Part 34
Elizabeth sat on a stool before the blazing hearth in her chamber, her hands folded neatly in her lap.
She was trying to appear calm and composed, but knew that her expression would fool none that knew her well.
Fortunately Tess DeHarding had never made any effort to know Elizabeth. She had despised her from the moment she had laid eyes on her and had taken no pains to hide it. Elizabeth could not blame the other girl either. If she had had Max and someone else had taken him away from her, she would not have been particularly pleasant to that person either.
But now Tess was Elizabeth's only hope. They had to work together if they were going to keep Max safe and her baby alive.
It did not please Elizabeth that Tess would be the one there to pick up the pieces when she broke Maxwell's heart. And yet, perhaps this was how it had been meant to be all along. Tess would have her betrothed and Elizabeth would have his son.
It was almost unbearable that Max would never know, but Elizabeth knew that if Sir Kyle even suspected the truth, he would never rest until he had hunted them all down, until he had murdered Max's child and everyone else her husband held dear.
But he would not be her husband for much longer. She had to stop thinking of him in such terms. He could not be hers. They had stolen the time they had had together and now it was over. He was no longer hers.
The door to her chamber slammed open and a small, bedraggled figure was thrust through. Tess stumbled, her long, blonde curls covering her face as she was thrown down on the floor in front of Elizabeth.
Elizabeth felt her heart go out to the other girl. If she had doubted that Sir Kyle's vengeance would be swift and brutal before, the sight of Tess now dispelled any such qualms. That this virtually innocent girl should have been treated so harshly, simply because Kyle hated her betrothed...It literally made Elizabeth ill to her stomach.
And this was the man that she was going to be tied to for the rest of her life. But she would do it - if it meant keeping her child safe. Even Max would understand...if he knew. Which he never would. She forced aside the flash of grief at the thought, forced herself to focus on Tess.
Elizabeth's attempts at appearing dignified flew away as she fell to her knees in front of the other girl, pushed her hair back from her face. "Oh Tess! I am so sorry!"
Tess flinched away from her. "It is knowing you that has brought this on." She snarled back, her once innocent blue eyes flashing with an anger and a despair Elizabeth knew was going to kill Max to see.
"I know it." Elizabeth replied, could feel tears rising in her eyes despite herself. Tess's own expression changed slightly as she too seemed to become aware of Elizabeth's grief. She bit her lip, appeared unsure how to respond to it.
"Why am I here?" Tess finally whimpered. "Why will they not kill me? I am useless now. They have used me. Max will never want me now."
"He will." Elizabeth insisted. "He will want you even more, now that you have endured what you have, for his sake." She gently brushed the other girl's hair back behind her ears.
"He only wants you." Tess closed her eyes in anguish.
"It was a mistake." Elizabeth swallowed, forced the lies past her lips. "You must make him see it. As long as he wants me, he will never be safe."
"It is too late." Tess shook her head. She looked up at Elizabeth, accusation once more on her face. "He has married you! I have heard the truth from Sir Kyle's own lips. He has used it to torment me." This last statement came out as a sob.
"It will be annulled." Elizabeth told her. "I made a grave error. I was caught up in the romantic nature of the experience, never reflected on how it would affect so many others. I feel awful that my game has resulted in so much heartache."
Tess raised an eyebrow. "You are lying. You are trying to pretend that you don't love him." She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Why?"
"I do not love him." She wished that her voice had not cracked halfway through that statement. Because lying did not come easily to her, even though she had had to do it so often in the past week.
"You are [I]lying[/I]." Tess argued. "Tell me the truth. Why are you doing this? I was gone. He had chosen [I]you[/I]. Why are you turning your back on him?"
Elizabeth could not control the tears any longer. Because if anyone understood loving Max with every ounce of one's being, it was the girl who sat before her. "I cannot bear for his life to be endangered any longer. Sir Kyle will not rest until he claims me. Max has a much more important purpose in life. He must return to his world to liberate it. I cannot allow him to be caught up here. It just cannot be."
There was a long silence. Elizabeth's face was buried in her hands and so Tess's light touch on her shoulder caused her to jump slightly. "I cannot blame you for loving him as you do Milady." She whispered. "But what do you want of me?"
"You must help him to move on Tess. I have agreed to marry Sir Kyle, as long as he frees you. I tried for Michael as well, but Kyle has said that it is up to the Church to deal with him. He has no proof that [I]you[/I] are...what you are. And so he has agreed to release you."
