A/N: this is a little bit short...but call it a teaser chapter. Please review and tell me if you like it!
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I was the one who saw the riders coming from the east road. They were riding from the direction of Lamar, the neighbor kingdom of my homeland, Syrlan. They wore the colors of Lamar as well: blood red and midnight blue. Their color guard carried the flag, which labeled them as outriders, although why they were scouting in Syrlan was a mystery to me.
I shimmied out of my tree and sprinted back into the village. "Riders from the East! Flags of Lamar!" all of the adults looked nervously at each other. They obviously knew something that I didn't.
"Liana! Run to Milltown and give them the warning! Hurry!" My uncle picked up a sword he had made. "Jake! Ring the bell!" my cousin ran to do his bidding.
I caught my breath in the shadows, waiting for my mother to bring me some water. She did, but also a knife with it. "Liana, take this knife with you. You may need it."
"What is going on?" I wanted to know!
"You will know soon enough," she said grimly. "Now go! Fly like the wind, my child!" I tucked the knife into my boot, gave Mother a quick kiss, and then I ran.
My way was easy; our town was on a hill, hence the name of Hill Town, so my way was mostly downhill. It took me a good half hour to reach Milltown, but I made it.
"Let me in!" I screamed as I pounded on the gate.
"What's your business?" a gruff voice inquired.
"Message from Hill Town! Now let me in, dammit!" I had gathered that my message was urgent by the way my mother and my uncle urged me to hurry, so I wanted to deliver it as fast as possible.
"Alright, alright!" the gatekeeper unlocked the gate and I stumbled in. "Now what's your message, laddie?"
"Riders from the East," I panted, annoyed at being mistaken for a boy. "Flags of Lamaran Outriders!" I stumbled and the gatekeeper caught me. "And I'm not a lad, I'm a lassie." The crowd that had gathered around us chuckled uneasily.
"You heard her report! Bar the gates! Arm yourselves! Ring the bell! Send a runner out to the next village! Move! Now!" the gatekeeper was also the headman on the village, it seemed, as he was the one giving orders. "Now lassie, run back to your own village and tell 'em that we got the message."
I turned around to go and caught sight of the hill where my village was.
Or where it used to be.
The hill was now covered in flames and smoke. I gasped and ran toward my home.
"Lassie! Wait! Don't go back!" I didn't heed him- I just kept running. I heard him thudding along behind me, but there was no way that he could catch me: I was a runner of Syrlan.
Even though the way was uphill, I made better time back than I had going. My adrenaline pushed me faster than I had ever run before. I was almost at the top of the hill when I saw them. They didn't see me; so intent were they in the killing and ravaging that they were doing. Their blood red uniforms were stained darker by the blood of my family and friends. I wanted to kill them.
"Don't go! They'll kill you too!" Something tugged my leg when I inched forward. It was Jake.
"Jake!"
"Shhh!" he looked unharmed. "Don't you dare leave me, Liana! Not now!"
"But what about Mother? And Uncle Rex? You can't just leave them there to die!" I protested in a harsh whisper.
"They're dead." I couldn't believe it. All of those lives had been cut short.
"No…"
"Down!" Jake pulled me lower into the grass as a Lamaran soldier walked by. The Outrider stopped and looked in our direction. He must have seen the moving grass. I forgot to breathe.
"Oy! Roth! I think there's something over here!" The Outrider seemed to stare directly at me.
"Oh no…" The two Outriders walked over to us.
"Well, look what we have here! A sack of gold!" The first Outrider picked it up, and the second, the one named Roth, grabbed it away, "Hey that's mine!"
"Well, come and get it!" the two men started to punch each other, and soon other Outriders joined. It was a full-scale brawl.
"Liana! This way!" we escaped together and started to run. Most of the men were still fighting, but there was a look out on the hill. He saw us and raised the alarm.
"Escapees! Escapees! After them! After them!" the crier's voice cracked a few times, making me giggle.
