***Phi and Alex's View***
Towards the end of the second day, they finally got some explanation of what the heck was going on. It had just begun to rain when their guard came to get them about four hours after their breakfast came. "Okay, the chief will be seeing you now..." He took out a large iron wrought key and sung the bars of their cell open. Alex looked at Phi, who returned his suspicious look with a curious one, and they both stood up and walked out of their room. Phi turned to the guard, "What are we here for?"
"I cannot tell you."
Phi stared at him, "Why not?!"
"Because, I myself do not know. No one does except Commander Dausael."
"Who?"
The guard smirked, "You will soon be finding out..."
Phi turned to Alex and raised her eyebrows. Alex gave her a faint reassuring smile and the guard herded the forward, out of the dimly lit corridor, through a heavy wooden door that had a large metal pad-lock on it, out into a small courtyard. Phi looked up and guessed from where the sun was that it was around eleven in the morning. The courtyard was very sparse, contained no grass or plants, only a large open area covered in tightly packed dirt, with about three soldiers loitering around. The guard hurried them into a room that was opposite the dungeons. As he opened the door and guided the two in with the tip of his drawn sword, Alex could see several rugs hanging up on the wall as decoration. They were full of geometric designs and were done mostly in red, blue, and black. A shiver ran down his spine as he thought that the red coloring looked an awful lot like blood...
They entered a huge room with vaulted ceilings held up by two rows of solid stone pillars that ran along the side of the room and ended at the far side. The entire thing looked like it had been carved out of a single stone, and the only light was coming from six small open windows at the top of the wall. A long red carpet was rolled from the main door that the three had entered from, all the way to the other side of the room...and it ended right at the feet of a gigantic stone throne that was inlayed with rubies, gold, and sapphires. And on the throne was the thing that caught Phi and Alex's eyes first. It was a large, muscular man with thick brown hair and beard, in full battle armor. He looked to be about fifty years old, and at his side was a large broad sword.
He stood up and their guard bowed. Phi and Alex remained standing. The man walked down the carpet to where they were, "Are these the children that I asked you to get for me?"
Phi bristled at the word children, but stayed silent. The guard looked up from his kneeling position, "Yes, Commander Dausael."
"But there are only two of them...didn't I tell you to get three of them?"
"Yes my lord, but the riders could only find these two..."
"Really?" Dausael pulled the guard to his feet, "Go and find the captain of the riders..." Phi shivered at his voice, and knew that something bad was happening. The guard leapt to his feet and ran out of the room to do as he was told.
Dausael turned back to the teens and began to pace in front of them, his cape dragging along behind him as he circled the two, "So, you are the two who are from another dimension..." He spoke, unlike the other Scanrans they had met, with a perfect Tortallian accent, throwing Phi and Alex slightly off.
Finally, Alex looked the commander right in the eyes...mistake..., "What do you want with us?"
"Want? I want nothing more than to ask you about what it is like in your world...how has technology advanced...what kind of weapons you know about..."
Alex looked surprised, "What? How did you know that we..."
"That you are not from this dimension? Why, my spy told me! And he also told me that you have information that could let the Scanrans defeat the Tortallians once and for all, something that would destroy every last one of them..."
Phi let out a forced laugh, "Even if we knew anything, do you really think we'd tell you? A whole army of Tortallian knights is looking for us right now, (A/N: No, Phi didn't know about the Own or Alanna's group of knights from the palace, although she is correct, she doesn't know it...yet...) and when they find us, they'll kick your ass so hard..."
She didn't get to finish her threat, because Dausael burst out laughing, "What do you think will happen, that they will come charging in here, rescue you, and you'll all live long, happy lives? Ha! Let them come, I am ready..." He picked up his sword and it erupted into red flames of the Gift. Alex paled and Phi's eyes grew wide, "They have yet to defeat Dausael and his strength of a hundred mages...if they come, they will face a fate worse than anything the gods could ever threaten."
The guard came bursting in the door with a very nervous looking man trailing behind him, "My lord, the captain of the riders..." He bowed, and pulled Phi and Alex over to the side to stand next to the first column.
The rider began to tremble as Dausael walked up to him and said, "So...I have heard that you have only brought me two of the travelers instead of three..."
"The last one...he wasn't with them..."
"Don't give me excuses! Where is he!"
"We...we don't know my lord..."
Dausael sighed, "I had faith in you captain, but it seems my faith was misplaced..."
This seemed like some sort of code phrase because the captain fell to his knees in front of the commander and tears welled up in his eyes. Their guard grabbed onto the collar of Phi and Alex's shirts and dragged them outside as Dausael slowly raise his sword. The guard threw them into the hallway and ran to slam the throne room doors just as Dausael brought his blade down. They heard a scream from inside the room and Phi clutched Alex's arm and buried her face in his chest. He grabbed onto her tightly and looked away as a thin trickle of blood ran underneath the doorframe into the hallway.
