Part VII
Rescue?
It was midday and Taffi, Gusto and the Glens (including the cubs) were walking across the open plains between Dunwyn and Ramsin's castle. Taffi had told them that even when going at a really fast pace you couldn't expect to reach the castle within three days.
They had been walking along usually in silence although occasionally the cubs or Gusto would ask about the castle and how Taffi thought Jasmin would be. They had been walking out in the sun nearly all morning and welcomed the shade of the forest ahead. They entered the forest, but stayed close because Taffi warned them of some of the dangers present in the forest. They had been walking through the forest for about an hour with cool breeze on the air when the light began to fade. As darkness crept upon them Taffi stopped and told them to make camp.
"Shouldn't we keep going?" said Gusto.
"No, if you stray from the path you could run into even worse things than Ramsin's sorceress in here," said Taffi.
The group lay down to sleep the cubs lay one on either side of Taffi with Gusto next to Sunni. They didn't go to sleep straight away just lay awake listening to the wind whistling through the trees or the branches creaking, which made them jump. Eventually they feel asleep due to exhaustion and a feeling of security since Taffi had said she would stay awake longer to make sure nothing disturbed them. By Taffi's reckoning it was now midnight and everyone was asleep except her and Gusto. He lay on his back staring up at the stars while she just listened intently to the sounds of the forest. A whimpering sound attracted her attention and she looked at the cubs, but they were asleep and so was everyone else except Gusto who was now looking at her.
"What's wrong, Taffers?" he said a bit concerned.
"I hear whimpering" she answered.
She rubbed her head and eyes and lay back down and closed her eyes. A few minutes passed with total silence then she shot back up and said, "Headaches"
"What about them?"
"I get them when I'm about to get a telephatic message" stated Taffi.
"Oh" said Gusto sitting up and leaning on his arm.
Taffi waited anxiously for what seemed like eternity the only thing she could hear was the sound of her own breathing and the beating of her own heart then finally a faint sound echoed in her mind //Taffi, please hurry I don't know how much longer I can last//
Gusto watched Taffi with interest, anxiousness and happiness and in his opinion Taffi seemed to be the same way. He watched her for about half an hour an nothing happened then finally her expression turned sad and she looked at him.
"Jasmin's hurt badly" was the only thing she said.
"What can we do?" he asked.
"Get some sleep we're starting early tomorrow," said Taffi rolling over and laying down.
A few more hours went by and Taffi was still awake, she knew Gusto had fallen asleep about an hour ago but she couldn't sleep all her thought was bent on what Ramsin and his sorceress where doing to Jasmin. Tears spilled down her cheeks as her sleepy eyes drifted shut.
Next morning Taffi woke up with the sun shining in her eyes, it was dawn about 5'o'clock in the morning. Taffi yawned and got up, she looked around and saw that everyone was still asleep so she set about making breakfast.
The group woke up to the smell of sausages sizzling away in a frying pan. The cubs were the first up soon followed by the others and within ten minutes they were all sat down eating breakfast. Afterwards Taffi using some extra water she'd brought with her heated it up and washed up all the pots then the group set out again as Taffi was desperate to reach Jasmin as soon as possible.
*****
Jasmin woke up two and a half days later after Ramsin's assault. She groaned in pain, she couldn't move her left arm and her right ankle throbbed. She gingerly inspected the damage done to her head and found bruising around her left eye and a deep gash on the back of her head. She found it hard to breathe and after examining her ribs worked out that they too were badly bruised. She painfully raised herself onto her elbows then shifted over to the wall and propped herself against it. If she was lucky maybe Ramsin or Alarna wouldn't visit today, but the sudden sound of voices let her know otherwise and within minutes Ramsin and Alarna walked in. Ramsin kicked her hard in the side which made whimper then grabbed her by the shoulder hard and lifted her up.
All Jasmin could hear was a jingle sound then felt something clasp around her wrists. She groaned weakly the iron shackles she'd been put in where freezing they were cutting into her skin and making her bleed.
