’t happen this time.[/i]

As Penelope mentioned something about a hiding place she knew of, he nodded quickly. “Let’s go there,” he agreed, wanting to get to a place where he could stop running as fast as possible. Falling back slightly, he allowed her to take the lead as he followed her to the place she had in mind.

Despite his hope that he would make it to the hiding place before the fatigue struck, it wasn’t long before Crow began to feel the usual wave of dizziness that crept over him when he exerted himself. He clenched his jaw in frustration, [i]Not now. Please not now![/i] He could already feel himself losing a bit of speed as they ran, and it became harder to focus as his vision became hazy.

“How much farther is it?” he panted, glancing at Penelope. “Are we getting close?”