Corinne lunged for Liana and grabbed her wrist just as she rolled over the side. Corinne gritted her teeth as her stomach slammed into hard rock beneath her and she held onto Liana as hard as she could. But she hadn't been able get a good hold on the girl, and she was starting to slip away. She would have tried to grab her with her other hand, but it was keeping her from falling off the rock.

"No!" Corinne thought "Please! Don't fall. I can't do this alone."

"Oh look." she heard one of the men smirk "Easy target."

Corinne quickly tuned her ear out "Grab onto my wrist!" she called down to Liana.

"I can't!" Liana called back up. She looked down at the hundreds of feet below.

"Don't even think about it." Corinne said through gritted teeth "I'm not going to let you go any more than I'd let one of my best friends go! Oh no." Liana's hand slipped further from her grasp, till she was just gripping her fingers "No. Please. No!"

Just as Liana's fingers slipped out of Corinne's hand, a longer arm swung down and got a death grip on Liana's wrist.

Liana looked up in shock "Jeremy!"

Corinne was staring at the young man "Where did you come from?"

Jeremy glanced over at her "Is that how all girls say thank you?" then he worked his way to his knees and pulled Liana back up onto the rock.

As soon as she caught her breath, Liana threw her arms around Jerem'y neck "Thank you."

Jeremy laughed as he happily returned the hug "Not a problem."

Corinne smiled then stood up "Ready to get out of here?"

Liana nodded, then looked back the way they had come "Oh. Is that why he didn't shoot?"

All five men were laying unconscious on the ground.

Jeremy chuckled "Those guys are big. But they still couldn't quite fight with my horse."

Corinne laughed as she jumped to the next rock "Come on."

Jeremy whistled at his horse "Find a way across boy!" the horse snorted, then ran down the ravine to where it was about ten feet across, with no rock structures, and jumped over.

"Wish we could jump that far." Corinne mumbled.

Liana laughed "No kidding."

When they finally got to the other side, they all sat down in the grass to catch their breath.

"How did you find us?" Liana asked Jeremy, who got up to make sure his horse was okay.

He shrugged "I got a world map and looked at it. And knowing the trouble you and Alexa have a tendency to get into, I decided to take the round-about way."

Liana laughed "I don't think Alexa and I have ever been in this much trouble before."

Corinne shook her head and smiled "It's hard to get in more trouble than my friends and I have already been in. Between burglar colonies, being stuck in the attic of a burning building, flying arrows. Insane criminals and so-forth-so-on. I've had my share of trouble."

Jeremy stared at her "What are you?"

Corinne pulled out her sword and slightly swung it on her finger "I'm a musketeer."

Jeremy turned back to his horse "So..." he thought "They allowed Liana to take off halfway around the universe to go to a place she'd never been before with a complete stranger who carries a weapon!?" He shook his head "Uncanny."

"We should go." Corinne said "Those guys are starting to wake up."

The other two nodded, then they quickly retreated into the woods.

"So glad there's a lot of trees." Corinne said as they walked "It makes tracking us harder."

"Even though we're not camouflaged." Liana added, lifting her skirt slightly.

"Hey..." Jeremy said slowly "You're wearing the same thing."

Corinne rolled her eyes "He just noticed?"

Jeremy shrugged "Hey. As long as I know which is Liana and which is Connie," he pointed to them as he said their names "I'm good."

"It's Corinne." The two girls corrected.

"Sorry." they walked in silence for a little bit before he spoke "So... um... Cor... Conrie."

Corinne sighed "Connie is fine, Jeremy."

"Okay. Corinne." Jeremy flashed her a smile "Why do you need to get back to Paris?"

Corinne shook her head as Liana laughed. Boys! "To hopefully warn my friends about the army so we can think up a quick plan to keep Louis safe."

"Who's Louis?"

Corinne sent Liana an unbelieving look. Then they both said "He's the king."

"Oh." Jeremy nodded "So. You're on first name basis with the king?"

Corinne sighed "Why does everyone keep asking me that? I wish I had a map."

Jeremy reached into his horse's saddle bag and pulled out a thick fold of paper "As you wish."

Corinne smiled and took the paper from him "Thank you." she unfolded it enough to see their route "We're heading the right direction. We'll go as far as we can till it gets dark. We should reach Paladia by tomorrow evening."

Jeremy nodded "You've got this covered, huh?"

Corinne pushed her ponytail over her shoulder "I wish."

They walked the next several hours. Only stopping by a river long enough to let Jeremy's horse get a drink and refill the water bottles that Jeremy had brought.

When one of them started getting tired, they'd ride the horse for a little bit so that they didn't have to stop.

When the sun finally sank below the horizon, they stopped.

"We can't build a fire." Corinne said "If they're following us, that's a dead giveaway."

"Where do we sleep?" Jeremy asked.

"The branches of these trees are huge." Corinne answered "Maybe that'll work. Of course, suggesting you don't move in your sleep. I know that neither Liana nor I do."

Jeremy smiled "My brother says that I'm so still he thinks I'm dead."

That made the two girls laugh.

"One of us should probably stay up and keep watch." Liana suggested "Just in case."

"I'll take the first watch." Jeremy volunteered "You girls go ahead and hit the.. tree."

The two girls nodded then climbed a tree that was nearby.

"You're right." Liana said as she laid back on a branch "These branches are huge. And slightly comfortable."

Corinne laughed softly "Good night."

"They're going to reach Paris in about three weeks." the king growled "Since you can't seem to catch them, I'll take care of them myself."

"Sire." Heinrich said nervously "I'm afraid we don't know where they are. They have disappeared."

"WHAT!?" the King Bellowed "Then find them! NOW!"

Louis looked out at his balloon that was laying deflated in the yard. It was weird. It didn't feel right going up in it when Corinne wasn't there. It was like she was the one who made it even worth anything.

"Who am I kidding?" he mumbled to himself "She's the only one that makes anything worth anything."

"She's coming back." A voice behind him caused his to jump and spin around.

The three girls were standing in the doorway.

"She'll be back." Renee said "She always is."

Aramina laughed softly "Even when we all think she's gone for good, she shows back up."

"Just keep hanging on." Viveca added "It's not easy waiting. Trust me. She's our team leader. We're kind of lost without her." when Louis raised an eyebrow Viveca shook her head "I said kinda."

Louis chuckled slightly "Okay. Trust me, I'm waiting."

(Thank you everyone for all your reviews! You would not believe the trouble i went through to post this chapter! My computer's being a real pill! Hope you enjoyed!)