Kel was asleep before Dom reached the door. She slept with fitful dreams
all afternoon, until a healer noticed and put a spell on her for a
dreamless sleep. She woke late the next day, and was angered to find that
no one had woken her as early as she had asked.
She sat up in her bed, finding it much easier to do than the day before. Slowly, she pushed herself out of bed and stretched her legs.
"Lady Keladry!" One of the healers said, walking into the room. "You cannot be up and about yet!"
Kel frowned. "Neal told me I could leave this morning. Seeing as it is almost afternoon, I feel I may as well leave!" She said. The healer opened his mouth to argue, but Kel held up her hand. "Not a chance." She said. "I'm going." With that, she hobbled out the door.
Kel went straight back to her rooms and put on a fresh change of clothes. She stretched her legs and did a very quick pattern dance with her glaive to warm up, then went in search of her friends.
She found them at the knights armoury. "What is going on?" Kel demanded.
Neal turned. 'Kel, I'm sorry. But we have so much to prepare for! And you needed your sleep."
Kel sighed. "Fine. Do you know how far they are?"
Merric, working beside Neal, nodded. "Yep," he said. "They are going to be here by sundown tomorrow."
Kel was surprised. "I was that fast?"
Merric shrugged, inspecting a helmet right at his face. "It's not that hard to be faster than an army on foot."
Kel sighed. "I'm just glad I have time to recuperate."
Neal looked her in the eye. "Kel, be proud. If it were not for you, we would not know at all, and we would be in a really big hole."
Kel smiled. "You would, wouldn't you."
She looked around the armoury. Everyone looked comfortable. They were all experienced knights, who had seen many wars, and owned their own weapons and armour. They were already prepared.
But if Kel had been in the soldiers armoury, she would have seen the fear in men's eyes. Hundreds of men flooding in to get their weapons to keep for the next day, all cramming into the large rooms, the smell of fear in the air, the room quiet with anticipation. Or so she thought.
Kel organized her weapons quickly. She then went to the stables, where she was met with a most unpleasant surprise.
She had left Peachblossom at Mindelan. She had no war horse.
"Bloody hell." She muttered. She marched back up to the palace and walked straight to King Jon's office.
"I'm busy." His voice came through the door when she knocked.
Kel closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Your Majesty, it's Keladry. I need to speak with you."
Kel heard a shuffling, and the door opened. The king stared at her. "Yes?" He said.
"I left my horses at Mindelan." She said, getting straight to the point. She hoped that was what he wanted her to do. "I don't have a war horse until I get them back."
Jon sighed. "Alright. Go to the Training Master, ask if you can borrow one of his students horses. It is up to him whether he gives you one or not. And it is up to him to decide who's horse you get. You are not to argue his choices."
Kel nodded, then bowed. "Thank you, your majesty." He nodded to her, and she turned and walked down the hall to the training master's office.
"Come in." A gruff voice said.
Kel opened the door. "My lord." She bowed, and he bowed in return. "The king sent me to you. I left my horses I Mindelan on my way here, because they were dying from the ride. The horses that I brought here were in no way war horses. I was told to ask you for one of your students horses."
He nodded. Kel looked him over. He was shorter than her, by at least three inches, but he still held a presence. His dark skin had no scars like Wyldon's, but it was wrinkled from many years of life. His uniform was impeccable, even when he was just working in his office.
"I shall ask my students for a volunteer this evening at dinner. I should invite you to be my guest."
She didn't have time to be a dinner guest at the school, and she didn't have time to wait for a volunteer! But, being the proper Yamani and the proper knight she was, she nodded and bowed in thanks.
She kicked the wall outside of her room, but that didn't help. It just made her toe hurt. She stormed into her room and threw herself onto her bed. It felt surprisingly normal. After almost three months of dreaming of her bed, it didn't feel like she had remembered it.
Lying on her bed, feeling it's normalcy, Kel realized what she was doing. She had done all of this work to tell the king about this army, and now, no one was quite taking her seriously. She had to do something. At the rate the Tortallans were going, they would be caught lounging by the river when an army came to kill them all.
She sat up and looked outside. It was no later than two o'clock. She still had time. She ran back down to the stables and found Stephan.
"Stephan!" She called out.
