Here is the third chapter from my teen fantasy WIP. Thoughts?
Can three ever be company?
We traveled through
the night, trying to put as much distance as possible between us and our
captors. Finally, as dawn was breaking above the hills, we came upon a cave in
the pass we were trekking through. We all headed for it without a word.
Once inside, we
slumped to the dirt floor. Lying back against the cold, hard rock of the cave
wall, I breathed a sigh of relief. At least we’d been able to find some
shelter.
“I suppose we should
gather some firewood and build a fire,” I said.
Hugo nodded. “Uh,
huh. I’m hungry.”
“Mmm, yes. We’ll need
to hunt up some grub, agreed, but I’m not inclined to go out hunting while the
Cratt soldiers are anywhere about.”
Hugo nodded glumly
and slumped back against the wall next to me.
All this time our
cranky companion had been staring at me. Her hazel eyes were boring into me as
if she were trying to peer into my very soul. It was just a touch unnerving.
“Look, I don’t want
to be rude, but why the hell are you staring at me like that?”
“How did you do it?”
she barked.
“Do what?” I asked.
“Release us from our
chains.”
“Oh, well, it’s no
great thing, really. I’ve always had a gift for, er, extricating myself from
situations like that.”
“Lightning sprang
from your finger. Don’t deny it! Are you a sorcerer?”
I laughed at that.
“Sorcerer? Hardly. It’s just when the need is great, I’ve found that I can come
up with ways to help myself. It’s purely self-preservation.”
She looked at me
doubtfully.
“Look, who are you? I
don’t know you. You’ve been cranky and bad-tempered this whole time, and you
demanded to come with us. What is your name, and where are you from?”
“I am Rosetta. I was
a soldier in the Cratt army,” she said with a somewhat defiant look.
Hugo gave a huge
laugh. “You, a soldier? Your chest’s too big and your muscles too small.”
The words were barely
out of his mouth before Rosetta had leaped across the cave and had him in a
headlock. I really think she would have throttled the lad if cooler heads
(mine) hadn’t prevailed.
“Well, Rosetta, no
need to do away with a third of our fighting force. I think it’s fairly obvious
that you’re quite a talented and, uh, unusual warrior. Isn’t she Hugo?”
Poor Hugo barely had
any breath left with which to speak, but thankfully he had the wits to nod his
head as vigorously as he could.
With a grunt, Rosetta
released her hold. “Forgive my anger, but your reaction is all I’ve heard since
my enlistment.”
Hugo sat back against
the wall, rubbing his neck. “I’m sorry. I just never seen a woman warrior.
You’re tough though. What were you doin’ in the cage with the prisoners?”
“Yeah, that’s a good
question,” I said. “What were you doing in that cage?”
“A couple of my tent
mates were trying to be more than friendly. After I disabled them, they went to
our captain with a tale that I had tried to kill them in their sleep,” Rosetta
said.
I nodded and rubbed
my neck. Judging from personal experience, I could see how her accusers’ story
would be believable. “So, what does Cratt hope to gain by raiding my country’s
neighboring villages?”
“The Cratt government
is under a lot of stress at the moment. I think the raids are a means of
diverting the attention of the masses away from the capital,” Rosetta replied.
“I guess that
wouldn’t be the first time something like that has happened,” I said. “So where
do you fall in all this? Do you support your government’s initiative?”
I noticed that Hugo
had straightened up a little bit and was watching our companion curiously.
“As a soldier, I had
no opinion one way or the other.” Her eyes hardened. “But butchering helpless
villagers is not honorable.”
“Good, so I guess
we’re more or less on the same page then. The question is what to do now? The
Cratts might just forget about us. After all, three people in the wilderness is
not really much of a threat to their national security. Still, we don’t want
our paths crossing.”
“Maybe we should go
home,” Hugo suggested.
“There isn’t any
‘home’ to go back to. The Cratts leveled everything, remember?”
Hugo sighed. “Oh
yeah. I forgot. It doesn’t seem like it really happened.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I
get that. So again, I’m asking. What should we do? Rosetta, we’re in your
territory now. What do you think?”
“Our garrison is
billeted at the foot of the mountains. My unit will be making for that, so I
guess we better head farther west.”
Hugo nodded, and I
shrugged. One direction was as good as another to me, as long as it took us
away from our marauding friends.
