DISCLAIMER: Oh, take a guess at what this'll be. "I own only the character at the end. Everything else belongs to Patricia C. Wrede and her publishing company." Didja get it right?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Ha ha ha… only took me a month, I think. Sorry everyone, got bogged down in other projects for people's birthdays, school; you name it I've probably done it recently. So please forgive me! Oh yeah, and PLEEEEEEAAAAAAASE give me title suggestions! I need one desperately! To paraphrase a Star Wars quote: "Many carrots died to bring you this chapter." Yes, the authoress is hyper, and no, she does not know why. -Noala
The rustling came again, louder and closer than before. Daystar silently turned again to face the new direction, wondering what waited so long before attacking.
Abruptly, the noise stopped. Daystar could again hear birds singling clearly, the wind blowing through the trees, a frog croaking somewhere in the distance… but he knew the danger was not gone. It was waiting there, silent and still, waiting: waiting for him to relax, drop his guard, or make some other fatal mistake. When he did… he didn't want to think abo-
Something burst out of the bushes directly in front of him with such speed that he couldn't follow its dark shape, but at the same time it seemed to be a very small something. A brief thought – was it a new type of nightshade? – flashed through his mind as he quickly brought his sword into a ready position. Then he came to his senses and looked down.
A slightly small, almost completely black cat was rubbing against his ankles. The cat had one white paw, which made it look like it had stepped in a paint puddle.
"Nightwitch!" Daystar cried, sheathing his sword. He bent down and picked up the cat, rising to hold her in front of his face. "What are you doing here?" He looked around quickly, searching for the inevitable, then back at the cat. "Is Shiara somewhere around here?"
The cat couldn't tell him anything, of course, but she narrowed her eyes in a gesture of approval at Daystar and began to purr.
He sighed and let the cat climb onto his shoulder, and managed not to wince when she dug into his shirt with her long claws to get a good perch. Then he began walking around the glen, shouting "Shiara! Where are you? SHI-ar-A! Drat the fire-witch. Shiara!"
Only the birds answered him. He sighed and sat back down on his rock, running his fingers through his hair and putting it in disarray. He started planning some very imaginative uses for the equipment in the dungeon under the tower. Then he winced when he realized exactly what Shiara would do to him if he ever tried it. He wasn't that suicidal. He stood up again, jostling Nightwitch and making her protest loudly, and walked back to the place where the cat had emerged from the bushes. "Shiiiiiiaaarrrrrraaaaaa!"
Something went OOF a few feet away, and the errant fire-witch fell through the bushes, not looking very pleased. Shiara had twigs tangled in her long hair, leaves stuck to her clothes, and a smear of mud across her face. She glared up at Daystar, who was trying his honest best not to laugh, but not doing a very good job of it
Shiara snorted and tried to stand up, but fell right back down again because one of her pants legs was caught in some prickers. Daystar gave up on trying not to laugh and sank down on his rock again, clutching his stomach and wiping tears from his eyes. Nightwitch hissed and swatted him on the ear with her paw, then jumped off his shoulder and strolled over to Shiara, mewling on the way.
"I know, he is acting like an idiot," the fire-witch replied to her cat. "That's how he acts most of the time. Daystar, would you be ever so kind as to shut up and help me?" The way she was clenching her teeth convinced Daystar that it would be a very good thing to do if he wanted to stay in one piece. He repressed his mirth, walked over to the bushes, and disengaged the thorns from the cuff of Shiara's pants. Shiara and Nightwitch meanwhile de-twigged her hair and de-leafed her clothes, so that when she was able to stand up after a few minutes she was more or less presentable, if one ignored the mud. She straightened her tunic and brushed the dust off her clothing, then crossed her arms and glared at Daystar, who had started laughing again.
"Laugh it up dimwit, just remember I can roast you if I want."
"Sorry, sorry." He got himself under control again, then looked at her with a serious expression. "What are you doing here? I thought you understood how important this was to me."
"I do, and-"
"Well, it doesn't matter, I'm not going back, so you can tell whoever sent you that it was worthl-"
"DAYSTAR!"
He shut up.
"Thank you. Daystar, I didn't come out here to bring you back." Shiara sat down and started scrubbing at her cheek, trying to remove the mud.
"You didn't? Then why are you following me?"
Shiara looked slightly smug. Daystar did not like that look at all. "I'm coming with you."
He groaned, earning a reproachful look from Nightwitch. "Shiara…"
"Daystar, no matter what you say, I'm coming. Learn to like it." She pulled off one of her boots and emptied a few pebbles from it. "I'm bored to tears myself with all the paper work in the Mountains, so once I found out you were serious about this I asked Kazul if I could take a break." She pulled off her other boot and repeated the process.
"What'd she say?" he asked, interested in spite of himself.
"No Nightwitch, you can't take a nap there." Shiara pushed the cat away from one of her boots, then pulled both back on. "She said 'That's a very good idea. Why don't you pack and then run along and join your little friend?' The way she said 'little friend' and the look she gave Cimorene made it pretty clear she meant something else." Shiara rolled her eyes.
