6. THE AMBUSH.
It was close to noon when Amara and her team halted in a clearing in the woods. They had been trudging through the forest all that morning, and so far, nothing out of the ordinary had taken place. Except, that is, that Rahne occasionally would stop and sniff the air, in a troubled sort of way, although she did not mention to the others what was worrying her so.
"So just what are we looking for?" asked Sam.
"I don't know," said Amara, frowning. "That's part of the problem. When we first got pulled into this - whatever and wherever it is - there was no sign of the laboratory on the other side. Forge's portal must have shut down just after we were pulled through. Either that, or else it only works one way."
"Maybe we could go back to where we first came in," said Sam. "If Forge found out about what happened and got it working again, then maybe the portal will have opened back up again there."
"But we don't know for certain that that's the case," said Amara. "What if they haven't started it up again? Don't forget, also, that they won't even know what happened to us. None of the grown-ups or the older kids were there when we got pulled in, remember? I mean, they'll probably figure it out when they notice that we're missing - assuming that they don't think that we decided to run away and join the Brotherhood like Tabitha or something like that - but it could take a while before they're sure of it. And also, we don't know what condition Forge's machine wound up in, after what Bobby did to it."
"Not to mention what ye did to it," muttered Rahne in a low voice. Fortunately, Amara did not overhear her, but continued speaking.
"So, for all that we know, it might be in serious need of repairs, and take quite a while to fix. And I don't think that we can just stand around waiting, certainly not outside in a place like this."
"So what are we going to do, then?" Sam asked.
"There's got to be people in this place besides those knights who attacked us yesterday and Ivar," said Amara. "Maybe one of them will be able to help us."
"I don't know about that," said Sam doubtfully. "Remember what Ivar told us last night? This whole place has been taken over by that Alfadur guy that those knights were working for. Nearly everybody around here probably works for him - unless they're in the resistance movement like Ivar. In which case, we should have joined Bobby and the others."
"I dinna know aboot that," said Rahne. "I still say that there was something aboot our host that I didna like - or at least, that my nose didna like. All that we know aboot this place is what he told us; we've nae more than his word for it. What if he was lying to us?"
"Well, we can worry about that later," said Amara, sitting down on a rock. "Just now, I could do with a little lunch. I'm feeling pretty hollow inside."
She opened her pack and pulled out a roll, which she bit into. Sam and Jamie were just about to sit down and open their provisions packs as well, when Rahne spoke. She had been sniffing the air increasingly uneasily, ever since Amara had opened her foodbag, and now she spoke, in an almost frantic tone of voice.
"No! Don't eat it! Don't eat any of it!"
"What are you talking about, Rahne?" Sam asked.
"The food," said Rahne. "It smells wrong. I canna tell just what the matter with it is, but it smells - tainted."
"You're sure of that?" said Jamie.
"My nose has nae deceived me yet," said the young Scottish mutant in an almost defiant tone of voice. "This food is bad."
"Spoiled, you mean?" asked Sam. "Or poisoned?"
"No, it's something else," said Rahne. "I've never smelt it before, so I dinna know exactly what it is, but it does nae smell the way it ought to. Somebody has done something to it."
Sam and Jamie quickly dropped their as yet unopened foodpacks, while Amara lowered the roll in her hand, looking at it uncomfortably. "You're not serious are you, Rahne?" she asked.
"I mean it," said Rahne. "I knew that there was something wrong wi' our host. Don't any o' ye eat any o' it."
"It's a little too late there," said Amara, in a worried tone of voice. "At least, as far as I'm concerned. I've already started." She stood up, then suddenly staggered, and sat down hurriedly again, looking dizzy. The other three youngsters stared at her in alarm.
Sam and Rahne rushed to her side at once, while Jamie watched with widening eyes. "How do you feel?" Sam asked her.
"Very strange, actually," said Amara, clutching her forehead. Her eyes were becoming unfocused, and there was an odd lilt in her voice. "Not actually ill so much as - well, different." Then she lost her balance, and fell over on one side into the snow.
"Amara!" cried Sam, grabbing hold of her and shaking her. "Snap out of it!" When she made no move, he turned to Rahne. "What are we going to do now? We're miles away from a hospital."
"That's nae our only problem," said Rahne, sniffing the air uncomfortably. "We've company!"
From out of the trees rode a small body of knights, looking like the same ones that they had fought yesterday. They spurred forward, heading for the four young mutants. "Take them all!" shouted their leader. "But especially her!" He pointed to a now unconscious Amara, lying prone upon the ground.
