It was no use trying to hide in the open, the Binder’s light-eating form carved a misty silhouette against the snows, so they ran. The riders gained ground with every heartbeat, and Binder Fria spent magic recklessly to pull it’s form into solidity and break a path for the tiring child who followed.

“The trees!” Fria spotted the grove a second after Trin and dug in almost-claws in a frantic change of direction. Fell trees drank the same magic that powered the Binder’s spells and their scent could mask the pair from the hunters. Assuming no one noticed them. With a twist of a power the Binder shoved the snow smooth behind them and tore an alternate rut towards the rocky outcropping in the opposite direction. Another twist and the fell grove was infested with illusionary wardweed. The riders wouldn’t think to look within the overgrowth of poisonous vines, had the plants been real their airborne defenses would have ripped Fria free of it’s physical focus.

Quickly! The pair dove into the safety of the forest, Fria misting out into faint shadow and Trin burrowing into the sparse yellow foliage.