"As soon as we get them to the Shadowlands, the Master will know exactly what to do with them."
"But how will he know that he won't just send them to the arenas and waste our hard work? I think we should do something with them first."
"No. We will do what has been commanded of us. Nothing more, and nothing less. Then, we shall be rewarded for our deed. The Shadowlord will be pleased."
No. There was no way. They couldn't be going to the Shadowlands. There was no way Jasmine was going to let them lead her to her death.
Panic overtook her as she sought a way to escape the clutches of these evil people.
Then Lief made a sound in his sleep, reminding her that her instincts for survival had caused her to forget Lief. She had to get out, but she couldn't leave him to the Shadowlord.
Sneaking out of the wagon seemed the only way to escape; yet it left them so vulnerable to any threat. Any sand creature could appear and devour them in a matter of moments out in the open, though being eaten alive seemed like a better death than being tortured in the Shadowlands.
"Lief," she gently nudged him to rouse him. "Lief, we have to go," she whispered as quietly as she could.
"Where are we going?" said Lief loudly.
Jasmine quickly shushed him and explained the situation and the urgent need to escape unnoticed. Although he was still a bit woozy and feverish, they quietly assembled a few objects, namely Lief's cloak and a few scraps of food they stole from barrels, and prepared themselves to leap from the back of the wagon and run.
"Joshua, go check on the prisoners!" barked a voice from the front that could only be Frederick as the wagon stopped abruptly.
Alarmed, Lief and Jasmine threw the small bundle of food into a nearby barrel and threw themselves to the floor, and pretended to be asleep.
"Gramps! They seem to be asleep!" called Joshua as he peered into the dimness of the wagon's cargo hold.
Hearts pounding and temperature rising, Lief and Jasmine lay as quietly as possible and attempted to slow their breathing.
"Then hurry up and get back here! Stop wasting time! We have a schedule to keep!" yelled Frederick angrily. If they were just sleeping, what was he still doing back there?
A few moments later, a complaining Joshua had left and the wagon started moving again, Jasmine breathed a sigh of relief.
They had not been discovered. They could now escape into the desert without fear of being discovered until they decided to check on them again.
Her eyes darted around and located the barrel in which she had tossed the bundle of food. At a glance, it just seemed to be a regular barrel of food. But upon closer inspection, it contained Lief's sword, among other useful items.
She quickly retrieved the sword, a thin blanket, and a length of rope. She tossed the sword to where Lief sat, still dazed, and she rolled up the blanket and bundle of food together and tied them to her back with the rope.
"Lets get going Lief," she whispered as she grabbed his sweaty hand and found her way to the entrance of the back of the wagon. She opened it and looked out to the desert that was quickly passing by as the horses trotted through the sand.
"On the count of three," she began. "One… Two… THREE!" and she and Lief leaped into the sand and rolled to a stop. She allowed herself five seconds to regain her balance before standing and running as far away from the wagon as possible.
As she stood, she noticed Lief looking as if he was about to throw up.
"Lief, come on! Get up, please we have to move," she said anxiously. He could throw up after they ran far enough into the Shifting Sands.
"I-I can't J-jasmine. I have to– " he retched and began to shiver uncontrollably.
"Lief! We don't have time for this! Either control yourself or I'm leaving you," Jasmine commanded. They just couldn't afford to sit here any longer.
"Then g-go on without me…" said Lief softly.
"Lief, there is no way I'm leaving you, now gather yourself. We have to go," she said sternly.
As Lief tried to protest, Jasmine just lifted him to his feet and put his arm over her shoulders. Lief winced, the pain in his spine and legs still hadn't subsided, and lying on a wooden floor all day hadn't helped either.
"Jasmine, I'm serious. I-I'll just slow you down," Lief protested. Jasmine just set her lips in a straight line and took a few steps, testing Lief's stability.
"Lief, just be quiet and try to walk," hissed Jasmine as she tried her hardest to calm down.
After a few minutes of extreme pain on Lief's part and a few feet of dragging a boy on Jasmine's part, Lief collapsed, pulling Jasmine down with him.
Jasmine was thoroughly annoyed at Lief's inability to walk more than a few feet at a time, but she kept her mouth shut as she wiped herself off and pulled Lief back up again.
"Just leave me," Lief said after falling for about the tenth time. "I know you're annoyed because we can't get very far, what with me falling all the time, so just leave me here. I'll die eventually either way, so just take care of yourself."
"Damn Lief and his ability to see right through me," thought Jasmine angrily.
"Just try your best, we're going to get out of here together," she said through gritted teeth. "I've already told you that I will not leave you here and that won't change however many times we fall. Just stop suggesting it and use your energy for something more productive, like walking."
Lief, who was surprised at her tone, realized she was right. "What she said makes sense, we're not going to get anywhere if all I do is sentence myself to death by desert," he thought. With a newfound determination to get out of this alive, Lief continued to walk as far as he could and as quickly as possible.
"Alright, I think we can stop here for now," said Jasmine who was now satisfied with their distance as she slid down a dune with Lief.
"Phew," sighed Lief with relief. Walking so far had taken a lot out of him that he didn't have.
His temperature continued to climb as the sun dipped under the horizon, giving way to a relentlessly cold and starry night.
Soon, he started to shiver and a cold sweat had broken out on his brow. Even huddled beneath his cloak and a blanket Jasmine had tucked him into, he would not stop shaking.
"Jesus Lief, how did you manage to get so sick?" asked Jasmine as she coaxed a bit of the food they had stolen into his body.
"I have no idea…" replied a weak Lief with a slight chuckle. "But I do seem to have impeccable timing, don't you think?"
Jasmine laughed and said, "Yes, because being sick in the middle of the Shifting Sands has to be the best thing to ever happen to you!"
As the moon crossed the sky, Jasmine got colder and colder. Lief noticed this and offered her a spot under the blanket with him.
At first she refused, saying that she would get sick too and then getting out of the desert would be ten times harder. Eventually though, the frigid air got the best of her and crawled under the blanket next to Lief where together, they fell asleep intertwined in each other's arms peacefully.
A few miles away however, their escape had been discovered.
A/N: There you are guys, chapter 14! Wow, never knew this would reach fourteen chapters! Thanks for reading everyone :) And sorry for the delay... I blame writer's block...