ShadowRose18: le gasp! I am finally back! Okay, I had the major English project of the year (where I ended up sleeping at 2am with it still not finished) and then just went from one hectic project to another and it only stopped when the term finished and I went on camp (last week of term). And then I did the unthinkable: I took a break.

Before you kill me, let me just say this: JoM almost became like homework for me and that is the last thing I want (other than never finishing JoM). So I took a week off and now I am back and will be writing as much as I possibly can.

Now, if you've forgotten what's been happening, read the end of the last chapter or something, 'cause I'm going to write now!

P.S. this chapter is extra long because I'm bad at taking out details -.-;

Series: Children of the Red King/ Charlie Bone Series

Author: Jenny Nimmo

Pairings: mainly TancredEmma but a bit of CharlieOlivia and BillyOC

Disclaimer: If I owned COTRK, Charlie probably wouldn't exist and Tancred and Emma would be together already. I also wouldn't have a fanfiction account and wouldn't have wasted hours and hours day-dreaming the rest of this story. So don't take down my story, 'kay? :)

Chapter 37 – Running Footsteps

Jo groaned, sitting up. Beneath her hands were cold cobblestones and darkness surrounded her.

'R-Rina?' Jo stammered.

'I'm… here…' Rina's voice came, along with laboured breaths.

Jo gasped slightly. 'Your wounds!' she cried, crawling towards where she supposed Rina was.

'It's fine. I've already called someone for help,' Rina answered.

'Who can help us?!' Jo whispered, disbelievingly.

A soft, strained chuckle came from near her. 'You'll see. Nothing can stop her. Not even losing everything.'

'Raise the alarm! There's an intruder!'

Guards ran around, back and forth along the lavishly decorated corridors.

'What's going on?!' Letina snapped, coming out of the velvet walled bedroom that she shared with her husband.

'Mistress!' the head of the guards stopped in front of her. 'There is an intruder! They're standing in the outer courtyard.'

'How did they get inside the shield?' asked Letina, dumbfounded.

'We have yet to find the answer to that,' the man answered

Her eyes flaring up in rage, Letina raced back inside, grabbed a dressing gown and stormed out of the room followed by the guard. Jeretis stood in the bedroom doorway, watching his wife storm off. Sighing, he grabbed his dressing gown and followed his wife, however, at a much more relaxed pace.

'Who are you?! What business do you have here?!' a guard shouted at the dark hooded figure. Where were reinforcements? The guards desperately thought. The head of the guards had gone to inform the Mistress and bring more guards, however he had not arrived. The wind blew like a violent storm and the dark hood blew off revealing a dark grey-haired figure with sad golden eyes. (A/N: Yes, I changed her appearance a bit ;P) A dark scar, from above her eyebrow to half-way down her cheek, ran across her right eye, which was dim yellow in colour.

Her lips curved into a small, secret and almost evil, smile. Raising a hand, which was covered in black until the tips of her fingers, she covered her scarred right eye and her hand glowed pale green. The guards, clearly puzzled, and rather frightened because of the sudden stormy wind, raised their weapons. She pulled her hand away slowly, and opened her eye which was no longer dim yellow, instead it was bight and golden, like her other eye.

'Who - ?!' The guard began to ask again when she suddenly, quick like lightning, had pulled out a golden, intricate designed bow, had nocked an arrow on it, had pulled it back to its full extent and had aimed it almost exactly at the speaking guard.

Still with the arrow poised to shoot, the intruder started walking. Her eyes full of determination, she herded the guards into a corner of the large walls of the Victorian style house. Her arrow remained ready to attack for another few seconds, while the guards crouched in fear as the head of the guard and Letina came out of the front door.

The girl seemed not to notice and as the head of the guards and Letina crept towards her, another secret smile appeared on her lips and she disappeared into thin air.

'Raise the alarm! There's an intruder!' (A/N: This is back a bit in time)

Rina and Jo remained in darkness as large heavy footsteps ran back and forth above.

'Are you cold, Jo?' Rina suddenly asked. Jo shook her head. Then she remembered that Rina couldn't see her, so she murmured a small no.

Suddenly, a small circle of strange letterings and alien symbols glowed a bright white next to Jo. She gasped and crawled away from the strange symbols as it disappeared and a small gust of wind circled around the dark dungeon.

Someone else was in there.

The third person stood up and then suddenly a fire, the size of a palm, appeared in mid air. The dungeon lit up and it took a few moments for Jo to adjust her eyes to the light. When her eyes were no longer blinded, Jo looked up to see a dark hooded figure who was already kneeling beside Rina.

'Hey! G-Get away from her!' Jo cried, thinking the third person was going to harm her friend.

'Relax,' the hooded figure and Rina said at the same time. Rina smiled wearily at the figure.

'Who are you?' Jo asked, growing meek once more.

'Jo… do you remember me talking about Jamie?' Rina quietly asked as the figure remained silent. The hooded figure placed their hands over Rina's injured arm and both glowed a gentle green.

'Jamie? The cursed child?' Jo asked, not noticing the hooded figure stiffen.

Rina nodded. She turned to the black cloaked figure and whispered something in an unknown language. After a moment, the hooded figure nodded and Rina smiled.