"But Max will not stop." Tess replied. "You know that Elizabeth. He will not rest until he frees both you and Michael. He does not want me anymore. I cannot control him or convince him. He would not believe me were I to tell him that you no longer want him."
"Max once told me..." Elizabeth closed her eyes briefly, took a deep breath. "He once told me that you could make people see things that are not there."
Tess nodded. "Yes, I can." Her eyes widened. "You want me to show him something which will convince him?"
It took all of her strength to say it, but she forced the words past her lips. "I want you to make him see me with Kyle. To make him [I]believe[/I] it."
"When am I to do this?" Tess asked, sounding unconvinced. "I am taking Michael with me when I go. I cannot leave without him." She admitted. "I will be mindwarping the guards."
Elizabeth frowned slightly. The word mindwarp...so strange. She had heard it before though, although she could not quite remember when. She shook her head impatiently. Now was not the time.
"He will come for me, once you are released." Elizabeth smiled slightly, despite herself. "We both know he will. There is no way to stop him. You must make him see it then."
Tess stared at her for a full minute before saying quietly, "There is more to this than simply wanting to protect Maxwell Elizabeth. I cannot believe that you have suddenly come to this plan. It makes no sense. What are you hiding?"
Elizabeth looked away. "Nothing. I have just come to my senses. Max and I are not meant to be."
"Then why don't you just annul Max and [I]marry[/I] Sir Kyle?" Tess asked logically. "Would that not convince Max just as easily and accomplish the same goal?"
"I cannot do it." Elizabeth replied softly. "I cannot marry Kyle. The very thought of it is enough to make me want to kill myself, which is an impossibility. This way, there is time for me to convince the Queen to allow me to retire to a convent. If she sees that I am truly opposed to the marriage, she will allow it."
"So you are only doing this to keep Max safe?" Tess inquired, sounding impressed. "You did not seem so concerned when you went flying into the Forest after him twice before."
"I have grown up since then." Elizabeth gently touched a bruise visible on Tess's shoulder. "I cannot allow Kyle to hurt another person because of my own selfishness. And he will never stop Tess. I see that now."
"You are a good woman Milady." Tess finally stated, sounding grudging, and yet impressed despite herself. It made Elizabeth frown. She was not seeking Tess's approval, simply her aid.
'Then you will help me."
"How can I not?" Tess asked sadly. "You are giving me back the only thing I have ever wanted. I would be a fool to throw this chance away."
Elizabeth felt slightly nauseous at the lovesick expression that crossed Tess's face. She was clearly thinking about Max. She suddenly had a vivid image of Max and Tess entwined in each other's arms, of Max making love to Tess in the way he had loved Elizabeth such a short time ago.
She pressed her hands against her face again, tried to force the vision away.
"Go now Tess." Elizabeth almost snapped, unable to control the jealousy that was beginning to sweep through her. "You must free Michael before anyone realizes what you have done."
Elizabeth did not quite understand how Tess's gift worked, but she believed her when she said that she could free Michael.
Tess stood slowly, clearly in pain, but the expression of hope on her face appeared to give her strength. "Thank you Milady. May God's blessings find you. I hope that you find some way to achieve happiness."
Elizabeth did not reply. There was no point. Both she and Tess knew that she was throwing away her only chance at joy.
And yet, as she gently laid her hand against her stomach after Tess was gone, as the slow glow spread outwards and up into her heart, she could not regret it. She would always have a piece of Maxwell DeHarding. She would live for this child.
She lay down wearily upon the bed, did not even rise when she heard the commotion as the castle became aware of Tess and Michael's joint disappearance.
Her job was done. Max's loved ones were free. They would soon be safe.
She did not understand Tess's gift, had not truly learned much about it. And yet, it was clearly impressive if she had been able to spirit both she and Michael away with a minimum of fuss.
It was not until much later that it even occurred to her to wonder why Tess had not used her gift to free herself.
***********************************
Max crept carefully through the underbrush, his bow knocked with an arrow, listening for the telltale sign that Mary was in position.
It came several minutes later, a light owl call, barely heard above the laughter and jocularity of the men gathered around the fire of the camp where the Sheriff's guard had paused for a respite on the journey to London.
For men on such a vital mission, it surprised Max that they had not managed to travel further. But they didn't appear to be taking their task very seriously if the amount of mead and wine that was being passed around the fire was any indication. Max rolled his eyes slightly at his own disdain. Who was he to argue if they wanted to make his life a little easier?
