Amber slid to the ground breathing heavily. The ambush had been set perfectly. The enemy had known the path they were taking, known that they had a flat lander with them, and knowing this they had chosen carefully the spot to wait. Anyone from outside the mountains would require rest at this point in the trail, it was the last place that a flat lander could sleep without interruption. But how had they known, that was the question that kept coming back to her.
No one from home new where Amber was headed and none of the traders did either. There was only one possibility. Someone in their group had betrayed them.
Amber peeked out of the cave, back the way she had come but there was no one there.
She had other problems too. Even if she could figure out who had betrayed them how would she find the others.
Darrow would be easiest to find. Since she had made the bond with him she had been able to feel his distance from her. Something about that bothered her. Naturally she had a bond with her father and her mother but nether of those bonds touched the surface of the bond she had with Darrow. When she had touched his mind it had accepted her like she was a part of him that had gone on a walk and was now home. She wondered on that. When she was little had they bonded? Amber couldn't remember.
The cave was large. Amber gazed into the darkness trying to locate where it ended,or if the cave had an end a all. The mountains where pocketed with tunnels that created a maze from one end of them to the the other. Long ago the people of the mountains used these tunnels as there home, some say that there was a city in the mountains hidden from those on the surface. In more recent times the tunnels had been used to hide supply's in-case of marauders.
Amber crawled along the cave floor careful to feel in front of her before putting any weight down. Afraid to alert any pursuers of her presence she stayed silent resisting the urge to call forth the stones comforting light. Time passed slowly in the darkness, light from the caves mouth disappeared after a few turns in the tunnel. Amber stopped, leaning against the tunnels wall she closed her eyes. No change, eyes open or closed she saw nothing. Clutching the pendant that hung around her neck she sang. The elders warned children never to sing when you are inside a mountain; To many things could happen.
"I am the land that calls the sea," Amber felt the stones warmth against her skin but kept her eyes closed. "I am the distant night," warmth spread from the center of her palm up her arm. "I am the love that waits for thee, and I am not pain but fright. I lost my way and found a friend hidden among the trees, awaiting the day that I would come and save not him but me...”
Monday, July 1, 2013
Chapter Eight: Questions
Staylec argued quietly with the girl as they walked. It was obvious he was not wining. Night was falling by the time he retreated into a resentful silence. Darrow yawned.
“Shouldn’t we find a place to settle in for a few hours?”
Staylec glared. “Why? So we can waist more time? We are safe, nothing would dare attack us and to add to that we are 3 thousand miles from the next nearest settlement, no one has any reason to be out here!”
The girl smiled, “If that were true then I wouldn’t have wasted my time to make the trip.” She turned to Darrow, “ You will need your rest, and tomorrow we climb. I have an old friend to see.”
Shouts echoed thru the night startling Darrow awake. Light filled their camp. Darrow tried to move but his hands and feet where bound, He was helpless.
“I think I see her!” Shouted a gruff voice. There was a pounding of feat, the snap of broken branches, and something else. Barely audible was the sound of humming. Something slammed into the back of Darrow’s head and he blacked out. The humming fallowed him into the darkness. He wasn’t sure if he was dreaming or not. He could see a floor and someone’s feet. Then he was in a bed and an old man was taking to him asking him questions he couldn’t remember the answers to. Sometimes it was just flashes of him in the room with the bed. At some point he started to regain real consciousness. The room he was in was large, ornate, and ugly if he were telling the truth.
A door on the other side of the room slide open and a large man entered and waddled across the floor.
“Good morning and how are we today, feeling better I think?”
“Where is the girl? I want to see her, where am I? Who are you?” Darrow felt a wave of dizzy ness as the man got closer he smelled like he was rotting.
The man inspected him, “Your friends abandoned you, you are safe now, I am..” His voice trailed off and he smiled showing his black rotting teeth, “your friend.” He chuckled to himself and turned to head back through the door.
“Shouldn’t we find a place to settle in for a few hours?”
Staylec glared. “Why? So we can waist more time? We are safe, nothing would dare attack us and to add to that we are 3 thousand miles from the next nearest settlement, no one has any reason to be out here!”
The girl smiled, “If that were true then I wouldn’t have wasted my time to make the trip.” She turned to Darrow, “ You will need your rest, and tomorrow we climb. I have an old friend to see.”
Shouts echoed thru the night startling Darrow awake. Light filled their camp. Darrow tried to move but his hands and feet where bound, He was helpless.
“I think I see her!” Shouted a gruff voice. There was a pounding of feat, the snap of broken branches, and something else. Barely audible was the sound of humming. Something slammed into the back of Darrow’s head and he blacked out. The humming fallowed him into the darkness. He wasn’t sure if he was dreaming or not. He could see a floor and someone’s feet. Then he was in a bed and an old man was taking to him asking him questions he couldn’t remember the answers to. Sometimes it was just flashes of him in the room with the bed. At some point he started to regain real consciousness. The room he was in was large, ornate, and ugly if he were telling the truth.
A door on the other side of the room slide open and a large man entered and waddled across the floor.
“Good morning and how are we today, feeling better I think?”
“Where is the girl? I want to see her, where am I? Who are you?” Darrow felt a wave of dizzy ness as the man got closer he smelled like he was rotting.
The man inspected him, “Your friends abandoned you, you are safe now, I am..” His voice trailed off and he smiled showing his black rotting teeth, “your friend.” He chuckled to himself and turned to head back through the door.
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