Into the Dead Patches

Dawn was still a few hundred feet away when she saw four mounted figures appear from behind the obscuring foliage charging towards the hill. Immediately she smiled, happy to see other souls on the road besides herself, before her smile turned to one of concern. What the four figures rode didn't look like horses, and from this distance none of them looked too friendly.

In the briefest of instances, Dawn dashed westward, jumping the small ditch and into the dying grass. She stayed low to the ground, hiding behind small boulders and bare tree stalks while she moved as fast as her feet would carry her; their protesting pain all but forgotten now as adrenaline surged through her veins. She cast continuous glances back towards the south and although she heard the commotion of a large movement, the patchwork shrubbery that dotted the landscape effectively blocked her view of what was going on. She prayed the same blocked their view of her.

Eventually she came across a rather large stump of a fallen tree where she ducked for cover. Breasts heaving outward as she caught her breath, she attempted to slow and quiet her pounding heart. She took a moment, but knew that she couldn't stay there forever, and without knowing what was happening on the road she'd never know when it would be safe to leave. Luckily, she had a solution to that.

With a deep breath, Dawn closed her eyes and started casting...