Sorry, don't have time to change it earlier on. I wanted it to be 20,000 men, roughly. Not 5000. thanks. Sorry, no time, ill fix it everywhere else later.
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She stood looking at her enemy. "You dare to attack the city of Corus?" She shouted. "You think you have the power to defeat us?"
No one said anything. Kel stayed where she was. She signalled to the archers, and they all raised their bows, arrows drawn back. Kel held her sword tightly in her hand. She did not look down, knowing she would probably vomit if she did.
The attackers knew that nothing would happen unless they approached. Suddenly, they surged forward, bows and swords drawn, battle cries in their throats.
Kel swung down her sword towards them. "Fire!" She yelled. More shouts of "Fire!" Echoed through the city walls.
Kel quickly jumped down from where she was and drew back her bow. She fired three shots, killing three men on horseback.
Dragons and griffins were circling overhead, but not making any move. They were waiting for something.
As she was about to fire her fourth arrow, she felt a rush of cold air and a whisper at her shoulder. She quickly loosed the arrow and sighed. "Not again." She muttered.
She didn't move, waiting for the Chamber to speak.
You are the only one.
Kel listened intently. The only one for what?
They are waiting for you. Lead the horse to the water.
Kel closed her eyes.
Make it walk on it.
The cold air slowly disappeared, taking the whispering voice with it. Kel did not open her eyes until it was gone. When she did, she knew exactly what to do.
She got up and ran to the stairs, taking them two at a time. She grumbled as she went down. "Does it think I like doing these things alone? Does it think this is what I've always wanted to do? Why the hell does it keep trying to kill me?
"Where is Apple?" She said, loudly now. Raoul pointed to her horse, just slightly behind his.
"Where are you going?" He demanded.
Kel shook her head and sighed. "Damned if I know." She said. "I will just have to figure it out when I get to it."
Before Raoul could say anything, Kel was on her horse and riding to the northern gate of the city.
The northern gate was really just a large door. It had the same protection as the main southern gate, a second door in the wall in front, off set from the inner door, so enemies could not knock down the inner door. There were twenty men guarding the door, just in case anyone made it there, or even knew it existed.
"Open the doors." Kel said.
They stared at her. "But our orders were to watch it-"
"Well, your new orders are to let me out. And if your scout sees me coming back, have the door open a crack, ready for me. I will probably have an army behind me."
They nodded, looking scared, and opened the door.
Kel rode out and around the city. She had to get around to the front of they city without tiring her horse. She had a long trek in front of her. Standing at the edge of the forest, she waited for the army to notice her. Slowly, they acknowledged her presence, as far as she could tell. Suddenly, all of the immortals circling the castle turned towards her. The only ones that did not come were the ogres that were trying to break down the city doors.
"Great," Kel muttered. "They give me the immortals. I didn't think I would be that important."
As they got closer to her, she leaned down to Apple. "You ready for this?" She whispered.
Her horse responded by rearing up in the air. Kel gave him a kick, and they were off towards the forest, the immortals hot on their heels.Kel galloped as fast as her horse could go. She could hear the shriek and scurry of the Spidren, see the grey of Stormwings, feel the heat of the dragons fire.
She rode into a thick patch of forest, and there were no immortals. She pulled out her bow and strung it. There was a sound coming from the trees she had come out of. She trained her arrow on them. Suddenly, a Tauros leapt out at her. She fired the arrow at his head, and he fell to the ground. It only found her because it could smell her, but would that lead the others to her?
She got her answer only seconds later when a Hurrok rode out. She shot it immediately, but it did not fall. She shot another arrow, and it collapsed. She shot down two Stormwings, but the rest of the immortals had found her. It was time to move.
She galloped forward, but this time, she had enough room that she could sit up and fire at them. After almost an hour of running, she had shot down the four immortals she did at first, plus two Spidrens. She was part way through both a griffin and a dragon by this time. They were the most dangerous of the immortals chasing her. They were the fastest, the strongest, the smartest.
She had shot three arrows into the dragons underside, but it was strong there, for some reason. She aimed a fourth arrow, but just as she loosed it, a griffin dove down. Apple wrenched out of the way, but the griffin dug its claws through her armour and into her shoulder. She cried out. Her bow was useless to her now, she could not hold it up. She could hold the reins with her left hand, barely, and use her sword with her right.
