Escape
Cassandra and Diana stared at the wolf dumfounded. Megan frowned.
"I told you it's dangerous to talk in front of strangers!" she hissed. "These are the princesses and they will tell on us to the king!"
"I think they won't," answered the wolf. "Because they are not allowed to become mages yet they are asking you to teach them. I think they are not going to tell the king without having to tell him that they were down here learning illegal magic."
The wolf grinned and Diana finally came back to herself.
"I will not tell the king if you teach us to be mages!" she offered.
"There's a good deal," the wolf answered.
"How is it that you are a wolf that can talk?" asked Diana.
The wolf gave her a look with a mixture of pain and sorrow. He sighed or as close to as a wolf can get to a sigh and started to change. His body reshaped and cracked. Wings protruded from his back and he shrank. A crow stood where he had been and it flew up onto the table.
"Well I'll explain my predicament to you," Jake said flapping his wings. "Long ago I was a great warrior. I fought in many battles and had a reputation of always winning. I loved hunting and killing for sport with animals too. When I killed a deer and had gone to take it for my collection a man walked over to me as if he had come out of no where. He told me that he was the guardian of the forest and all those that lived in it. He was angry that I had killed one of his animals for sport. He punished me in the worst way I could ever imagine. He cursed me and used his magic to turn me into a wolf. He told me that I would be able change my shape at will but only into those that I had killed and not my own body. Changing forms was painful at first but I became used to the pain. Now I live down here with Megan. I sometimes go up into the castle but not often and in the same form every time."
"So you can turn into only what you have killed," Diana said pitying him. "I to have a curse but different from yours."
"What curse could you have princess?" asked Jake. "The curse of luxury!"
"My curse is that I have a power that surpasses all others and everyone wants it," Diana snapped, "I am forced to live in secrecy and yet soldiers of the shadows still attack me."
"You call that your curse, what kind of curse improves your abilities so much that is surpasses any other?" He asked, "That isn't even a curse! It's a gift!"
"It is not!" Diana growled back.
"Enough!" Megan snapped, "We have to get along."
"I agree," Cassandra said.
"I'm sorry," Diana, said. "I guess I'm just a bit paranoid after what happened."
"It's my fault I shouldn't have yelled at you," Jake apologized. "I won't do it again."
"Good," Megan said, "Now you two had better get back to your bedroom before someone comes looking for you."
"I'm not going through that chamber again!" Diana said.
"Don't worry there is a passageway that leads from down here to the servant kitchen," Megan explained. "You can take that passage and go to your room from there."
Diana and Cassandra nodded. Megan led them through the passageway and to the kitchens. There Megan left them and they made their way back to their bedroom on their own. Apon arrival they both noticed something was wrong. The presents were scattered about the floor instead of in a pile and their drawers were open with many of their clothes hanging out.
"My sword!" Diana gasped running over to the dresser.
She opened the hidden side compartment. Luckily all of her precious possessions had not been disturbed but there was a small piece of cloth stuck on the top of her dresser. When she looked closer at the top of her desk there were strange markings in the wood. They seemed to make out words.
They are your worst nightmare A shiver chilled Diana's spine as the words sunk in. There was something strange about the words though. Some of the letters were underlined but not the rest. The underlined letters spelt out run. Without a second to spare Diana ran over to her closet and pulled out her knapsack.
"What are you doing?" asked Cassandra.
"Were running," Diana responded.
"Why?" exclaimed Cassandra.
"Look at my desk!" Diana answered.
Cassandra stared at the desk and stood totally still. Her eyes widened then looked back at Diana.
"Why are you doing what it says?" asked Cassandra angrily.
"Look at the piece of ripped cloth on the side of the desk," Diana answered.
Cassandra picked up the piece of cloth and examined it.
"What about it?" She asked.
"Turn it over," Diana said.
Cassandra turned the piece of cloth over revealing Hawks family crest on the other side.
"Hawk couldn't have done this!" She exclaimed.
"He did," Diana answered.
"Why?" Cassandra asked the confusion aggravating her.
"These Shadow Warriors can take over minds and manipulate the people to do their bidding," Diana explained, "I know because when we were down in that dark hallway when that Shadow Warrior had me, he started to take over my mind. My guess is that Hawk wrote that note and left that piece of cloth as clues. We are in grave danger."