"Yes, Lady Keladry?" He said quietly, popping up behind her.
Kel almost jumped. "I need a horse. I know you don't have any spare war horses, I just need any horse."
He looked at her. "Why?" He asked.
Kel frowned, but Stephan had the presence that let him ask questions of anyone. "I want to go out for a ride. I don't have a horse."
Stephan nodded. "Very well, Lady Keladry." He disappeared through a doorway into the main part of the stables and emerged with a sad looking horse.
"He's old, yes, but he's still strong." Stephan said.
Kel smiled. "I don't doubt him. I've heard of worse." She said, taking the reins. "Thank you." She turned back to Stephan. "Has Daine talked to him?"
The man smiled. "Of course."
Kel left the horse in the stables and went to get her armour. She knew she was silly to go without a proper war horse, but it would be insane to go without her armour.
She picked up some of her remaining griffin feather arrows to make sure she shot the people she needed to shoot, and wrapped her griffin feather band around her forehead, just in case.
"Kel!" Someone yelled. Kel took a deep breath and kept walking in a straight line. She was not stopping for anyone.
Owen ran up to her. "Kel! I called you, didn't you hear?"
Kel did not look at him. "I heard you, Owen."
His face fell. "Oh." He said quietly. "Where are you going?" He asked, noticing her armour.
"I have a war to fight, Owen."
His eyes grew large. 'But Kel, they aren't coming until tomorrow!"
"Owen, we don't have to just wait for them."
He stopped walking. Kel kept going. "You can't be..." he whispered.
Kel bit back tears. She would not stop. Owen ran to catch up with her again. "Kel, that's insane! You can't go out there yourself!"
Kel kept walking. "Yes I can, Owen. And I will." She said, her voice cracking with tears that she was still biting back.
"I have no effect on you, do I!" Owen snapped, and walked off in the other direction. Kel had never heard him angry.
Owen stormed off to Dom's room. "Dom, open up!" He said.
Dom opened the door. "Owen. You're not smiling." He said, looking confused.
Owen frowned. "You might want to know that Kel is on her way to kill herself." He said.
"What?" Dom cried.
Owen nodded. "I tried to stop her, but she thinks that she is the only one who can do this. She won't listen to me."
Dom groaned. "Thanks, Owen. I've got to go."
He ran down to the stables and caught up with Kel just as she was getting to the stables. "Kel!" He said, slowing down and trying to catch his breath. "I didn't even know you were up, and you're going off to get yourself killed?"
Kel looked at him. "I am going to save Tortall." She said. "If that kills me, so be it."
Dom grabbed her by the shoulders. "Kel, this is insane! The king said you had free use of any men or weapons you wanted."
Kel glared. "Well, he didn't seem to feel that way about horses, so I assumed men would be the same."
Dom sighed. "Kel, I know I can't stop you from doing this, but can you wait an hour for me to gather some men?"
Kel looked at him. He looked scared for her. Kel couldn't feel it through her armour, but she could see his hands shaking slightly. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Fine." She said. "If you are not here in one hour, I am leaving without you."
Dom hugged her. "Just wait, please." He said, and ran back up the hill to find Raoul.
As the bell rang from the tower marking the hour, Kel found that she had a small battalion assembled.
She looked around. Almost fifty men, most of them from the Own, as well as some of her friends.
"You always come." She muttered.
Raoul walked up to her and put his arm around her. "Well, Commander, I hear your horse is not adequate for this trip. I think we will have to do something about that."
He led her around the main stables to the Own's stables. "I think I have a few spares." He said, presenting her with a fresh war horse. "And yes, Daine spoke to her."
Kel smiled. "Maybe waiting for Dom was not such a bad idea. What is his name?" She asked.
He shrugged. "It's up to you."
Kel glared at him. "Now I have to think of something."
Raoul handed her the reins. "You have the entire ride to think about that." He said, and disappeared with his horse.
Kel sighed. "Welcome to the family, Apple." She said. "I think that's as detailed as I'm going to get. Apple."
She led the horse out to the waiting men. "Alright." She said, in her most commanding voice. "We are going to stay at a fast trot down the main road. The sparrows," the sparrows fluttered down to her. "will stay ahead as warning, just as they always do. I hope you are all ready for this."