Rahne shifted into her wolf-form again, and stood before Amara, growling. Sam and Jamie joined her. "If you want her, come and get her!" Sam shouted.
"That we have every intent to do," answered the chief knight. With that, he spurred his horse straight for them, at a swift gallop. So speedily did it charge at them that before Rahne and Sam quite knew it, they had been shoved out of its path forcibly, Rahne landing in the snow to the right, Sam to the left, next to Jamie. The knight bent down over Amara and lifted her up into the saddle.
Sam hurled himself at the Nova Roman princess's abductor, but another horseman intercepted his attack, only to be knocked out of the saddle, allowing Sam to take his place upon the horse. Rahne was surrounded by a few cautious-looking riders, snarling at them. Jamie ran up to Sam, two more knights after him, and Sam hauled him up onto his horse. With Jamie clinging frantically behind him, he rode straight at the ring of knights besetting Rahne, pell-mell.
The horsemen scattered at his approach, but some turned their mounts about, and charged at the Kentucky youth. A few others made for Rahne again, driving her into the woods and following her into their depths.
"I think that there are too many of them," said Sam worriedly, as the knights headed straight for him. "We'll have to get out of here."
"But what about the others?" asked Jamie. "I mean, they've got Amara -"
"I know, and the way things are going now, we won't be able to rescue her on our own," said Sam. "We'll have to find help." And with that, he turned his horse around, and rode off, Jamie still hanging on behind him. More of the knights followed him, but a few lingered around their leader. He sat on his horse in the center of the clearing, looking down at his still- unconscious prisoner.
* * *
"We only have one of them," said one of the knights in disappointment and even disgust. "The other three escaped."
"Not for long, Vilmeid," said Heimir. "We have the werewolf and the two lads in pursuit; they cannot hope to elude us for long. And at least this one is ours now. A pity that the werewolf's keen nose alerted the others to the food that we supplied Loki with for their provisions. But no matter. At least our faerie-food has claimed one victim."
Amara murmured something inaudible, before falling into a deeper state of unconsciousness. Her ears were slowly becoming larger and pointed at the tips, while her face began to shift shape, becoming more angular.
"Soon, this maid of Muspelheim will be one of us," said Heimir, smiling approvingly.
It was close to noon when Amara and her team halted in a clearing in the woods. They had been trudging through the forest all that morning, and so far, nothing out of the ordinary had taken place. Except, that is, that Rahne occasionally would stop and sniff the air, in a troubled sort of way, although she did not mention to the others what was worrying her so.
"So just what are we looking for?" asked Sam.
"I don't know," said Amara, frowning. "That's part of the problem. When we first got pulled into this - whatever and wherever it is - there was no sign of the laboratory on the other side. Forge's portal must have shut down just after we were pulled through. Either that, or else it only works one way."
"Maybe we could go back to where we first came in," said Sam. "If Forge found out about what happened and got it working again, then maybe the portal will have opened back up again there."
"But we don't know for certain that that's the case," said Amara. "What if they haven't started it up again? Don't forget, also, that they won't even know what happened to us. None of the grown-ups or the older kids were there when we got pulled in, remember? I mean, they'll probably figure it out when they notice that we're missing - assuming that they don't think that we decided to run away and join the Brotherhood like Tabitha or something like that - but it could take a while before they're sure of it. And also, we don't know what condition Forge's machine wound up in, after what Bobby did to it."
"Not to mention what ye did to it," muttered Rahne in a low voice. Fortunately, Amara did not overhear her, but continued speaking.
"So, for all that we know, it might be in serious need of repairs, and take quite a while to fix. And I don't think that we can just stand around waiting, certainly not outside in a place like this."
"So what are we going to do, then?" Sam asked.
"There's got to be people in this place besides those knights who attacked us yesterday and Ivar," said Amara. "Maybe one of them will be able to help us."
"I don't know about that," said Sam doubtfully. "Remember what Ivar told us last night? This whole place has been taken over by that Alfadur guy that those knights were working for. Nearly everybody around here probably works for him - unless they're in the resistance movement like Ivar. In which case, we should have joined Bobby and the others."
"I dinna know aboot that," said Rahne. "I still say that there was something aboot our host that I didna like - or at least, that my nose didna like. All that we know aboot this place is what he told us; we've nae more than his word for it. What if he was lying to us?"
"Well, we can worry about that later," said Amara, sitting down on a rock. "Just now, I could do with a little lunch. I'm feeling pretty hollow inside."
