Part 2: Chapter Ten ~Near Escape~

Okay guys, this is rather a rough chapter, but i hope you like it anyways! I love this chapter though because my favorite character comes back!!!

Amy screamed again in horror at what she saw. A huge, long, green tentacle was wrapped around her leg. Each of its suckers squirmed as it attempted to tear off her skin.
“TAYON!!!!!!” she screeched in fear as she kicked her legs trying desperately to free herself. She didn’t know why she yelled his name but all of a sudden all she wanted to see was him and his sword, coming to her rescue. “HELP!!! Oh help” she said as tears of terror ran down her face. She half expected to feel that overwhelming bubble of power in her chest like when they had fought the fowlgers but nothing came. Nothing but her raw fear as it consumed her.
Another tentacle shot out of the water and wrapped around her other leg. It tugged and she felt herself slide across the sand to the waters edge.
She screamed and kicked her legs harder as she desperately grabbed the sand around her trying to hold on to something. The sweet smell of the lake was making her tired again. She realized that it was probably a drug to make her sleep. It had worked on her last night. Now she understood why she had been so sleepy. She fought to clear her mind.
Her heart raced as she slowly made her way to the water. She stopped trying to grab something and clawed at the tentacle trying to make it let go. She had never felt so scared in her whole life.
“Amy?? Amy what’s wrong?!” the voice of her savior and angel.
“Tayon HELP! It has me!!!!” she pounded the slippery skin over and over again. To her horror another smaller tentacle came out of the water and grabbed her wrist.
“AHAHAHHHHH!!” she cried out, tears flowing down her cheeks. She was going to die. She hadn’t even saved Kara yet.
Tayon’s footsteps sounded on the sand as he ran to her.
“Oh Kendora” he swore as he screeched to a stop and stared at the monsters arms in shock.
Amy yelled as another arm grabbed her around the waist. She felt her body being lifted. She screamed again and pounded the arms. Tayon ran over and with a swift swish of his sword the tentacle that had been clinging to her left leg dropped to the ground.
A huge roar of pain erupted from the lake and huge bubbles covered the surface of the lake.
About a dozen more tentacles shot out of the lake and began waving wildly in the air. Amy was thrown into the air and she clung to the tentacle in fear.
She was upside down and stared down at Tayon who was fighting madly. Tentacles flew through the air. Tayon’s sword was moving so fast that it was a blur. Tayon himself was almost a blur too. He was rolling and twisting every which way.
She heard more shouts and saw Kevyn, Safyra and Kaprie burst out of the forest, swords high in the air. At least, Kevyn and Safyra did.
Amy felt helpless as she dangled from the air. Soon Safyra and Kevyn were locked in battle too. Each one had several tentacles that were attacking them. The battle wasn’t going too good.
Safyra yelled some strange words and a blast of white fire seemed to come out of nowhere and slash into one of the tentacles. It twisted and jerked around as a deep thundering sound came from the lake.
Tayon had several sucker marks and blood was flowing from his left arm. Suddenly a huge tentacle shot out of the water and grabbed him from behind.
It squeezed and Tayon gasped for breath. He dropped his sword as his hands tried to pry away the arm.
It squeezed harder and Amy heard ribs crack. Tayon dropped to his knees. He was turning a pale green.
“Tayon!” Amy screamed and tried to get out of the clutches of her captives. Her efforts were worth nothing. She longed for that buzzing in her stomach and that wave of power, why was that stupid jaharah abandoning her now! She was going to watch Tayon be killed and she couldn’t do anything. Kaprie’s endless scream finally died away and Amy saw her fall to the ground in a dead faint.
A flash of metal caught the moon light and another scream of rage came from the lake. The tentacle loosened its grip and Tayon took a shuddering breath.
A dagger was protruding out of the huge tentacle.
With a war cry a dark figure jumped off one of the many ledges of the cliff and brought his sword down, this time cutting through the tentacle while twisting the dagger deeper into the flesh then pulling it out.
Amy couldn’t see the rest as she was flung to the ground. A huge blue ball of light appeared in the figures right hand and with a cry the man threw the ball into the water. The water boiled and a deep cry echoed through the canyon. With one last cry every tentacle pulled back into the lake. Soon, only a ripple was left on the lakes surface.
Several tentacles lay twitching on the bank. Tayon lay were the arm had dropped him.
Amy cried out as she tried to stand. Her legs gave way and she sank back to the sandy ground.
The figure had already reached Tayon though and was turning him over.
“Tay??? Are you alright? Tay talk to me!” the boy said desperately. Tayon grounded and coughed spitting up blood.
The boy grabbed something from around Tayon’s neck and unscrewed a lid of a small bottle.
He dripped something into Tayon’s mouth and Tayon gagged but choked it down. After a couple of minutes of silence Tayon’s eyes fluttered open and he groaned.
“Everything hurts…” he said. The boy laughed.
“I wonder why? You haven’t fought any lake monsters lately have you?” Tayon’s gaze focused as he looked the boy harder.
“Is that who I think…it is?” he asked sitting up. The boy laughed.
“It is I, the amazingly buff, godlike brother of yours. I came as soon as you called.” Amy, who was watching with anxious eyes, stared at them in surprise. Tayon had a brother? He called him? Wasn’t there no phones here? She tried to stand up again but only managed to make her legs burn with the effort.
Tayon finally seemed to notice her struggling by the waters edge.
“Amy…” he said and stood with a groan. The boy helped him over to her. “Amy are you alright? We’d better get away from the lake…where’s Safyra and Kevyn?” Amy didn’t answer, her chest hurt and she was to busy trying not to start crying again. Tayon kneeled down by her.