The guard looked at him halfway apologetically and led them back to their cell. When they got there, Phi was still latched onto Alex and he fell down onto a bed mat and tried to calm her down. But he failed miserably, mostly because he himself could still feel his heart beating abnormally fast in his chest. He leaned his head onto hers and rocked her slightly as a thought popped into his mind, 'Now I know why the carpet is red...'
***Tom's View***
He screamed silently to himself in frustration. The Own had lost the trail just as the trees were beginning to thin out. Raoul tried to calmly explain to the upset teen that it was because a recent rain had washed the tracks away. The knight had to call for them to set up camp because the sun was beginning to set and sent a few members of the Own how were skilled in tracking to go and find where the rest of the tracks were leading. It wasn't until early the next morning, around seven, that they heard the sound of approaching hooves. The knights and Tom rested their hands on the hilts of their swords, but quickly removed them when they recognized the Lioness ridding up front.
Kel, Esmond, and Merric rode into view next, followed closely by the pages. The three knights dismounted and walked quickly over to Tom, a relieved look on their faces, "We finally found you only to learn that the Own had found you first! What happened to you out there?"
Tom grinned and was about to reply when Devic dismounted, "And how did you get across the river?"
Alanna walked over to Raoul who smiled pleasantly at her and handed her a bowl of oatmeal, "I would like to know the same thing...Your tracks led to a bit of stone sticking out about a foot over the river, then they disappeared!"
Tom looked at the knight, "Only a foot of it is left? When I got on it, that bridge must have been at least fifteen feet..."
Devic stopped short, "Bridge? Did you mean that pile of rubble was a bridge? What happened to it?"
"Well, when I walked my horse and I onto it, it kind of fell apart..."
Alanna looked concerned, "You mean you fell into the water? Are you okay?"
"Huh? Oh ya, I'm fine."
Dom grinned, "So that is why you were so wet when we found you..."
"Yep..."
Just then, one of the Own who had been searching for a trail came bursting through the foliage, "I found some tracks! They're headed north, out of the woods!"
Raoul stood up, "All right! Time to pack up!". The camp was cleaned in about five minutes and everyone jumped back onto their horses, "Let's go!"
A/N: I hope you all liked the chapter all right. Um, I was feeling a tad morbid when I wrote this, but ya...oh well, if you don't like it, you don't have to read it, and if you did like it, please review!!
Towards the end of the second day, they finally got some explanation of what the heck was going on. It had just begun to rain when their guard came to get them about four hours after their breakfast came. "Okay, the chief will be seeing you now..." He took out a large iron wrought key and sung the bars of their cell open. Alex looked at Phi, who returned his suspicious look with a curious one, and they both stood up and walked out of their room. Phi turned to the guard, "What are we here for?"
"I cannot tell you."
Phi stared at him, "Why not?!"
"Because, I myself do not know. No one does except Commander Dausael."
"Who?"
The guard smirked, "You will soon be finding out..."
Phi turned to Alex and raised her eyebrows. Alex gave her a faint reassuring smile and the guard herded the forward, out of the dimly lit corridor, through a heavy wooden door that had a large metal pad-lock on it, out into a small courtyard. Phi looked up and guessed from where the sun was that it was around eleven in the morning. The courtyard was very sparse, contained no grass or plants, only a large open area covered in tightly packed dirt, with about three soldiers loitering around. The guard hurried them into a room that was opposite the dungeons. As he opened the door and guided the two in with the tip of his drawn sword, Alex could see several rugs hanging up on the wall as decoration. They were full of geometric designs and were done mostly in red, blue, and black. A shiver ran down his spine as he thought that the red coloring looked an awful lot like blood...
They entered a huge room with vaulted ceilings held up by two rows of solid stone pillars that ran along the side of the room and ended at the far side. The entire thing looked like it had been carved out of a single stone, and the only light was coming from six small open windows at the top of the wall. A long red carpet was rolled from the main door that the three had entered from, all the way to the other side of the room...and it ended right at the feet of a gigantic stone throne that was inlayed with rubies, gold, and sapphires. And on the throne was the thing that caught Phi and Alex's eyes first. It was a large, muscular man with thick brown hair and beard, in full battle armor. He looked to be about fifty years old, and at his side was a large broad sword.
He stood up and their guard bowed. Phi and Alex remained standing. The man walked down the carpet to where they were, "Are these the children that I asked you to get for me?"
Phi bristled at the word children, but stayed silent. The guard looked up from his kneeling position, "Yes, Commander Dausael."
"But there are only two of them...didn't I tell you to get three of them?"
"Yes my lord, but the riders could only find these two..."
"Really?" Dausael pulled the guard to his feet, "Go and find the captain of the riders..." Phi shivered at his voice, and knew that something bad was happening. The guard leapt to his feet and ran out of the room to do as he was told.