'Jo, let me introduce you to Jamie,' she said, putting her now healed hand on the shoulder of the girl.

Jo gasped as the figure slowly turned towards her, taking off her hood. Long dark-grey hair that reached to the child's waist came down in thick locks. Bright, yet sad, golden eyes looked back at her from the pale face. Suddenly Jo became aware of the child's frail looking appearance. She was very skinny and not very tall, nor did she look very strong. Her clothes were black, including her cloak and there was a gold, intricately designed bow on her back.

'Oh – oh my…' Jo seemed at a loss for words.

'Rina,' the girl, Jamie, said turning to the middle-aged woman, 'we have to leave immediately. My decoy just disappeared.'

Rina nodded while Jo continued to gape at the child before her. The girl stood up and looked towards the door and the thundering footsteps.

'It'll be too risky to go through that way. We'll have to teleport,' she said, then turning to Rina she added, 'whatever happens, do no let that shield drop below the level of the outside wall.'

Rina nodded, her face turning pale as she tried to strengthen her shield.

'Jo, is it?' Jamie asked the stunned maid. Jo, startled, turned to Jamie and slowly nodded.

'Stay with Rina, alright?' she asked, smiling gently. Jo nodded again.

'I'm going to teleport you to a nearby field. Don't move until I get there,' she instructed. Both Rina and Jo nodded.

Satisfied, the girl closed her eyes and clasped her hands together. Slowly, the same strange glowing circle appeared beneath the two women and within a few seconds they disappeared.

Unmoving, the fire disappeared before the girl opened her eyes. Bright golden eyes penetrated the darkness and a smile, hidden in the dark, graced her lips before the circle appeared beneath her and the dungeon become empty once more.

'Calm down!' Danni thought desperately as she hid in the shadows of an alley beside a bookshop. The sound of about twenty men running in the street parallel to her caused her to freeze and unconsciously stop breathing. The footsteps stopped and a rough voice barked out orders. Panic filled the young girl as footsteps started down the street she was hiding in.

Praying that the men couldn't hear her loudly beating heart, Danni shuffled silently towards the end of the street. As she reached the end, she rushed around the corner, desperate to get away, but didn't notice the dark haired man walking towards her.

She immediately stopped and her eyes widened, thinking him to be one of the men looking for her, but quickly realised that he wasn't.

'Please sir!' she whispered desperately, 'I need to get to number 9, Filbert Street.'

The man looked rather puzzled. 'I live there. What do you need?'

Dannielle gasped. 'A-Are you Charlie's Uncle Paton?' she whispered.

'Yes, I am,' he said, still confused as a shout caused Danni to look down the street.

'RUN!' she screamed and run they did. Eventually Uncle Paton's quick long strides were too much for the already fatigued child and the power-booster eventually picked up the small child and carried her through alleys and streets.

As they reached the small house with the large tree in front, Paton Yewbeam opened the door and was inside the kitchen within moments.

'Uncle Paton?' a voice whispered from upstairs.

'Charlie, come downstairs,' Paton replied softly.

In moments, Charlie Bone descended the stairs with the white-haired albino following hesitantly.

'What is it Uncle Paton?' Charlie asked.

'I have something for you,' he answered as Danni slowly turned her tear-stained face away from her curled up position.

'Danni!' Billy instantly cried and raced down the steps.

'Quiet. She has some explaining to do, but I have no doubt that she has her reasons,' Paton whispered as he lowered the small child down to the ground.

Dannielle stood, shakily, in the middle of the Bone's kitchen, her whole body trembling.

'Danni, don't worry. You'll be safe,' Charlie assured her. As long as Grandma Bone doesn't see her and tell everyone, he thought.

'Who's Grandma Bone? And who would she tell?!' Danni whispered, panicked.

Charlie seemed alarmed and Uncle Paton and Billy seemed confused, but he shook his head and smiled at the eight-year-old.

'Don't worry. She's sound asleep right now,' he assured the mind-reader, placing a hand on her shoulder and steering her towards the stairs, 'she won't wake up until –'

'What is that racket downstairs?!' came Grandma Bone's shrill voice as she appeared at the top of the stairs.

ShadowRose18: CLIFFY XD

I'm evil, after all that time. I never change though :P

Anyway, I am going to continue to writing anyway (which kind of defeats the purpose of creating a cliffy, but anyway)

I have some news which will satisfy you until then (hopefully). I'm overseas and on the 7 hour plane trip, I tried to draw (which, as you should know, I completely FAIL at). So, I have drawings of Jamie, Danni, Alannah, Chemire, Rina, Jo, Mindy, Kate, Tancred's scarf, Emma's necklace and am in the process of drawing Hiroshi, Tren, Kim, Letina, Jeretis/Referal and the Dark Archer.

They're pretty crappy, but they give you a basic idea of how I see my characters. I will hopefully put them on Deviantart sometime soon….if I can bear to look at them that long and am willing to show my shameful drawings to the world XD

Anyway, this is dedicated to everyone, for putting up with my hectic disorganisation D:

ONTO THE NEXT CHAPTER! XP