The aura of inebriation that seemed to hover over the camp only helped them in the end. Reaction times were slower as Mary began to rain hell down on them from her perch high in a tree across the clearing.
"Bloody Hell!" He heard the captain of the guard yelling as he stumbled to his feet. "Outlaws! Weapons men!"
But it was too late. The distraction had been more than enough to cause the panic Max had envisioned. The fact that Mary's arrows were beginning to drift dangerously close to swords and bows lying on the ground meant that it took that much longer for them to be in the hands of the men who needed them.
It was time for phase two.
Max crouched where he stood. With his hand placed firmly on the soft ground, he sent a pulse of energy coursing through the underbrush. Within seconds the entire western portion of the clearing - where Max had seen the tax chests under heavy guard after his first cursory examination of the campsite - was on fire.
The guards were instantly distracted. He had seen them tensing as they had watched their comrades trying to avoid the arrows that still continued unabated. Max could see that Mary was going to have to stop soon though. The guards were finally getting a line on where she was hidden, were beginning to shoot crossbow arrows into the treetops.
As this thought crossed his mind, the storm stopped entirely.
But the fire continued. Within seconds the whole wagon containing the chests of gold and other treasure was in flames. The firefighters were forced back by the heat. They were soon cowering on the far side of the campsite.
Max did not notice this though. He was already on the move, running lightly through the foliage, so that he came up directly behind the burning wagon.
As Max prepared to put out the flames and to take control of the wagon, another shout arose from the southern side of the clearing where the horses were hobbled. The fire had already panicked the horses, which were pulling restlessly against their ropes.
And suddenly they were loose. Max knew that it was Mary who had started that chain reaction, having neatly shot arrows through the hobbles of several. When she had shown him that she could do it, he had simply grinned in amazement. If he didn't know for a fact that the girl was pure human, he would have wondered if she didn't have a little Antarian in her blood. Her accuracy was otherworldly.
It had not been difficult to determine that there was no way that Max and Mary were going to be able to take the whole shipment with them. Even with the horses loose, they were not going to be able to outrun an entire contingent of the Sheriff of Nottingham's guards.
But all they needed was proof. Making the rest of the gold useless to Prince John was also part of the plan.
Leaving a firm fire-wall between himself and the rest of the encampment, Max waved his hand through the air and watched in satisfaction as the worst of the flames disappeared.
He examined the contents of the wagon, grabbed several different pieces of treasure from the pile, including a tablier displaying the arms of Nottingham that some careless guard had left sitting on the seat.
With that, he laid his hand lightly against the wagon and started to change the molecular structure of the vehicle. He did not want the gold to be completely destroyed, simply [I]protected[/I] so that Queen Eleanor would have access to it for the ransom for King Richard.
He heard Mary behind him as he concentrated. She was panting slightly, but her step was light. He shook his head ruefully. He had a feeling that this had probably been one of the more enjoyable experiences of her life.
He could hear her gasp as the wagon started to melt. Within seconds, the wood wagon and all the chests that had been sitting upon it, had faded into the ground. To the naked eye, it looked as though they had completely disappeared, but Max knew that their molecules had simply been shifted. He would be able to pull them back together at a later date in order to reform them.
Quirking a grin over his shoulder at Mary, who still stood with her mouth hanging open, Max grabbed her by the hand and pulled her after him into the Forest, the shouts of horror and anger of the Sheriff's men fading quickly behind them. He was forced to snort as he envisioned their reactions when they finally managed to put the fire out, only to discover that their cargo had simply ceased to exist.
His smile quickly faded though as a flash suddenly hit him so hard, he stumbled. It did not take him more than an instant to realize that it was more than a flash.
It was Isabel. And she was completely panicked. It was all he could decipher from whatever connection she had managed to make with him over the distance that separated him, but it was enough to tell him that they were running out of time.
He swallowed, glanced at Mary, who was clutching his arm with concern. "Max! I wish you would stop doing that!" She exclaimed, sounding terrified. "What happened?" Looking around, she turned back to him perplexed. "You didn't touch anything."
"Isabel just connected with me." He explained quickly. When the expression of befuddlement did not leave her face, Max just sighed. "Never mind. The important thing is, we need to get back there as quickly as possible. Something has happened."
Mary's eyes widened, but she nodded.
It was only another five minutes before they reached the spot where Max had concealed Evander. He practically threw Mary up onto the saddle, swung up in front of her, and they were off, the feeling of relief and triumph from their successful mission completely forgotten.
