Hi yet again. If you read the reviews and find that I reviewed myself, ignore that. BECAUSE I HAVE CRAZY PEOPLE FOR FRIENDS WHO LIKE TO PUT SIGNED REVIEWS APPARENTLY BY ME ON THERE. The truth is that originally I was going to share this account, just for this story, because it's a shared story that I edit before putting it up, i.e.: taking away any overly wonderful people and making them normal. *glares at the person who wrote chapter 3 and threw a fit on her review when she found out that a reviewer had called Ailee full of herself even though I deleted it* Unfortunately, we made a deal, so all you poor sane people out there will have to deal with 'me' reviewing myself. Anyway, please send reviews, because I'd like to see what sanepeople think. *glares some more* Don't let them put you off. And also, I would like to thank Hades Krazy Daughter for reviewing, and 'Anomonous' who is one of the anonymous reviewers, but still made my day better. And please send in any ideas, and who you want dead, tortured, or kidnapped, etc. I aim to please (sometimes).
Chapter 5: Ode to George
Foldar looked at the sun and grumbled under his breath. Slagor II looked around enquiringly. Foldar frowned, and shook his head, unwilling to get into a fight with Slagor this soon. They could fight when they were far away from Araluen, in Skandia. Right now, they were still in Araluen, and Slagor II was taking forever and a dayto get onto his horse. Slagor II shrugged, then continued 'attempting' to get on his horse, nearly falling into a ditch as he 'tried'. Foldar sighed, and went back to his plotting. They had George as a captive, with Slagor II looking after him. He glanced around, and saw Slagor peering up at the disappearing sun, watching carefully, and mouthing numbers. George was not in view. Foldar couldn't see George! He nearly panicked.
'Slagor, where's the boy?' he asked frantically.
'I, ah, well, ah, right there?' Slagor asked, looking for George, falling off the horse in an attempt to look under it.
'Damn you, Slagor! You were supposed to be watching him! And then he runs away! How'd this happen?!'
'Well, you see, he asked me when the sun would set in three days time, and I didn't know, so I tried to work it out, then... I don't know...' He trailed off.
'Great. Now we have to find him.'
--
Meanwhile, George was running and stumbling down a steep hill, in the direction he thought the castle was. But he didn't really care that much. He just wanted to get away from 'the evil creatures who spilled his blood', as he put it, even though he only had a few bruises, and no cuts or scratches or stab wounds at all. He really did not think that anyone with the smallest shred of mercy would have kidnapped 'poor, helpless, lil ol' me', because underneath all the big fancy lawyer talk, a wimp hid there.
(This is the song: Ode to George)
Twang went a branch as it hit him in the head
Bump went George as he fell into a flower bed
Oww... yelled he as tripped, his head all in a muddle
Sploosh as he tumbled down down down down into a puddle
And he went dooowwn, oh, he went doooowwwwwn
Down into the deep black pit of despair and anger and miserabliltyness and hope I mean doom
And he went dooowwn, oh, he went doooowwwwwn
Down into his (in a really low voice) doom
Bam as he hit his head on a rock and knocked himself out and fell down unnoticed by anyone safe and dreaming of stars and debates and evil raiding Skandians.........
--
Horace and Will trotted carefully through the forest, Will's cloak rendering him practically invisible to Horace, who watched with amazement and awe. He was about to praise Will, until Will held out a hand, motioning for Horace to be quiet. Will had stopped Tug, dismounted and was now peering closely at the ground, in a way that made Horace want to question his sanity. Suddenly, Will stood up, startling Horace.
'This is a fake track!' Will said, nearing hysteria. 'We've been following the wrong track, and I'm supposed to be a Ranger, and Rangers are supposed to know this stuff as soon as they see it!'
'Will, you're only an apprentice.' Horace said, trying to calm him down so that he could ask about the fake track.
'So that's why they didn't let me become a full Ranger when you got to be a knight! They knew this would happen, and that's why I'm still an apprentice!'
Horace raised one eyebrow.
