Ride like the wind

You could always start your quest later whereas your mother is in real danger now! You spend most of your gold on a "War Horse" bread and trained to be fast and not frightened but the sent of dragons. This was useful because your odd sent undetectable for humans freaked out most the horses in the royal stable. Maybe this could be an advantage later in a battle but for now, you spent some money on supplies of food, water and a small single-handed war hammer with a spike on the top. If you were going to fight the heavily armoured Sir Lir you would need a weapon that could damage armour and a sword and spear won't cut it, literally.

You road your horse, a dappled Gray called Bree, out of the capital city back the way you came. The main road would probably be the one taken by Lir but a few days ride from the capital you knew a path through the woods that would act as a shortcut.

Lir might know it too and the route was dangerous but worth the risk if you could get home before Lir.