"Hurry, hurry!" Head Mistress snapped at Hero and Awash as they loaded her things onto the wind train at the platform. Shaking her head and twirling her parasol the emu was helped into a first class cab.

                Hero couldn't help but admire the machine. The mast towered above waiting to raise its sail. The long adjoining wagons were all covered and were made of light but strong woods and metals.

                "All aboard!" The conductor a lion called tucking his pocket watch in his waistcoat. 

                Hero couldn't help but be giddy. It was like something out of a storybook or a play. The craftsmanship behind the wind train was genius and judging by the character of the windows and over all shape he could conclude that they must have originated in Carn. It wouldn't be the first time Mounts used inventions from other nation only to call these people savages.

                Hero joined the others in the servants' car. Only Siloam would be riding with Head Mistress and the Commandant. The servants' car was dirty and smelly and crowded. Hero found himself a place to sit and decided not to move from there until they arrived.

                Awash stood up on the bench next to him and looked out the window as the train whistled and started forward. The wagons lurched as the sails swelled in the breeze pulling the wind train down the track. "Come up here, Hero." Awash said as the wind train gained speed.

                Hero stood on his hind legs and peeked his head out of the narrow window. He could see the wave of the sails above as the scenery began to fly by. He closed his eyes letting the wind blow through his fur. He didn't think he could smile this way in Mount Lions but the rush of the wind seemed to raise him above all the pain he had experienced.

                The arrival in the highlands was at dusk. The Commander's family greeted him and Head Mistress with kisses and embraces.

                A servant from the house took Hero, Awash and Maringa bellow and instructed them on where they would be sleeping. After everyone was settled in and a very long dinner was over Hero curled up in front of the fire place in the kitchen. He watched the embers glow and crackle as the logs charred and crumbled into the flames.

                One good thing about the highlands was Head Mistress paid less attention to him. After telling the story of the fire at the school to gain sympathy she hardly looked at him at all. She was completely caught up with Commandant and the family.

                That's when it all came to Hero. He was sitting atop a hill a little distance from the house when it hit him. This would be where they made their escape. Awash came up behind him as he watched the hills swallow the last of the sun.

                Awash yawned. "Hey," He said. "You better come on if you want some food. They'll close the kitchen down in a minute."

                Hero left the hilltop and followed Awash back indoors. The kitchen was warm with the scent of the broth and his stomach immediately hungered for it.

                "There you are!" The highland cook snapped and for a moment Hero thought she was talking to him but when he turned to the door he spat out his soup.

                "Where do you want the stones?" Mr. Quebec asked as he stood in the doorway.

                "You need to ask the housemaid," the cook, a donkey snorted. "I'll get her." She removed her apron and left the room through a small door.

                Hero ran over to Akra and the two of them stepped outside. "Mr. Quebec," Hero said in astonishment. "How did you escape the quarry?"

                "I didn't escape," Akra laughed and nodded to the wagon. "I volunteered to deliver these stones to the wealthy in the hills. Winter is coming and the stones are good for heating beds."

                "What about Edelweiss?" Hero lowered his voice as the cook and the housemaid came back into the kitchen.

                "I carried her out under the rocks," Akra whispered. "She's waiting at a place in the woods."

                "How did you get them to let you out on your own?" Hero asked.

                "I built up trust," Akra said. "The under commandant is partial to me. He likes to hear stories about the holy land as they call it. I think he might have some Nagorin in him himself. Anyway when he told me the commandant and the school teacher were going to the highlands I knew I had to make myself available. And what do you know it all worked out in the end."

                The housemaid came outside and turned her nose up at Akra and Hero. "Take these around back. The cheetah said. "Someone else will pick them up." She waved them off but Hero didn't snort at her arrogance. He was too thrilled with the idea of escaping.

                "Hero." Akra said snapping him out of his day dream. "I won't be going back to the quarry. There's a train leaving out tomorrow and I plan to be on it. Edelweiss and I will be waiting for you at the river bridge." He hitched himself to the wagon. "Come as quickly as you can."

/

                The very next dawn however Hero discovered that they were moving out. News of bombings in the hills in another district had frightened the family and they decided to retire to their home in the Imperial City.

