When Inslee finally gathered her thoughts together, she had already been running for quite a while, and had carried that disgusting mercenary a good ways into the forest. Being a seldom-used trail, there appeared to be no one around for miles. Determined to act this time, Inslee waited until the mercenary seemed quite relaxed with her pace, then suddenly halted, bucked, and reared, sending the man flying through the air and crashing into a nearby tree.
"Damn nag!" the mercenary cursed while gasping for breath, cringing as he tried to raise himself. Unfortunately, the fall hadn't killed him. Inslee turned to finish the job with her hooves, but the mercenary managed to pull out his sword and swing it in front of him.
"See if I don't feed you to the mutts!" the mercenary raged, and Inslee knew she had missed her chance. Rather than risk being caught or injured without doing damage to the mercenary, Inslee kicked up her heels and took off into the rapidly darkening woods. Hopefully the bastard would die there from injuries or wild animals, miles away from any aid. At any rate, Inslee still had whatever they were planning to use to frame the duke attached in a sack to her saddle, so at least she had foiled their plan.
Inslee galloped until her legs nearly gave out, covering who knows how much distance. However, she was still in the deep, dark woods, and the sun had finally set. Inslee could only stand unsteadily, her sides heaving, as night descended.
But the woods were no place for a domestic animal at night, especially one bearing a human's consciousness rather than an animal's wariness. Rattling and crunching of the foliage caused Inslee's ears to twitch. By the sparse moonlight, she could see pinpoint reflections here and there, indicating eyes. Inslee could not help but let out a snort in fear, but then her inhale caused her to pause. There was an odor there, a familiar one, but something she should not be smelling on herself. Inslee turned her head, trying to catch a glimpse of the sack tied to her saddle, but was distracted by the growling predator coming at her from behind. Wolves!
Something had dripped down her side from the sack, but Inslee had no time to worry about that now. At the moment the wolf took its leap towards her back, Inslee clumsily dodged to the side. She successfully dragged her huge horse body out of the way, but the wolf managed to sink its fangs into the sack. It tore open, dropping something to the ground. Something round. Ah, that was what the smell was. Blood.
Inslee could not help but freeze in horror as a round object rolled into a pool of moonlight. Staring back at her were the lifeless eyes of Baron Surfe. Utterly stricken, Inslee made no move to protect herself from the next wolf, which went for her throat. As she screamed and thrashed in agony, the rest of the pack tore her to pieces. She could see no more, but the dead stare of Baron Surfe seemed to mock her descent into darkness.