"How can you believe this?" asked Cassandra. "It's just a hunch!"
"Well it's better to follow instincts than nothing at all," Diana, explained. "Better safe than sorry!"
"But where will we run?" Cassandra asked thinking it over. "What if they want us to run?"
"We'll go somewhere they never thought we'd be," Diana answered. "My house."
"Won't they suspect something?" asked Cassandra. "It's rather obvious that you'd run to your old house."
"We'll decide where to go later then," Diana agreed. "But we have to get out of here!"
Diana continued to pack her clothes and left room for food from the kitchens. She then pulled out a pair of hide pants and a vest with a cloth shirt.
"We have to disguise ourselves," Diana said putting her jeans on. "Get that dress off and put on some peasant clothing."
"Alright," Cassandra said grabbing her cloth pants from her drawer then grumbled. "I hate peasant clothing."
Diana put on her short sleeve shirt and put on a rather old farmers hat than strapped on her sword. She took off her rings, bracelets and necklaces then put her mothers ring on her finger. Feeling safer with the ring on she finally felt ready to leave her home.
"Well I wish we didn't have to go in secret," Diana sighed.
"Won't mother and father find out?" asked Cassandra nervously putting on her short-sleeved shirt and jeans.
"That might raise a lot of suspicion." Diana said pondering, "But we can't tell them because the shadow warriors will find out faster. So let's make a quick escape."
Cassandra nodded and they both ran through the passageway to the kitchen. The servants greeted them happily and met Diana's request for food for a week. They gave her many different assortments of dried and smoked foot then put them all in their knapsacks. The servants seemed a little nervous to be giving Diana so much but they still did. When they finished Diana thanked them and she went straight to the secret passageway that lead from the kitchens to Megan's room.
"Why are we going there?" asked Cassandra following behind Diana.
"Because were taking Megan and Jake with us," she answered, "No one is safe here and we might even need protection."
"Whatever you say," Cassandra said shrugging. "But I don't think Jake will come."
"If he does or not it's his decision," Diana pointed out. "And we can't make him come."
"Let's hope he does," Cassandra responded.
They finally arrived and opened the door. Inside Megan and Jake (in wolf form) were just creating a new chair. The chair was made of beautiful wood and had many wonderful designs on it. Suddenly Megan looked up and was aware of Cassandra and Diana.
"Why are you here?" She asked carefully placing the chair on the floor. "I thought the first lesson would be tomorrow."
"I'm afraid it's something more urgent than a mage lesson," Diana replied. "We are running away."
"What?" Both Megan and Jake barked.
"It's a long story and we don't have that much time," Diana said quickly. "We came here to see if you would come with us."
Megan saw the pleading look in Diana's eyes and knew this was both important and true. The reason why they were running away must be pretty good.
"Alright just let me grab my stuff," Megan answered. "And don't leave without me."
Diana nodded as Megan ran off to find her knapsack. Everyone's gaze seemed to rest on Jake now.
"Are you going to come with us Jake?" asked Diana.
"I suppose I will have to," Jake answered. "There's not much point of me staying here any longer."
Happiness dawned apon Diana's face. At least they would have a shape shifter on their side! Within seconds Megan came running back out of her room with a knapsack on her back.
"We had better..." She started but stopped and listened for a second.
A loud thumping noise came from the other side of the door that led to the hall. Rushing Megan ran over and locked all of the doors except one.
"They're trying to get in!" Megan gasped.
The thumping continued and became more violent. The door shook and began to splinter. Without an escape route they would be trapped!
"Follow me!" She instructed running over to the one door she didn't lock.
Without a second to spare Megan opened the door and let everyone in before closing it again. She took out her key and locked it.
"That will not hold them for long!" She exclaimed. "Run!"
Sure enough they ran. Without looking back or slowing down they dashed through the tunnel and forced the thoughts of what would happen if they got caught into the back of their minds. Diana concentrated on running. Step, step, step, left, right, left, right she had to keep moving, she had to keep her pace. When light was finally visible at the end of the tunnel they did not slow down but speed up at the hope of escape. Just as they reached the end of the tunnel they heard a loud crash coming from behind them.
"They broke through the door!" Megan gasped.
