Author's Note: Mwahahahahahaha! It's Chapter Four! I know you've all been waiting for this (or you better have been), and now here it is! On the site! Yay! And no, there is no reason for that evil laugh. I just felt like typing it. I have been flabbergasted by the amount of reviews I have received for only three chapters! That's a record for me! Ha, if you'd realized this was my first fic, you'd realize that everything about this story is a record. But if you hadn't, then I got you there, didn't I? Didn't I? Oh, come on, admit it. I did. Anyway, I do LOVE all of the responses I've been getting. All the encouragement is helping me get these updates up faster. The more reviews, the quicker it'll get, I believe. And to everyone who's reviewed, I have one big generic THANK YOU! And now for my personal responses:
Neasa: Yay! Opal-dragon gave me good publicity! Thank you to you to reviewing!
Redmountain: I'm flattered. And as you see, this is your update. I'm glad you're happy.
Mystere-ThePenMage: I'm glad we've got the name thing cleared up. And you get out at 12:30? I hate you. You and all of the eighth graders at my school who get out two days before us. Not fair! They get to graduate. How rude of them. As for being a chatterbox, that's okay. As you can see, I never shut up either.
QueenoftheRogue: I'm not even going to try to beat that one. That is a piece of work. A thing of beauty. A result of a repressed genius. A wonderful… But now you probably want me to shut up, so I will.
Kalika: As you can see, I have posted more. Enjoy!
Neona: I'm sorry the italics aren't working for you. Computers are evil. I don't understand them at all. My friend does, though. She even knows how to use Microsoft Access, which is the most complicated program on the face of the earth. I am in awe of her skills.
Temptress: I'm glad you like our stories. I do too. (Sorry, a bit of self-ego-inflation. I couldn't resist.)
Lythysfa: Your name is so incredibly hard to spell! Whatever possessed you? I had to check back several times, and I am a spelling freak. As for the stable boy/thief suggestion, I appreciate it, but it's going to be different. And I'm afraid I kind of got this idea from your sister. I bet you'll figure out where I'm going with this after this chapter. I'm sorry the computer wouldn't let you review Chapter 3. By the way, dissing your sister is not nice. You should be friends, and NO PINCHING, YOU TWO! Bad peoples! Bad! I don't dis my sister. ::eyeshifts:: Anyway, I hope this chapter meets with your approval.
Opal-dragon: I'm in your George club now. At least, I think I am. You have updated the roster yet, so hopefully I will be on the next list. And I wouldn't want to be an officer, thank you. I'm way too much of a slacker. That goes in with my lack of a life. ::reads the post-script and realizes what it says:: Ah! No guns! ::cowers in the corner, and then remembers that she can't be shot over the internet—or can she?:: Hah, you thought I was scared, didn't you? BUT I WASN'T! IT WAS ALL AN ACT! MWAHAHAHAHAHA! Okay, I'll shut up now. And I've updated my story, so you update yours! Both of them!
Aha, I forgot to say something—a couple of things actually. One: You should read opal-dragon's fics. They're really good. Two: Someone has me on their favorites list! Yay! Only problem: I don't know who it is. The site only tells me that someone has me on theirs, it doesn't say who. Please, whoever you are, please say so that I may thank you! And now, I'll be quiet and let you read the story!
Chapter 4: The Storm
Alanna glanced up at the sky, and then took a double take and swore. Storm clouds were rapidly making their way across the darkening sky. The girl shivered and pulled her cloak tighter around her—the already chilly air was getting colder and the wind was picking up, nipping at any exposed skin and cutting through any garments to chill anyone unfortunate enough to be outside to the bone. As if to emphasize Alanna's growing discomfort, thunder rumbled menacingly in the distance.
All of a sudden the storm was upon them. The girl gasped as she was deluged with icy cold water, and shivered convulsively in her body's vain attempt to get warm. The world had flashed from a dusky twilight to utter darkness, which, combined with the driving rain, restricted visibility to a few feet in front of Silvermoon's hooves. The mare slowed to a walk, concentrating on picking her footing in the sudden quagmire the rain created.
"It's okay, girl," the copper-haired rider told her mare. "Just do your best. I think there's a village somewhere near her; we can at least get some shelter in someone else's barn, if there's no inn. Just keep going."
Alanna was by no means as optimistic as she sounded. Once they had passed the bandits, she hadn't been able to find her way back to the road. At the moment, it was merely guesswork, and that in unfamiliar territory. The girl laughed sardonically at herself. She was keeping up a brave front for a horse! Just goes to show, Alanna thought with derisive amusement.