To be continued...
Elizabeth sat on a stool before the blazing hearth in her chamber, her hands folded neatly in her lap.
She was trying to appear calm and composed, but knew that her expression would fool none that knew her well.
Fortunately Tess DeHarding had never made any effort to know Elizabeth. She had despised her from the moment she had laid eyes on her and had taken no pains to hide it. Elizabeth could not blame the other girl either. If she had had Max and someone else had taken him away from her, she would not have been particularly pleasant to that person either.
But now Tess was Elizabeth's only hope. They had to work together if they were going to keep Max safe and her baby alive.
It did not please Elizabeth that Tess would be the one there to pick up the pieces when she broke Maxwell's heart. And yet, perhaps this was how it had been meant to be all along. Tess would have her betrothed and Elizabeth would have his son.
It was almost unbearable that Max would never know, but Elizabeth knew that if Sir Kyle even suspected the truth, he would never rest until he had hunted them all down, until he had murdered Max's child and everyone else her husband held dear.
But he would not be her husband for much longer. She had to stop thinking of him in such terms. He could not be hers. They had stolen the time they had had together and now it was over. He was no longer hers.
The door to her chamber slammed open and a small, bedraggled figure was thrust through. Tess stumbled, her long, blonde curls covering her face as she was thrown down on the floor in front of Elizabeth.
Elizabeth felt her heart go out to the other girl. If she had doubted that Sir Kyle's vengeance would be swift and brutal before, the sight of Tess now dispelled any such qualms. That this virtually innocent girl should have been treated so harshly, simply because Kyle hated her betrothed...It literally made Elizabeth ill to her stomach.
And this was the man that she was going to be tied to for the rest of her life. But she would do it - if it meant keeping her child safe. Even Max would understand...if he knew. Which he never would. She forced aside the flash of grief at the thought, forced herself to focus on Tess.
Elizabeth's attempts at appearing dignified flew away as she fell to her knees in front of the other girl, pushed her hair back from her face. "Oh Tess! I am so sorry!"
Tess flinched away from her. "It is knowing you that has brought this on." She snarled back, her once innocent blue eyes flashing with an anger and a despair Elizabeth knew was going to kill Max to see.
"I know it." Elizabeth replied, could feel tears rising in her eyes despite herself. Tess's own expression changed slightly as she too seemed to become aware of Elizabeth's grief. She bit her lip, appeared unsure how to respond to it.
"Why am I here?" Tess finally whimpered. "Why will they not kill me? I am useless now. They have used me. Max will never want me now."
"He will." Elizabeth insisted. "He will want you even more, now that you have endured what you have, for his sake." She gently brushed the other girl's hair back behind her ears.
"He only wants you." Tess closed her eyes in anguish.
"It was a mistake." Elizabeth swallowed, forced the lies past her lips. "You must make him see it. As long as he wants me, he will never be safe."
"It is too late." Tess shook her head. She looked up at Elizabeth, accusation once more on her face. "He has married you! I have heard the truth from Sir Kyle's own lips. He has used it to torment me." This last statement came out as a sob.
"It will be annulled." Elizabeth told her. "I made a grave error. I was caught up in the romantic nature of the experience, never reflected on how it would affect so many others. I feel awful that my game has resulted in so much heartache."
Tess raised an eyebrow. "You are lying. You are trying to pretend that you don't love him." She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Why?"
"I do not love him." She wished that her voice had not cracked halfway through that statement. Because lying did not come easily to her, even though she had had to do it so often in the past week.
"You are [I]lying[/I]." Tess argued. "Tell me the truth. Why are you doing this? I was gone. He had chosen [I]you[/I]. Why are you turning your back on him?"
Elizabeth could not control the tears any longer. Because if anyone understood loving Max with every ounce of one's being, it was the girl who sat before her. "I cannot bear for his life to be endangered any longer. Sir Kyle will not rest until he claims me. Max has a much more important purpose in life. He must return to his world to liberate it. I cannot allow him to be caught up here. It just cannot be."
There was a long silence. Elizabeth's face was buried in her hands and so Tess's light touch on her shoulder caused her to jump slightly. "I cannot blame you for loving him as you do Milady." She whispered. "But what do you want of me?"
"You must help him to move on Tess. I have agreed to marry Sir Kyle, as long as he frees you. I tried for Michael as well, but Kyle has said that it is up to the Church to deal with him. He has no proof that [I]you[/I] are...what you are. And so he has agreed to release you."
