Digging her heels into the ground, Willow raced down the side of the
mountain in pursuit of the spy. Emmeth was about five yards ahead of her
and counting.
"Halt!" he shouted at the escapee, sliding down a steep part of
the mountain. The escapee ignored his shouted words and raced on,
faster and faster, kicking up rocks and dust as he fled.
Approaching the same steep part as Emmeth had just a moment before,
Willow set her teeth and pushed off from the edge, landing and rolling
at the bottom, but back on her feet in seconds. Her bow was out now, and
she aimed it steadily at the rogue's back. The twang of the bowstring
got his attention and he threw a terrified look over his shoulder,
thinking that imminent death was coming straight at him in the form of a
well-shot arrow.
The arrow was well-shot, but it didn't pierce his skin as he'd
imagined in the four seconds he had. Instead, the arrow caught right
under his armor and just above his skin and pinned him to a tree right
near the edge of a cliff.
"Move and you will die," Emmeth warned as he scrambled up, his sword already in hand.
"Yeah," Willow panted as she jogged up, her face pale under her face mask from the hard run.
"What do ya want?" the vagabond questioned, squirming at the sight of the sword in Emmeth's hand.
"You know what we want, thief scum. You have the money that the people
collected for the Prince and his rebels," Willow sneered, tossing her
head with drama.
The thief trembled at the sight of the two Shadow Guards, each
clothed in black and their faces covered with black face masks so you
could only see their eyes. (Willow was using the Illusionist's mask).
Because they both sounded young, he estimated that they were
guards-in-training, and not true Shadow Guards. He pretty much knew that
he'd be dead if they were not just trainees.
"It is not your money," he resisted, then tugged the arrow out
of his vagabond-y outfit and edged towards the cliff. "It's somethin'
else ya want to, isn't it?"
The two "Shadow Guards" glanced
at each other, as if communicating with their eyes. Willow stepped
forward. "Give it to us, Krideth. If you want to survive this encounter,
give it up." She held out her hand expectantly, one dark eyebrow
cocked.
Krideth broke into a cold sweat. "Don't kill me..." he pleaded, falling on his knees. "Pleeeeaaassseee?" he began to wail.
The pair rolled their eyes. "Nice trick there, Krideth. Now hand it
over, or we will have to take it from you by force," Emmeth announced,
taking a menacing step forward.
"Hey!" a shout came from the road, and two cloaked people
dressed in traveling clothes appeared, both wearing lower-face masks
that hid their identities.
"Stay back," Emmeth warned, waving his sword at them as he concentrated on his adversary. "Last chance, thief."
"What's going on, Shadow?" the smaller of the travelers demanded.
Willow glared at the pair. "Let us be. This man has stolen money that the kingdom is in need of."
"And you're going to kill him if he doesn't give it to you, am I right?" the taller one butted in.
This time both "Shadow Guards" glared at the pair. "We are by
law permitted to arrest anyone in whom we feel to be a threat to
national security," Emmeth announced.
The smaller traveler
leaned closer to the taller traveler. "I think they want to 'arrest'
us," he whispered loudly. " That's kinda funny don't you think?" He
lifted her eyebrows dramatically. Something in Willow nudged at her
brain, as if that gesture of sarcasm held familiarity, but she couldn't
think of why.
Emmeth puffed out a sigh. "Look, we will be willing to overlook your fault if you leave now."
The smaller traveler placed both hands on his hips and gave him a defiant glare. "In your dreams, buddy boy."
Emmeth and Willow exchange glances. Willow gave him a slight
nod, and she edged behind him slightly, to keep watch over the prisoner.
Emmeth advanced on the pair quickly.
"Bring it on!" cried
the small one, whipping out a shining sword. The sunlight filtering down
through the trees caught on the silver and reflected out into many
different directions.
A fight ensued, Emmeth managed to knock the smaller one in the
mouth, but it was a losing battle. Willow pulled out her bow and arrows
but didn't see the taller traveler sneak up behind her. He knocked her
out with a clean blow to the back of the head with the back of his sword
while the smaller traveler knocked Emmeth against a tree to knock him
unconscious.
"Sooo..." Emmeth felt a sword prick his neck as he came out
of unconsciousness. "You're not a Shadow Guard, are ya, squirt?" the
same voice of the smaller traveler stated. The only thing was that his
voice sounded odd. "Thanks for the broken lip, by the way," he grumbled,
patting the part of his mask where his lip probably was.