"Well, Silvermoon, I think we're going to have to keep moving until we find shelter." For lack of other company, the girl had taken to talking to the horse. "We may have to go all night. I'm sorry to do this to you; we'll keep a slow pace and take lots of breaks tomorrow."
Alanna's prediction turned out correct. By dawn the next day, the rain hadn't dissipated at all, beating down on horse and rider brutally. As far as the girl knew, they were no closer to shelter than before. In fact, as far as Alanna knew, they were miles from anywhere. Between the bandits and the storm, the girl was most marvelously lost.
"Mithros knows where we are now, Silvermoon. I don't recognize anything from the maps. In fact, this definitely doesn't look like anything near Corus. As far as I know, we could be in the Great Southern Desert!" Thinking about this, Alanna gave a nervous laugh. She was afraid her random remark might not be too far from the truth.
The landscape certainly didn't look anything like the forests Alanna knew surrounded the capital. In fact, it almost looked like…desert. Rather saturated, recently rained on desert, but desert nonetheless. The girl swung out of the saddle and knelt on the ground, feeling the earth.
It was wet, and decidedly more sandy than not. Alanna sighed.
"As I said before, Silvermoon, we are most marvelously lost. We must be in the desert. There's no other place it could be. The problem is how we get out of it."
She looked at the clear hoof marks in the wet sand behind them. Instead of a straight line, they were meandered all over the place. There was no way to tell which direction Alanna had originally come from. The rain had stopped, so Alanna looked up at the sun for direction. Unfortunately, it was almost directly overhead by now.
Squinting up at the bright desert sun, Alanna thought it was a little more over to one side. She guessed it was the eastern side of noon. Crossing her fingers, she headed towards what she thought was northwest.
Four hours later, Alanna was reasonably certain that she had taken the complete wrong direction. As far as she could tell, they were deeper into the desert than before.
"Great, just great," Alanna groused to Silvermoon. "I can't even get to Corus without screwing up. No wonder Coram found out too soon. I've just got abysmal luck." She glared at the desert landscape. "Now I'll probably die of thirst. I'm not prepared for a desert trek. I have next to nothing to eat and drink. It can't possibly get worse."
A few sweaty hours later, Alanna thought she saw something faintly green in the distance. She squinted through the perspiration in her eyes and the heat waves rising from the sand, and was certain she had spotted a clump of greenery. An oasis! Revitalized by the promise of rest and refreshment, she spurred Silvermoon on. The tired mare moved faster, sensing by her mistress' excitement that she would have water and some vegetation to graze on soon.
When the pair had almost reached the oasis, Silvermoon shied in fear. Alanna was jolted out of her thoughts and immediately gasped. Through the vegetation, the girl could spot a caravan of dirty-looking ruffians. They could be nothing other than the dreaded hillmen, the vicious bandits of the desert. Even the war-like Bazhir were cautious of their cruelty. A young girl like Alanna wouldn't stand a chance.
She began to slowly turn her mare away from the oasis, hoping desperately she they wouldn't catch a glimpse of her. After a few moments, when no shouts rang out, she thought she might be safe. But once again, her luck failed her.
A lookout must have spotted her, because suddenly the desert rang with the hillmen's war cry. Caution thrown to the winds, Alanna kicked Silvermoon into a gallop, but the tired horse couldn't sustain her speed for long. The girl reined in and turned to face the hillmen, pulling out her bow.
She grabbed an arrow from her quiver and nocked it on her bow, ready to let it fly once her attackers were in range. She sighted and hit a man in the throat; he fell with a gurgle. The others slackened their speed and milled about uncertainly. Their easy prey seemed to be more of a challenge now.
Alanna took advantage of their confusion and shot another arrow, knocking another man out of his saddle. The horse reared in a panic and galloped off into the oasis.
The hillmen charged, and Alanna frantically kept shooting, praying to the Goddess that she would survive this. Her enemies were almost upon her, so she turned and galloped away again, buying some time. Silvermoon tried faithfully to keep going, but eventually she couldn't go on. Alanna turned her mount to face the hillmen not far behind. She was out of arrows. She couldn't run any more. All she had left was her Gift.
Alanna didn't know any combat magic, but she did know how to call fire, so she called it. She summoned fire until a wall of flames rose between her and the hillmen. Faced by a blazing inferno, her attackers turned and fled. Alanna quenched the fire and then slumped forward in a faint onto Silvermoon's sweaty neck.
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That's the chapter, peoples. I hope you liked it. And now, please direct your attention to the lower left hand corner of the screen. There, you should see a button labeled REVIEW! Press it, and SAY SOMETHING! ANYTHING! EVEN FLAMES, I WOULD WELCOME FLAMES! And I would really like constructive criticism. I want to improve my writing, and if you have suggestions, it would help me a lot.