She threw herself onto her horse and started at a trot. Jump ran alongside the horse. It looked slightly agitated that he was there, but did not make any moves to step on him.
They rode for almost two hours before there was any signs. The lead sparrows came flying at Kel, making the sign for enemy. Dom assigned a scout to climb the highest tree. He was up there for fifteen minutes.
"There are 5000 men, just as Lady Keladry said. They are incredibly organized. And they are about half an hour away, if we ride towards them. An hour if we wait." He tucked his spyglass away and slid down the tree.
Kel thought about it. She looked around. Small cliffs, only ten metres high, but still a great height for Kel, lined the road at one point. They were about twenty metres apart, large enough for the army to walk through without going up the sides. It was perfect.
"I want thirty men on the cliffs with bows. You shoot when the first men are just at the end of the cliffs. If you shoot too early, they will back up and all of them will be able to climb up. If you shoot too late, they will be too far through, and they will be able to continue through. And aim carefully. When you run out of arrows, go down the hill and around the cliffs to fight the men that try to push their way around the cliffs to get to the archers. And I want ten men, five on each side, doing that in the first place.
"I want ten people to be a barricade at the end. The second the first arrow flies, you ten go to the front and stop them from going through. The other ten or so men, you will go around and attack from the back. Hopefully we can squeeze most of them into this area, making it an easy defeat.
"If anyone is injured, go to the cliff on the east side of the road. Neal will be there performing healings.
"I will send the sparrows if something is wrong. If the sparrows signal to retreat, listen to them! They will only say that on my order. If they tell you to look at me, look at me, and I will signal you that the plans are changed, or what ever it is. I will be on the cliff with the archers, east side. Raoul will be leading the barricade, Merric will be leading the attack at the back, and Dom will be leading the archers on the west side. As I already said, Neal will be healing on the east side. Any questions?"
She looked around at all the men. They all looked as determined as her. "There is only one thing left for me to do." She said. "I have to go see if they've got any magic." Just as she took off her helmet to adjust her griffin band, Dom snatched it off her head.
"That is what Goode is for. He is a scout. And he isn't scared of heights."
Kel frowned. "I'm fine." She said, reaching for the band.
Dom raised an eyebrow. "We don't want you vomiting up your lunch. You need that sustenance." He smiled. "Besides, by the time you got to the top, the enemy would be here."
Kel glared at him. "Fine." She growled. "Everyone to you places! Goode, you are going to be on the east side, so you can tell me what you see."
He nodded. Dom tossed him the griffin band and he climbed quickly up the tree. It was true, by the time he was climbing down, Kel would still have been on her way up.
"My Lady," he said, when he came to rest beside her. "There is magic involved. They are as organized as they looked, but we have a few more things to worry about."
Kel winced. "They have more men, don't they."
He shook his head. "Not many, but they are on creatures. I did not know what all of them were, but they seemed to be immortals. I saw spidrens, hurroks, dragons, even griffins, basilisks, a few Stormwings in the air, three tauros, and a few ogres. There were at least three I have never seen.
"It was nothing like I had ever seen, My Lady." He said. "They did not look like they wanted war. They looked strange. I think they are being controlled."
Kel cut him off. "Thank you, Goode." She said to the rambling scout. "go to the end of the line and get ready." She looked across the valley at Dom. He was not looking at her. She waved her arm. "Dom!" She hissed.
He looked up at her, and she signalled for him to come over. Looking confused, he nodded and disappeared behind the hill of the cliff. A moment later, he appeared by her side.
"Do you have any of those griffin feather arrows I gave you?"
"Yeah, three, why?" He said.
"Pull the feathers off one arrow and give them to you and your two best archers. I am going to give my feathers away as well. There is a lot of magic here. And a lot of immortals."
He frowned. "How many?"
Kel shrugged. "I don't know. About fifty, maybe a hundred. I just know its too many. Look, we don't have time for discussion. Just give men the feathers, I'm going to give some to Raoul. You go to Merric, alright? And please, stay hidden!"
He nodded and they split off in different directions. After explaining it to Raoul, Kel ran back to her spot where she set up her glaive, sword, and axes beside her, and strung her bow.
