A/n: A fun little chapter. Laughable. Sorry to end on that cliff hanger. I know all of you loved it though!

Chapter Thirteen

We all turned, weapons in our hands, to face them. The largest one, standing in the middle, rose his hand, uttering a horrible scream. Before we knew what hit us, forest plunged into darkness.

A ringing echoed through the forest, mingling with the sounds of thundering hooves, heading towards us. "Go!" someone cried.

They didn't need to tell me twice. Even though I couldn't see the horse's head in front of me, I kicked him hard and tried to follow the sound of hooves in front of me. Terrified, I heard an ugly panting behind me. The deafening footsteps were getting closer. The air around me seemed to be getting…colder. I was becoming paralyzed, my chest was heaving for breath. My hands and feet were becoming numb. My eyes were closing. I could feel myself growing increasingly weak atop my horse. In a last attempt to save myself, I pulled my sword feebly from it's sheath and shoved it behind me. I felt myself skewer something immediately. The cold began to disperse as an earth shattering, piercing scream erupted from whatever I'd stabbed. I pulled my sword back, trying to put it back in it's sheath, slicing my finger open in the process.

"Damn it!" I cried, finally pushing it back into place.

I continued to follow the sound of the horse in front of me. Finally, after almost a half an hour of riding, light burst back into the world, and I could finally see where I was going. The horse in front of me stopped too, and it's rider got down. My jaw dropped. Riders. As in, two of them.

"Dear Lady, Princess Nora Rose!" the voice said. "You look worse than death."

It was Tom. Mac was right next to him.

I slid off my horse unhappily and closed my eyes. "I don't feel so well," I replied, sitting down against a tree.

It was the truth. I was dizzy, and tired. My finger, the one the sword had split open, was beginning to tingle. My mouth went dry. "Tom?" I croaked. "Do you have any water?"

He nodded and walked to the horse. Mac sat down next to me. "Are you all right, Nora?" he asked. "You're burning up."

I laid my head against the tree. "I'm freezing," I replied. "And my finger is killing me."

Tom tossed his canteen in my lap. "Drink," he said. "You truly do look sick."

I opened the canteen and poured the water in my mouth. It quenched my thirst and I felt a bit better, but my finger was aching. I continued to drink until I felt better. "It's my finger," I said. "It hurts- bad."

"Lemme see," he replied, sitting down next to me and examining the cut. "You did quite a number on yourself, Nora. This is a deep wound, and it's covered in this blue slime."

I laughed idly. "Well, at least it's not infected," I joked.

"Its not funny," Mac said. "Where's your sword? Is there something on that, Tom?"

Tom pulled out my sword and examined it. There seemed to be the same blue liquid all over it too. "What in the Lady's name did you stab, Nora?" he cried. "This stuff isn't human."

I nodded. "If course it's not, half wit. It'd Oder-"

"Shh!" Mac cried, pressing his finger to my lips. "Do you hear that?"

We sat in silence for a moment before I heard what he was talking about. There it was again, that horrible sound of rumbling hooves. I stood up wearily and headed to my horse, staggering to get myself on top of it. I was still lightheaded, and now I was becoming breathless.

"What are you doing?" Tom said. "You've got to get down, you'll hurt yourself."

I laughed bitterly, which promptly turned into a wheeze. "Tom, I'll be fine," I puffed. "You've never cared before, anyway."

The sound was getting closer. "Come on, Nora," Tom said, grabbing my arm. "I'm serious."

"So am I!" I cried, small dots appearing in front of my eyes. "We've got to get out of here."

Mac stood up and pointed his staff towards the road. "It's too late for that now," he yelled. "They're about to get here."

A panting horse grew nearer, until it finally rounded the bend. We all drew out our swords and pointed it at the intruder. The man atop the horse started laughing. It was just Sam.

"Sam!" Tom cried. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you three!" he replied, getting down from his horse. "We were worried the Oderians had gotten you."

I wheeze-laughed again. "Never," I said, swaying on my saddle.

Mac snorted. "Don't be so cocky, Nora," he replied, "Show Sam your cut."