Dausael turned back to the teens and began to pace in front of them, his cape dragging along behind him as he circled the two, "So, you are the two who are from another dimension..." He spoke, unlike the other Scanrans they had met, with a perfect Tortallian accent, throwing Phi and Alex slightly off.
Finally, Alex looked the commander right in the eyes...mistake..., "What do you want with us?"
"Want? I want nothing more than to ask you about what it is like in your world...how has technology advanced...what kind of weapons you know about..."
Alex looked surprised, "What? How did you know that we..."
"That you are not from this dimension? Why, my spy told me! And he also told me that you have information that could let the Scanrans defeat the Tortallians once and for all, something that would destroy every last one of them..."
Phi let out a forced laugh, "Even if we knew anything, do you really think we'd tell you? A whole army of Tortallian knights is looking for us right now, (A/N: No, Phi didn't know about the Own or Alanna's group of knights from the palace, although she is correct, she doesn't know it...yet...) and when they find us, they'll kick your ass so hard..."
She didn't get to finish her threat, because Dausael burst out laughing, "What do you think will happen, that they will come charging in here, rescue you, and you'll all live long, happy lives? Ha! Let them come, I am ready..." He picked up his sword and it erupted into red flames of the Gift. Alex paled and Phi's eyes grew wide, "They have yet to defeat Dausael and his strength of a hundred mages...if they come, they will face a fate worse than anything the gods could ever threaten."
The guard came bursting in the door with a very nervous looking man trailing behind him, "My lord, the captain of the riders..." He bowed, and pulled Phi and Alex over to the side to stand next to the first column.
The rider began to tremble as Dausael walked up to him and said, "So...I have heard that you have only brought me two of the travelers instead of three..."
"The last one...he wasn't with them..."
"Don't give me excuses! Where is he!"
"We...we don't know my lord..."
Dausael sighed, "I had faith in you captain, but it seems my faith was misplaced..."
This seemed like some sort of code phrase because the captain fell to his knees in front of the commander and tears welled up in his eyes. Their guard grabbed onto the collar of Phi and Alex's shirts and dragged them outside as Dausael slowly raise his sword. The guard threw them into the hallway and ran to slam the throne room doors just as Dausael brought his blade down. They heard a scream from inside the room and Phi clutched Alex's arm and buried her face in his chest. He grabbed onto her tightly and looked away as a thin trickle of blood ran underneath the doorframe into the hallway.
The guard looked at him halfway apologetically and led them back to their cell. When they got there, Phi was still latched onto Alex and he fell down onto a bed mat and tried to calm her down. But he failed miserably, mostly because he himself could still feel his heart beating abnormally fast in his chest. He leaned his head onto hers and rocked her slightly as a thought popped into his mind, 'Now I know why the carpet is red...'
***Tom's View***
He screamed silently to himself in frustration. The Own had lost the trail just as the trees were beginning to thin out. Raoul tried to calmly explain to the upset teen that it was because a recent rain had washed the tracks away. The knight had to call for them to set up camp because the sun was beginning to set and sent a few members of the Own how were skilled in tracking to go and find where the rest of the tracks were leading. It wasn't until early the next morning, around seven, that they heard the sound of approaching hooves. The knights and Tom rested their hands on the hilts of their swords, but quickly removed them when they recognized the Lioness ridding up front.
Kel, Esmond, and Merric rode into view next, followed closely by the pages. The three knights dismounted and walked quickly over to Tom, a relieved look on their faces, "We finally found you only to learn that the Own had found you first! What happened to you out there?"
Tom grinned and was about to reply when Devic dismounted, "And how did you get across the river?"
Alanna walked over to Raoul who smiled pleasantly at her and handed her a bowl of oatmeal, "I would like to know the same thing...Your tracks led to a bit of stone sticking out about a foot over the river, then they disappeared!"
Tom looked at the knight, "Only a foot of it is left? When I got on it, that bridge must have been at least fifteen feet..."
Devic stopped short, "Bridge? Did you mean that pile of rubble was a bridge? What happened to it?"
"Well, when I walked my horse and I onto it, it kind of fell apart..."
Alanna looked concerned, "You mean you fell into the water? Are you okay?"
"Huh? Oh ya, I'm fine."
Dom grinned, "So that is why you were so wet when we found you..."
"Yep..."
Just then, one of the Own who had been searching for a trail came bursting through the foliage, "I found some tracks! They're headed north, out of the woods!"
Raoul stood up, "All right! Time to pack up!". The camp was cleaned in about five minutes and everyone jumped back onto their horses, "Let's go!"
A/N: I hope you all liked the chapter all right. Um, I was feeling a tad morbid when I wrote this, but ya...oh well, if you don't like it, you don't have to read it, and if you did like it, please review!!
