Chapter One
The fire surrounded him. The smoke rose high in the darkened sky. The flames came closer and closer to his delicate body, their dead hands reaching. There was a sickening sound as the wood along the bridge broke and began to fall. The entire bridge fell and with it was Will.
"Will!" Evanlyn screamed as a rock was thrown toward his head.
But there was no reason to yell because the rock never did hit him. The rock flew across the fissure, finally resting in the hot flames.
*****
Horace watched the scene happen in horror.
"No," he whispered.
Evanlyn was screaming for her lost friend, struggling to get out of the grip of Skandians. Her golden blond hair was everywhere, covering her face as she tried to push them away from her. The huge Skandian that was holding onto her grabbed her by the wrist as another picked up a stone from the ground and tossed it at the Evanlyn's head.
The girl collapsed into the Skandian's arms.
"We better go," a Skandian said, looking down the fissure to the golden embers that were still there from the fire. "Morgarath won't be pleased."
One of the larger and stronger looking Skandians said, "What about the boy?"
The two Skandians that were not holding the hostage moved to the cliff of the fissure. They looked closely, searching and making sure that the young man had fallen into the flames. They found nothing but burned wood and red embers left. They shook their heads and moved to help their friend with their hostage.
They carried her away.
Horace took a deep breath. He knew he'd not have a chance against that many Skandians. He knew that it would be foolish to even try. If he did die in the fight, which he probably would, then the army will not know of the real plans. He would have to ride ahead with the horses and warn them.
Even though it was the right thing to do Horace found it hard to leave Will. Will had been his best friend. They'd been through a lot together and grew up together in the ward of Redmont. He sighed as he got onto Kicker and signaled for the other horses to follow.
*****
The sun was setting along the hills.
Evanlyn sighed, looking at the grass. They were in the fields and were on their way to the battle grounds. But it was time to call it a night.
"Girl!" a Skandian that she recognized as Svengal said.
Evanlyn said, "Yes?"
Svengal sat next to her by the fire and held out a small blanket. It was of a dark color and looked incredibly thin. Evanlyn looked at it for a moment. It was nothing like she was used to. This entire trip was completely out of her normal life. She was used to living in a huge castle with maids and people to do her every wish.
She thanked Svengal and he left to go talk with his fellow men. Evanlyn held the blanket close and draped it around herself, using it as a shield. She stared into the flames and remembered.
She looked across the field. There was grass everywhere in sight, rising out of the ground. Evanlyn sighed, leaning back against her tree. The memory of the wargal attack was still high in her mind. She could not get over it. But now she was on her own here in the wild of Araluen, living and sleeping in the same clothes every day and finding food from various types of berries and leafs.
She supposed it was time that she set out to find more food. It has been a long time sense she had eaten anything. Evanlyn looked across the field and back into the forest behind her, searching for a bush of berries or something of the sort. But something else caught her eye.
It was three men. All three of them were traveling on a horse. Two of them were dressed in dark cloaks. The other was dressed in the apprentice outfit for Knights that were still in Battleschool. Evanlyn rose from her spot by the tree and looked closer, hiding behind a bush.
"Rangers," she whispered in relief.
She stirred from the memory.
It had happened only a few days ago but it seemed like so much had passed since then. The sky was black now. She distantly heard the sounds of men snoring loudly behind her. The fire was out and there was darkness everywhere.
Evanlyn breathed in quickly as she counted the dark shapes on the ground some feet away from her. There were four in total. She gasped quietly and began to rise from her sleeping position. But a sharp pain in her right arm stopped her.
She breathed out quickly in pain and used her left arm to feel around her wrist. There was a rope tied around her wrist, feeling as if it had been tied expertly. But this was her only chance at escaping. She raised the rope to her mouth and began to bite on it as hard as she could. It didn't change. She spent thirty minutes doing the same thing but trying different methods before she gave up.
She sat down on the yellow grass, groaning. There was no way out.
******
"Will!"
Will turned around quickly. It was Alyss, her long blond hair flowing behind her as she ran toward him. Will looked to Halt briefly for approval and seeing no extra frown, he jumped down from Tug. Alyss was just a few feet away from him now. He smiled and took her into his arms.
"Alyss," he murmured, hugging her tightly.
They had just returned from their mission to stop the Kalkara. Halt was nursing a broken leg and his other companions had some minor injuries. Will had come back fine and led them home easily.
"I've missed you, Will." Alyss said after she had pulled away from him.
He smiled. "I've missed you too."
The memory was surprising. It had happened just a number of months ago but Will began to wonder why he was remembering that time now. It was an inappropriate time to be thinking of Alyss when he was in this kind of pain.
His legs were burned terribly and he was on the left side of the fissure, the side away from Araluen. He groaned as the pain shot through him. It had been a long drop when the bridge had fallen. Will slowly used his arms to pull himself away and out from under the still hot wood. It was lucky that the wood that had fallen on top of him was not actually on fire. The wood had been merely very hot.
Will groaned and gasped in pain during the long journey but he finally reached the entrance to the tunnel. It was completely black outside. He sighed and leaned back against the tunnel wall and fell asleep almost immediately.
******