"Liana…run!" Jake sprinted ahead of me, into the woodland that bordered the path we were taking.
"Jake!" I was still tired from my previous runs and I couldn't run as fast as usual. I couldn't believe that he had left me. I could hear the Outriders running behind me. They were gaining. I risked a glance behind me and saw that they were on horses.
"There's one! After him!" I was sick of being called a boy. I decided to make their chase a bit more difficult. I threw myself into the underbrush, and then ran on. I knew my way around the forest- they did not. Still they followed me. The next time I hid in the underbrush was to rest. I lay there panting as their horses thundered by me. When I had regained my breath, I crept out of my hiding spot.
"Halt." I froze. Surrounding me were a group of Lamaran Outriders. "Hold out your hands." Did they think that I was really that stupid?
"No." One of them pushed me over violently. That was perfect. I gabbed the knife that was in my boot and stood up slowly, knife hidden. Then I ran.
I threw the knife at the Outrider who tried to stop me. He fell over with a gurgle, my knife in his throat. I leapt over him and sprinted as fast as I could. Then I saw the horses.
I chose the one that looked the best a first glance. The horses had been unsaddled, showing the Outrider's confidence in their ability. This posed no problem. I grabbed the bay's mane and climbed on.
"The squirt'll never stay on Torch!" One Outrider commented cynically.
"After her!" The other Outriders mounted up and followed. I was happy that they got my gender right. I was in for the ride of my life.
The horse I was on was no tame palfrey or trained war steed, he was wild! Luckily for my butt (and me) he stopped bucking and twisting very quickly.
"I don't believe it!"
"She's actually riding Torch!"
"Are you sure that's a girl?"
"Follow her!"
I dug my heels into poor Torch's sides, and he obligingly sped up. Soon I was out of the forest and into a grassy meadow. I saw Milltown not far in the distance. "Run horse! Faster!" I smacked him with my hand, and the horse lengthened his stride even more. I exulted in the heady euphoria of this incredible speed. I felt invincible!
Torch stumbled suddenly, and I flew over his head. I landed with a thump. Torch slowed and circled me, as if wondering what I was doing on the ground. Someone whistled, and the horse's ears pricked. He trotted happily over to the young man whose voice had cracked. The Outrider gave him a hug and patted him lovingly.
"Don't move." I didn't. A face leaned over mine. He brushed a lock of my brown hair out of the way so he could see the mark that was tattooed onto my cheek. "A Syrlan runner, eh? No wonder you outran us. No where's your partner?"
"I…I…don't know." It was true, too; I didn't know- Jake had just left me!
"Right. Tie her up." The man walked away. My hands were tied in no time at all, and my ankles soon followed. "Somebody has to carry her."
"Who?" A yellow-haired man asked.
"Shane." The man pointed to the youth who held Torch.
"But can't we put her on Roth's horse? And tie her there?" Shane obviously didn't want to have a second passenger.
"Good, good. Do that." The leader instructed his underlings. One of the men picked me up and draped me unceremoniously over his shoulder. A horse was brought out and I was draped over its saddle. Then they tied me on.
"Hey, can somebody give me-"
"We ain't giving you nothing." He slapped me lightly.
"Hey! What was that- mmph!" the Outrider shoved a rope into my mouth and tied it around the back of my head. I had been gagged!
"Shane!"
"What?" the youth looked up from petting his horse.
"Lead the prisoner's horse." A disgruntled Shane got down from his mount a grabbed the rope that was attached the horse's bridle. Quickly he remounted and attached the lead rope to Torch's saddle.
"Don't fall off," he warned me. As if I would want to.
"Uh-uh." I mumbled.
Then the Outrider behind me said, "No talking." And he whacked me on the head and knocked me unconscious in the process.
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A/N: All reviews are welcome....PLEASE REVIEW!! i love getting reviews!!! tell me what you think...and does ANYONE have suggestions for more names, boy or girl? please tell me if you do! thank you!
