Dan knows that Stacia is well capable of taking care of herself in a fight, and the fact that she isn't shifting immediately tells him that she currently needs the assist. Thankfully, riding horseback makes him a good distraction for the nightrenders, who move quickly but just not quickly enough to catch Dan as he weaves around upturned carts and burning tents, grateful beyond measure for how his father made him run horse-jumping drills as a child, starting when he was so young he couldn't even get on the horse by himself. He doesn't get far enough away from Stacia to make it worth the nightrenders' while to abandon him and go back to her. He soon has all three of them following him like a train, wearing

As he swings around Stacia again, he shouts to her as he fires another arrow to his four o'clock at a nightrender's face, as loud as his quiet, scratchy voice gets. "Do you need time or an escape?"