Now all they had to do was wait for the army over one hundred times their size.
.....................................................................................................
I am so evil. I love it!
Well, I hope to update soon...but I'm pretty busy this week. What are you all going to do when I go to camp?
Lady of Masbolle: weird. Glad you like it. And no more cold! Yay! I think it was allergies, actually...
Tanydwr: actually, it took her a while, at least for my writing. It took three or four chapters to reveal what it was, did it not? And then one chapter covered three months...
Rubber Duck: thank you! five...wow. that's a lot. Actually, I plan to see Harry Potter at least that many times, so... you live in Aussie land? That's cool...I want to go there. It's crazy...because of my school's exchanges, I know people all over the world, and now I know four people in Australia. Just my little piece of random information. Anyway, they've sent me pictures and stuff...and it looks so cool! (I also fell in love with it watching the Olympics)
Fyliwion: I will, some day. I just have about twenty five books to read this summer, and they are all serious books... I've got the Stone Angel, Such a Long Journey, Dance of the Happy Shades, Barney's Version, and way too many more to list off. I think I actually have twenty five to read. I'm really going off on some serious tangents today, aren't I?
Wake-Robin: I don't quite know...
Mage Light: I have been working really hard, trying to make up for the two months I will be gone...
AJ 4EVA: danke. Glad you liked it.
Lonewolf etc.: she never said there weren't.
Lady Knight Wolfy: well, I think that everything the animals do is unbelievable. There will be more romance, at some point. I just have trouble putting romance and action together, but when I don't, I get these waves of romance, then action, then back again, and they really bother me.
Lady of Masbolle: cool. That is my goal. It means you are engrossed in it. Thanks!
Tricksters-daughter: thank you.
Well, that is all for today (or at least now).
I am going to say this in every chapter that I post, in case I don't get another out: I will be leaving for camp in a week and a half, and then no more chapters for any stories for over two months. So sorry. I'll try not to leave you on a cliffhanger. (wouldn't it be funny if this was the last chapter I got up?...)
"I bet when the Neanderthal kids would make a snowman, someone would always end up saying, "Don't forget the thick, heavy brows." Then they would all get embarrassed because they remembered they had the big hunky brows too, and they'd get mad and eat the snowman."
-unolimbo
She sat up in her bed, finding it much easier to do than the day before. Slowly, she pushed herself out of bed and stretched her legs.
"Lady Keladry!" One of the healers said, walking into the room. "You cannot be up and about yet!"
Kel frowned. "Neal told me I could leave this morning. Seeing as it is almost afternoon, I feel I may as well leave!" She said. The healer opened his mouth to argue, but Kel held up her hand. "Not a chance." She said. "I'm going." With that, she hobbled out the door.
Kel went straight back to her rooms and put on a fresh change of clothes. She stretched her legs and did a very quick pattern dance with her glaive to warm up, then went in search of her friends.
She found them at the knights armoury. "What is going on?" Kel demanded.
Neal turned. 'Kel, I'm sorry. But we have so much to prepare for! And you needed your sleep."
Kel sighed. "Fine. Do you know how far they are?"
Merric, working beside Neal, nodded. "Yep," he said. "They are going to be here by sundown tomorrow."
Kel was surprised. "I was that fast?"
Merric shrugged, inspecting a helmet right at his face. "It's not that hard to be faster than an army on foot."
Kel sighed. "I'm just glad I have time to recuperate."
Neal looked her in the eye. "Kel, be proud. If it were not for you, we would not know at all, and we would be in a really big hole."
Kel smiled. "You would, wouldn't you."
She looked around the armoury. Everyone looked comfortable. They were all experienced knights, who had seen many wars, and owned their own weapons and armour. They were already prepared.
But if Kel had been in the soldiers armoury, she would have seen the fear in men's eyes. Hundreds of men flooding in to get their weapons to keep for the next day, all cramming into the large rooms, the smell of fear in the air, the room quiet with anticipation. Or so she thought.
Kel organized her weapons quickly. She then went to the stables, where she was met with a most unpleasant surprise.
She had left Peachblossom at Mindelan. She had no war horse.
"Bloody hell." She muttered. She marched back up to the palace and walked straight to King Jon's office.
"I'm busy." His voice came through the door when she knocked.