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I was the one who saw the riders coming from the east road. They were riding from the direction of Lamar, the neighbor kingdom of my homeland, Syrlan. They wore the colors of Lamar as well: blood red and midnight blue. Their color guard carried the flag, which labeled them as outriders, although why they were scouting in Syrlan was a mystery to me.
I shimmied out of my tree and sprinted back into the village. "Riders from the East! Flags of Lamar!" all of the adults looked nervously at each other. They obviously knew something that I didn't.
"Liana! Run to Milltown and give them the warning! Hurry!" My uncle picked up a sword he had made. "Jake! Ring the bell!" my cousin ran to do his bidding.
I caught my breath in the shadows, waiting for my mother to bring me some water. She did, but also a knife with it. "Liana, take this knife with you. You may need it."
"What is going on?" I wanted to know!
"You will know soon enough," she said grimly. "Now go! Fly like the wind, my child!" I tucked the knife into my boot, gave Mother a quick kiss, and then I ran.
My way was easy; our town was on a hill, hence the name of Hill Town, so my way was mostly downhill. It took me a good half hour to reach Milltown, but I made it.
"Let me in!" I screamed as I pounded on the gate.
"What's your business?" a gruff voice inquired.
"Message from Hill Town! Now let me in, dammit!" I had gathered that my message was urgent by the way my mother and my uncle urged me to hurry, so I wanted to deliver it as fast as possible.
"Alright, alright!" the gatekeeper unlocked the gate and I stumbled in. "Now what's your message, laddie?"
"Riders from the East," I panted, annoyed at being mistaken for a boy. "Flags of Lamaran Outriders!" I stumbled and the gatekeeper caught me. "And I'm not a lad, I'm a lassie." The crowd that had gathered around us chuckled uneasily.
"You heard her report! Bar the gates! Arm yourselves! Ring the bell! Send a runner out to the next village! Move! Now!" the gatekeeper was also the headman on the village, it seemed, as he was the one giving orders. "Now lassie, run back to your own village and tell 'em that we got the message."
I turned around to go and caught sight of the hill where my village was.
Or where it used to be.
The hill was now covered in flames and smoke. I gasped and ran toward my home.
"Lassie! Wait! Don't go back!" I didn't heed him- I just kept running. I heard him thudding along behind me, but there was no way that he could catch me: I was a runner of Syrlan.
Even though the way was uphill, I made better time back than I had going. My adrenaline pushed me faster than I had ever run before. I was almost at the top of the hill when I saw them. They didn't see me; so intent were they in the killing and ravaging that they were doing. Their blood red uniforms were stained darker by the blood of my family and friends. I wanted to kill them.
"Don't go! They'll kill you too!" Something tugged my leg when I inched forward. It was Jake.
"Jake!"
"Shhh!" he looked unharmed. "Don't you dare leave me, Liana! Not now!"
"But what about Mother? And Uncle Rex? You can't just leave them there to die!" I protested in a harsh whisper.
"They're dead." I couldn't believe it. All of those lives had been cut short.
"No…"
"Down!" Jake pulled me lower into the grass as a Lamaran soldier walked by. The Outrider stopped and looked in our direction. He must have seen the moving grass. I forgot to breathe.
"Oy! Roth! I think there's something over here!" The Outrider seemed to stare directly at me.
"Oh no…" The two Outriders walked over to us.
"Well, look what we have here! A sack of gold!" The first Outrider picked it up, and the second, the one named Roth, grabbed it away, "Hey that's mine!"
"Well, come and get it!" the two men started to punch each other, and soon other Outriders joined. It was a full-scale brawl.
"Liana! This way!" we escaped together and started to run. Most of the men were still fighting, but there was a look out on the hill. He saw us and raised the alarm.
"Escapees! Escapees! After them! After them!" the crier's voice cracked a few times, making me giggle.
