I barely gave them any time to speak as I was rushing around trying to figure out how we were going to get out of here. Grabbing a wrap from my bag I tied up my arm that was now "infected" with taint. They kept trying to ask me what was wrong and if they could help. I kept shaking my head. "I promise when we get out of here I_" I cut myself off. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a brightly colored object. Quickly I turned noticing that the object ducked behind a tree.
Duncan followed my line of sight and saw what I was looking at. "A girl, you are frightened of a girl?"
I sharply turned at him, "If it was just her, trust me I would be fine. She isn't alone, there were two others." I looked around noting Zack in the trees above and Garrot perched on a rock. Duncan looked noticing the two people that were watching us. He looked back to me, then my bandaged arm.
"You are going to tell us everything." He said running off towards Honeydew Inc.
"Yeah." I looked down at the ground. Zoey yanked on my arm and we all began to run after Duncan.
"Where exactly are we going Duncan?" Lewis asked running beside his blonde haired friend.
"An outpost I have. It has somethings that may become handy for us." He didn't slow down.
"That might be a bit challenging with those people following us." Nilesy said lagging a bit behind us.
I looked over to the right to see that in fact Melody, Zack, and Garrot were following us. Melody pointed her fingers out like a gun. She said something that I couldn't hear.
"Scatter!" I yelled and everyone did as I said. A huge bolt of magical energy whizzed past all of us. It struck a cow causing it to collapse on the earth. I looked back up to the three for some reason Zack wasn't using his watch. Could it be that we are out of range for his attack? I thought.
Duncan quickly veered right and we began to run away from the cliff side. Our pursuers had to jump off the cliff face if they were to run after us. To my surprise they stopped running. Zack and Melody grabbed the waist of Garrot.
"We gotta go faster!" Nilesy yelled looking back.
"Stop looking back, all victims in movies die like that." Zoey yelled running over to smack him on the back of the head. I couldn't help but laugh at their childish antics. Zoey threatened to come smack me but I just put my arms up in defense. "Rythian?!" She ran over grabbing onto my bandaged arm. I looked down to see the black veins of taint snaking down my arm to my hand and up closer to my elbow. Duncan noticed and cursed something under his breath.
"Once again you will tell us what happened. It could be life or death if what I am thinking happened." He screamed.
"It probably happened." I said solemnly.
"You idiot." He yelled. Suddenly Duncan ran straight towards a cliff side.
"No, you are the idiot!" Lewis screamed.
"No, I'm not!" He yelled jumping off the cliff.
We all slowed down.
"Yeah like Nether I am jumping down there." Lewis said.
"We don't really have much of a choice now do we!" Zoey yelled jumping after Duncan.
I looked back seeing three figures in the distance growing larger and larger as they grew closer and closer. "We gotta move!" I turned to Lewis. "Either you jump or a push you, choose." He looked worried not wanting me to push him he jumped down.
Next was Sjin, then Nilesy, then me. My coat flew up behind me. We weren't falling for that long, only long enough to fall into some sort of portal. An invisible portal that only Duncan knew about.
When we came out on the other side of the portal I saw a stables of sorts.
"Where are we?" Asked Zoey walking over to a white horse with a cream mane.
"My outer stables. I told you this place would be useful." Duncan beamed.
I looked around marveling at the many horses he had here. Nilesy walked over to a black and white paint. Sjin favored a brown Clydesdale. Duncan treaded over to a cream horse with a white mane. In the back corner there was a black horse with a diamond on it's forehead. I walked over to it.
"So we all have our horses?" Duncan asked and everyone said yes including me. "I would be careful Rythian that horse doesn't really like to listen all that well." He said and the horse snorted. I held out my hand and it nuzzled my palm. "Alright suit yourself."
We saddled up the horses and Nilesy led his horse over to Duncan. "Okay, so now what? Where do we go from here?"
"Kalico City," Duncan said hopping on the back of his cream horse.
"Kalico City! That is the most densely populated city next to the Capitol!" Lewis yelled trotting over.
"Exactly and that is why we are going there. From what I could tell they were only really focused on Rythian, attacking him. So if we go to the City then we can blend in easier. Plus I know a healer there that should be able to fix any issue including taint."
Zoey gasped, "Taint!"
"Yes. We have to get moving eventually they will figure out that we survived the jump." Duncan began to ride off to the entrance to the stables.
He led us down the road, a narrow cobble path that leads into a dense forest. "We should be able to camp out here. Kalico City should be a full days ride from the other side of the forest. If we ride in halfway from then on we ride." Lewis said stopping at the end of the path. "We need to stick close to one another, the last thing we need is us splitting up and them picking us off. Rythian," He looked over to me, "Do you know what they can do?"
"The small girl can use a mischief magic know as Hijinks. The man in the suit deals with time magic. He has a modified Watch of Flowing time that can pause anything in a radius around him. All I know about the big guy is that he isn't the best with aim."
"That's it?" Duncan asked trotting over.
"Yeah I didn't really want to stick around after they attacked me," I grumbled.
"And how exactly did they attack you," Sjin said. To be honest I actually forgot that he was with us.
"They shot me with something." I didn't really want to get into any specifics to be honest I don't exactly understand what happened.
"Anything else?" Duncan pressed.
