Copyright 2001

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Chapter Four

The Hollow Mountain

For the first time since she'd been waiting for Simon to pick her up- only two days ago?- Jane was alone. They'd found a small river- not too fast- surrounded by trees on one side and a cliff on the other. Clara had already bathed hurriedly, checking to make sure that Jane would be all right on her own before she left.

Jane grinned and thought back to the conversation they'd had. Clara had wanted to know everything about Barney. Could he keep secrets? How long had he been hearing or Seeing things? Was he trustworthy? How powerful was he? Did he really know as much as he claimed? Jane had done her best to answer all the questions, and by the time the conversation was done, Clara had put her T-shirt on backwards and was making her way to camp. Jane had to call her back to tell her, Clara had quickly changed so the shirt was all right, and then she'd run off again.

Isabella, the only other woman on the trip, had only washed her face and hands and dipped her hair in, saying she had a deep fear of water, and had left.

Jane sighed and climbed out of the water. She started getting dressed.

* * *

Simon and Barney were talking when Clara rushed up to them. Clara went immediately to Barney and whispered, "If I told you I was different, would you tell anyone else?"

Barney grinned and said, "I'd leave that to you. You decide when you're ready. Do you mind?" he asked Simon.

Simon grinned and shook his head. Barney had been worrying about what to do with Clara for a while now.

On the way to a corner of the clearing, Will stopped Clara. "Where's Jane?" he asked.

Clara shrugged. "She's still bathing."

"You left her alone?"

"She said it was okay."

Will nodded and let them go. "Stay in camp," he called after them. Barney nodded.

Will looked around and found Merriman, who was also looking grim. "They're getting closer," Will said, "and Jane's down at the river. I'm going to go get her, all right? If you have to leave, do it. We'll catch up."

Merriman nodded.

Arthur gave orders for everything to be packed up and moved.

Will got out of camp seconds before Daniel arrived, but by then, everything and everyone else were gone too.

* * *

"Jane?" Will asked softly. He moved aside a few branches, went forward, asked again.

Jane gasped and whirled around, holding her sneakers in one hand, socks in the other. "Will! What are you doing here!" she asked. "Do you know how close you came to-"

Will nodded. "I know, I know. Never mind. Forgive me and all that. The Dark was coming into camp. Hurry."

Jane nodded and sat down, hastily pulling on her socks and sneakers. "Are the guys all right? And Gumerry?"

"Simon and Barney are fine. They're protected by the Light, remember? Same as you."

"Then why are you here to protect me?" Jane asked.

"They're fine, you're fine," Will said. "I'm here to make sure you can get to camp. Now come on."

Jane nodded and stood up.

"YOU!" came a shouted from above them. "Here!"

Hardly thinking, Will grabbed Jane's hand and dragged her into the water. As soon as they were floating away, he said a spell so both he and Jane would be protected and dove underwater, dragging her down with him. Above them, he watched arrows hit the surface and then fall gracefully, losing speed, down the river, dragging small bubbles behind them.

The explosion was what made Jane scream. It was at least twenty feet behind them, but it first shoved them away in a great wave and then sucked them back again. Will held tight to Jane's hand to make sure they didn't get separated. Another one hit a few seconds later, in front of them. This time, Jane didn't scream, but she held Will's hand with both of her own, preparing for the wave that would try to separate them.

And then, both she and Will realized that their direction was changing. They were going to the cliff. Will was the first to realize they were falling and thought wildly, It's the mountain. It's hollow. He struggled and got Jane so she would land on him. He could take more than she could; he was immortal, after all. He'd probably get bruised. Jane could get much worse.

He hit the floor hard, and knew as he watched bright, small balls of light spin around him that he'd hit his head. Jane landed on him a split second later with an "Uumph." Will got the air knocked out of him incredibly well. He rolled over weakly, and Jane rolled over as well.

"Will?" she asked. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Will gasped. "You?"

"Fine, thanks."

Will nodded, realized she couldn't see since things were so dark, and muttered something that sounded affirmative enough as he put his head between his knees.

"Now what?" Jane asked, worried.

"We have to get out of here, that's what," Will said. He stood up and nearly fell. He caught himself as the mountain seemed to sway, back and forth.

"Will?" Jane asked as she stood up. Through the hole in the cliff above them, daylight was coming through. Not much, but enough for her to see Will stumbled. Water was spilling through as well. She caught him and pulled one of his arms around her shoulder. "We'll have to rest, first. You can't do much walking for a while. Let's get out of this waterfall, shall we?" She tried her best to sound cheery.

Will muttered something, but she couldn't quite tell what it was.

Oh, Gumerry, Jane thought. I wish you were here.

* * *

"Will? Jane?" Bran whispered. He shook his head and leaned against the mountain's cliff. This mountain seemed to have a lot of cliffs. Bran was beginning to hate mountains.

He heard something in the bushes and practically ripped Eirias out of its sheath. Just great, he thought. They'd left shortly after Will and had hidden in the woods silently, until they'd deemed it safe to move again. By that time, Will and Jane should have been back long before, and Bran had gone to go to search for them. His father had wanted to send a small party with him, but Bran had insisted he was better on his own.

But he wasn't better in a fight.

And then, suddenly, Catherine leaped out of the bushes and ran for him. "Finally!" she said. She tackled him in a bear hug, surprising both of them. What surprised them more was that they heard a loud crash and then they were falling.

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Hope you liked it! Please review! I think I'm proud of this one, and the next is even better. I'm now on Chapter Six, and that one's even better than the fifth! Being sick has it's upsides- concentrating solely on writing and escaping into your mind- Sorry. My medicine is making me hyper. Just please review and let me know that I have a right to be proud of this thing. Thanks!
Dleet