Chapter 6: The Beaver's Home
Finding the small stick hut was the easiest thing in the world for Xena and Borias. They were required to follow no river look for no missing trees, instead they followed the prints on their horses that the children so foolishly left behind. Now they were at the bank of a small frozen river. On the middle of it was the little stick home, through the windows she could see shadows scrambling madly. She stuck her head in the air and cried out at the top of her lungs. The shadows stopped and disappeared altogether. Though not before she heard muffled cries of, " She has sent them!" or " Its them its them!" or plain and simple " RUN!"
Xena and Borias literally leaped off their horses and landed in front of the door to the house without losing any balance on the slippery ice. Ducking down the entered the pile of sticks. The children and the beavers were nowhere to be found.
" Where are they?" Xena asked herself. She scanned the whole one room cottage looking for any kind of alternate exit. She found one, a little door covered in sticks to look like the wall was slightly ajar. She pointed at it and Borias saw it too. Without speaking both ran in. It led to a narrow tunnel. This was defiantly where they were. Xena led the way down. Ahead she could hear faint echo's of children voices calling " Run! They must already be here."
" Damn straight!" Xena called. She was answered by a scream. With renewed energy she ran faster. Seconds later she came to a dead ending with nothing but a rickety yet sturdy looking ladder leading up to a tightly shut door. Xena climbed it quickly and tried to open the thing. It seemed be barricaded.
" What is wrong Xena?" Borias asked.
" The stupid kids blocked to door." She snapped pushing on it harder. It moved slightly, smiling and jumping down on the ground she jumped up again into a spinning front flip, at the top she kicked the door hardly and it burst open. Xena and Borias scrambled out into a small clearing in the forest. There were no tracks from the children although it was to dark to see much. Xena looked around. Something caught her eye, a bush had moved. Quickly without alerting Borias she slung her Chakram at it. The thing hit something because that something gave a whimper. Running at the bush she caught the disk in mid air and attached it to her waist.
Digging into the bush she pulled out a fox, its leg was badly broken where her Chakram had hit it. Dropping in on the snow she asked:
" You seen three children pass by recently?"
" No." The fox said timidly.
" Well, I bet the white witch will make you think a little harder." Xena said picking the thing up and squeezing its broken leg. It whimpered more.
" Xena, why not just put your pinch on it?" Borias asked.
" Fox anatomy is far different from human." Xena muttered. She whistled twice and the two horses jumped from the trees minutes later. She and Borias mounted their steeds and headed for the witch's house to present her this witness.
Little did they know that three children and two beavers had been hiding on top of a tree, the youngest crying silently for their condemned friend.