Kel closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Your Majesty, it's Keladry. I need to speak with you."
Kel heard a shuffling, and the door opened. The king stared at her. "Yes?" He said.
"I left my horses at Mindelan." She said, getting straight to the point. She hoped that was what he wanted her to do. "I don't have a war horse until I get them back."
Jon sighed. "Alright. Go to the Training Master, ask if you can borrow one of his students horses. It is up to him whether he gives you one or not. And it is up to him to decide who's horse you get. You are not to argue his choices."
Kel nodded, then bowed. "Thank you, your majesty." He nodded to her, and she turned and walked down the hall to the training master's office.
"Come in." A gruff voice said.
Kel opened the door. "My lord." She bowed, and he bowed in return. "The king sent me to you. I left my horses I Mindelan on my way here, because they were dying from the ride. The horses that I brought here were in no way war horses. I was told to ask you for one of your students horses."
He nodded. Kel looked him over. He was shorter than her, by at least three inches, but he still held a presence. His dark skin had no scars like Wyldon's, but it was wrinkled from many years of life. His uniform was impeccable, even when he was just working in his office.
"I shall ask my students for a volunteer this evening at dinner. I should invite you to be my guest."
She didn't have time to be a dinner guest at the school, and she didn't have time to wait for a volunteer! But, being the proper Yamani and the proper knight she was, she nodded and bowed in thanks.
She kicked the wall outside of her room, but that didn't help. It just made her toe hurt. She stormed into her room and threw herself onto her bed. It felt surprisingly normal. After almost three months of dreaming of her bed, it didn't feel like she had remembered it.
Lying on her bed, feeling it's normalcy, Kel realized what she was doing. She had done all of this work to tell the king about this army, and now, no one was quite taking her seriously. She had to do something. At the rate the Tortallans were going, they would be caught lounging by the river when an army came to kill them all.
She sat up and looked outside. It was no later than two o'clock. She still had time. She ran back down to the stables and found Stephan.
"Stephan!" She called out.
"Yes, Lady Keladry?" He said quietly, popping up behind her.
Kel almost jumped. "I need a horse. I know you don't have any spare war horses, I just need any horse."
He looked at her. "Why?" He asked.
Kel frowned, but Stephan had the presence that let him ask questions of anyone. "I want to go out for a ride. I don't have a horse."
Stephan nodded. "Very well, Lady Keladry." He disappeared through a doorway into the main part of the stables and emerged with a sad looking horse.
"He's old, yes, but he's still strong." Stephan said.
Kel smiled. "I don't doubt him. I've heard of worse." She said, taking the reins. "Thank you." She turned back to Stephan. "Has Daine talked to him?"
The man smiled. "Of course."
Kel left the horse in the stables and went to get her armour. She knew she was silly to go without a proper war horse, but it would be insane to go without her armour.
She picked up some of her remaining griffin feather arrows to make sure she shot the people she needed to shoot, and wrapped her griffin feather band around her forehead, just in case.
"Kel!" Someone yelled. Kel took a deep breath and kept walking in a straight line. She was not stopping for anyone.
Owen ran up to her. "Kel! I called you, didn't you hear?"
Kel did not look at him. "I heard you, Owen."
His face fell. "Oh." He said quietly. "Where are you going?" He asked, noticing her armour.
"I have a war to fight, Owen."
His eyes grew large. 'But Kel, they aren't coming until tomorrow!"
"Owen, we don't have to just wait for them."
He stopped walking. Kel kept going. "You can't be..." he whispered.
Kel bit back tears. She would not stop. Owen ran to catch up with her again. "Kel, that's insane! You can't go out there yourself!"
Kel kept walking. "Yes I can, Owen. And I will." She said, her voice cracking with tears that she was still biting back.
"I have no effect on you, do I!" Owen snapped, and walked off in the other direction. Kel had never heard him angry.
Owen stormed off to Dom's room. "Dom, open up!" He said.
Dom opened the door. "Owen. You're not smiling." He said, looking confused.
Owen frowned. "You might want to know that Kel is on her way to kill herself." He said.
"What?" Dom cried.
Owen nodded. "I tried to stop her, but she thinks that she is the only one who can do this. She won't listen to me."
