On the Run

~~~🐎~~~

The thunder of hooves against stone echoed like an avalanche through the streets of Luminas. The air shook with the fury of neighs and choking dust that rose in thick clouds, smothering the morning light.

The horse stampede had turned into a wild whirlpool, a dark river tearing through alleys and plazas. Iron shoes shattered cobblestones. Each crash against walls or lamp posts sent sparks flying, like chaos itself wanted to set the city on fire.

"Watch out!" a mother screamed, pulling her child aside at the last second. The boy crashed against a wall, while a horse thundered past so close the wind from its gallop ripped a lock of his hair away.

Screams of panic mixed with the metallic ring of alarm bells.

The three shared the same horse, a massive beast that snorted with every leap. Nessus rode in front, mastering the reins with a pilot’s instinct that made him seem like part of the animal itself. Leonoris, in the middle, sat steady while watching their rear, eyes sharp through the swirling haze. Rei, however, clung to the back almost dangling off the saddle, one foot slipping with every jolt and his hands timidly clutching Leonoris’s waist as if it were his only salvation. In another context, Rei’s heart might have raced from embarrassment—but that was already happening anyway.

"This isn’t riding, this is surviving!" Rei growled, fighting not to be thrown off.

"Lucky you! Surviving is my specialty!" Nessus laughed, leaning their horse to swerve past an overturned cart.

"Focus on catching the horses!" Leonoris snapped, shifting slightly to give Rei more stability.

"Sorry, I’d rather focus on not dying first!" Rei shot back, half-choked by the jolts.

"You three!"

Suddenly, through the dusty haze, a stern figure emerged. Ettor. The eldest Solaris rode against the current, his horse white as foam cutting through with a majesty that imposed order even in chaos. At his side, five guards formed a clumsy but firm line, struggling to steer the animals toward wider streets.

"They’re escaping west!" Ettor’s voice cleaved the air like a sword. "The guards won’t lower the gate in time. How many times did we tell you to bolt the fence when you take them to the trough?"

"I already know, don’t rub it in!" Nessus roared from his saddle, leaning low like a seasoned rider.

The exchange was brief, a duel of shouts in the dust.

"Hold formation, damn it!" Ettor barked, raising an arm to direct his men as they tried to block the stampede’s path.

"Formation my boots—we’re winging it!" Nessus retorted, grin intact.

And he meant it: he leaned with the horse, slipped through alleys, carts, and market stalls as if the beast were merely an extension of his body. Meanwhile, Rei suffered every violent jolt of the ride.

From behind, Leonoris gave a sharp warning.

"One to the left!"

A furious black stallion burst through the haze, dragging along a guard who struggled to hold it. Rei saw it too late—but Nessus was quicker, yanking the reins to pull them clear of the deadly path.

"They’re eating us alive!" Rei shouted, watching helplessly as no one could stop the dozen berserk animals.

Chaos was total. Yet, in the midst of it, Rei’s gaze fell on a device that might be the answer.

The newly modified grappling gun.

It hung from his belt, loaded with a shard of solar fluorite—a hard, yellow crystal he’d scavenged from an old gardening tool. He had tweaked it to boost traction and projectile speed… or so he’d gathered from half-listening at the second dinner. He had never tested it. It could work. It could fail. It could explode in his hand…

"Now or never," he thought, drawing the weapon.

He aimed ahead, just above the largest horse of the herd—a massive brown beast that seemed to be dragging the entire stampede with it. The animal veered near a tree, a perfect anchor.

Just like in Kyoto, but moving. How hard can it be?

He hesitated.

"Higher, little brother!" Yūta’s voice echoed from that last night, erasing all doubt.

The trigger snapped.

BANG!

The projectile blasted forth with unexpected violence. The hook buried deep in the tree bark and in an instant Rei felt a brutal yank that almost pulled his shoulder out of place.

"Woah!" his cry got drowned by the thunder of hooves.

"Rei!" his companions yelled, watching him get dragged away.

The force threw him like a rag doll. His horse fell behind and in a blink he was being pulled toward the crazed stallion.

"Ah!" The impact shook him when he slammed into the beast's side. The hook screeched, the taut rope biting into his waist, but he managed to latch onto the saddle and squeeze the trigger again to retract it.

It works—and like madness, he thought.

But the stallion roared in fury at the intrusion. It leapt, bucked, lashed out. Rei barely clung to its mane, fingers buried in coarse hair.

"You’re not throwing me off, bastard!" he spat, voice raw with adrenaline.

The beast, tired of its violent leaps, slowed its thrashing. Rei felt it respond to the pressure of his legs, as though finally acknowledging a rider. He grinned, teeth clenched. For the first time, he believed he could tame the monster beneath him.

But the horse had other plans. With a vicious buck, it threw its haunches high—Rei lost his balance.

"No!"

The jolt flung him backward, leaving him dangling from the side cinch, one arm tangled in the hook’s rope, the other clawing desperately for a hold. His feet barely scraped the air, inches from being crushed by the stampede’s hooves.

Still clinging, he noticed where they were heading. The forest exit. Once they crossed it, catching the herd would be nearly impossible. But in the distance, Rei spotted a narrow passage between two collapsed wooden stalls—tight enough to deploy his other invention.

No time.

The stallion bucked again. The world spun. The ground crashed into him with a bone-jarring thud that knocked the breath from his lungs.

He rolled. A hoof missed his face by inches. Another almost broke his leg. But he was alive.

With a desperate grunt he got to his feet. Dizzy, bruised, a cut bleeding on his forehead.

"No..."

But the herd was already galloping away. Catching them now seemed impossible.

"Rei!"

Then—a tug. Nessus and Leonoris had slowed just enough to extend their arms. The grip wasn’t perfect, but it gave Rei the leverage to haul himself back up.

"Don’t ever do that again!" Leonoris and Nessus shouted at once.

Rei couldn’t help but grin. He had changed so much in such little time.

"I’d bet my left leg you want me to do it again."

"Of course not!" Leonoris snapped.

"Of course yes!" And Nessus was Nessus.

"Hey!" Ettor’s white steed surged alongside theirs. "What was—"

His eyes met Rei’s for a brief second. Rei, battered but more alive than ever, flashed him a wide grin. Partly to say he was fine...

"I’ll bring those horses back, ‘Supermaster’ Ettor!" And partly to tell him, through irony, that nothing would stop the Hero of Solaria.

Ettor didn’t seem amused. Though Rei couldn’t tell if his fury was for the comment—or if that was just his natural state of being.

"Then do it fast! Look ahead!"

Rei whipped his gaze forward—and cursed. The massive city gate loomed before them, portcullis raised, too heavy to drop in time without crushing anyone.

The herd stormed out of the city, and in a breath, so did they. The walls of Luminas that Rei had crossed days before fell behind. The forest welcomed them with green spears opening in their path. The clatter of hooves on stone gave way to thuds on soil and roots, and the air shifted to resin, damp earth, and shredded leaves.

"Damn it!" Nessus roared.

"We’re not… going to catch them," Leonoris sighed.

Rei, knuckles white around the grappling gun, forced himself to breathe. His chest burned, his body shook, and once again, the battered Hero couldn’t wrangle a few simple horses.

Or so it seemed. But they had only seen half of what he’d built in that workshop.

His hand brushed his right hip. There, in the holster strapped to his belt, lay the answer.

Kashiwa Rei still had one last card to play.