The Chase

The guild members immediately chased after the horse. One of the female players, Silky Milk Veil, stopped to help Twisted up and gave him a muffin that would help with recovery.

"Thanks Milk."

"No worries, I really didn't expect the horse to do that."

Twisted gave an embarrassed laugh. "Even if it's just a string of code, I'm going to make that bastard regret ever existing!"

Milk hummed in agreement and they both ran after the others and chased after the horse.

The night was very quiet and the players could easily find the horses direction despite the fog.

Ferris could feel his stamina draining. In the past few days he had achieved many however these were limited to using strength. He could pull a plough all day without tiring, but Ferris had now realised that if he continued sprinting like this, very soon he would be unable to move.

He slowed his pace and headed for the forest. Initially he was planning to run down the road as the human players couldn't match his speed. However the stamina predicament caused him to change his plan. He must find somewhere to hide and recover.

He was also upset that his hooves were too loud, giving away his location. Once he was in the forest he'd have to step carefully and find a chance to sneak away.

They players were still a long way behind him so he was feeling rather confident in his escape.

Four Fingers and Lone Scoundrel, on the other hand, were running like their life depended on it. They were terrified of their boss's temper. If they couldn't catch the horse it would be them who suffered.

Slightly behind them Gween was struggling to keep up. Both Fingers and Scoundrel had shoes that increased movement speed, while Gween's shoes increased her chance of Critical Damage.

Their low level equipment didn't make much difference so she was only struggling and hadn't yet fallen behind.

Running ahead of the three of them, was their other boss Broken Sword. He appeared to be jogging leasurely dispite still wearing the default beginners rags.

Despite being the guilds co-leader Broken Sword had a bad reputation among the guild members for being strange and unfriendly. None of the members particularly liked him but Twisted Sword had always supported him unconditionally. Hence the two shared leadership; Twisted managed the guild members while Broken determined the guild structure, rules and guidelines.

Broken Sword was known to be eccentric, he would always train by himself and members often reported seeing him do all sorts of strange things. Licking trees, eaten alive by tiny river fish, throwing himself off buildings and various other things.

Crazy, stupid and unreliable.

One of his least questionable training methods was running every morning and evening. While most people would rather practice swordsmanship or lift weights to increase strength, Broken would run without fail.

Now the guild members could clearly see the results of his training.

Broken Sword looked like he was merely taking a leisurely stroll. His breathing was easy and not a drop of sweat could be seen. Scoundrel and Fingers on the other hand were completely drenched. Their chests were burning and every breath lacked oxygen leaving them always gasping for more.

Gween was even worse she looked like she might collapse at any second.

Broken look behind him and said, "I'm going ahead."

None of them were able to reply. They watched Broken leave them behind.

After jumping another fence, Ferris knew this was the last paddock before the forest. The ground was soft and uneven which dampened the sound of his hooves quite a bit.

Ferris could hear his pursuers far behind him. It sounded like they too, were struggling with stamina.

This reassured Ferris somewhat. Without stamina they would find it difficult to search the forest, and with his head start there shouldn't be too much of a problem to sneak away.

Spooky shadow trees cold vaguely be seen above the fog. He'd finally come to the end of the field, his powerful hind legs kicked off as he leapt over the last fence.

Soaring gracefully through the air.

However as the fog revealed the other side Ferris became alarmed!

A soggy trench had been dug along the fence line.

An old and rotten tree had fallen in. Right where Ferris needed to land.

There was no time to react.

His front hooves came crashing down into the tree.

Rotten branches snapped under his weight, the trunk sagged further into the mud and Ferris' hooves were trapped along with it. His body followed, crashing down heavily.

A snap could be heard from a front leg. Splintered branches skewered his belly.

Ferris screamed. The pain was intense!