"Wha..?" Emmeth shook his head, and immediately regretted it. His head ached. "Wait, where is she?"
"She? Oh, your girlfriend is right over there," he pointed to the other
side of the tree. Emmeth then realized that his back was flat against a
tree, and his arms were pulled straight out and tied to something else
on each side. He felt stretched.
"She is not my "girlfriend". She is a friend who happens to be a lady," he answered.
"Same difference," smirked the traveler.
"Where am I?" a soft voice questioned from the other side of
the tree. The thing tied to Emmeth's wrist twitched, and he realized
that their adversaries had tied Willow's wrists to his.
"I've got this under control," he tried to assure her.
"Right. Is that why we're tied to a tree with swords pointed at our necks?" she inquired.
He blushed. "Yes."
She let out a long sigh. "Brilliant."
The small traveler cocked his head, swishing a few strands of dark hair
across his face. His dark eyes darted over the pair with suspicion.
"Who are you two anyway?" he questioned, pointing his sword menacingly.
"What are your names?" the taller traveler pushed past the smaller one, who narrowed his eyes at him.
"I do not believe I should say," Emmeth hedged, glancing around. He
needed something, anything, sharp. Then he felt a burning sensation at
his wrists, and realized Willow was using her purple flame to burn
through the ropes. He coughed. "Who are you people, then?" he asked,
attempting to distract them.
"I believe we ask the
questions," the tall traveler commented, facing him. His pale skin
looked even paler against his black cloak, unlike the other traveler,
whose tanned skin was starkly different, leading Emmeth to believe that
they were not related.
He felt the ropes drop off. Lunging
at the pair before they had a chance to react, Emmeth tackled the taller
traveler. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Willow throw herself upon
the smaller one. But then he became occupied with his own fight. His
opponent was strong, and the two struggled to gain the upper hand.
Emmeth had managed to gain it, and was about to deliver a knock-out blow
when he heard Willow shriek.
"D??!!"
Both
Emmeth and his opponent twisted around to stare at the two others. They
both had their arms wrapped around each other, and the smaller
traveler's hood and mask were no longer covering his face. Make that
her
face. Warm tan skin accented with dark brown eyes and even darker hair
that reached just past her jawline, the girl's features corresponded
remarkably with Willow's, same hair color, eyes, and even general look
were reflected in Willow's own face.
"Will?!" the girl seemed equally surprised. "What are you doing here?"
Emmeth's instincts reacted, and he leaped in front of Willow, shielding her from the girl.
"Oi," the girl poked her head around him. "Will, is this your boyfriend or something?"
Willow rolled her eyes. "No, of course not."
"I'm Prince Emmeth of Tashra," he informed D.
D gave him a sarcastic look. "You're not dressed like a prince," she countered gesturing to his Shadow clothing.
"It is a disguise," he explained.
D arched an eyebrow at Willow, who nodded. "Thank you, Emmeth," she patted his arm and moved around him to get at D.
"Emmeth, this is my younger sister, Darrion," Willow introduced. "D,
this is Emmeth. I'm helping him and his group of Resistance to get his
throne back."
Darrion looked him up and down, her gaze intense. "At your service," she offered slowly.
His opponent, the taller traveler had walked over and was now speaking with Willow. He had neat black hair and dark eyes.
"Emmeth, this is Cole. He's a representative, along with me, of the
Resistance. We're co-workers," Willow explained. "Cole, this is Prince
Emmeth."
The boys nodded and shook hands. Cole seemed like a sensible sort, Emmeth observed.
Willow grasped her sister's elbow and pulled her out of hearing
distance of the boys. "D," she whispered. "I need to tell you something!
Something is very wrong here!"
Interesting thing is, I wrote the bulk of this chapter back in October, I believe. I knew I wanted to introduce D and Cole, and so I wrote this :)
Working on costumes, I just ordered the print that I'm going to have Jenna Coleman sign, it's a print from The Snowmen, which I will be cosplaying from!
D and Ammelia are also working on their costumes, but I'm glad I already have mine! I wore it to the Fairmont Fair in October for Awana, so I've had it awhile. I had no idea it was going to be worn to meet the actual Clara!
Be a Friend, Not an Enemy,
~Willow