Dom groaned. "Thanks, Owen. I've got to go."
He ran down to the stables and caught up with Kel just as she was getting to the stables. "Kel!" He said, slowing down and trying to catch his breath. "I didn't even know you were up, and you're going off to get yourself killed?"
Kel looked at him. "I am going to save Tortall." She said. "If that kills me, so be it."
Dom grabbed her by the shoulders. "Kel, this is insane! The king said you had free use of any men or weapons you wanted."
Kel glared. "Well, he didn't seem to feel that way about horses, so I assumed men would be the same."
Dom sighed. "Kel, I know I can't stop you from doing this, but can you wait an hour for me to gather some men?"
Kel looked at him. He looked scared for her. Kel couldn't feel it through her armour, but she could see his hands shaking slightly. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Fine." She said. "If you are not here in one hour, I am leaving without you."
Dom hugged her. "Just wait, please." He said, and ran back up the hill to find Raoul.
As the bell rang from the tower marking the hour, Kel found that she had a small battalion assembled.
She looked around. Almost fifty men, most of them from the Own, as well as some of her friends.
"You always come." She muttered.
Raoul walked up to her and put his arm around her. "Well, Commander, I hear your horse is not adequate for this trip. I think we will have to do something about that."
He led her around the main stables to the Own's stables. "I think I have a few spares." He said, presenting her with a fresh war horse. "And yes, Daine spoke to her."
Kel smiled. "Maybe waiting for Dom was not such a bad idea. What is his name?" She asked.
He shrugged. "It's up to you."
Kel glared at him. "Now I have to think of something."
Raoul handed her the reins. "You have the entire ride to think about that." He said, and disappeared with his horse.
Kel sighed. "Welcome to the family, Apple." She said. "I think that's as detailed as I'm going to get. Apple."
She led the horse out to the waiting men. "Alright." She said, in her most commanding voice. "We are going to stay at a fast trot down the main road. The sparrows," the sparrows fluttered down to her. "will stay ahead as warning, just as they always do. I hope you are all ready for this."
She threw herself onto her horse and started at a trot. Jump ran alongside the horse. It looked slightly agitated that he was there, but did not make any moves to step on him.
They rode for almost two hours before there was any signs. The lead sparrows came flying at Kel, making the sign for enemy. Dom assigned a scout to climb the highest tree. He was up there for fifteen minutes.
"There are 5000 men, just as Lady Keladry said. They are incredibly organized. And they are about half an hour away, if we ride towards them. An hour if we wait." He tucked his spyglass away and slid down the tree.
Kel thought about it. She looked around. Small cliffs, only ten metres high, but still a great height for Kel, lined the road at one point. They were about twenty metres apart, large enough for the army to walk through without going up the sides. It was perfect.
"I want thirty men on the cliffs with bows. You shoot when the first men are just at the end of the cliffs. If you shoot too early, they will back up and all of them will be able to climb up. If you shoot too late, they will be too far through, and they will be able to continue through. And aim carefully. When you run out of arrows, go down the hill and around the cliffs to fight the men that try to push their way around the cliffs to get to the archers. And I want ten men, five on each side, doing that in the first place.
"I want ten people to be a barricade at the end. The second the first arrow flies, you ten go to the front and stop them from going through. The other ten or so men, you will go around and attack from the back. Hopefully we can squeeze most of them into this area, making it an easy defeat.
"If anyone is injured, go to the cliff on the east side of the road. Neal will be there performing healings.
"I will send the sparrows if something is wrong. If the sparrows signal to retreat, listen to them! They will only say that on my order. If they tell you to look at me, look at me, and I will signal you that the plans are changed, or what ever it is. I will be on the cliff with the archers, east side. Raoul will be leading the barricade, Merric will be leading the attack at the back, and Dom will be leading the archers on the west side. As I already said, Neal will be healing on the east side. Any questions?"
She looked around at all the men. They all looked as determined as her. "There is only one thing left for me to do." She said. "I have to go see if they've got any magic." Just as she took off her helmet to adjust her griffin band, Dom snatched it off her head.
"That is what Goode is for. He is a scout. And he isn't scared of heights."
Kel frowned. "I'm fine." She said, reaching for the band.