She grabbed a bow and arrow from her side and quickly strung an arrow. With deadly accuracy she hit a tiny rock at the mouth of the cave. The rest of the rocks fell, crashing and smashing sending large clouds of dust into the air. When it had finally finished the mouth of the cave was completely blocked.
"That was close!" Diana panted.
"Were not out of trouble yet!" Cassandra exclaimed.
She pointed towards the gates of the castle. The tunnel had led them out of the castle grounds and past the wall. At the gates the king accompanied by many horsemen were taking a casual ride into the city. All it would take is one of the horsemen's gazes to shift and they would be caught. A row of bushes along the side of the castle gave Diana an idea.
"Hide in those bushes!" She said.
They dove into the bushes and made themselves less visible by digging deeper and hiding in the small openings between branches.
"This is not how I planned to leave," Cassandra muttered.
"Why how did you want to leave?" Asked Diana.
"I was planning to take maybe a couple of horses!" She answered. "And some money!"
"We have some money," Diana answered.
"Five Taces isn't enough to buy a small stick let alone our meals!" Cassandra complained.
"Well we can hunt for meals," Diana answered.
"That's not such a good idea," Jake said.
"Why?" asked Diana.
Jake frowned.
"Oh never mind that!" Diana rolled her eyes. "You said yourself that you were hunting for sport! And we can also eat berries and other fruits plus I have enough food from the kitchens to last us a week."
"I think they're all gone," Megan said reminding them of the horsemen. "They're all out of sight! Now's our chance so lets go!"
Megan jumped out of the bushes and the rest of them hastily followed.
"Where are we going?" Diana whispered.
"We're going somewhere they'll never look!" Megan replied, "my sister's house."
Diana was struck dumfounded. Since when did Megan have a sister? They continued to run, being cooped up in the castle for so long Diana had not been ready for this, and finally made it to the safety of the woods. The trees loomed over them like giants and hung their branches down as they creaked and cried. Vines hung from the trees and littered the forest floor. The grass was short and many weeds drained the water from the ground choking the forest. Brambles and seeds caught their legs and clung to them as they ran. This forest was huge.
Cassandra and Diana stared at the wolf dumfounded. Megan frowned.
"I told you it's dangerous to talk in front of strangers!" she hissed. "These are the princesses and they will tell on us to the king!"
"I think they won't," answered the wolf. "Because they are not allowed to become mages yet they are asking you to teach them. I think they are not going to tell the king without having to tell him that they were down here learning illegal magic."
The wolf grinned and Diana finally came back to herself.
"I will not tell the king if you teach us to be mages!" she offered.
"There's a good deal," the wolf answered.
"How is it that you are a wolf that can talk?" asked Diana.
The wolf gave her a look with a mixture of pain and sorrow. He sighed or as close to as a wolf can get to a sigh and started to change. His body reshaped and cracked. Wings protruded from his back and he shrank. A crow stood where he had been and it flew up onto the table.
"Well I'll explain my predicament to you," Jake said flapping his wings. "Long ago I was a great warrior. I fought in many battles and had a reputation of always winning. I loved hunting and killing for sport with animals too. When I killed a deer and had gone to take it for my collection a man walked over to me as if he had come out of no where. He told me that he was the guardian of the forest and all those that lived in it. He was angry that I had killed one of his animals for sport. He punished me in the worst way I could ever imagine. He cursed me and used his magic to turn me into a wolf. He told me that I would be able change my shape at will but only into those that I had killed and not my own body. Changing forms was painful at first but I became used to the pain. Now I live down here with Megan. I sometimes go up into the castle but not often and in the same form every time."
"So you can turn into only what you have killed," Diana said pitying him. "I to have a curse but different from yours."
"What curse could you have princess?" asked Jake. "The curse of luxury!"
"My curse is that I have a power that surpasses all others and everyone wants it," Diana snapped, "I am forced to live in secrecy and yet soldiers of the shadows still attack me."
"You call that your curse, what kind of curse improves your abilities so much that is surpasses any other?" He asked, "That isn't even a curse! It's a gift!"
"It is not!" Diana growled back.
"Enough!" Megan snapped, "We have to get along."
"I agree," Cassandra said.