"It's nothing," I whispered, placing my hand behind my back, trying to steady myself and conceal my wound. I was growing more lightheaded and nauseous by the second. "It's but a scratch."

"Nora, let me see," Sam chided.

I slid unsteadily off the horse. When I hit the ground, my knees buckled and I tumbled over. Tom caught me and held out my hand like a child. Sam touched my finger, brushing his fingers against the wound. I flinched. He picked at some of the blue stuff, rubbing it between his fingers, and sniffing it.

"Where did this come from?" he asked me.

"Its all over my sword," I slurred. "Stabbed something while I was riding… Oderian…"

Everything starting getting a little fuzzy. The last thing I remember was Sam saying, "Come on. Joss will help you."

I suddenly sat up, looking around. I shielded my eyes immediately. The soft light of dawn was barreled into my eyes, blinding me momentarily. I was in the middle of the woods, covered in a damp blanket. The blankets around me began to stir as well. I saw Ophelia sit up and rub her eyes, and then Chaz. One by one, everyone sat up and yawned.

"Nora!" Sidney cried. "You're awake!"

Everyone looked in my direction, clamoring about the fact that I'd been asleep for two straight days and that they were scared I'd died, or something equally as frightening.

Tom tossed me his canteen as everyone got up and sat down around me. "Drink it," he said sternly. "It's more than just water, anyway."

"What did you put in it?" I asked suspiciously.

Jocelyn laughed. "He didn't put anything in it," she replied. "I made you a health draught. There's still some left. Drink it!"

I opened the canteen and sniffed it's contents. A pungent odor forced my head back. "In the Lady's name, Jocelyn, what did you put in this?" I asked.

"Um… just some bloomwood bark," she said innocently, looking around at everyone else, who nodded along with her. "And some whoofigorn lorin…"

"What was the last part?" I replied. "You kind of trailed off at the end… I didn't hear you."

"Unicorn urine!" Sam blurted out, laughing hysterically.

The others started laughing too, falling over each other and shaking like little children. "Come on, Sam!" Jocelyn cried. "Why'd you tell her? Now she won't drink it!"

"Yes I will," I replied with a giggle. "Anything from a unicorn, even urine, has healing powers, I know that."

I put the canteen to my lips and thrust my head back, allowing the liquid inside to seep down my throat. It certainly wasn't as runny as I thought it would be; it was really more of a nutty sludge. I didn't like it's slimy texture, but I polished off the entire canteen. Just to prove that I could handle unicorn urine.

After a few moments of silence, I admitted, "I do feel better."

"Good," said Chaz. "Because we need some answers from you."

"Explain to us what happened!" Ophelia cried. "We were so worried."

"Okay," I said. "When it went black, I took off following the sound of the horse in front of me. It ended up being Tom's, but that's irrelevant right now. I could hear the sound of the Oderian horse behind me, and he was using some sort of magic to make me feel very cold, and very weak. I was having trouble breathing. Did that happen to you, Tom?"

He shook his head. "Not me," he replied.

"Or me," Mac said.

"Hmmm…." I thought. "Anyway, as a last resort to save myself, I pulled my sword out and stuck it behind me, hoping I'd stab something. I did, and I felt it get warmer, so I thought I'd gotten it. But when I was trying to stick my sword back in it's sheath, I sliced open my finger. When I stopped riding a little while later, when it was light, I felt really lightheaded and weird. The blue goo that was on my finger was all over my sword. Tom gave me some water, Sam came, and then I passed out."

"That's really bizarre," Chaz said. "Nothing like that happened to any of us. In fact, the only Oderian seemed to chase you."

"You mean there wasn't anyone following you?" I asked everyone else.

They shook their heads. Guilt ebbed over me. This was my fault. I was endangering all of their lives. They could have died…all because of me and my stupid curse and my stupid quest. I didn't want that hanging over my head. I didn't want to kill all of them.

"Nora?" Sam said. "What are you waiting for?"

I noticed everyone around me standing up, heading for their horses. "What?" I asked, standing.

"Come on!" he replied. "We're going to be in Frell soon."

