Sorry that this took me so long to post, I was having computer problems AND a writer's block.

CHAPTER 7 - July – Good Times

Kiyra was awoken in the middle of night by Geoff. Kiyra mumbled something and rolled over, but Geoff was persistent. Finally, Kiyra furiously sat up.

"Is something wrong with Anna or one of the Goats?"

"No," Geoff was cut off by an irate Kiyra.

"Then I don't care." Kiyra closed her eyes and willed Geoff to be far, far away.

"I have a mission for you." Geoff tugged on Kiyra again, who had suddenly perked up.

"Really?"

"Yes, wake up the other Goats. Don't dress in your uniforms. Hurry." Geoff left the Hovel.

Kiyra struggled up. "Tyrell! Lars! Merci!" She yelled at the top of her lungs.

All of the Goats stirred. Those who had been called sat up and looked at Kiyra with bleary eyes.

"Up and at 'em!" Kiyra stomped her foot. "We have a mission to do! Come on, dress in your normal clothes!"

"Just them?" Toady sat up and glared at the three who Kiyra had called.

"No, anyone that's up in two minutes!" That remark sent all the Goats tumbling out of their beds. Kiyra helped Dann tie his shirt laces and Emma braid her hair. In less than four minutes, the Goats were ready. All were dressed in their everyday clothes, which were less than clean and new. Many were barefoot, because their only pair of shoes was the shiny boots that completed their uniform.

Geoff walked in again. "Good. Now come close and listen up. You all know that the king is in Port Caynn?" There were nods. "Well, his spies told him that there is to be a mage-made earthquake. That means that he needs the Dominion Jewel. He can't come back and get it, because there might be an enemy waiting to kill him. Soldiers can't bring it because they're too noticeable. A bunch of raggedy, yet competent children would be perfect. Which is why the king has sent word for you to bring him the Dominion Jewel."

"Us?" Kiyra blurted. "What if we stole it?"

Geoff's face tightened. "Then I would hunt each of you down and kill you." Kiyra shivered. She actually believed him.

"We would never steal it." Tyrell reassured the Rogue's Majesty.

"Where is it?" Merci asked, curious to see the stone that they had heard about in legend.

"You must each swear to me an oath that you will do all you can to make sure that the Dominion Jewel makes it to King Jonathon's hand." Geoff said seriously. "Repeat after me; We, as Rogue Goats," Geoff paused to let the picks say it. "…swear that we will do all that is in our power," There was another pause to let the Goats repeat the phrase. "…to ensure that the Dominion Jewel reaches our monarch, King Jonathon's hand." The Goats finished and looked at Geoff expectantly.

"Alright, here it is." Geoff laughed and pulled out a small leather bag from his pocket. He loosened the string and turned the bag out into his hand. A deep red gem with many faceted sides fell into his palm.

"May I hold it please?" Kiyra held out her hands beseechingly. Geoff answered by dropping the jewel into her hands. Kiyra knelt and let all of the Goats touch it.

"It's the prettiest thing." Dann murmured.

"You'll be the one holding on to it." Geoff told Dann. All the Goats gasped in unison.

"Why me?" Dann stuttered. "I'm small, I'm weak!"

"Exactly." Geoff nodded smugly. "Who would expect you to have it?"

Cole's face twisted with jealousy that he quickly concealed. "But if the oldest don't have it, maybe they'd go to the youngest?"

"I thought of that." Geoff rubbed his forehead with both hands. "Let's just say that a close friend of mine advised me on this. Dann will carry the Jewel."

Cole nodded, accepting the answer even if he didn't like it.

"What if Dann loses it?" Kiyra interjected. She trusted Dann as much as any of her Goats, but he was young.

Geoff drew a leather pouch from his coat pocket. "He won't. Put the Jewel in here, Kiyra. This pouch cannot be lost nor stolen. You can only give it away, Dann, so keep it on at all times."

"How do you keep getting these things?" Tyrell touched the pouch and then his own Goat necklace.

"I have connections and coins." The young man laughed. "Now, you must leave immediately. Make sure that you are not followed. Get to Port Caynn as quick as you can and deliver this to the King." Geoff tied the leather pouch around Dann's waist.

"Won't we be recognized?" Finn asked worriedly.

"Not if you're careful. Outfit yourselves with these rags." Tugging on a box, Geoff pulled the cover off to reveal rags that might be called clothing.

Kiyra tugged at one, almost grimacing at the smell and the lice that crawled among the scraps of cloth. She stopped herself when she remembered that she had been wearing rags like these not too long ago.

"Here, Dann, put this on." Emma helped the younger boy pull on a ragged tunic in a motherly way. "Try to hide the pouch.

The Goats looked like the scrawny street rats that they had once been when they were finished. Geoff had taken away their dirks, after promising to return them, and given them sturdy iron blades disguised as cheap copper ones. He had also smeared dirt on their arms and legs, even where their rags covered it. Geoff did leave their Goat necklaces, just in case they needed them. They were magical after all and could alert the others to a Goat in trouble.

An hour had passed since the time that the Goats had woken up. They had been too tired to want food, but Geoff had made them eat some cold bread and cheese. The eleven Goats left in the cover of the dawn.

Getting out of Corus was easier than it should have been. Kiyra was proud of Toady when he pointed that out to her.