"I'm sorry," Diana, said. "I guess I'm just a bit paranoid after what happened."
"It's my fault I shouldn't have yelled at you," Jake apologized. "I won't do it again."
"Good," Megan said, "Now you two had better get back to your bedroom before someone comes looking for you."
"I'm not going through that chamber again!" Diana said.
"Don't worry there is a passageway that leads from down here to the servant kitchen," Megan explained. "You can take that passage and go to your room from there."
Diana and Cassandra nodded. Megan led them through the passageway and to the kitchens. There Megan left them and they made their way back to their bedroom on their own. Apon arrival they both noticed something was wrong. The presents were scattered about the floor instead of in a pile and their drawers were open with many of their clothes hanging out.
"My sword!" Diana gasped running over to the dresser.
She opened the hidden side compartment. Luckily all of her precious possessions had not been disturbed but there was a small piece of cloth stuck on the top of her dresser. When she looked closer at the top of her desk there were strange markings in the wood. They seemed to make out words.
They are your worst nightmare A shiver chilled Diana's spine as the words sunk in. There was something strange about the words though. Some of the letters were underlined but not the rest. The underlined letters spelt out run. Without a second to spare Diana ran over to her closet and pulled out her knapsack.
"What are you doing?" asked Cassandra.
"Were running," Diana responded.
"Why?" exclaimed Cassandra.
"Look at my desk!" Diana answered.
Cassandra stared at the desk and stood totally still. Her eyes widened then looked back at Diana.
"Why are you doing what it says?" asked Cassandra angrily.
"Look at the piece of ripped cloth on the side of the desk," Diana answered.
Cassandra picked up the piece of cloth and examined it.
"What about it?" She asked.
"Turn it over," Diana said.
Cassandra turned the piece of cloth over revealing Hawks family crest on the other side.
"Hawk couldn't have done this!" She exclaimed.
"He did," Diana answered.
"Why?" Cassandra asked the confusion aggravating her.
"These Shadow Warriors can take over minds and manipulate the people to do their bidding," Diana explained, "I know because when we were down in that dark hallway when that Shadow Warrior had me, he started to take over my mind. My guess is that Hawk wrote that note and left that piece of cloth as clues. We are in grave danger."
"How can you believe this?" asked Cassandra. "It's just a hunch!"
"Well it's better to follow instincts than nothing at all," Diana, explained. "Better safe than sorry!"
"But where will we run?" Cassandra asked thinking it over. "What if they want us to run?"
"We'll go somewhere they never thought we'd be," Diana answered. "My house."
"Won't they suspect something?" asked Cassandra. "It's rather obvious that you'd run to your old house."
"We'll decide where to go later then," Diana agreed. "But we have to get out of here!"
Diana continued to pack her clothes and left room for food from the kitchens. She then pulled out a pair of hide pants and a vest with a cloth shirt.
"We have to disguise ourselves," Diana said putting her jeans on. "Get that dress off and put on some peasant clothing."
"Alright," Cassandra said grabbing her cloth pants from her drawer then grumbled. "I hate peasant clothing."
Diana put on her short sleeve shirt and put on a rather old farmers hat than strapped on her sword. She took off her rings, bracelets and necklaces then put her mothers ring on her finger. Feeling safer with the ring on she finally felt ready to leave her home.
"Well I wish we didn't have to go in secret," Diana sighed.
"Won't mother and father find out?" asked Cassandra nervously putting on her short-sleeved shirt and jeans.
"That might raise a lot of suspicion." Diana said pondering, "But we can't tell them because the shadow warriors will find out faster. So let's make a quick escape."
Cassandra nodded and they both ran through the passageway to the kitchen. The servants greeted them happily and met Diana's request for food for a week. They gave her many different assortments of dried and smoked foot then put them all in their knapsacks. The servants seemed a little nervous to be giving Diana so much but they still did. When they finished Diana thanked them and she went straight to the secret passageway that lead from the kitchens to Megan's room.
"Why are we going there?" asked Cassandra following behind Diana.
"Because were taking Megan and Jake with us," she answered, "No one is safe here and we might even need protection."
"Whatever you say," Cassandra said shrugging. "But I don't think Jake will come."
"If he does or not it's his decision," Diana pointed out. "And we can't make him come."