Dom raised an eyebrow. "We don't want you vomiting up your lunch. You need that sustenance." He smiled. "Besides, by the time you got to the top, the enemy would be here."
Kel glared at him. "Fine." She growled. "Everyone to you places! Goode, you are going to be on the east side, so you can tell me what you see."
He nodded. Dom tossed him the griffin band and he climbed quickly up the tree. It was true, by the time he was climbing down, Kel would still have been on her way up.
"My Lady," he said, when he came to rest beside her. "There is magic involved. They are as organized as they looked, but we have a few more things to worry about."
Kel winced. "They have more men, don't they."
He shook his head. "Not many, but they are on creatures. I did not know what all of them were, but they seemed to be immortals. I saw spidrens, hurroks, dragons, even griffins, basilisks, a few Stormwings in the air, three tauros, and a few ogres. There were at least three I have never seen.
"It was nothing like I had ever seen, My Lady." He said. "They did not look like they wanted war. They looked strange. I think they are being controlled."
Kel cut him off. "Thank you, Goode." She said to the rambling scout. "go to the end of the line and get ready." She looked across the valley at Dom. He was not looking at her. She waved her arm. "Dom!" She hissed.
He looked up at her, and she signalled for him to come over. Looking confused, he nodded and disappeared behind the hill of the cliff. A moment later, he appeared by her side.
"Do you have any of those griffin feather arrows I gave you?"
"Yeah, three, why?" He said.
"Pull the feathers off one arrow and give them to you and your two best archers. I am going to give my feathers away as well. There is a lot of magic here. And a lot of immortals."
He frowned. "How many?"
Kel shrugged. "I don't know. About fifty, maybe a hundred. I just know its too many. Look, we don't have time for discussion. Just give men the feathers, I'm going to give some to Raoul. You go to Merric, alright? And please, stay hidden!"
He nodded and they split off in different directions. After explaining it to Raoul, Kel ran back to her spot where she set up her glaive, sword, and axes beside her, and strung her bow.
Now all they had to do was wait for the army over one hundred times their size.
.....................................................................................................
I am so evil. I love it!
Well, I hope to update soon...but I'm pretty busy this week. What are you all going to do when I go to camp?
Lady of Masbolle: weird. Glad you like it. And no more cold! Yay! I think it was allergies, actually...
Tanydwr: actually, it took her a while, at least for my writing. It took three or four chapters to reveal what it was, did it not? And then one chapter covered three months...
Rubber Duck: thank you! five...wow. that's a lot. Actually, I plan to see Harry Potter at least that many times, so... you live in Aussie land? That's cool...I want to go there. It's crazy...because of my school's exchanges, I know people all over the world, and now I know four people in Australia. Just my little piece of random information. Anyway, they've sent me pictures and stuff...and it looks so cool! (I also fell in love with it watching the Olympics)
Fyliwion: I will, some day. I just have about twenty five books to read this summer, and they are all serious books... I've got the Stone Angel, Such a Long Journey, Dance of the Happy Shades, Barney's Version, and way too many more to list off. I think I actually have twenty five to read. I'm really going off on some serious tangents today, aren't I?
Wake-Robin: I don't quite know...
Mage Light: I have been working really hard, trying to make up for the two months I will be gone...
AJ 4EVA: danke. Glad you liked it.
Lonewolf etc.: she never said there weren't.
Lady Knight Wolfy: well, I think that everything the animals do is unbelievable. There will be more romance, at some point. I just have trouble putting romance and action together, but when I don't, I get these waves of romance, then action, then back again, and they really bother me.
Lady of Masbolle: cool. That is my goal. It means you are engrossed in it. Thanks!
Tricksters-daughter: thank you.
Well, that is all for today (or at least now).
I am going to say this in every chapter that I post, in case I don't get another out: I will be leaving for camp in a week and a half, and then no more chapters for any stories for over two months. So sorry. I'll try not to leave you on a cliffhanger. (wouldn't it be funny if this was the last chapter I got up?...)
"I bet when the Neanderthal kids would make a snowman, someone would always end up saying, "Don't forget the thick, heavy brows." Then they would all get embarrassed because they remembered they had the big hunky brows too, and they'd get mad and eat the snowman."
-unolimbo