[8-13-03, in the wee hours of the morning: I have a comment/clarification to make--in my story I will sometimes call Keltaline, Kelty or Kel. Now please understand that when I call her Kel, or anything else for that matter, she is in no way related to the main character of the Protector of the Small Quartet, Keladry of Mindelan (created by Tamora Pierce). My character is completely different and is not to be confused with Tamora's Kel. Understand people? Keltaline Saffur of Whitehorn and Keladry of Mindelan ARE NOT the same, though the both will be call Kel. Got it? Ok, thank you :) Now, for the much awaited second chapter *dun duh DUN*]

The Scanran, who was standing above Kel's mother with his sword through her stomach, turned to face Kelty. He was clearly angered because his work had been interrupted. Kelty quickly picked up one of her father's swords that had been sprawled on the ground, making sure she had it in her right hand and not her left. Her left arm was very weak, and she was afraid she would be more susceptible to an attack if she fought with her bad arm. As the Scanran pulled his own sword out of Christamime, a very frightened Kel began to speak.

"W-Who are you? Why a-are you--"

"Shut the hell up, girl!" The short, fat, jewel covered Scanran retorted. The two began to fight. "I'm Kahlir, the leader of this fine group of men fighting now." Kelty snorted. "And your name, my dear, is...?"

"None of your business!" Kahlir struck forward, but missed Keltaline by a hair. As she twirled out of his reach, she accidentally stepped on her nightgown and fell backwards. She screamed as Kahlir grabbed part of her nightgown and pulled her close to him. His breath stank of alcohol and smoke, yet he was terribly sober. Whispering loudly, in his harsh, scratchy voice, Kahlir said,

"Funny thing dearie, your mother absolutely begged me not to hurt 'Keltaline,' which, I assume, is you." Kel swallowed nervously and tried to figure out an escape. The Scanran Lord continued. "Hmm... you're not too ugly lookin'; I'm sure the boys will love a new toy." The anger that had been bubbling up inside of her boiled, and she broke free of Kahlir's grasp. She spun around and her sword struck his cheek.

"AHHH!" Kahlir screamed out in pain. The cut on his cheek was bleeding heavily. That would definitely leave a mark. "Why you--" Keltaline dashed out of her parent's tent and disappeared into the crowd of fighters. She stopped to think and look around for a second, but that proved to be a bad idea when a Scanran stabbed Kel in her left shoulder, causing her to pass out and land near Lighthert.

Kahlir ran out of the tent and cursed. "Where did that bloody girl go?!" He thought to himself. He swore to get revenge on the girl who caused him a wound that would horribly disfigure his face. Hearing a horse in the distance, Kahlir decided that it was time to split, and he yelled. "Men! Time to leave!" The Scanrans grabbed some remaining goods that were scattered throughout the camp, stabbed some people a few extra times, jumped on their horses, and left.

~~~~~

The wind blew silently and steadily. It was a few hours before dawn and many hours after the attack. The fires were burning low as a stranger, clad in a large cloak as black as midnight and black combat boots approached the camp. He looked around and shook his head. "It looks like the work of Scanrans, though, from the looks of it, the servants seemed to put up a pretty decent fight," he thought. A quick search brought him to a shivering girl--a girl who had just gone into shock--dressed in a nightgown and bleeding heavily from her left shoulder.

"She's in shock already...?" The stranger mumbled to himself, "Damn! I'd better move fast..." He scooped her up in his arms, laid her on Lighthert, and easily swung himself onto his own dark colored horse. Being tall certainly had its advantages. Grabbing Lighthert's reins, the stranger galloped away.

They were nearly halfway to their destination when Keltaline regained consciousness. She was awake for just a moment, long enough, though, to see the face of her rescuer. That face, however, would be all-to-soon forgotten.

The stranger approached a somewhat large, brown and white house with a lantern in the window. Smoke was coming out of the chimney, so there was probably a fire in the fireplace. It wouldn't be a surprise, though, since it was pretty chilly out. He tied the horses to the surrounding fence outside, put Kelty on his shoulder, and began to walk to the front door of the house. "Wait a second," he thought, "she isn't moving anymore. Oh crap!" The stranger sprinted to the house and banged on the door. An elderly looking man with a blue and white striped nightcap opened the door and held up a lamp to the late-night visitor's face.

"Virdem?" The old man asked, then squinted. "Corent Virdem, is that you?"

"Yes, Pender, it's me, now--"

"What's that on your shoulder?" Rhilent Pender, the town physician, questioned, as he put on his glasses. His face turned pale. "Oh dear. Come on now, come right away." Pointing at his worktable he said, "put her over there, hurry!" Corent rushed to the table and gently set Kelty on the table. The older man turned on a few lights and started examining the girl.

"Is she dead?" The nightrider asked.

"No."

"Is she going to be okay?"

"I don't know. Would you please wait in that room over there? I have to concentrate on my work. I want to do all I can to save this girl; she's lost a lot of blood," Rhilent said, and Corent walked to the other room. Kelty was normally very fair skinned, but because of the loss of blood, she looked like a ghost. Rhilent Pender took a deep breath and started his work.

Several hours later, Pender walked out of his workroom, took off his work gloves, and wiped the sweat off his brow. Virdem looked up from his seat.

"Well?" He asked.

"She'll be ok," the doctor replied. "I need to keep her here for a few days, though, so she can regain her strength."

"Ok, sounds good." The men talked a little more. Corent handed Rhilent a load of money, obviously more than the price of Kel's procedure.

"Ok Rhilent, listen to me," said Corent. "While you were working I took the liberty of withdrawing the remainder of the Saffurs' money, which is the extra money that I gave you. Und--"

"But how did you get it without the--" Rhilent was interrupted himself.

"That doesn't matter. What matters is that you give the rest of the money to Lady Keltaline, understand?"

"Yes, Sir." Virdem continued.

"Under no circumstances may you tell Lady Keltaline who I am or what I did. You may answer any questions she has. As for the questions concerning me, though, all you tell her is that a stranger dropped her off here, and the bill was paid. Her horse is outside, and I want you to give her family's money to her. Okay?"

"Yes, Sir," said Pender. The two men walked to the door and turned to face each other once they reached it.

"Remember, you do not reveal my identity under any circumstances. Now don't forget anything I told you." Stated Virdem.

"No, of course not Sir, everything will go smoothly, I'm sure of it."

"Thank you Pender, I appreciate this," replied Corent. He walked out the door and said one final thing, "Gods all bless."

"Gods all bless," whispered Rhilent, as he watched his friend disappear into the fog, minutes before daybreak.