She opened her pack and pulled out a roll, which she bit into. Sam and Jamie were just about to sit down and open their provisions packs as well, when Rahne spoke. She had been sniffing the air increasingly uneasily, ever since Amara had opened her foodbag, and now she spoke, in an almost frantic tone of voice.
"No! Don't eat it! Don't eat any of it!"
"What are you talking about, Rahne?" Sam asked.
"The food," said Rahne. "It smells wrong. I canna tell just what the matter with it is, but it smells - tainted."
"You're sure of that?" said Jamie.
"My nose has nae deceived me yet," said the young Scottish mutant in an almost defiant tone of voice. "This food is bad."
"Spoiled, you mean?" asked Sam. "Or poisoned?"
"No, it's something else," said Rahne. "I've never smelt it before, so I dinna know exactly what it is, but it does nae smell the way it ought to. Somebody has done something to it."
Sam and Jamie quickly dropped their as yet unopened foodpacks, while Amara lowered the roll in her hand, looking at it uncomfortably. "You're not serious are you, Rahne?" she asked.
"I mean it," said Rahne. "I knew that there was something wrong wi' our host. Don't any o' ye eat any o' it."
"It's a little too late there," said Amara, in a worried tone of voice. "At least, as far as I'm concerned. I've already started." She stood up, then suddenly staggered, and sat down hurriedly again, looking dizzy. The other three youngsters stared at her in alarm.
Sam and Rahne rushed to her side at once, while Jamie watched with widening eyes. "How do you feel?" Sam asked her.
"Very strange, actually," said Amara, clutching her forehead. Her eyes were becoming unfocused, and there was an odd lilt in her voice. "Not actually ill so much as - well, different." Then she lost her balance, and fell over on one side into the snow.
"Amara!" cried Sam, grabbing hold of her and shaking her. "Snap out of it!" When she made no move, he turned to Rahne. "What are we going to do now? We're miles away from a hospital."
"That's nae our only problem," said Rahne, sniffing the air uncomfortably. "We've company!"
From out of the trees rode a small body of knights, looking like the same ones that they had fought yesterday. They spurred forward, heading for the four young mutants. "Take them all!" shouted their leader. "But especially her!" He pointed to a now unconscious Amara, lying prone upon the ground.
Rahne shifted into her wolf-form again, and stood before Amara, growling. Sam and Jamie joined her. "If you want her, come and get her!" Sam shouted.
"That we have every intent to do," answered the chief knight. With that, he spurred his horse straight for them, at a swift gallop. So speedily did it charge at them that before Rahne and Sam quite knew it, they had been shoved out of its path forcibly, Rahne landing in the snow to the right, Sam to the left, next to Jamie. The knight bent down over Amara and lifted her up into the saddle.
Sam hurled himself at the Nova Roman princess's abductor, but another horseman intercepted his attack, only to be knocked out of the saddle, allowing Sam to take his place upon the horse. Rahne was surrounded by a few cautious-looking riders, snarling at them. Jamie ran up to Sam, two more knights after him, and Sam hauled him up onto his horse. With Jamie clinging frantically behind him, he rode straight at the ring of knights besetting Rahne, pell-mell.
The horsemen scattered at his approach, but some turned their mounts about, and charged at the Kentucky youth. A few others made for Rahne again, driving her into the woods and following her into their depths.
"I think that there are too many of them," said Sam worriedly, as the knights headed straight for him. "We'll have to get out of here."
"But what about the others?" asked Jamie. "I mean, they've got Amara -"
"I know, and the way things are going now, we won't be able to rescue her on our own," said Sam. "We'll have to find help." And with that, he turned his horse around, and rode off, Jamie still hanging on behind him. More of the knights followed him, but a few lingered around their leader. He sat on his horse in the center of the clearing, looking down at his still- unconscious prisoner.
* * *
"We only have one of them," said one of the knights in disappointment and even disgust. "The other three escaped."
"Not for long, Vilmeid," said Heimir. "We have the werewolf and the two lads in pursuit; they cannot hope to elude us for long. And at least this one is ours now. A pity that the werewolf's keen nose alerted the others to the food that we supplied Loki with for their provisions. But no matter. At least our faerie-food has claimed one victim."
Amara murmured something inaudible, before falling into a deeper state of unconsciousness. Her ears were slowly becoming larger and pointed at the tips, while her face began to shift shape, becoming more angular.
"Soon, this maid of Muspelheim will be one of us," said Heimir, smiling approvingly.