'Oh, Horace, I'm a terrible Ranger! Maybe you should do this and I'll just go back to my little cabin and pack my stuff and move to Skandia and offer myself as a slave!'
Horace raised his other eyebrow.
'Ah, this is terrible! I'll end up back on warmweed, and I'll live my life the way I should've from the beginning, as a stupid, mindless slave!'
Horace grabbed Will's shoulders and shook him hard. 'Don't you eversay that ever again! Remember what happened? And you're not stupid. You're not mindless. You saved Halt and the Baron and Sir Rodney from the Kalkara, and you saved the King and his army from Morgarath and his bridge. You saved Skandia from being enslaved by the Temujai, which by doing you practically saved the world. And you saved a princess.'
Will stepped back and straightened himself. He nodded. 'Sorry. I won't do that again.'
Horace sighed with relief. 'What's this you were saying about a fake track?' he asked carefully.
'Foldar and Slagor II have taken a faster route, and I'm pretty sure they planned to launch a surprise attack on us when we reached the end of the trail.'
'I see. What would they accomplish by doing this?'
'Probably killing us.'
--
Blaze and Sorcha neighed repeatedly to each other. Gilan was starting to get puzzled. He'd never seen Blaze act like that before. After a while, he just put it down to friendliness, even though he knew that it was a really lame reason. He glanced at Ailee and smiled. The girl looked so happy and content, softly stroking Sorcha's neck. Gilan knew that Ailee had ridden, and owned, at least half a dozen horses, but this one held a special place in her heart. Abruptly, the two horses' ears pricked up, and they whinnied together, a worried sound. Gilan turned. He didn't like what he saw.
The war dogs looked surprisingly cheerful and happy. They barked at the Rangers and their horses, growled when they came near, but nothing more. They sniffed them, and licked Sorcha comfortingly, as she was nearly having a fit. They did this, and nothing more. Gilan and Ailee had already dismounted, their weapons ready, and Ailee, an animal lover, bent down and held out her hand to the dogs. Gilan was ready to pull her back and yank her away with him, when he saw that the dogs were responding like any other dogs, sweet and always ready to be loved. Ailee reached into her bag and pulled out some dried meat, and gave it to the dogs.
'Oh, Gilan, can we take them with us?' Ailee asked, her voice breaking the awkward silence. Gilan tried to think of a polite way to say: no way in hell, but then he heard Ailee sigh with disappointment. The dogs had left.
--
'Oh, for the love of all that's holy!' Halt grumbled, 'Won't that dratted idiot of a boy leave me alone?!'
Alyss looked around the corner, where Halt was glaring, and saw the laundry maid's son, Aaron, pompously attempting to stride smoothly towards them. He nearly tripped.
'Shoot.' Alyss muttered. Aaron had seen them. 'Do you think we could turn around?'
'No, it's too late now.' Halt said dismally.
'I suppose we will have to put up with the silly idiot.'
--
Aaron had watched 'the beautiful blond courier, Alyss, and the legendary Halt' for several minutes before striding out 'elegantly yet with a masculine feel' towards them. He thought this made him look more like 'the knight he was on the inside'.
When he was well within earshot, Halt said to him, 'Listen, Sir Wannabe, but Alyss and I, and only Alyss and I, are going on an important mission.'
That was the wrong thing to say. 'Ohh, an important mission! I'm the knight for the job!' Aaron said, forgetting that Halt had called him 'Sir Wannabe'.
'First of all, Aaron,' Alyss spat his name contemptuously. 'You are not even a knight, and secondly, in case you've forgotten, Halt said 'only me and him', in other words, not you.' With that, Alyss and Halt left, Alyss gliding gracefully away, and Halt striding like Aaron had tried to.
A few minutes later, Alyss looked back to make sure he wasn't following. He wasn't. Aaron was sitting on the drawbridge, sulking and looking very much like the nickname Halt had given him: 'Sir Wannabe'.
A few minutes after that, there came a large splash. Alyss turned once more and saw instantly what had happened: Aaron was no longer sulking on the drawbridge. He was sulking in the water beneath it.