:Chapter 5: The Elves' Forest:
"Do we have a problem here?"
Cameron and Kale quickly stopped laughing and straightened up. "No problem, Sir," Cameron responded, trying to keep his face straight.
"That's not what I looked like." The uniformed man scowled, glancing first at Cameron, Kale, then at me. I caught his eye. His gaze lingered on me for a few seconds longer.
I panicked. Could he see through my disguise? I smiled nervously, expecting him to say something. He looked away. I sighed in relief.
"Listen up, men!" barked a man with red hair who looked slightly familiar. He and a small group of others were seated upon while horses.
"That's General Nicks," Derek whispered.
I nodded and gave him my attention, finally recognizing he was the man who had informed us about the war the day before at the village.
"We will be crossing through the Elves' Forest, then take the road to Ayortha, where we will meet up with out allies. I will give you further notice in the future. Remember to stay in your squads, no matter what happens."
I swallowed nervously. All my life I've been terrified of the Elves' Forest. Father had told me bedtime tales about the forest when I was younger, and her stories always included ogres. I get nightmares about getting my ogres all the time. I used to, anyway.
I bit my lower lip, determined not the burst into tears. I've already embarrassed myself enough!
Some of the uniformed soldiers rode by and supplied each of the squads (which included one lead general type of person and twelve other people) with three horses, and each person with their own sword. The prince instinctively climbed onto one of the horses. I longed for a horse too, but decided it was best to stay put. I didn't want to stir up any more trouble. Five of the older men fought over the last two horses. Sir Nicks galloped towards us on his horse. "I'll be leading your squad," he informed us.
The head generals, all of whom were on horses, shouted some orders, and the rest of the troops turned and started marching out of the courtyard.
"Hurry up, kid." Cameron punched me in the back.
"Quit it!" I cried. . . in my normal voice. Again. Oh great. I wasn't very good at this 'boy' thing.
I heard Cameron and Kale snigger quietly. "Quit it!" he mocked in a barely audible voice.
Sir Nicks turned around, looking in our direction. The three of us continued to march as if nothing had happened.
As we headed down the road, wives, children and the elderly stood at their doors, waving to the men they recognized. Many of them were in tears. I tried not to look in their direction. Instead I thought about how out of place I must have looked. An underage girl (disguised, of course) set with a whole troop of men.
Within just half an hour we passed through the village. All I could see on either side of the dirt road were trees and some wild grass. By now the groups are separated and gone their own way. For the next few minutes I stared longingly at the prince with his horse, occasionally stealing a glance at Shane, whose face was expressionless. Every few minutes he would rub his chest as if he were in pain. I thought about the silver chain that was now around my neck. The prince didn't seem the least bit exhausted, for obvious reasons. I sighed. Not even an hour had passed and already my muscles were aching, and the surprisingly heavy sword was no help at all.
I peered around at the men in our group. There was Sir Nicks, Cameron, Kale, the prince, and Shane. I smiled to myself. Out of all the groups I could've been in, I ended up with my brother! There were also seven other men, four of which looked like they were only in their twenties, two of them looked around Sir Nicks' age, and the last one looked quite senile, though if he's fighting, the oldest he could've been is sixty. He was breathing quite heavily, as though he were as exhausted as I was. I wasn't the only one who noticed this.
"Excuse me, sir." I looked up to see the owner of the voice. Prince Derek stopped his horse beside the old man. He looked up, his cheeks flushed. Derek offered him the horse. After a few minutes of humble refusal, the old man reluctantly accepted, though clearly thankful.
He hopped off the horse, landing beside me. "It's Jay, correct?"
Surprised, I quickly nodded. I still couldn't believe I would be spending the next few weeks- possible months, side by side with the prince! "And your majesty-"
"Derek is just fine," he said, chuckling. His green eyes sparkled like emeralds when he laughed.
I blushed, nodding again. I looked over at Shane, who was conversing with one of the older men. "Sorry Shane- I-I mean Derek!" My hand quickly flew to my mouth. "I meant Derek," I repeated.
And, just as I feared, Shane looked over. "Did you call for me?" He asked, a look of confusion on his face. He shifted towards us.
I shook my head.
"Oh, I thought I heard someone say my name." There was an awkward pause.
Oh great. He probably saw right through my disguise. How stupid was I, thinking I could pass for a boy?
But instead of blowing my cover he said "By the way, I'm Shane." He held out a hand.
"Derek," the prince replied.
"I-I'm. . ." I paused, my heart racing. How can one forget their name! Though in my case it was a false name, but it wasn't too different from my real one. Then I remembered. "Jay. My name is Jay," I said in the deepest voice I could manage. I ended up coughing up saliva. I cleared my throat, nervously smiling.
The two of them peered at me for a moment, then grinned.
"If you don't mind my asking, I was wondering how old you are," Derek said, directing his question at me.
'All men from ages thirteen through sixty. . .' I recalled what the knight had announced.
Thirteen was the youngest age. "Thirteen," I blurted. Even though I was really fifteen, I decided I'd pass for a more believe thirteen year old boy rather than a fifteen year old.
"I see." The prince sighed. "It's terrible, actually, how they require boys as young as you, or even me for that matter, to fight."
Shane nodded in agreement. "I have a younger sister about your age."
My heart stopped. He was talking about (the real) me! I smiled politely. "What's her name?"
"Jayden," he replied, with a sad sigh.
I nodded, my heart racing. I wanted to hear more.
"Are you going to miss her?"
Shane looked at me curiously. He smiled sadly. "Of course. She was crying and begging me not leave yesterday. I hate seeing her like that. She even had this crazy idea to come along. Part of me wish she did, but. . . that would've been way to dangerous."
"Do you wonder if you'll ever see her again?" I blurted. My hand flew to my mouth. Stupid stupid! What a horrible question to ask! I was talking as if we would were all going to die before we got a chance to go home.
"I hope." The strange look he gave me was immediately replaced with a chuckle. "You know, she asked me that same thing before I left." He rubbed his chest again, his eyes cloudy.
Hours passed.
It had been morning when we left, and now the sun was moving back down the horizon, the sky turning into a blend of orange and pink. We had only stopped once for a short water and snack break.
"Alright!" I heard one of the younger men cry out. Some of the men started sighing in relief. I looked up to see what the exclamation was about.
We had reached the edge of the Elves' Forest. I shuddered, as I thought about all the different creature that may be lurking inside. I relaxed a bit knowing that I had armed men all around me.
And then I froze.
"Ogres!" Cameron shrieked.
A/N: Please review!