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Hunter is among the most competent Enforcers. He now has knowledge of your whereabouts, which would normally be enough for him to ensnare you. But he doesn’t know about the masks.”
    Joe landed on a nearby limb. “The Enforcers sent some riders back,” he reported. “I tried to chase them and got shot in the wing. I took the mask off and put it back on, and they gained a lot of ground on me, splitting up. I don’t think I can stop them alone.”
    â€œNo matter,” Hina said. “The information they bring to the Hunter will mislead him. Using your masks, we’ll reach Zeropolis inside of four days.”
    â€œWe?” Joe asked.
    â€œWe’ll fill you in,” Mira said. “Looks like Hina is coming with us.”
    â€œWe should make haste,” Hina said. “Skye? Do you mind if I borrow your bear?”

C HAPTER
    3
    BORDER
    T he next days passed in a trance of constant motion. Having assumed the form of a bear, Hina led the way. Cole lost all desire to speak, focusing instead on the terrain beneath his paws, the smells and sounds of the wilderness, and the rapture of tireless running.
    The sun rose. The sun set. Moons traversed the sky as the stars reeled. Cole dashed over boulders, splashed through rivers, knifed through forests, and raced across plains. Diverse landscapes came and went.
    Joe scouted above them, ranging far and wide on his inexhaustible wings. But Cole wasn’t sure the eagle’s vigilance was necessary. Hina seemed to have a sense for avoiding danger. She knew which passes would take them through the mountains, what routes among the reeds would avoid the mires, and where the rivers could be safely forded. Maybe it was sharp instincts, but Cole suspected she had roamed Elloweer extensively and knew the most remote paths.
    From start to finish they never saw or smelled a human,let alone a human settlement. No threatening predators crossed their way. Of course, Cole suspected there weren’t many predators who would be in a hurry to tangle with a huge mountain lion, wolf, bear, ram, and bull racing along at unreal speed.
    At first Cole felt urges to eat or drink out of habit, particularly when they crossed a clear brook or he smelled a tasty deer. But as he denied those urges to keep running, he realized they were remembered needs, not current ones.
    And then they stopped.
    It was a grassy glade sheltered by surrounding trees. The sun shined high overhead. Hina pulled off her mask, transforming from a bear back into a beautiful woman.
    â€œWe have reached the edge of Elloweer, not far from Post 121,” Hina reported. “This is the destination Joe requested shortly before we departed. Please remove your masks.”
    Cole paced instead. It was strange to stop running. Off-putting. It was even stranger to think of reverting to human form. What was the hurry? He sensed no people or human settlements nearby. Couldn’t they proceed as animals a little longer?
    Dalton was not a bull anymore. Joe landed and removed his eagle mask. Mira became a person instead of a bighorn sheep.
    They all looked so small and vulnerable. Defenseless. And strangely appetizing.
    â€œCome on, Cole,” Mira said. “Take it off.”
    Cole thought about speaking, but it seemed burdensome. His mouth felt too lazy to form words. Instead he yawned.Then he inhaled the scents of the surrounding forest: old wood decaying, a family of possums, the dung of an elk, leaves and brush and dirt and stone.
    His eyes strayed to distant peaks. Why stop here? He could keep running. His many problems felt distant while running.
    â€œLose the mask, Cole,” Jace said. “Don’t let it beat you.”
    When had Jace removed his mask? Cole remembered not wanting to take his mask off before. Long ago. He had given in and removed it. Should he again? Or had that been a mistake?
    If he removed the mask, Hina would take it away. How he would miss being a mountain