I nodded and saddled up my horse. I was feeling back to my normal self, besides the unnecessary responsibility that was hanging over my head. As we rode, I developed a plan as to what I was going to do. In the dead of the night, tonight, I was going to sneak off and head to Frell on my own. I couldn't risk anyone's life, I didn't want to put myself through that shame.

We rode for most of the day, stopping only to eat lunch. While we stopped, Sidney accompanied me to the river to get some water. What was a seemly awkward situation actually became somewhat interesting.

"Nora, I'm sorry," he divulged as soon as we weren't in earshot of the camp. "I truly am."

"For what, Sidney?" I asked.

"For being so pompous the last few days," he replied. "I know I shouldn't have treated Sam and everyone that way, but I've been so strained lately, and I took it out on them…"

"For the Lady's sake, Sidney, why on earth are you worried?" I asked plainly.

Sidney looked me in the eye, and opened his mouth to speak. He suddenly shuddered and closed his eyes. With another bizarre shudder, he opened his eyes and I felt his gaze cut through me.

"Sidney?" I asked. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," he said, somewhat huffily. His voice was emotionless. "As I was saying, you've got no idea how hard it is to be the handsome prince, always saving everyone."

I stopped walking and looked at him. "Are you serious?" I asked.

"Let's face it, without me, Nora, you'll be asleep forever," he replied.

I gave him a haughty look. "You can't be serious," I said.

"Why would I be joking?" he replied.

"Sidney!" I cried. "It's not about you! We're a whole, it's not a commanding one person…"

"Oh, of course. I'm terribly sorry Nora. Lady forbid I take away from your fame, princess," he spat.

I got really close to him. There was a suspicious air about him that I didn't understand. I looked deep, deep into his eyes again. They were glazing over, but that wasn't the disturbing part. Around his pupil, where it was normally blue, his eyes seem to be clouded over. It looked as though there was a tumbling cloud blocking his sight.

"Sidney, what's wrong with you?" I asked, shaking him. "You've not normal."

He pushed me off him. "I'm fine," he said, walking to the river.

Bending over, he filled the large basin with the cool water from the river. Then, without warning, he keeled over into the water. Without a scream, I dashed to the riverbank and dove in. The water was freezing, but clear. Opening my eyes underwater, I found Sidney and pulled him up immediately. Pushing him onto the bank, I pulled myself up and looked at him. He shuddered again, coughed, and opened his eyes. He was normal again.

"What just happened?" he asked, sitting up. "What did I do?"

I sat back, sopping wet and somewhat angry. "You were telling me how it's exhausting saving everyone because you're a handsome prince. You were telling me how I wouldn't have a chance without you," I explained.

"What?" he cried. "I didn't say that!"

I nodded. "Yes, you did," I replied. "What's going on, Sidney? You haven't been yourself lately."

He stood up and started walking back to the other. "No kidding," he muttered.

"Tell me what's wrong," I said. "Tell me, I want to help you."

"You wouldn't understand, Nora," he said. "You don't get it. I want to help you, I really do. But…but something's not right within me. I can't explain it."

I hugged him. "I understand," I replied. "If you need anything, let me know. We've been best friends since we were little, don't you remember? I'll always be here for you."

That night, I made sure to stay up later than anyone else. I didn't change into my nightclothes, or eat my dinner. In fact, at the moment, I was wrapped in my blanket, fully dressed, laying on the ground. I heard a store erupt from Tom. It's safe to go now. Tom was always the last one asleep.

I stood up silently and looked at the people sleeping at my feet. I didn't want to go, but I knew I had to. I had no choice, I didn't want to put them in danger. Noiselessly, I walked to my horse and untied her quietly. Not wanting the sound of her gallop to wake anyone, I figured I'd lead her far away, and then mount her and ride to Frell.

As I began walking away, silent tears fell from my eyes. There I was, wallowing in self-pity, when I felt something sharp prod my back. "Not so fast," a deep voice rumbled. "Where do you think you're going?"

A/n: Oops. I did it again. Sorry about the Britney reference. I couldn't help myself. Anyway, another evil cliffhanger. Review!!