“But Sooyeon, is it safe for us to wander into the forest this dark?”

“It’s not that dark.”

“But Sooyeon, why are we even in the mountains. Why don’t we follow the river we found earlier? That can lead us to the next village.”

“The rebels will attack the next village too.” Sooyeon stopped walking and looked at Judaek.

“Are you tired?” Sooyeon added.

“I’m scared. We don’t know where we are going.” Judaek looked around the dark forest.

“Alright, why don’t we find a place to rest. You can sleep. I will be on guard.”

“I know you are good with swords but-“

“Judaek-ah, hurry.” Sooyeon chimed in all of sudden and pulled Judaek’s hand when she heard the neigh of horses.

Sooyeon pulled Judaek to hide behind a big tree. Judaek covered her own mouth. Sooyeon did the same thing. They stayed still when horses passed them. One horse stopped. The man riding the horse got down and looked around. Judaek bit her lips. She didn’t understand why the men are after Sooyeon. She remembered hearing them shouting Sooyeon’s name back at the Kisaeng House.

“Ya!” Sooyeon waved out her sword when she noticed the man has found out their hiding.

Judaek stayed behind the tree while Sooyeon was blocking the man’s sword from stabbing her.

“Judaek, run!” Sooyeon managed to say as she brawled with the man.

Sooyeon swayed and stabbed her sword at the man and the man hindered each attack. The man attacked Sooyeon but Sooyeon managed to block his sword from harming her. Sooyeon looked at the man in the eye. The man was wearing mask. The man tumbled back when Sooyeon pushed him with all of her might.

Sooyeon took the chance to run away. Sooyeon followed Judaek’s trail. The man hopped up to get back on his feet. The man took out a knife from his sleeve and aimed for Sooyeon who was already too far to chase. He threw the knife but missed Sooyeon when Sooyeon all of sudden ducked down and threw a knife toward the man instead. The man screamed in pain when the knife stabbed his leg. Sooyeon leaped and ran again when she heard horses coming close to the man again.

Sooyeon managed to see Judaek who was running for her dear life. She ran beside Judaek. They didn’t know where they were heading as they ran without a plan.