“What’s that way?” I
asked.
Rosetta shrugged.
“The Forbidden Lands.”
“Huh?” Hugo asked,
looking slightly alarmed.
“You said it, Hugo.
What the heck are the Forbidden Lands?”
“Nobody really knows.
Its history is shrouded in myth and legend. Some say it’s a land of shamans who
wield a deadly black magic. Others say fell beasts and monsters inhabit the
forests there, and that they guard mystical truths.”
“Mystical truths?” I
asked. “Like what?”
“How to find the path
of wisdom and the secret of eternal life.”
“Wow,” Hugo said. “If
I could live forever, could I maybe learn to be wise, Quirk?”
“Um…I think you’d
have to live a long time, so maybe eternal life could get you there,” I
admitted. “So why is this land forbidden? I get that shamans and black magic
and all could be a little off-putting, but if there’s a chance to gain eternal
life, well, why not check it out? Is that why you want to head over there?”
Rosetta shook her
head. “No, but where else can we go that we won’t be hunted? Not to the east, the
most heavily populated area of the Cratt kingdom. Not back across the mountains
to your land—the Cratts patrol every pass, and your folk have border patrols as
well. Where else then but west to the Forbidden Lands?”
I rubbed my chin. She
had me there. We didn’t seem to have many options.
“How do we get
there?” Hugo asked. It seemed he had made up his mind at any rate.
“First, we have to
get out of the mountains and head west. Then, we have to get past the wall.”
“Wall? Your people
built a wall to keep people out of the Forbidden Lands? How are we supposed to
get past it?” I asked.
“We did not build
it,” Rosetta said. “The shamans built it to keep us out.”
“Hmmm, that brings to
mind a couple of questions, the first of which is that maybe Splendaria should
do the same to keep the Cratts out. Seems many people, even evil shaman and
fell, magical beasts have little use for your people.”
Rosetta frowned. “A
wall alone would not keep the Cratts out. It is said to be protected by magical
spells and wards. It cannot be climbed over and cannot be tunneled under.”
Hugo shook his head.
“So why are we even tryin’ t’ go? Don’t sound like there’s much chance of
gettin’ in.”
“There’s a door,”
Rosetta said.
“A door? Is that it?”
I asked. I doubted very much it would be as easy as walking through a door.
“The door is locked.
The lock is guarded by many magical spells, or so it is said.”
“So, what makes you
think trying to get through the door would be any less impossible than trying
to go over or under?” I asked.
“It’s the only place
we can go to evade capture by the Cratts.”
I shook my head.
“Yeah, but it sounds like our chances of getting into this Forbidden Land are
next to zilch. We’d need a way to get through the lock.”
Rosetta gave a sly
look. “True, but I saw you get through several locks as easy as can be.”
“Those were regular,
run of the mill padlocks, unguarded by any kind of magic. I don’t have the power
to get through a magic lock.”
“I’m guessing you
do,” Rosetta retorted. “I think you possess more power in you than you let on,
or than perhaps you know. One zap from your finger and those locks were fried.
I’ve never seen anyone else with anything close to a skill like that. Hugo, have
you?”
Hugo scratched his
head. “Have I what?”
Rosetta rolled her
eyes. “Have you seen anyone who can shoot lightening out of his fingers?”
“No, no. Have you?”
“Yes, our friend
Quirk here did it to release us from our chains.”
“Oh, I was asleep
when he done it. Hey, Quirk, I didn’t know you could shoot lightning from your
finger. That would be a good trick t’ play on the Cratts. They’d leave us alone
for sure then.”
I shook my head.
“That’s the only ‘power’ I have, if that’s what it is. I’ve only ever been able
to do it with locks. I don’t know if I can do it for anything else.”
“Aha, you don’t know
for sure!” Rosetta said, an ‘I told you so’ look on her face. “You’ve never
tried, I bet. For all we know you could be a great shaman yourself.”
“Okay, okay, hold on
there. Simmer down a bit. I think you’re getting a little bit ahead of
yourself. I’m no shaman. I’ve spent my whole life drifting from place to place.
My parents either abandoned me, or were killed, depending on who you talk to. I
was too young to remember.”
Hugo scratched his
head. “Um, so that means you could be anyone, don’t it?”