What she really needed was to get back to the city. She rode in a large arc through the forest, hoping the immortals would not realize she was trying to turn around. When she was facing the right direction, she took out her sword. She did not kill any more immortals, but she did stop them from killing her.
She swung and stabbed with no avail. They just kept coming. She had narrowed the number down to about 40, but there was still a swarm of them.
Lead them to water.
Lead them to water. Had that just been a metaphor? Or was she really supposed to lead them to water? The only thing she could think to do was drive them towards the Olorun. Again, she turned around. She had to do this quickly. Apple was getting tired, and would not last much longer at that speed. In her arc, she caught sight of the battle that was raging at the city's gates. The Tortallans were doing wonderfully. There had been at least 20,000 men when Kel had left, but now there were no more than 10 thousand. She glanced at the sun. She had been gone at least four hours already. How had that happened?
She didn't have time to think. She just had time to ride.
She knew she was riding to the Olorun, but she searched her memory for where along the Olorun. She needed somewhere that she could get across, but the immortals could not. Where would that be? And even if she did find it, she would still have the problem of the immortals with wings. There certainly were a lot of them.
She decided just to make for the river and see how it turned out. She rode far down the river, searching for the appropriate point. After riding far along the river, past rapids and smooth waters, she came to such a point. And all she had to do was finish the job.
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She is the only one.
Wait for her.
She will lead the horse to water. She will make it walk.
Jon looked around him to find the owner of the voice, but it sounded far too eerily familiar.
"Jonathan? Is there something wrong?" Raoul said. "What is it?"
"What? Oh, no," the king said, looking pensive. "I just thought of something I had not thought of before. Carry on."
Raoul nodded. "As I was saying, we have men posted on the walls, all around, and two squads of the Own, plus 5000 men on the ground, ready to go out. We have many men in reserve, as well. We just had no room for them out here."
Before the king could answer, Keladry of Mindelan came rushing down the stairs. "Where is Apple?" She asked, not even noticing the king standing there.
"Where are you going?" Raoul asked as he pointed Apple out.
"Damned if I know." Said Keladry. "I will just have to figure it out when I get there."
Before the king or Raoul could say anything, Kel was gone.
Jon sighed. "Raoul, how many men do you have in reserve?"
Raoul looked at him, confused. "About 15,000, my lord. Only about 5000 are ready. They will be brought out as soon as we leave the gates, if we do."
Jon shook his head. "That's not what I want them for." He paused. "I know. Take as many of the Own, and experienced soldiers as you need. Go to the river. Wait there."
Raoul looked at him, confused. "Jon, are you alright?"
"Don't question me, fool!" Jon snapped. "Just do it!"
Raoul bowed his head and got back on his horse. He whistled to the Own. As they came towards him, he turned back to the king. "How many do I need, majesty?" He asked.
Jon sighed. "As many as you think you need to kill fifty immortals."
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Kel rode as fast as she could to the bridge. She knew it well. When traveling over it, only one horse and carriage could go across at once, as it was old and decrepit. It did not lead through major roads any more, and people avoided it almost all the time. It was dangerous. Kel was glad that the kingdom had been to busy with the war to repair the bridge.
"Come on, Apple." She said. "We are almost there, I promise you I will give you the biggest apple and the longest scrub down I can possibly manage when we get through this."
Apple did not seem to hear her. He just kept going, pushing towards the bridge. It was about a kilometre away. Seven hundred and fifty metres away. Apple was slowing down. "Go, Apple!" Kel cried. The horse pushed further, breathing heavily, stumbling often.
Five hundred metres away. Kel crouched down behind Apple's head, keeping out of the wind. The horse gained a tiny amount of speed.
Two hundred and fifty metres away. They were moving too slowly. The immortals would catch up with them soon, and they would not be across the bridge in time. Knowing that if she did not get it right, it would be the death of her, Kel took out her sword and took a quick look behind her. A griffin was coming down to her. She kept her sword hidden, then stabbed it in the foot as it came to her. It screeched in pain, then flew back again. They had room to get over the bridge.