Ramsin pulled her face up for her to look at him then sneered at her and dropped her. Jasmin yelped her body was hanging a few inches off the ground and being total supported by her wrists. Tears of fresh pain fell down her face and she looked up at Alarna as she grabbed her face digging her nails in piercing her skin. Alarna suprisingly enough didn't say anything just stared at her eyes then let go and said to Ramsin "She's breaking"
Ramsin smirked then walked over to a cupboard Jasmin hadn't noticed before and began rummaging through it. A minute later he re-emerged with something in his hand but Jasmin couldn't see what. He walked back over to Alarna and said, "Well why don't we just speed things up a little"
Jasmin just saw Alarna flash one of her approving, cold, cruel smiles then CRACK. She screamed in pain as the whip crashed down on her again making her jolt around and the shackles dig into her wrists even more.
*****
Taffi and the Glens had reached their destination, Ramsin's castle. It's dark walls loomed up above them and smell was absolutely repulsive.
The clouds overhead were dark with slight droplets of rain every now and then and a deep rumble could be heard not to far away.
Taffi's happy expression soon fell when she heard the one thing she had been hoping not to, Jasmin's screams.
She threw her dark brown cloak over her and then stealthily crept closer to the castle as fast as she could, the other's copied and followed.
When they reached the gates Taffi signalled for them to stay put then crept closer to the two guards on duty. Picking two stones from the ground she fired them from her slingshot and they sailed through the air noiselessly and hit the two guards on the back of the neck knocking them unconscious.
Once inside Taffi led the way guiding them towards the dungeons where she knew Jasmin would be.
The group snuck behind barrels, sacks and wagons to get to the door to the dungeons and eventually they reached it. They all ran through quickly to avoid being seen then closed the door behind them and started walking speedily down the corridor.
Taffi broke into a fast walk, but not a run because the cubs wouldn't be able to keep up but as they went further down the corridor the louder Jasmin's screams of agony got. When they came in sight of the door Taffi sprinted to it and jumped at it making it swing open. She stood in the doorway temporarily stunned then slowly her rage gathered and she unsheathed her sword and leapt at Ramsin.
Jasmin hung from her iron shackles bearly conscious watching Taffi fight Ramsin, relief washed over her body. She noticed her arm was moving and looked to her side seeing Gusto trying to get her out of the shackles.
There so cold he thought as the shackles crumbled into dust in his hands. Alarna had lost her concentration so the shackles, which were formed from her magic turned to dust. Jasmin's body fell forward and Gusto caught her he looked down at her and saw she had gone unconscious. Then he glanced over his shoulder and saw Taffi battling it out with Ramsin, while the other's distracted the sorceress. Gusto stood there unsure what to do then a cold, empty, cruel voice pierced the air making everyone freeze. It was Alarna she'd evidently had enough her hands were at her sides and balled into fists and she was shaking with rage. "I'll deal with that meddling bear once and for all," she said forming a small, purple ball glowing with a red light.
Her eyes narrowed and her lips curled into a snarl then she threw the ball directly at Jasmin who lay in Gusto's arms. The room went eerily silent, as the ball seemed to move in slow motion towards its targets. Gusto stood there unable to move the ball came closer until it was within a few inches of them.
"GUSTO" shouted Taffi.
"Huh?" he replied then saw the ball.
He jumped to the side so the ball only slightly caught his side singeing his fur then hit the wall behind. The wall absorbed it then a second later exploded into a million pieces.
"Gummiberry Juice" shouted Gruffi.
Gusto drank his juice then jumped out of the hole where the wall used to be soon followed by the others.
"Hey, what about me?" said Taffi.
"Looks like they're leaving you behind" sneered Ramsin raising his sword.
Taffi closed her eyes, but the blow never came instead she felt herself being picked up and the wind hit her face and her hair whip round and she turned to face, Gruffi?
TBC…
Well, hope this lightened your spirits and made you happy. What a way to end the chapter to find out what happens next just leave a review and I will update as soon as possible. See ya! :)