Daystar shook his head. "Parents. Or pseudo-parents. They always want to make trouble."
Shiara nodded. "Definitely." She stood up again and picked up Nightwitch, stroking the cat's head and making her purr loudly. "So, Mr.-All-Knowing-Prince-Man, where to next?"
He had to laugh at that one. "Well, actually, I had this idea…"
~*~*~
A few hours later it was full dark and they were still walking. Shiara wanted to stop and find a place to spend the night, but Daystar's magical sense of direction in the Enchanted Forest told him it wasn't too much farther to his chosen destination, so he kept on. Shiara grumbled, but also continued walking, sometimes carrying Nightwitch and sometimes putting her down to run alongside them.
The sun had been down for about two hours when that same internal sense told him that soon he wouldn't have that internal sense anymore. "Shiara, grab my wrist."
She didn't argue, just grabbed his wrist and let herself be led. Daystar dodged a tree or two, paused for a moment, took a deep breath, then took one step and fell to the ground in shock.
Shiara was kneeling beside him immediately, trying to turn him onto his back. "Daystar, are you all right? What happened? What attacked you?"
He groaned and sat up, holding his forehead where he had hit it on a fallen limb. "I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine. I'll have a bruise, but I'm fine." He looked around then abruptly started grinning. "We did it."
"Did what?" Shiara was still kneeling, but she looked cross and had her fists planted on her hips. "Daystar, if you don't start explaining…"
He stood up, and she quickly followed, ready to grab him if he started falling again. He didn't, but he waved his hand around to indicate the area around them. "Take a look around."
Shiara gave an exasperated sigh and threw her hands in the air, turning away from him. "You're gonna be as bad as Telema-" She suddenly stopped talking when she saw their surroundings.
They were standing on grass. Nice, normal grass tinted slightly yellow. The trees they could see were mostly pines, a little on the tall side, but not very. The ground underneath the trees had its own carpet of pine needles. Nightwitch roamed a little away from them and started chasing a lazy butterfly.
Shiara slowly lowered her hands. "I don't think we're in the Enchanted Forest anymore." She looked back at Daystar. "Why did you do that? You're powerless out here."
He just shrugged. "Change of scenery? Anyway, let's get going. We're very close."
"Close to what? DAYSTAR!" She groaned and shook her head as he started walking away. "Sometimes I think I'll end up killing him." She grabbed a protesting Nightwitch and ran after him.
~*~*~
Not even half an hour later Daystar recognized something ahead of him. His speed increased slightly, and Shiara was amused to notice an almost-hop come into his step. A few minutes later, Daystar walked between two trees, jumped over a small stream, and stopped. "We're here."
This time Shiara didn't ask questions. She started looking around. The first thing that came to her attention was a road with a path leading off it. Then came a fence, surrounding something she assumed had been a garden, but had long since fallen into disarray. Then she noticed the path from the road led through the garden and up to… "Is this it?"
He nodded.
"This is the place you grew up?" She whistled. "I hope it looked better back then." The cottage had suffered the same fate as the garden: it was in complete disrepair. The door Antorell had destroyed had never been repaired or replaced, leaving a gaping hole in the middle of the wall. The wood in the walls had turned gray with weathering and neglect, and rotting spots were clearly starting to show. Five winters' worth of leaves and debris had blown up against the cottage, never to be swept away. Someone had left a window open as well, and Shiara could only assume that debris and dirt has also gotten inside.
"It did. No help for it though. We can stay here tonight; we might even get beds if they haven't been stolen. Mother didn't take any furniture with her."
Nightwitch mrowled, making Shiara look at her with a serious expression. Nightwitch kept talking, and Shiara's face became more and more grave. "Daystar, something's wrong, but she doesn't know what. And if a cat doesn't know…"
Daystar nodded and drew his sword. "Better to be too prepared then not prepared at all. I'll go first."
Shiara rolled her eyes. "Oh no you don't. Your neck is more valuable than mine, and I am not letting you get hurt unless I am the one doing the hurting." Shiara set Nightwitch down and let the cat trot ahead of her as she walked up the path. She called back over her shoulder, sounding slightly smug, "Besides, this means magic, and we both know-"
A blinding flash of light and an earth-shaking explosion came from inside the cottage as Shiara reached the door. She was torn off her feet with the force and thrown back to lie in a heap in front of Daystar, unconscious. He quickly knelt and checked her over, discovering a cut on her temple that bled profusely. He stood up again and held his sword ready to defend them both, then watched in horrid fascination as a bluish light slowly came from the cottage, pulsing and growing stronger with ever pulse. Then, in the next second, a person was suddenly silhouetted against the light. That person was carrying a staff.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yes, I know, another cliffhanger. You will soon find that I stop a chapter whenever it seems right, and I've found that frequently chapters are stopped just when something starts happening. It keeps the reader in suspense, and consequently they don't want to stop reading. So yes, I am trying to keep you in suspense. **grins** Sorry. But I think you'll forgive me eventually. Remember to review! -Noala