Taking a long turn. Apple galloped over the bridge.
Ten metres to go. Kel could see the details in the ground on the other side; smell the trees.
Five metres to go. Something happened. Kel was not sure what. It could have been that an immortal caught up with them, it could have been that Apple tripped.
The last thing Kel remembered was flying off of her horse towards the clear ground at the other side of the bridge.
"Kel!" Was the only thing she heard.
"Stop, sergeant. We can deal with her after!" Raoul shouted. The immortals had tried to get over the bridge, and it had broken under their collective weight. At least fifteen immortals on the bridge, and it collapsed. One made a final leap to the side of the river, but one of the men cut off it's head.
They fought until they had killed all of the remaining immortals, except for two dragons. They were large, larger than anyone had ever seen. Many of them had never seen a dragon in the first place.
One of them dodged a rain of arrows shot up at it and swooped down, grabbing something.
"What did it take?" Someone shouted.
"I can't tell! Shoot it!"
Everyone prepared to shoot, but a voice rang out. "Don't shoot!" Raoul yelled.
Hanging from the great beasts two claws was an unconscious knight.
Kel.
"It's flying back to Corus!" Someone shouted.
Raoul swore. "Follow it! I don't care if you have to go to the next bridge, don't let it out of your sight!" He and Dom galloped down the side of the river, leading their squads, chasing the dragons.
"What the hell is it going to do ?"
Dom looked up, squinting from the dust caking in his eyes. "They are taking her back."
They rode behind the dragons back to the city.
They had to get Kel before the dragon got back to the city.
But the dragons were not going directly back to Corus. They were going to a small cleared patch of trees deep in the forest.
"I can't see anything. You?" Dom said, when they slowed down in the thick of the forest.
Raoul shook his head. "I think it might be magicked."
Dom swore. "What are we going to do?"
Someone laughed behind them. "That is what I am here for." They looked back. Numair Salmalin was standing behind them.
They moved their horses over for him to pass. With barely a wave of his hand, they could see everything.
Somehow, the mage performing the magic noticed. He turned towards them, surprised. "Leave here." He said quickly.
Numair frowned. "You should know better," he said, "than to talk to your superior like that."
The man shook his head. "I may be your inferior, but she is not." He said.
Numair narrowed his eyes at the man. "Who are you?"
The man looked warily at them, then glanced behind him. Finally, he spoke. "My name is Hagen. I am a mage for the Scanrans." He looked at them, scared. "She is Rhian. She is a great mage. She learned how to tame the immortals. No, not tame. Enslave. There is nothing they can do."
"Why is she doing this?" Raoul demanded.
Hagen shook his head. "I cannot say. But go and find her yourself. Maybe if you survive long enough, she will tell you." He smiled. "Kill me if you wish," he said, "but remember, I am inconsequential. Your real trouble lies with Rhian!" He shouted at them as they rode forward.He looked at them pleadingly now. "I am not important!" He cried out as Dom's sword caught on his neck as he rode by.
They rode forward, unsure of what they would find. It turned out that it was a much larger clearing, that Hagen had also been protecting.
Standing in the middle of a large circle of stones was a woman. Her cloak was dirty, her shoes dusty. But underneath the dirt, she was a beautiful woman. Her hood was down and she was standing with her head leaning back slightly, looking at the sky, her arms outstretched to the air.
Her hair fell behind her head in golden locks, hanging halfway down her back. Her skin was creamy and cloudy.
She did not notice them standing there on the horses; they barely noticed her.
Every one's attention was focussed on the dragon hovering in the sky, holding Kel's limp body in it's claws.
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I am sorry I am so evil! But it was just such a good place.
And I have a really good explanation for why it took so long. You see, I was writing this story, but my computer crashed and I lost a bunch of files. This chapter was one of them. I tried for ages to find it, but I could not. I didn't want to rewrite it, because I knew it could not compare to what I had written before. Finally, I knew I had to do it. And I am really happy with it. Though I am going to find a dead end pretty soon, I think... but this should last a chapter or two, and I can usually come up with something new by then.
Wake Robin: Glad you thought it was good. I was kind of unhappy with how she turned out at the beginning of this chapter, though, but I think that was because the idea was kind of weak. I don't think it matters much, because that was not the focus. But oh well.