                They were back on the wind train by the afternoon and back in the servants' car. But this time they had Akra with them and the plan had been made.

                 Hero paced the cabin. Awash sat next to Maringa looking out the window and Mr. Quebec was avoiding a snoring Kidron. Siloam was on the opposite side of the silver fox.

                The train whistled and Awash craned his neck out the window. "It's the bridge!" he said as they rumbled up the tracks.

                The wind was whistling through a slightly opened window and Hero could hear his heart pounding, escape, escape, escape.

                The side door locked from the outside. Of course no one was expected to jump from a moving train. When they were a little ways away from the bridge Akra kicked the door. The first jolt woke Kidron immediately.

                "Hey!" The silver fox shouted and tried to reach the alarm but Siloam rammed him to the ground.

                Akra kicked the door a third time breaking the chain and sending the door splintering against the side of the train. The cabin swayed sending Akra and Maringa tumbling out.

                Awash watched as they plunged into the water far below. "Come on, Hero!" He shouted back but Hero went to help Siloam.

                 "Go Hero, Jump!" She shouted as she held down the struggling silver fox. "Go now!" She bleated.

                Hero turned back to the door to see Awash jump. It was now or never. "Leopards weren't made to fly."

                Hero heard the echoes of the past as he thrust himself into the air with his eyes squeezed shut. Wherever he landed it did not matter. He could feel the mental chains losing him as he sailed through the air to freedom. He was aware of his decent as the wind began to whistle around him flapping his bandanna.

                With a loud plunge he hit the cold water. He was thrown back up for a second then he sunk back down. Above the surface he could see the form of the train as it continued to blow down the track. He was drowning. He kicked with all his might but the river seemed intent on claiming him with cold shackles of its own.

                Hero felt a tug on his bandanna and he was brought to the surface coughing and spitting. Akra swam to the riverbank and laid Hero out next to Maringa who was a poofy ball of red fur.

                Hero sat up on his elbows and watched the train puff down the track around the bend. "Siloam didn't jump." He said and hung his head. He knew that whatever fate his goat friend would meet it would not be good.

                "So now what?" Maringa asked.

                Akra sighed as he watched the smoke trail go; saddened over the child who didn't escape. "Now we get out of sight."  The stallion swished his clumped tail. "Hope they'll take us for dead."

                "I'm not even sure we're alive." Awash said. "Ouch!"

                Maringa laughed and threatened to pinch him again. "Are you sure now?"

                "Are they always like this?" Akra asked Hero as they made their way into the woods.

                "Only every waking minute." Her said with a laugh.

                Akra smiled. "Well, their hearts are in the right place."

                They reached Akra's hasty camp at nightfall and Hero was happy to see his cousin again though she still wasn't talking.

                "Your cousin is Eshkopean?" Awash asked when Hero introduced them.

                "Partly." Hero said "Her father is...was I meant to say was."

                "Those Mounts!" Maringa said. "If I had an army I would—"

                "Now, now." Akra said and the red panda went silent. "We have very much to consider here. We are fugitives...all of us. If Mounts catch you now they will shoot you on sight...or worse." He looked around the camp making sure he had their attentions. "We will make our way to Recomine first thing in the morning. We want to get through the mountain passes before winter which is fast approaching."

                Maringa raised her paw and Akra nodded. "I think about the past a lot." She said. "And it makes me sort of sad." The red panda looked down. "You know, even if the Mounts lose the war nothing will be the same again. Our families are dead."

                "Well." Akra sighed. "If your family was alive what would they want you to do in this situation?" Akra asked everyone but mostly Maringa.

                "They would want me to not give up, they would expect me to be strong." The red panda shrugged.

                Akra nodded. "Then why should any of that change now?" He looked at their faces. "Children, the dead are just that...dead, but their hopes for you do not change."

                Hero smiled up at Akra and the stallion smiled back.

                "Now, get all the rest you can. You'll need it for crossing Glimmer?"

                "Glimmer?" Maringa questioned. "That sounds pretty."

                "Glimmer is anything but pretty you halfwit." Awash snapped.

                "I wasn't talking to you." Maringa said. "Mr. Quebec, what's glimmer?"

                Akra rested his head. "Aw, Glimmer...the passage to Recomine."

To Be Continued...