"Let's hope he does," Cassandra responded.
They finally arrived and opened the door. Inside Megan and Jake (in wolf form) were just creating a new chair. The chair was made of beautiful wood and had many wonderful designs on it. Suddenly Megan looked up and was aware of Cassandra and Diana.
"Why are you here?" She asked carefully placing the chair on the floor. "I thought the first lesson would be tomorrow."
"I'm afraid it's something more urgent than a mage lesson," Diana replied. "We are running away."
"What?" Both Megan and Jake barked.
"It's a long story and we don't have that much time," Diana said quickly. "We came here to see if you would come with us."
Megan saw the pleading look in Diana's eyes and knew this was both important and true. The reason why they were running away must be pretty good.
"Alright just let me grab my stuff," Megan answered. "And don't leave without me."
Diana nodded as Megan ran off to find her knapsack. Everyone's gaze seemed to rest on Jake now.
"Are you going to come with us Jake?" asked Diana.
"I suppose I will have to," Jake answered. "There's not much point of me staying here any longer."
Happiness dawned apon Diana's face. At least they would have a shape shifter on their side! Within seconds Megan came running back out of her room with a knapsack on her back.
"We had better..." She started but stopped and listened for a second.
A loud thumping noise came from the other side of the door that led to the hall. Rushing Megan ran over and locked all of the doors except one.
"They're trying to get in!" Megan gasped.
The thumping continued and became more violent. The door shook and began to splinter. Without an escape route they would be trapped!
"Follow me!" She instructed running over to the one door she didn't lock.
Without a second to spare Megan opened the door and let everyone in before closing it again. She took out her key and locked it.
"That will not hold them for long!" She exclaimed. "Run!"
Sure enough they ran. Without looking back or slowing down they dashed through the tunnel and forced the thoughts of what would happen if they got caught into the back of their minds. Diana concentrated on running. Step, step, step, left, right, left, right she had to keep moving, she had to keep her pace. When light was finally visible at the end of the tunnel they did not slow down but speed up at the hope of escape. Just as they reached the end of the tunnel they heard a loud crash coming from behind them.
"They broke through the door!" Megan gasped.
She grabbed a bow and arrow from her side and quickly strung an arrow. With deadly accuracy she hit a tiny rock at the mouth of the cave. The rest of the rocks fell, crashing and smashing sending large clouds of dust into the air. When it had finally finished the mouth of the cave was completely blocked.
"That was close!" Diana panted.
"Were not out of trouble yet!" Cassandra exclaimed.
She pointed towards the gates of the castle. The tunnel had led them out of the castle grounds and past the wall. At the gates the king accompanied by many horsemen were taking a casual ride into the city. All it would take is one of the horsemen's gazes to shift and they would be caught. A row of bushes along the side of the castle gave Diana an idea.
"Hide in those bushes!" She said.
They dove into the bushes and made themselves less visible by digging deeper and hiding in the small openings between branches.
"This is not how I planned to leave," Cassandra muttered.
"Why how did you want to leave?" Asked Diana.
"I was planning to take maybe a couple of horses!" She answered. "And some money!"
"We have some money," Diana answered.
"Five Taces isn't enough to buy a small stick let alone our meals!" Cassandra complained.
"Well we can hunt for meals," Diana answered.
"That's not such a good idea," Jake said.
"Why?" asked Diana.
Jake frowned.
"Oh never mind that!" Diana rolled her eyes. "You said yourself that you were hunting for sport! And we can also eat berries and other fruits plus I have enough food from the kitchens to last us a week."
"I think they're all gone," Megan said reminding them of the horsemen. "They're all out of sight! Now's our chance so lets go!"
Megan jumped out of the bushes and the rest of them hastily followed.
"Where are we going?" Diana whispered.
"We're going somewhere they'll never look!" Megan replied, "my sister's house."
Diana was struck dumfounded. Since when did Megan have a sister? They continued to run, being cooped up in the castle for so long Diana had not been ready for this, and finally made it to the safety of the woods. The trees loomed over them like giants and hung their branches down as they creaked and cried. Vines hung from the trees and littered the forest floor. The grass was short and many weeds drained the water from the ground choking the forest. Brambles and seeds caught their legs and clung to them as they ran. This forest was huge.