Chapter 12: these responses should have been at the end of chapter 13. It is confusing, but I like to write responses. It will be long!
Mage Light: Aww, I am sorry. There is more!
Kelly Masbolle: I know what you mean, she was a little weird. But I do not see her as a particularly fluent person. She never really concentrates on that in the books. She doesn't really like speaking, but whatever. I do see what you mean.
Lady Knight Wolfy: Haha...that is so true.
Rubber Duck: Stefan! Of course! I thought it seemed not right. But hey, the 50 against many, many more thing? They didn't do it. So no biggie.
Lady of Masbolle: oops. So sorry. Haha, I hate it when that happens... I wasted away exam time on Fanfiction... not a good idea!
Oceanspike: I am sorry! But I must do what I must. (hee hee...good song.)
PsychoLioness13: yes, a big army. Sad, I know.
Erkith: Haha, it isn't much of that any more, now is it? After having written this many story lines of the same character, it gets difficult! I just wish I had spent more time on each story in Good Things.
Kore Yan: Yay! Updating yay!
ShadowPirate: fluff is good, but I am afraid there might not be some for a little while.
Dreamerdoll: thank you! Always nice to hear that!
Rey Asakura: eh, it doesn't really matter. In this story, they are definitely in love, but whether they are just in love or lovers does not really matter (though I haven't backread in a while, it is very likely that I mentioned it earlier).
Legofiance: ooohh!
Anonymous: yes, there is a mistake. Forgiveness please. I messed up a letter. Aww. But, I'm glad you liked it. I am sorry! But this one was nice and almost 3000 words! I know...but there is one computer at my camp. I don't think I would have time to write much.
Goddess Usagi: of course! Unless there is a definite finish to it, it will never end. Unless I die or something.
Enchantress Sun: OH! I DON'T KNOW YET!
Megster: well, while he may be a prissy git, he still had reasons. He is the king; he cannot go on adventures any more. He is also getting older, and Kel is the younger and stronger fighter. Besides, the prophecy was about her. Telling Jon was just a little extra to motivate Kel.
AJ 4EVA: thank you. I will!
Miliko01: I do realize that. I only say it at the beginning of every chapter!
Laelai: of course!
Chapter 13: Ok, any review written after I posted chapter 13 is in here. You might even get in it twice!
Wake-Robin: of course!
PsychoLioness13: Psst! Don't tell, but I kinda stole it... oops. I hoped no one would notice. No such luck, eh?
Dreamerdoll: yeah... about that... sorry. I really meant to post that quickly. Glad you liked it, but I don't know how long it will be before I get any romance in.
Lady of Masbolle: Bloody! Thanks!
Megster: umm... so sorry. No can really do. I wrote a kickass battle scene in my other story, though.
Erkith: I'm sorry, okay? It was just too good! And suspense is a good thing! It makes you use your imagination!
Warrior of Tortall: of course!
Ossini: Ahh! No quote? I didn't notice that! Maybe, just maybe, I will be extra nice and do two today. But maybe not.
Smiles28: yep yep. Chapter, coming right up.
Beatrix B: You said it twice. Oh well. I'm glad you did.
Keladry9: thank you!
Smile!: that is fair. I cannot expect more than one review per chapter.
Stormgirl: everyone says that the crying is always over doing it. Eh.umm... who do you think Alan is? I have no clue whatsoever. Please inform me!
Rubber Duck: That's okay. Oh, there is no question. I would never make them do that. Yeah, yeah! It's coming!
Anonymous: it is supposed to say "they ARE along..." or "they'RE along..." One of the two. You pick.
Well, that is all for today. I can not promise a time period, but I will definitely get you a chapter soon.
"The people in the village were real poor, so none of the children had any toys. But this one little boy had gotten an old enema bag and filled it with rocks, and he would go around and whap the other children across the face with it. Man, I think my heart almost broke. Later the boy came up and offered to give me the toy. This was too much! I reached out my hand, but then he ran away. I chased him down and took the enema bag. He cried a little, but that's the way of these people."
-unolimbo
P.S.: Ossini, this extra long one was for you.