A/N: It's once again time for me to write another chapter...I hope I did
all my homework...oh well...
***Phi and Alex's View***
After two days of hard riding, the Scanran troops finally slowed to a gentle trot. Phi sighed happily at the break because the jolts that were hitting her when the horses were galloping were beginning to make her feel sick. Of course, it didn't help that the only thing she and Alex had eaten in the past three days was six bowls of mushy stuff that looked somewhat like old oatmeal.
She struggled to turn around in her seat to see what was going on, but immediately wished that she wasn't so darn curious. On the horizon, she could just make out a very large, old looking stone castle-fortress thingy. Whatever it was, it didn't look friendly and she decided that she would have rather been stranded in the forest than go to the ruins.
She began to wiggle around in her seat, trying to loosen the rope, but with every move it only seemed to wrap more tightly around her. Phi finally stopped trying after her circulation was momentarily cut off and settled down into a wary alertness. Alex managed to catch a glimpse of their destination too, and had watched as Phi tried to escape. He knew she wouldn't be able to do anything though, mainly because it was the first thing he had tried to do when they were lashed onto the horses.
The group reached the building when the sun was just about to set, so there was evil shadows being cast across the stonework and the sun was an eerie red. By then, both teens had decided that it was definitely a fortress of some sort, due to the large wrought-iron gate that they passed through to get into the complex, the eight foot deep, twenty feet high double walls that surrounded it, and about thirty more Scanran riders that were hanging out lazily in the entry way.
They nodded as the warriors who had captured the two rode by, but Phi and Alex weren't let off the horses until they had rode around to the side of the building and there, the two were blindfolded.
Phi stumbled off of the saddle and felt around where she had seen Alex dismount until she caught hold of his hand. He squeezed hers reassuringly as the guards herded them into the small, dark passageway that led deep into the bowls of the castle.
***Tom's View***
Finally. He had found the Scanran's marks again. He was about to follow them when he heard voices coming down the path that ran along the river. He jumped off his horse and quickly led it behind a small grove of trees and waited silently for the people to pass. As they grew closer, he was able to catch snatches of their conversation.
"...do you'll think we'll find..."
"I have no idea....it depends on how hard he was riding..."
Tom paused. One of their voices sounded familiar and he listened harder with a greater interest.
"...come on men! Let's get going! We have a lot of ground to cover before the sun sets!"
Tom looked up at the sky and realized that the sun would be going down in about an hour. And he definitely recognized the voice he had just heard. The horses the people were riding picked up their pace and as they thundered by, he was just barely able to make out Lord Raoul up in front, followed closely by the King's Own.
He ran back out into the road after they had passed and gave a shrill whistle. The entire group slowed to a halt almost immediately and turned back around. Raoul pulled back in front of the group and jumped off his horse when he got closer to Tom, "Thank the gods you're alive! We weren't expecting to find you on this path!"
Tom grinned dryly and turned to face Dom, who had just ridden up. The knight looked down at him, "You made us all worry back at camp, running off like that...and why, in Mithros's name, are you so wet?"
The teen looked down at his clothes and found that his shirt and breeches were stuck to his skin and still dripping. He smiled tiredly up at his friend, "It's a long story..."
Raoul interrupted before Tom could get started, "...And I'm sure we
would all love to hear it, but at the moment, we have some missing people to find. Tom, you're coming with us until we find your sister and Alex, or until we run back into Alanna...whichever comes first."
The boy nodded gratefully and hopped (actually, he struggled) onto his horse and together the group rode down the trail left by the enemy, away from the river.
A/N: Sorry that was so short, but I just realized that I have a project for English that I should probably be doing!! Darn it...Oh, I got an interesting question in one of the reviews, asking why Phi and Alex could speak English...they never really forgot how, they just never had needed to before the last chapter. The spell that Numair cast on them in the very beginning just taught them Tortallian, but it didn't take away any other language that they knew.
***Phi and Alex's View***
After two days of hard riding, the Scanran troops finally slowed to a gentle trot. Phi sighed happily at the break because the jolts that were hitting her when the horses were galloping were beginning to make her feel sick. Of course, it didn't help that the only thing she and Alex had eaten in the past three days was six bowls of mushy stuff that looked somewhat like old oatmeal.
She struggled to turn around in her seat to see what was going on, but immediately wished that she wasn't so darn curious. On the horizon, she could just make out a very large, old looking stone castle-fortress thingy. Whatever it was, it didn't look friendly and she decided that she would have rather been stranded in the forest than go to the ruins.
She began to wiggle around in her seat, trying to loosen the rope, but with every move it only seemed to wrap more tightly around her. Phi finally stopped trying after her circulation was momentarily cut off and settled down into a wary alertness. Alex managed to catch a glimpse of their destination too, and had watched as Phi tried to escape. He knew she wouldn't be able to do anything though, mainly because it was the first thing he had tried to do when they were lashed onto the horses.
The group reached the building when the sun was just about to set, so there was evil shadows being cast across the stonework and the sun was an eerie red. By then, both teens had decided that it was definitely a fortress of some sort, due to the large wrought-iron gate that they passed through to get into the complex, the eight foot deep, twenty feet high double walls that surrounded it, and about thirty more Scanran riders that were hanging out lazily in the entry way.
They nodded as the warriors who had captured the two rode by, but Phi and Alex weren't let off the horses until they had rode around to the side of the building and there, the two were blindfolded.
Phi stumbled off of the saddle and felt around where she had seen Alex dismount until she caught hold of his hand. He squeezed hers reassuringly as the guards herded them into the small, dark passageway that led deep into the bowls of the castle.
***Tom's View***
Finally. He had found the Scanran's marks again. He was about to follow them when he heard voices coming down the path that ran along the river. He jumped off his horse and quickly led it behind a small grove of trees and waited silently for the people to pass. As they grew closer, he was able to catch snatches of their conversation.
"...do you'll think we'll find..."
"I have no idea....it depends on how hard he was riding..."
Tom paused. One of their voices sounded familiar and he listened harder with a greater interest.
"...come on men! Let's get going! We have a lot of ground to cover before the sun sets!"
Tom looked up at the sky and realized that the sun would be going down in about an hour. And he definitely recognized the voice he had just heard. The horses the people were riding picked up their pace and as they thundered by, he was just barely able to make out Lord Raoul up in front, followed closely by the King's Own.
He ran back out into the road after they had passed and gave a shrill whistle. The entire group slowed to a halt almost immediately and turned back around. Raoul pulled back in front of the group and jumped off his horse when he got closer to Tom, "Thank the gods you're alive! We weren't expecting to find you on this path!"
Tom grinned dryly and turned to face Dom, who had just ridden up. The knight looked down at him, "You made us all worry back at camp, running off like that...and why, in Mithros's name, are you so wet?"
The teen looked down at his clothes and found that his shirt and breeches were stuck to his skin and still dripping. He smiled tiredly up at his friend, "It's a long story..."
Raoul interrupted before Tom could get started, "...And I'm sure we
would all love to hear it, but at the moment, we have some missing people to find. Tom, you're coming with us until we find your sister and Alex, or until we run back into Alanna...whichever comes first."
The boy nodded gratefully and hopped (actually, he struggled) onto his horse and together the group rode down the trail left by the enemy, away from the river.
A/N: Sorry that was so short, but I just realized that I have a project for English that I should probably be doing!! Darn it...Oh, I got an interesting question in one of the reviews, asking why Phi and Alex could speak English...they never really forgot how, they just never had needed to before the last chapter. The spell that Numair cast on them in the very beginning just taught them Tortallian, but it didn't take away any other language that they knew.