"No." I shouldered around them my horse giving a breathy whinny.
The forest was dark and damp giving a musky odor that can only be described as spoiled milk. There was an every present mist and visibility was low and scarce and anything could attack us if it wanted to. I could barely tell if we were even going straight my horse had to jerk it's head into the direction in which I think was the right way to go. The horse headed up a ridge and onto a small hill the others following behind me.
Duncan and the others tried to keep asking me many questions that I just didn't want to answer. Questions like, "What exactly happened? Where are they now? Does your arm hurt?" Every one I just try to ignore it like I would a nat buzzing around my face. The horse whinnied nodding it's head a few times. Slowly it picked up speed.
"Whoa." I tried to calm it down but it was insistent on going this speed. The others called out behind me to slow down, that their horses weren't going that fast. It turned around a bend and charged straight forward.
Then it just began to slow down. Figures began to appear from the treeline ahead of me. I desperately pulled back on the reins to get the horse to either stop or slow down. It shook its head biting on the bit in its mouth. Three people stepped out from the treeline and I began to panic. I silently chastised both the horse and myself for getting us into this mess.
"See Garrot told you old Tenebris would bring him to us," Melody said her cheery tone out of place in this desolate landscape.
"Didn't think the old thing would recognize him like that." Garrot scoffed beginning to walk towards us.
I pulled desperately on the reigns of the horse. Tenebris just shook his head and began to walk forward. "Damn horse move," I cursed under my breath. I yanked and yanked trying to get it to move away.
I was so focused on the horse I didn't see a laser shoot right past me and strike a tree. I felt the heat graze my face as it whizzed past. The horse seemed to jerk out of it's daze and jumped around. I held tight and lowered myself closer to his neck trying desperately not to fall off.
"You idiot come on!" I turned fast to see Duncan and his horse bounding back the opposite way.
I jerked the reigns so Tenebris moved back to the way he was meant to go, with my friends. Duncan was waiting just a bit over the ridge and promptly smacked me upside the head.
"Ow what the Hell was that for?" I asked rubbing the now sore spot.
"For not listening to me when I said to pick a different horse." He yelled. The others soon made it over to us.
"Guys, is everything okay?" Zoey asked looking at Duncan then me.
"Yes, your boyfriend just doesn't know how to handle a horse properly." Duncan muttered riding past her. Zoey looked at me confused and concerned but I just shrugged it off.
"Well if we all stop bickering for a moment Rythian's horse actually managed to find a shortcut out of this forest." Nilesy said walking over to us and pointed over my shoulder.
I turned around and looked down the ridge past where the three people would have been. Unsurprisingly to me they have left.
"C'mon we better start moving to Kalico City, the last thing we want is even more trouble." Sjin huffed guiding his horse down the ridge. I sighed leading Tenebris to follow the big brown Clydesdale.
Sunlight outside was a gift to behold and only now can we all really appreciate it. Slowly however the sun seemed to rest going beneath the horizon and giving way to the moon.
"We should camp out on the edge of the forest, then head straight for the City once dawn hits. I'll take first watch the rest of you get sleep." Nilesy said hopping down from the beauty of a horse landing softly on the grass below. Sjin slid down the side of his horse slowly and stumbled once his feet touched earth. Zoey, Duncan, and I all hopped off relatively at the same time.
Before I could even go and sit down Duncan was yanking me away. "Get off!" I yelled at him trying to break free.
"Not until you explain what the Nether is going on?!" He screamed right back at me. "Who were those guys?!"
"I don't know!" I crossed my arms and leaned against a tree. He wasn't letting up, staring at me eyeing me down. "Look they called themselves, Melody, Zack, and Garrot. That is literally all I know." He still was staring at me but let up.
"What did they do to you?" He asked mimicking my body.
"Shot me with something I don't know what it was." I huffed.
"Does it hurt?"
"What are you my mother?"
"Does it hurt?!"
"Sure, happy!" I was getting so fed up with all his constant pressing. He constant nagging was giving me a headache all I wanted to do was smack his smug ass face.
"The truth Rythian. What happened exactly, what did they say, do, how did they act? I need to know this."
"And why exactly do you need to know this Duncan? Why are you suddenly so interested in my well being?!" I snapped at him.
"I just am!" He took a huge breath of air. "I am pestering you because the others aren't. They want to ask these very same questions but are too much of chickens to try. I genuinely don't care that you are screaming at me or that you want to hit me. I just want to understand what happened back there. To ease both mine and their confusion."
I sighed pinching the bridge of my nose, "They were in the Sips Co volcano, the one Zoey was held at." He gave me a questioning look. "Don't ask." I warned. He just held up his arms in defense. "The girl was the first one I saw, then the big guy, then the gentleman. The fancy guy, Zack, told the big guy, Garrot, to hit me with that gun. They did and I ran."
"Your leaving parts out Rythian, I need the whole story." It was like he knew everything I didn't want to say but was pressing anyway.
"They... they knew who I was."
"Seriously?!" Duncan asked eyes wide.
"Yes, they also called me Master." I gripped my bad arm, a throbbing pain encasing it.
He just stood there, staring at me. It was almost like he wanted to ask more questions.
"That is all I know so goodnight." I said walking away from him still holding to my arm. What ever is going to happen next is going to change everything.
