Chapter 2
once again please review and let me know what you think!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I DONT OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS!!!!!!!!!!!
Dustfinger crept through the streets soundlessly, both martens scurrying along at his feet. It was late at night and the darkness was unbroken. Even after a few weeks of being here, his eyes had still not quite adjusted to the lack of light bulbs, lamps and streetlights that made this world so much darker than the other one.
Farid had been close to tears when Dustfinger had told him that he would have to stay behind at Roxanne's farm. He had shouted, stomped his feet and even tried to follow him. It was only when Dustfinger had threatened to get Meggie to read him back that Farid finally gave up and traipsed back to the farm, dragging his feet. Dustfingers' heart had gone out to him but tonight, he needed to be alone.
There were few people that walked the streets of Ombra by night. Most of them were soldiers but Dustfinger avoided their suspicious glances into the shadows effortlessly. Had it always been this easy to roam the streets without being spotted?
No sooner had this thought crossed his mind, he heard a sound that made him stop dead in his tracks. A deep growl that came from right behind him.
Dustfinger whirled around and found himself face to face with a huge black bear. He could feel the bear's warm breath on his face. "That's the second time since you've come back that you let us sneak up behind you. I wonder; is the amazing fire dancer losing his touch?" The Black Prince came into view from behind the bear and pushed its muzzle away from Dustfingers face.
Dustfinger let out a sigh of relief and a small smile spread over his face. "So are you going to tell me what you are doing here so late at night? Or am I going to have to guess?" said the Prince.
"I could ask you the same question", answered Dustfinger.
The Black Prince laughed quietly. "Yes I suppose you could", he said as they set off together the bear following a few paces behind.
For a few minutes they just walked on silently, their feet taking them down the familiar paths. "I heard what happened with Brianna." Dustfinger stayed silent. They walked a little further before the Prince continued. "You know you two are probably more alike than you think". Dustfinger still did not say a word; he knew that the Prince would have watched out for Brianna in his absence but he still did not wish to discuss her with him.
"Dustfinger?"
Dustfinger looked at his old friend and saw concern in his eyes but that wasn't all. He also saw that same burning curiosity that he saw in Roxanne's, that question of where have you been? He got the impression that the Black Prince was very much on Brianna's side in this.
"Fine don't talk to me. I'd almost forgotten how secretive you were." The sound of footsteps ahead of them forced them to retreat around the corner of the closest house. As the voices grew louder, Dustfinger's heart sank when he recognised one of the voices: Brianna. What was she doing out so late? It wasn't safe for a young girl to be out alone at night. Then concern turned to pure terror when he recognised the other voice.
"Get your hands off me!"
"Shhh. Your coming with me whether you like it or not princess".
Dustfinger peered around the wall and saw the struggle between his daughter and Basta. Basta's arm was wrapped around Brianna's waist pinning her arms to her sides and had his other hand over her mouth to stop her from making any more noise.
By now the Black Prince had seen what was happening and had already drawn his knife. Dustfinger braced himself for the fight that was surely about to happen but before either of them could do anything, Brianna had bitten Basta's hand. Basta retaliated almost instinctively, hitting her across the face.
"Arghhh! You little-"
But the rest of his sentence was drowned out by the deafening scream that came from Brianna. Within seconds two of the soldiers that Dustfinger had slipped past earlier came running onto the scene.
"Oi!" The soldiers placed themselves in between Brianna and Basta. The shout seemed to have awakened Dustfinger and the Prince who had both been standing there frozen just watching the scene unfold in front of them. They both ran to Brianna.
"Are you ok?" questioned the Black Prince.
"This isn't over princess," Basta said before turning his attention to Dustfinger. "You had better keep an eye on that one," nodding towards Brianna, "I will come back for her."
A couple of hours later, after the soldiers had thoroughly searched the surrounding area for any signs of Basta who had disappeared down a side street and then assuring them that her father and the Prince meant her no harm, Brianna, Dustfinger and the Black Prince were sat in her room.
Brianna would never admit it but she was scared. The fact that he had managed to get past the guards and into her room was frightening to her, not to mention the look on his face as he said those last words: I will come back for her.
She dabbed the damp cloth against her lips again. Her bottom lip had been cut in the struggle but aside from that he hadn't really done that much damage. It was just the thought of him out there, perfectly able to come back whenever he felt like it that made her shudder.
"Are you sure you're ok?" asked the Black Prince.
She nodded, wondering why she was lying to him. It was clear that she was not remotely ok and who could blame her?
"This is all my fault." It was the first thing that Dustfinger had said and both Brianna and the Prince looked up at him. Dustfinger stood up and walked over to the window, Brianna knew that he was never comfortable staying inside even ten years apart could not erase all the memories she had of him.
"Don't be stupid," said the Prince dismissing the idea completely. He turned back to Brianna. Here we go, thought Brianna. She knew as soon as she had seen the Black Prince that she would not be able to get out of this without having to face an interrogation.
"What happened exactly?"
Brianna told them as best she could, but the night was starting to become a bit of a blur. She told them how he had been there standing in her doorway, she told them how he had dragged her outside. She told them how she didn't know where he had wanted to take her or where he had come from for that matter.
"But what did he want?"
Brianna took a deep breath. "I don't know".
"Well he must have said something-"
"Like what?" Brianna was getting angry now; she could feel her temper rising quite quickly to boiling point.
"Did he not say where he was going to take you?"
There it was boiling point. "Now that you mention it, yeah he did say something right after he'd finished telling me about his unhappy childhood and anger issues."
"Ok, ok. I see your point." said the Black Prince.
Brianna stood up and walked over to the small bowl of warm water in the corner of the room. Once she had picked up the bowl and put the piece of cloth in it, she placed it outside her door. Only after she had made sure that the door was shut, she turned at looked at her father whose back was still turned to the room.
"Who was he?"
He did not turn.
"He said you knew him."
At this he slowly turned. He and the Prince exchanged looks before he said anything. Brianna noticed this and it did nothing to improve her temper.
"I do know him."