wooh! hehehe i hope you guys are liking this so far... can you tell me any important details that i might have forgotten? I still can't get ahold of a copy of the first 2 Alanna books!! :@! damn people! so if theres anything you can think of that i might not remember please be my best friend and remind me?? ... still to come in the next chapters lightening?? mooonlight?? and the kicker.... RALON!!! ooooh :) yay! now read! thank yah!!

"that was soooo close!! HALF of those people know Thom… HALF! I have no idea who any of them were and then you! You're in the corner chatting up what's his face and I have to deal with all these people and them asking me questions I don't know the answer to!" Alanna's face was turning red from lack of oxygen. Kat began to giggle… then laugh… and then before Alanna knew it both of them were laughing as they walked down the streets of the lower city. They were so giddy that they didn't notice the change in scenery… or the men following both of them down the street, only when it began to get dark did they take a look at their surroundings.

"Umm… Alanna?" asked Kat.

"Yes, Kat?"

"Where are we??"

Alanna stopped dead in her tracks, and her face went white. "Kat… I have no idea." She frantically looked around the street, trying to find something familiar, but it was no use, she hadn't paid enough attention on the walk to find anything that would remotely tell her that they were going in the right direction. Plus they had been walking for at least an hour – the might have already gone in the wrong direction.

Kat moved closer to Alanna. "Alanna, I'm scared. What are we going to do? If we don't get back to the Inn soon, they're going to start to worry, and when the sisters worry, well you know they REALLY worry."

"I don't think we should be worried about the sisters right now, I think we should focus on us, because I think we're not alone. Can you feel the eyes watching us??" Alanna whispered. Kat nodded and her eyes darted to the side. Alanna looked around quickly, trying to find a way out. She cursed for not thinking of this earlier. In the time of the game where she was playing Thom, getting back home safely was not really a part of their plan. Now both girls wished it had.

At an intersection of 2 roads, 5 men jumped from around the cornering buildings. Kat screamed and Alanna bit her lip. This was going to be hard. She didn't even have a way of defending herself! No sword… no dagger, no nothing! If I get through this Goddess, I swear I will never leave anywhere without so much as a daggar. Alanna vowed then and there. Judging her opponents, she saw trouble, she was small and the smallest man was at least twice her size. She wouldn't be able to defend herself and Kat.

"Look wut we 'ave 'ere, a slut an' a lil lad. Wut should we do wif 'em??"

"Kill the lad, keep the lass." Said one of his friends.

"That's jus' wut I was thinkin'" the man replied and smiled, his mouth having spaces where teeth should be. "now will this b' dun th' hard way… or th' easy way?"

Alanna attacked the speaker, pushing her weight into him, knocking him onto the ground. She grabbed a rock and hit him in the head with it – as hard as she could. He fell to the ground, unconscious for the while, but she couldn't stop for a second, she had lost the element of surprise now, and if they chose to, they could attack her all at once. She turned to face the rest of the men. Two were creeping up on Kat, who was almost in tears and backing farther down a dark alley.

"KAT!" yelled Alanna, throwing her the heavy rock. "Use IT!" she yelled again before another man jumped her.

Kat looked at the rock she caught and threw it at one of the men. It hit him in the stomach, knocking out his air. "Lucky throw" she muttered under her breathe and scanned the ground for another rock. She found one, not as big but this time she had the other man a little wary – he did not know it was pure luck she hit the first man. Kat tried to aim and threw, hitting the man in the shoulder. He laughed and began walking faster to catch up. Kat grabbed another and another rock, throwing them, trying to hit a spot that would make him slow down. She tripped and fell to the ground, rolling an ankle. The men grinned evilly as they walked closer and closer to her. Kat screamed again – loudly.

Alanna's attackers were just as bad at Kat's. But they were rougher since they thought Alanna was a boy. Alanna used as much of the wrestling training Lucas had taught her as she could and luckily these men haven't seen enough threat to pull out their weapons – but that doesn't mean that they wouldn't if they had to. She dodged one man and lunged at the other, trying the stunt she used on the first. A rock came hurtling across the road – Kat was in trouble, she wasn't aiming. But it hit the man in the leg, slowing him enough for Alanna to move in quickly and knock him unconscious with his leader. The third man finally had enough of this and pulled out his knife. Alanna eyed it; she couldn't attack him with a knife in his hand! She'd be gutted for sure! He grinned at the victory he was about to achieve and danced the knife out. Alanna, being quick dodged the knife and kept dodging for as long as she could. She heard Kat's scream and hoped it would bring help. One quick glance to see if Kat was still okay was Alanna's mistake. The man took his knife and sliced her arm, Alanna bit her lip and jumped back, blood dripping from her arm, now useless at her side. She looked to Kat and her mouth twisted, she sent up a wall of purple magic to protect her friend, who kept screaming. The men looked puzzled at the thing, and when one tried to touch it, he yelped as his hand began to burn. Kat's screams were beginning to scare off the men, since this much noise they could bring anyone and for sure be caught. All three of them ran off, leaving their friends behind. Alanna sighed and staggered to her friend. Pulling off the shield around her. Kat cried when she saw her cut, and ripped off the edge of her petticoat.

The girls slowly worked their way down big and lit roads, using each other as support. Alanna mostly leaned on Kat and grimaced every time something bumped against her arm. Kat walked with a limp on her left leg. The two looked like a couple of soldiers coming in from a battle. They didn't know in which direction they walked, but they knew it was getting late and if they were walking in the direction of their Inn, someone would be looking for them. If they were walking towards the other Inn – The Dancing Dove – then maybe someone there could help them. The main road they followed took a drastic turn and they reached a dead end.

oooh! evil evil me... sorry guys i think im gonna have to leave yah there for now ---> sleepy tired i am!!! but if you can think of something important let me know! thank you!! :>

~CJ~