Disclaimer: No, I didn't make or am claiming to have made Golden Sun or any of its sequels. (Group of Lawyers all give Thumbs Up) That was close…

Chapter 10: Camouflage and The Assassins are Back!

The wind whipped wildly through Jenna's hair as Mitch eased to horse into an even faster run. The acceleration pressed against her as she thought, This definitely beats being in that coach…

After a minute or two, Mitch slowed the horse down to a comfortable trot.

"Having fun?" he asked.

"Yes!" she shouted. Both of them laughed. Mitch looked down the road.

"We're quite a bit behind them," he noted, and turned the horse to catch up with the caravan.

"Hey Mitch," Jenna said in his ear, "Want to play I-Spy again?"

Mitch shrugged, almost hitting Jenna's chin, "Alright,"

"Well," she lowered her volume and got closer, "I-Spy something handsome and strong and…" her gaze floated ahead of them "…and…"

"And what Jenna?"
"…sunlight glinting off meta-What is that?"

Mitch turned his head to look at her, "What?"

Jenna pointed to the forest that the road was bordering on one side. Inside the trees, something glinted. It appeared to be sunlight off of metal.

Mitch cocked his head to the side; "Hmm…" he said thoughtfully.

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Forest

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"Put that dagger away you moron!" hissed a figure clad in what looked like different shades of green, "They'll see us!"

"I thought I heard something!"
They where very quiet for a long moment.

The assassin sheathed the weapon. "Why did they make us wear green?" he mumbled, "I feel like everyone can see me!" There was a smattering of agreement among the small group.

"It's a new kind of hiding," the leader replied, "It's called…Psy…ner…ge…tic…Chem…a…fla…ge…I think. It was the Guildmaster's idea. Probably from that Lord Alex guy. It uses some kind of magic to work. Lord Alex is insane…Give me regulation black anyday…"

They all nodded. Alex was becoming a sort of household (Well, guild-hold) name in the Assassins Guild. They all thought that he was a bit loony and that he was very odd in…numerous other ways. Rumors say that he was a Vampyre, basically a garlic-eating, sun-loving Vampire that enjoys inspecting holy symbols and drinking holy water. He had lots of new ideas when it came to Assassination, using what the common people called magic to make them more invisible than perhaps possible…

"Uh…" one of them said uneasily, "D…do you think that…that…"

"That was five," the leader said a bit nervously himself, "I doubt that he can take ten of us!" Another round of mumbling was heard. The leader placed a hand over his eyes.

"For Venus' sake men!" he exclaimed, "It's a bunch of eighteen year olds! What can they do to us!"

There was an embarrassing silence. "Weeelllll…" one of the assassins said, "William said that the eighteen-year-old girl -"

"William was an apprentice!" the leader hissed, "We're trained and highly experienced assassins! Remember when we–"

The methodical clip-clop of a horse trotting up stifled them and they all dived for cover. A guard leaned toward the forest, staring hard into the brush.

"Anything wrong officer?" Mitch asked cheerfully as they rode up.

"Nothing to worry about mi'lord," the guard said while the leader looked up at Mitch at made frantic gestures at him and Jenna. He mouthed 'That's them!' Various hands dipped into cloaks and pouches for exotic but effective devices for killing people, and he shook his head. Not just yet…

Mitch peered suspiciously into the brush, scanning the forest carefully. He was wearing brand new chainmail armor that Jenna had bought for him back in Kalay, saying something about how it was an investment in her future. Mitch perked up as he heard a crunch somewhere in the brush. Right in that bush…He could just make out a…

"I'm sure everything's fine Mitch," Jenna said, "Let's go…back to the coach…"

"Yeah…" Mitch said reluctantly and, with one last glance, he turned the horse toward the caravan and nudged the mount to a trot. The guard followed.

The assassins started breathing again.

"That was the 'Demon'!" one of them laughed, "He's just a whelp!"

Heartened by the discovery, they headed after them…

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On Coach

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The guard was grateful to be back on his horse, although he did enjoy the break. Mitch took his seat and closed the door, paused in afterthought, and then locked it.

"Mitch!" Jenna laughed and reached over, unlocking the door, "You're being paranoid again,"

"Last time I was paranoid, someone tried to kill you,"

"Yeah, but you didn't see anything, did you?"

"No…I didn't…"

"Then everything's fine," Jenna concluded, "Are you ready for your first lesson?"
Mitch looked confused, "Lesson? In what?"

Jenna grinned slyly, "Either Mars psynergy or kissing, your choice." The only way to get Mitch embarrassed was to be painfully blunt. He didn't understand coy. Red welled up in his face as he stammered for a response.

"I'll take it you want the second one," she continued, "But you need the first one."