"Their security stinks. Geoff could do better." Toady looked

"Geoff for king!" Finn joked, dark face blending in with his surroundings.

Cole was silent, unusual for him. He would usually have joked and replied with something funny.

"Maybe we should get going." Tyrell suggested. "We've a long, hopefully boring, walk ahead of us."

The trip was relatively boring until a day from Port Caynn. The disguised Goats walked and rested by intervals and scrounged for food. When they traveled, they split up into groups of three or four. Kiyra was worried that eleven children in a group would be too noticeable. Everything had gone perfect until they had been noticed.

Kiyra, Rye, Cole, and Dann had been in a group in a forest. Kiyra knew that the other two groups were in hearing distance. She heard their shouts and yells and stiffened, but her attention wavered when eight men in green and brown tunics jumped out at her group.

All four had their daggers out in seconds. Dann shifted nervously on his feet and his hand went uncertainly to his belt pouch. The man, who looked to be the leader, held out his hand. He had seen Dann's motion and knew that he had the Jewel. Dann looked to Kiyra, who shook her head. Dann looked back at the man and bit his lip. Kiyra knew that he was about to save his friends and give the Dominion Jewel to the assassins.

Cole knew it too. He raised his dagger and jumped out at the leader. The leader was ready for him and slashed his sword down on Cole's shoulder. Cole still held true and buried his dagger deep in the man's chest. Both fell in a heap on the ground.

Kiyra yelled angrily, ignoring the tears that ran down her face. She slit two men's throats and stabbed another in the heart. Kiyra hit one man on the nose bone with the hilt of her dagger, hearing bones crack and knowing he was dead. She whipped around to fight more, but they were all dead. Both Rye and Dann had accounted for the remaining three men.

"Cole?" Dann ran to the fallen Goat, Rye not far behind.

Kiyra lifted Cole off the dead leader and laid him on the ground. Rye slid out of his shirt and pressed it to Cole's shoulder. Dann touched Cole's cheek and started to sob.

Kiyra looked to the bushes, where she heard quick footsteps. She readied herself to throw her dagger at whoever might come through.

"Kiyra!" Tyrell shouted as he crashed into the clearing. Emma and Toady supported a half-limp Finn behind Tyrell.

"Is Cole alive?" Emma gasped when she saw the bloodstained shoulder.

"I think so." Kiyra turned to look at Finn. "How bad is he?"

"I'm fine." Finn assured her.

Merci, Lars, and Wren hurtled through the bushes. None of them were injured as badly as Finn or Cole.

Wren's eyes filled with tears when she saw Cole, but she got to work. Kiyra had no idea how she knew this, but Wren grabbed a kind of thick moss that was growing on a tree. She removed the soaked shirt that Rye had staunched the blood with, and pressed the moss to the wound.

All the Goats gathered around Cole. Finn's wounds were serious, but mainly just a broken leg and a bump on the head. Most of the others were hurt, including Kiyra, but they were not hurt seriously.

"Kiyra?" Cole's eyelids fluttered and he moaned. "Sorry…that I can't…help anymore. Glad that…I didn't have…to get…old." He smiled jokingly, but grimaced in pain.

"Sssh." Kiyra wiped tears off her face. "Don't talk. Save your strength for getting better."

"Whatever…listen…it was my fault…not yours…nothing anyone…could have done…" Cole's breath faltered, but he gasped in air. "Get jewel to king…stop earthquake…"

"We will." Lars promised his best friend. "Don't worry."

"You'll get better." Emma held Cole's hand, letting him squeeze it when the pain got too bad.

"I'm not stupid…I know I'm…dying… not scared." Cole let out a sharp laugh. "We had fun…us Goats…running from Provost…picking…" Cole's eyes twinkled impishly and he nudged Lars. "…drinking…"

"Don't cry…" Cole's eyes drifted over Kiyra for a moment. "The jewel…king…" The boy who had only seen ten years shuddered. "Remember…the good…times."

"Good times." Cole trembled and stopped breathing.

"Noo!" Dann wailed, looking more his age than ever Kiyra had seen.

Lars bitterly spoke up. "Why him? He had so much to do." Lars stood and walked off into the forest.

Kiyra held Dann and Wren close to her. Wren had stopped holding the compress as soon as Cole had died. She was sobbing quietly.

Memories were running through Kiyra's head. Cole's green eyes would dance whenever he and Lars had done a particular bit of mischief…How he had laughed when he made a joke… "C'mon, the nobles are probably thinkin' that we're plannin' revenge."…Cole had been artistic and painted the Goat on the sign on the Hovel's door… Cole always ate his porridge like a complete pig…Cole and Lars wrestling in front of haMinch…Cole had a sense of humor and would even joke in the face of death..."How about Minions?" Cole tried to look evil and failed completely…His dedication to the Jewel and the oath…How he selflessly gave his life.

"Kiyra?" Tyrell's face was screwed up with the effort it took him not to cry. "We need to get the bloody Jewel to the blasted king."

"It's what Cole would have wanted." Kiyra agreed. "It's what we have to do."

Hah! I did it. I'll have you know how emotionally hard it was to kill Cole off. Review or I'll kill someone else, like Geoff or Dann or Tyrell. Hmm...possibilities are endless.