Ghent might have bragged about his reflexes, but he didn't have time to bask in Elayra's praise. The entrance was quickly flooding with Forsaken.
	"That was a battle cry! Not a scream!" Pride taking yet another hit, Ghent spun away from the crowd and started to run. He kept up with Elayra and began to surpass her, the ears of his hood flying behind him.
	The order was simple, but Ghent still managed to overcomplicate its meaning. Was Drust warning them against going right, or did he want them to turn right? Ghent's indecision only lasted a few seconds, but it was long enough for Elayra to catch up with him.
	"TURN RIGHT!" After settling the internal debate himself, Ghent relayed the order to Elayra. Drust's voice was loud, but so were the shouts, snarls, and gibberish of their pursuers. He didn't want to risk her missing the memo.
	As the teenagers fled the scene, a heavyset Forsaken pushed its way through the pack, slower than the rest due to his size. His neck was crooked, and his vein-riddled arms were covered with dirt and scratches. A much smaller figure clung to his back, its single eye darting from Ghent, to Drust, to Elayra. It shrieked angrily as Elayra's boot met the face of the nearest Forsaken and howled as Drust made quick work of the other.
	The one-eyed forgen continued to throw a fit, its tantrum riling up the others. It pointed forward and smacked its knobby knees against the neck of the Forsaken, as if the larger of the two was its own personal steed. 
	The Forsaken had enough. He reached up and grabbed the chittering forgen by the scruff of its filthy coat. Snarling, he flung the smaller creature toward the center of the alley like it was nothing more than a bowling ball.
	The forgen sailed through the air, and rolled upon landing. It used the momentum of the throw to spring forward, breathing hard and babbling incessantly as it sped past Drust.
	The commotion reached Ghent's ears. He looked over his shoulder midrun, mortified by the sight of the forgen scrambling after them on all fours, mannerisms more beast than human.
	"Uh, Elayra?!" Ghent started to warn her of their pursuer, but his failure to keep his eyes on the road resulted in him tripping over some of the rubble strewn throughout the alleyway. He was running too fast to correct his footing, and so he fell with an unceremonious crash. 
	[i]"L...iii...rah!"[/i] The forgen parroted Elayra's name as it caught up with its prey. It leapt onto Ghent's back as he started to stand, biting and scratching at any flesh it could.
	Ghent shouted. He reached back to grab the forgen with his free hand, and was savagely bitten in the process. 
	Swearing loudly, Ghent spun around. He slammed his back against the nearest wall in the hope of knocking the forgen off, but the little beast held on tight.
	A crash sounded overhead. Shards of broken glass rained down as a second forgen -- this one with part of its nose missing -- attempted to tackle Elayra from above.