Free The Year of the Lumin by Andrew Ryan Henke

movies do it.  It had not taken Noir long to get the hang of horseback riding.  However, his leg made it hard to get up and down from the saddle.
    Noir wore clothes that Adeel had given him before they left.  She said the odd clothes would draw unnecessary attention to him.  Noir was glad that she did not ask more about them.  The new clothes were simple, much like what the other people in Talik wore.  She gave him an extra set which he carried in a cloth sack on his back.  He threw out his old clothes before they left.
    As they left Talik, Captain Grandel had come to see them off and wish them luck.  Ratt had tried desperately to come with them, though Grandel denied it.  Noir was now missing his company.
    The three men riding in front of him were very jolly, often filling the small road and area around them with loud laughter, though they were not very talkative with Noir.  Adeel made up for that by telling him many things about their trip, Fafnir, and lux.
    That morning, while riding her white mare alongside Noir's horse, she had explained the itinerary for their journey.  By sundown their first day, they would arrive in Kuli, a small farming town in the eastern side of Chiron’s territory.  The next day would put them into the cliffs of the Garrison Mountains, and the next to Fafnir’s lair.
    “I want to stress this again, Noir.  Who do we talk to when we’re in Kuli?”
    Noir sighed.  It was the third time that Adeel had made him say it.  He recited it verbatim, “Only our group and the innkeeper at the Chauffeur’s Inn.  And only talk to them when no other ears can hear.”
    “If we give out the whereabouts of Talik to the wrong person, it could spell doom for the town.”
    She started to say something else when she was cut short by Elrid, the one who seemed to be of the highest rank of the men.  He had reigned in his horse and had one flat hand in the air signaling the rest to stop.  Noir pulled on his horse’s reins until it stopped.  The three men seemed alert.  They were looking in the direction from which they had come.  Noir twisted around in his saddle to look behind.  Once turned, he heard the steady rhythm of galloping hooves, but nothing could be seen around the bend of the road around the side of a hill.
    Elrid kicked the sides of his horse making it start toward a small patch of trees off the side of the road.  He said quietly but sharply, “Off the road now!”
    They rode their horses the short distance and into the trees.  With almost no underbrush, they offered little cover.  “Dismount,” called Elrid.  Everyone was already off their horses and crouching on the ground by the time Noir fumbled his feet out of the stirrups.  “Quickly, boy.”
    Noir threw a leg over the horse’s back and fell painfully to a crouch on the ground.  All five looked toward the road.
    The galloping sound grew nearer until a single mounted figure could be seen.  The rider looked like a young, thin man with dark tan skin riding a very large powerful horse.  The horse seemed much over sized for the small figure riding it.
    Exasperated, Elrid stood up and said, “Lumin blind me!”
    Another of the men said “It’s that fool boy from Talik.”
    Adeel asked, “Blind me, you're right.  Wasn't his name Ratt?”
    It was Ratt.  Noir looked at the rider and couldn’t believe it.  He looked back at his group and noticed that all four sets of eyes were suddenly on Noir.  All he could manage was a truly confused, “What?”
    The other four exchanged glances with each other and stood up.  Adeel motioned to Noir.  “Well, he’s your friend.  Go on.”
    Noir hesitated indecisively for a moment, and then limped out of the clutch of trees toward the approaching young man.  “Ratt!”  He waved his arms and called again.  “Hey, Ratt!”
    Ratt slowed down his horse and pulled it off of the road toward Noir.  He called back, “There you are!  I’m glad I found you.”  He slowed the