"But Max will not stop." Tess replied. "You know that Elizabeth. He will not rest until he frees both you and Michael. He does not want me anymore. I cannot control him or convince him. He would not believe me were I to tell him that you no longer want him."
"Max once told me..." Elizabeth closed her eyes briefly, took a deep breath. "He once told me that you could make people see things that are not there."
Tess nodded. "Yes, I can." Her eyes widened. "You want me to show him something which will convince him?"
It took all of her strength to say it, but she forced the words past her lips. "I want you to make him see me with Kyle. To make him [I]believe[/I] it."
"When am I to do this?" Tess asked, sounding unconvinced. "I am taking Michael with me when I go. I cannot leave without him." She admitted. "I will be mindwarping the guards."
Elizabeth frowned slightly. The word mindwarp...so strange. She had heard it before though, although she could not quite remember when. She shook her head impatiently. Now was not the time.
"He will come for me, once you are released." Elizabeth smiled slightly, despite herself. "We both know he will. There is no way to stop him. You must make him see it then."
Tess stared at her for a full minute before saying quietly, "There is more to this than simply wanting to protect Maxwell Elizabeth. I cannot believe that you have suddenly come to this plan. It makes no sense. What are you hiding?"
Elizabeth looked away. "Nothing. I have just come to my senses. Max and I are not meant to be."
"Then why don't you just annul Max and [I]marry[/I] Sir Kyle?" Tess asked logically. "Would that not convince Max just as easily and accomplish the same goal?"
"I cannot do it." Elizabeth replied softly. "I cannot marry Kyle. The very thought of it is enough to make me want to kill myself, which is an impossibility. This way, there is time for me to convince the Queen to allow me to retire to a convent. If she sees that I am truly opposed to the marriage, she will allow it."
"So you are only doing this to keep Max safe?" Tess inquired, sounding impressed. "You did not seem so concerned when you went flying into the Forest after him twice before."
"I have grown up since then." Elizabeth gently touched a bruise visible on Tess's shoulder. "I cannot allow Kyle to hurt another person because of my own selfishness. And he will never stop Tess. I see that now."
"You are a good woman Milady." Tess finally stated, sounding grudging, and yet impressed despite herself. It made Elizabeth frown. She was not seeking Tess's approval, simply her aid.
'Then you will help me."
"How can I not?" Tess asked sadly. "You are giving me back the only thing I have ever wanted. I would be a fool to throw this chance away."
Elizabeth felt slightly nauseous at the lovesick expression that crossed Tess's face. She was clearly thinking about Max. She suddenly had a vivid image of Max and Tess entwined in each other's arms, of Max making love to Tess in the way he had loved Elizabeth such a short time ago.
She pressed her hands against her face again, tried to force the vision away.
"Go now Tess." Elizabeth almost snapped, unable to control the jealousy that was beginning to sweep through her. "You must free Michael before anyone realizes what you have done."
Elizabeth did not quite understand how Tess's gift worked, but she believed her when she said that she could free Michael.
Tess stood slowly, clearly in pain, but the expression of hope on her face appeared to give her strength. "Thank you Milady. May God's blessings find you. I hope that you find some way to achieve happiness."
Elizabeth did not reply. There was no point. Both she and Tess knew that she was throwing away her only chance at joy.
And yet, as she gently laid her hand against her stomach after Tess was gone, as the slow glow spread outwards and up into her heart, she could not regret it. She would always have a piece of Maxwell DeHarding. She would live for this child.
She lay down wearily upon the bed, did not even rise when she heard the commotion as the castle became aware of Tess and Michael's joint disappearance.
Her job was done. Max's loved ones were free. They would soon be safe.
She did not understand Tess's gift, had not truly learned much about it. And yet, it was clearly impressive if she had been able to spirit both she and Michael away with a minimum of fuss.
It was not until much later that it even occurred to her to wonder why Tess had not used her gift to free herself.
***********************************
Max crept carefully through the underbrush, his bow knocked with an arrow, listening for the telltale sign that Mary was in position.
It came several minutes later, a light owl call, barely heard above the laughter and jocularity of the men gathered around the fire of the camp where the Sheriff's guard had paused for a respite on the journey to London.
For men on such a vital mission, it surprised Max that they had not managed to travel further. But they didn't appear to be taking their task very seriously if the amount of mead and wine that was being passed around the fire was any indication. Max rolled his eyes slightly at his own disdain. Who was he to argue if they wanted to make his life a little easier?