"But I…"

"I'd quite like to do the latter," she continued mercilessly, "And I'd bet that you do too,"

Mitch met her gaze, "A…are you…"

Jenna sighed, "Yes Mitch. This is called BEING HIT ON. I'm going to get you used to it so just calm down," And Mitch, knowing he was defeated, shut up, "And maybe you should try hitting on someone," Jenna said in a tone that suggested that if he hit on anyone other than her, very bad things would happen.

After a minute more Jenna laughed and said, "Alright! I'll stop! Let's get on to the lesson for Mars' sake!" She turned to him and took a hand.

"How does my hand feel?" she asked.

"Err…warm," Mitch said, feeling like he was failing a special test, "…soft and…hand-like…Why?"

"Nothing," Jenna said, "I just wanted to hold your hand," - She watched his reaction – "I was just kidding! Seriously now, it feels like a hand, right?"

Mitch nodded. Jenna shut her eyes for an instant and mouthed a single word.

"How about now?" she asked.

Mitch concentrated.

"No, nothing different…" he said.

"Look down Mitch," she said. He did so.

"Gah!" he yelped as he pulled back his hand from the tiny fireball slowly orbiting Jenna's outstretched fingers.

"Did it hurt?"
Mitch was about to respond when he realized…

"Actually," he said slowly, "No…it didn't…" He grabbed her hand again and the miniature sun floated lazily up his arm and then right between the couple, where it went nova.

"Whoa," Mitch said, stunned as the tiny star exploded with a tiny POP sound, "What was that?"

"Psynergy," Jenna explained, delighted that Mitch forgotten where his hand was at the moment, "I heard you talking about a…'nature-sense'?"

"Yes?"

"That was Mars psynergy," Jenna said, "Mars is the element of Fire…"

And she went on for a few minutes, reciting the parts of Kraden's lessons that she either 1) hadn't forgotten, or 2) been sleeping through.

"So I can learn how to do that?" Mitch interrupted, looking at his hands, "I can summon my nature-sen…psynergy?"

"Yes," Jenna said, "My father taught me how to do it on his lap when I was about six years old. I'm sure I can teach you," – She moved closer – "that is…as long as I'm sitting on your –"

There was a thud from the top of the coach. They glanced at each other and Mitch moved to open the door and they stepped out.

"Hello?" Jenna called.

Before she could react, figures clad in varying shades of green dropped from the top of the coach and one grabbed her from behind. She felt the edge of a very sharp knife prick her jugular.

"One move and your boyfriend might get hurt," said an infuriatingly polite voice, "And don't use magic because we're immune to it. Now sit still like a good girl while we continue…"

While it was true that they where unarmed, now that someone had taken Jenna's sword away, the assassins had greatly underestimated the stopping power of Mitch's Elbow. The capital E was fully justified because Jenna had seen the Elbow in action and now it pummeled into the assassin's ribs like piston. The assassin fell to the ground making a strange and slightly worrying gurgling sound. A crossbow bolt zinged off Mitch's back-plate and hit another assassin by sheer luck.

"Call him off," the assassin said to Jenna, "NOW."

One of the assassins behind him swung, and Mitch yelped as the sharp dagger just barely punched through the armor. He turned around…

"Mitch!" Jenna cried, "Please stop!"

…and put up his hands. This time, two assassins walked up and, staying out of the range of the Elbow, produced a coil of rope and got to work.

As someone trussed her ankles and wrists, there where shouts from farther ahead as the guards engaged the assassins. Crossbow bolts where seen as they flew from the forest and hit guards, who fired blindly back.

Jenna landed with a painful thud next to Mitch.

"Mitch?" she asked after glaring at the assassin who pushed her, "Are you alright?" She nudged his chin with her head.

"I…I'm just fine," Mitch said, wincing. Jenna instantly knew he was lying. The assassins had taken off his armor however, and Jenna could see for herself the gash across her crush's back.

"They cut you…" Jenna said in a monotonous voice, "Cut you…cut you…". The air around her slowly heated up. "They cut…you…" She struggled with the ropes.

"Damn," she said with feeling, "I can't get out!"

Mitch looked over at her, "Can't you psynergy your way out or something?"

Jenna looked balefully at the little gold band around her ankle, "I've already tried," she said, "They put that thingie on and now I can't cast. Damn, they put one on you too. I swear I'll kill 'em,"

Mitch had stopped listening to her however. His head was cocked to the side. He was listening to something far away. Jenna looked at him, then the sky, and then at him again.

"What?" she asked. Just at that moment, Mitch looked up, smiled and said softly, "It seems that an angel is coming to rescue us…"

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Doughnutmaster: Who's the angel?
Jenna: You're the author! Only you know!

Doughnutmaster: Oh, yeah…

Mitch: Who do you think the angel is?

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