"Liana…run!" Jake sprinted ahead of me, into the woodland that bordered the path we were taking.
"Jake!" I was still tired from my previous runs and I couldn't run as fast as usual. I couldn't believe that he had left me. I could hear the Outriders running behind me. They were gaining. I risked a glance behind me and saw that they were on horses.
"There's one! After him!" I was sick of being called a boy. I decided to make their chase a bit more difficult. I threw myself into the underbrush, and then ran on. I knew my way around the forest- they did not. Still they followed me. The next time I hid in the underbrush was to rest. I lay there panting as their horses thundered by me. When I had regained my breath, I crept out of my hiding spot.
"Halt." I froze. Surrounding me were a group of Lamaran Outriders. "Hold out your hands." Did they think that I was really that stupid?
"No." One of them pushed me over violently. That was perfect. I gabbed the knife that was in my boot and stood up slowly, knife hidden. Then I ran.
I threw the knife at the Outrider who tried to stop me. He fell over with a gurgle, my knife in his throat. I leapt over him and sprinted as fast as I could. Then I saw the horses.
I chose the one that looked the best a first glance. The horses had been unsaddled, showing the Outrider's confidence in their ability. This posed no problem. I grabbed the bay's mane and climbed on.
"The squirt'll never stay on Torch!" One Outrider commented cynically.
"After her!" The other Outriders mounted up and followed. I was happy that they got my gender right. I was in for the ride of my life.
The horse I was on was no tame palfrey or trained war steed, he was wild! Luckily for my butt (and me) he stopped bucking and twisting very quickly.
"I don't believe it!"
"She's actually riding Torch!"
"Are you sure that's a girl?"
"Follow her!"
I dug my heels into poor Torch's sides, and he obligingly sped up. Soon I was out of the forest and into a grassy meadow. I saw Milltown not far in the distance. "Run horse! Faster!" I smacked him with my hand, and the horse lengthened his stride even more. I exulted in the heady euphoria of this incredible speed. I felt invincible!
Torch stumbled suddenly, and I flew over his head. I landed with a thump. Torch slowed and circled me, as if wondering what I was doing on the ground. Someone whistled, and the horse's ears pricked. He trotted happily over to the young man whose voice had cracked. The Outrider gave him a hug and patted him lovingly.
"Don't move." I didn't. A face leaned over mine. He brushed a lock of my brown hair out of the way so he could see the mark that was tattooed onto my cheek. "A Syrlan runner, eh? No wonder you outran us. No where's your partner?"
"I…I…don't know." It was true, too; I didn't know- Jake had just left me!
"Right. Tie her up." The man walked away. My hands were tied in no time at all, and my ankles soon followed. "Somebody has to carry her."
"Who?" A yellow-haired man asked.
"Shane." The man pointed to the youth who held Torch.
"But can't we put her on Roth's horse? And tie her there?" Shane obviously didn't want to have a second passenger.
"Good, good. Do that." The leader instructed his underlings. One of the men picked me up and draped me unceremoniously over his shoulder. A horse was brought out and I was draped over its saddle. Then they tied me on.
"Hey, can somebody give me-"
"We ain't giving you nothing." He slapped me lightly.
"Hey! What was that- mmph!" the Outrider shoved a rope into my mouth and tied it around the back of my head. I had been gagged!
"Shane!"
"What?" the youth looked up from petting his horse.
"Lead the prisoner's horse." A disgruntled Shane got down from his mount a grabbed the rope that was attached the horse's bridle. Quickly he remounted and attached the lead rope to Torch's saddle.
"Don't fall off," he warned me. As if I would want to.
"Uh-uh." I mumbled.
Then the Outrider behind me said, "No talking." And he whacked me on the head and knocked me unconscious in the process.
~~
A/N: All reviews are welcome....PLEASE REVIEW!! i love getting reviews!!! tell me what you think...and does ANYONE have suggestions for more names, boy or girl? please tell me if you do! thank you!
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