The aura of inebriation that seemed to hover over the camp only helped them in the end. Reaction times were slower as Mary began to rain hell down on them from her perch high in a tree across the clearing.
"Bloody Hell!" He heard the captain of the guard yelling as he stumbled to his feet. "Outlaws! Weapons men!"
But it was too late. The distraction had been more than enough to cause the panic Max had envisioned. The fact that Mary's arrows were beginning to drift dangerously close to swords and bows lying on the ground meant that it took that much longer for them to be in the hands of the men who needed them.
It was time for phase two.
Max crouched where he stood. With his hand placed firmly on the soft ground, he sent a pulse of energy coursing through the underbrush. Within seconds the entire western portion of the clearing - where Max had seen the tax chests under heavy guard after his first cursory examination of the campsite - was on fire.
The guards were instantly distracted. He had seen them tensing as they had watched their comrades trying to avoid the arrows that still continued unabated. Max could see that Mary was going to have to stop soon though. The guards were finally getting a line on where she was hidden, were beginning to shoot crossbow arrows into the treetops.
As this thought crossed his mind, the storm stopped entirely.
But the fire continued. Within seconds the whole wagon containing the chests of gold and other treasure was in flames. The firefighters were forced back by the heat. They were soon cowering on the far side of the campsite.
Max did not notice this though. He was already on the move, running lightly through the foliage, so that he came up directly behind the burning wagon.
As Max prepared to put out the flames and to take control of the wagon, another shout arose from the southern side of the clearing where the horses were hobbled. The fire had already panicked the horses, which were pulling restlessly against their ropes.
And suddenly they were loose. Max knew that it was Mary who had started that chain reaction, having neatly shot arrows through the hobbles of several. When she had shown him that she could do it, he had simply grinned in amazement. If he didn't know for a fact that the girl was pure human, he would have wondered if she didn't have a little Antarian in her blood. Her accuracy was otherworldly.
It had not been difficult to determine that there was no way that Max and Mary were going to be able to take the whole shipment with them. Even with the horses loose, they were not going to be able to outrun an entire contingent of the Sheriff of Nottingham's guards.
But all they needed was proof. Making the rest of the gold useless to Prince John was also part of the plan.
Leaving a firm fire-wall between himself and the rest of the encampment, Max waved his hand through the air and watched in satisfaction as the worst of the flames disappeared.
He examined the contents of the wagon, grabbed several different pieces of treasure from the pile, including a tablier displaying the arms of Nottingham that some careless guard had left sitting on the seat.
With that, he laid his hand lightly against the wagon and started to change the molecular structure of the vehicle. He did not want the gold to be completely destroyed, simply [I]protected[/I] so that Queen Eleanor would have access to it for the ransom for King Richard.
He heard Mary behind him as he concentrated. She was panting slightly, but her step was light. He shook his head ruefully. He had a feeling that this had probably been one of the more enjoyable experiences of her life.
He could hear her gasp as the wagon started to melt. Within seconds, the wood wagon and all the chests that had been sitting upon it, had faded into the ground. To the naked eye, it looked as though they had completely disappeared, but Max knew that their molecules had simply been shifted. He would be able to pull them back together at a later date in order to reform them.
Quirking a grin over his shoulder at Mary, who still stood with her mouth hanging open, Max grabbed her by the hand and pulled her after him into the Forest, the shouts of horror and anger of the Sheriff's men fading quickly behind them. He was forced to snort as he envisioned their reactions when they finally managed to put the fire out, only to discover that their cargo had simply ceased to exist.
His smile quickly faded though as a flash suddenly hit him so hard, he stumbled. It did not take him more than an instant to realize that it was more than a flash.
It was Isabel. And she was completely panicked. It was all he could decipher from whatever connection she had managed to make with him over the distance that separated him, but it was enough to tell him that they were running out of time.
He swallowed, glanced at Mary, who was clutching his arm with concern. "Max! I wish you would stop doing that!" She exclaimed, sounding terrified. "What happened?" Looking around, she turned back to him perplexed. "You didn't touch anything."
"Isabel just connected with me." He explained quickly. When the expression of befuddlement did not leave her face, Max just sighed. "Never mind. The important thing is, we need to get back there as quickly as possible. Something has happened."
Mary's eyes widened, but she nodded.
It was only another five minutes before they reached the spot where Max had concealed Evander. He practically threw Mary up onto the saddle, swung up in front of her, and they were off, the feeling of relief and triumph from their successful mission completely forgotten.
To be continued...