~~~~~

Days later, Kelty awoke in a somewhat small bed with a very fluffy comforter. Believing she was still in her tent, she turned onto her right side and used her left arm to pull the comforter up closer. A sharp pain shot through her shoulder, and she yelled.

"Ah! Oww! What the heck?" Kel sat up and rubbed her left shoulder, which, unfortunately, only caused her more pain. She lifted up her nightgown sleeve, turned her head back, and tried to look at her shoulder. What she saw surprised and scared her at the same time. On her left shoulder blade was a two-inch cut that had been stitched together. She gasped. Someone had already entered the room and opened the room's curtains to let the sunlight in. Kel jerked around, only causing her self even more pain, and she spotted an old man grinning.

"AH!!!" Exclaimed Kelty, pulling the comforter up around her. "Who are you?? I swear, if you try and hurt me I'll fight back!! I DO know how to fight!" The man progressed towards the bed. "Don't come any closer!!" Kel continued.

"Whoa, whoa, it's ok child, it's ok," said the old man. Kelty laughed at the man inwardly a little bit. With the way he put up his hands, he looked like he was a criminal surrendering. He continued speaking. "My name is Rhilent Pender, and I'm the town physician. A stranger dropped you off here last night. You had gone into shock as a result from losing so much blood from the wound of yours. Luckily, he got you here just in time, and I was able to save you. You've been sleeping for about three days."

"Oh...," replied the teenager. "Well, he certainly seems nice enough," she thought, "but how do I know if I can trust him or not?" She spoke again. "Where am I? Who was the stranger? How do I know I can trust you?" Rhilent put his hands into his pockets.

"You're in the upstairs of my home and office, occupying my spare bedroom. We're in Irontown because it was the closest place from where you were rescued. As for the stranger...I do not know. All he did was drop you off, pay your medical bill, give me your family's remaining money to pass on to you, and tie up your horse. I brought your horse around back, and you can see him from your window." Kelty mumbled a little.

"Gave him my family's money to give to me...wait--," she spoke louder. "How did a stranger get my family's remaining money??"

"Ah, I'm sorry, but that I do not know. As for how you know if you can trust me or not, I suppose you'll just have to. Do you have any other choice?" Pender smiled again, but this time Kelty saw something in his eyes that she hadn't seen before. It was something that deemed him trustworthy. She grinned.

"I guess I will." Her stomach grumbled, and she giggled. "Do you have anything to eat?"

"Sure do," the old man replied. "And how 'bout you tell me how you got that nasty cut on your shoulder while we eat a nice bowl of oatmeal for breakfast?" He pointed to some clothes in the corner. It was a pair of breeches, and a loose-fitting shirt. "There are some clothes for you to change into; you can keep them too. I'll meet you downstairs in ten minutes. Rhilent smiled, walked out the door, and shut it behind him. Kelty got up and changed, taking extra care so that she didn't hurt herself again. Surprisingly, the clothes were very comfortable. "I should wear clothes like these more often," she thought to herself. As she used a brush that she found on the dresser and brushed out the tangles from her hair, another thought occurred to her.

"How did I get that cut, and where in the world are my parents?

~~~~~

Author: Whaddya think? Ya know, I never realized how much time and work writing really took...but now I do, and I love it! *grin* Please, again, please give me reviews. Anything to make these better!

Special thanks to:

LadyJenofConte (aka Ally, my editor and grammar fixer)

CreamOfTheCake (aka Chrissy)

TheBlindAssassin (aka Min, a super great unofficial editor who helped improve and clarify some lines)

And a side note: all three of the above are awesome writers :)