Ok, here's something I should've done before…Most of this belongs to Tamora Pierce- except for the storyline, Vene'sha, Dazroh and a few other characters (you'll probably know who.) Sorry, TP, for not showing proper respects before!
Liaska

CHAPTER FIVE: THE CART RIDE
Vene'sha woke, wincing as a horribly bright sun streaked into her eyes. Vene'sha felt terrible; her eyes were watery and groggy, her lips dry and puffy, she could smell her own sweat and her hair was mattered. She looked around from her spot on the floor, until she remembered what had happened the night before. As she sat up she realised her wrists and ankles were tied together crudely with rope. Vene thought of a string of rude curses, but her thief senses ordered her to keep silent. She noted a girl lying asleep (or unconscious?) on the floor, back facing her. The girl was tied up, too. Vene looked at her own bounded wrists and thought for a moment. She looked around the wagon again, twisting awkwardly to see behind her. There was a hole in the wall.
I don't wanna know, she thought tersely.
Finally she found what she was looking for, a sharp piece of wood- which must've come from the destroyed wall. Vene scraped the rope around her wrists on the jagged edge until her bounds were only clinging together by a few loose threads. She snapped the wrist-rope in half and began to untie her ankles. When all was done, Vene let out a sigh of relief. All this time the cart had been moving tirelessly. Vene crept silently to the back of the cart and peered through. Sand. Sand was the only thing around for miles.
Great, Vene'sha thought sarcastically, A desert. Just what I needed.
Someone groaned behind her and she spun around. The other girl was awaking. Vene crawled over and clapped a hand over the girl's mouth. Vene finally got a good look at the person and was shocked. It was that Keladry from the castle! Kels' eyes opened wide as she realised that there was a hand smothering her mouth.
"MmmMhhmmhhHmmh," Kel spluttered furiously.
"Sssh!" Vene hissed, but she was too late. The head of a man peered through the hole and cried;
"Hey, Dazroh, ones escaped!"
"What?!" Another voice said in alarm. The cart came to a halt.
The first man was scrambling through the hole. Vene took the jagged piece of wood and slashed the air threateningly.
"Don't take another step," Vene warned darkly, "Lest you want me to run you through!"
The man hesitated for a moment, but then bounded forward and pounced towards Vene. The thief jumped out of the way, leaving the man to fall face first on the ground. Then the second man, the one called Dazroh, was coming through the hole. Vene looked at the struggling Kel and, as much as she hated to admit it, she needed her former enemy's help more than anything now. She needed Kel. Vene dropped to her knees in front of Kel and, with the aid of the jagged piece of wood, slashed off Kel's rope boundings. Instantly Kel was off the ground, whipping a dagger from her boot. She went for the first man, tackling him and smashing the back of his head with the dagger's hilt. Vene went for Dazroh by grabbing him and twisting his arm around his back. He struggled, but soon learnt that whenever he tried to break free it only hurt him more. Kel had rendered the first man unconscious and now stood to face the helpless Dazroh.
"I have a lot of questions to ask," Kel said icily. "And you're the one who's going to answer them."
Kel thought she and the Thief had the upper position, until Dazroh's leg swept backwards and tripped up his captor. Vene landed on her bum with a dull 'thud.' Dazroh lunged at Kel, but despite the surprise attack she still managed to swing him past her. Dazroh landed on the first man, bringing him out of unconsciousness. Both men got up wearily, as had Vene. The two pairs stood to face each other; the wagon suddenly seemed a lot smaller than what it used to be. Dazroh was about to attack, but was stopped when the cart, for some reason, tipped onto its side. Everyone toppled over each other as the horses outside neighed in fear. Kel and Vene broke free of the mad scrambling of arms and legs, and both girls were relieved to jump into the burning desert sun outside. The squire and thief exchanged wary glances, still somehow untrustworthy of each other despite the fact that they had just been fighting together. Dazroh's face- now contorted with fury and exasperation- appeared through the back of the cart and just as he was about to clamber out the most unbelievable thing happened. From out of the sand an E N O R M O U S, long, scaled body jumped up into the air and smashed its reptilian mass of a head on the cart. The huge serpent left as quickly as it had come, taking the cart, men and horses with it. The two holes it left, the one it had come out of and the one it just disappeared into, were quickly refilling with sand. In a matter of seconds, there was absolutely no sign that anything had just happened- and all Vene'sha and Kel could do was stand there and gape…






OK. I'm happy about this chapter. I said in my last message that CH 5 should be more interesting. Well, I hope YOU liked it. Did you? Hello to Saphron (thanx for those 3 generous reviews) Will, cardboard tom, Noel, Windwhisper, Ruby, Aurora, Nazgulette, CatchFire, Kierce, laru, Aerdwynn and any others who have sneakily put in some reviews after I posted this up. I appreciate it.

Liaska

P.S I'm not sure, but it may take a little while longer for CH 6 to come- I am just PACKED with projects at the moment. (Blame my teachers)