“What hurts?” he asked calmly. Amy could only point to her leg. They pulled back her ruined hem and a grim site met them.
The flesh on her leg was almost gone. What was left showed huge circle marks where the suckers had held on.
Amy looked away and gagged. She was in to much shock to feel most of the pain.
Tayon cringed. “Give me the bottle…” he said and the boy handed it over. He unscrewed its cap and looked troubled at the level of it. Shrugging over to his brother he poured a couple of drops onto her leg.
Amy shut her eyes and let the feeling of numbness envelop her.
“Amy? Amy we need to see to the others…are you okay to stay here?” Tayon’s voice came through her thoughts. She nodded.
“Don’t touch your leg. We’ll deal with your other wounds later. I need to make sure they’re okay, okay?” Amy managed another nod.
The next few hours were a blur to her. Safyra had a couple scraps but was okay. She had fought very well with her jaharah and had been spared contact with the deadly tentacles. Same with Kevyn although he was a little more bumped up.
Kaprie was fine but in hysterics that she was about to get eaten. Amy would have laughed if she could have found her voice.
She faintly remembered being cared into the forest for about an hour. They were going as far away from the lake…and the monster, as possible.
Amy didn’t dare glance down at her leg as the set up camp again. The moon was still high in the sky.
Tayon came over and poured more of the strange liquid on her many injuries again. She nodded her thanks gingerly back at him.
“Tayon? Where was Valk when we got attacked?” Tayon frowned.
“Actually, I don’t truly know. He left to go hunt a little while after dinner. I guess he hasn’t come back yet. He’ll be furious when he finds out what happened.” Amy nodded. She would have liked Valk there, to help fight. Somehow the dragon made her feel safe. Though, she would never admit that to Tayon, at least not yet.
“Are you okay? I guess that was a little shocking….” He said. Amy cringed.
“A little? I come from a world were there is no such thing as magic...sorry, sorry, jaharah, and there aren’t monsters that are in lakes that attack people like that!” she looked down at her leg, completely missing Tayon’s shocked face. The red colored covering over her leg was almost gone. New skin lay were it had gone. With a couple of sizzles the different colored coverings on her other wounds disappeared leaving behind perfect skin.
“If you have this kind of magic then why does anyone die of injury here? Wouldn’t you be able to heal anything?” Tayon seemed wary at her question.
“Most of this world doesn’t know about this. It’s very secret. I received this from my family…and mostly my brother, the one that saved us. He’s very talented, he’s the only one who is capable of making such a potion. ” He paused. “also the ingredients are close to impossible to get…well, that’s what he’s bragged and you never know exactly what is true when it comes to him…” He smiled, his eyes far away. “I only have half of it left though…” he muttered, frowning slightly.
“Tayon?” it was that boy, Tayon’s…brother. Amy looked up at him and realized he didn’t have his cloak on anymore. Like Tayon he was very handsome and had a black fenter. By this time, she had realized that fenters were some sort of sign to the elves who wore them.
He had long shaggy blond hair like Tayon. It was the same brownish blond and was styled the same. It was slightly shorter then Tayon’s though.
His eyes were a piercing grey that unsettled her. He was taller and leaner then Tayon but otherwise everything about the two was the same. They looked so much a like in their figures it bothered her.
Tayon turned to him “Hey. Thanks so much for coming. Good timing too, you always seem to come in with a bang.” Tayon’s brother shrugged but looked pleased, though slightly tired.
“I cam as soon as you called. I didn’t know exactly where you guys were so I’ve been wondering around for the past couple days. I saw Valk about four hours ago and he told me where you would be.” Tayon nodded then looked curious.
“You saw Valk? Where is he?”
“He’s over the ridge about two miles from here. He caught a big buck and was too tired to carry it over the mountain. His wings were hurting him. He told me what happened with the lighting. That was pretty stupid man…” he then set his gaze on Amy. Amy scowled at him. He didn’t seem to care that she was glaring at him.
“What’s your name again?” he asked his eyes probing.
“Amy” she said letting her scowl soften slightly. He smiled at her.
“Mine’s Tearck. As you probably have guessed I’m Tayon’s twin brother.” She gave him a strange look and watched as Tayon rolled her eyes. Inside she could have hit herself. Of course they were twins. Why hadn’t she guessed?
“Terck?” she asked, trying out his name for size. Though she didn’t think she heard his name probably. She hadn’t. He laughed and grinned at her.
“No. Tear-ick. It’s a dwarf name. They’re names are very…interesting. They often have hidden syllables in the names that they don’t write down. They have a weird issue with people knowing there true names from paper.” Tayon and Tearck shared a laugh at that. Amy guessed she was being left out of an inside joke.
Suddenly a roar shook the forest. Valk was back.
“Excuse me…” Tayon stood and walked over to Valk and they began talking in low hushed voices, well, Tayon’s was low.
“Um…so your Tayon’s twin brother ha?” Amy said trying to make conversation. Tearck snorted.
“No, we’re sworn enemies.” He said sarcastically. Amy glared at him and he grinned teasingly.
“Oh come one, it was just a really stupid question.” Amy rolled her eyes.
“Sorry, I was just trying to talk.” Tearck snorted and Amy snorted also, she was being ridicules. Soon, they were talking freely about practically nothing at all. Amy felt herself relax and she felt almost normal.
Tearck then launched himself into outrageous stories about his childhood.
Most of them were quite funny and Amy found herself laughing. Soon Tayon came over to them and told them they were ready to start traveling again. Amy eyed him, seeing him in a slightly different light. Where was the teasing manner she had just heard about? This stone-faced boy seemed to lack any of the qualities of the boys in Tearck’s story.
The sun was slowly peeking over the mountains heads. It spread a gentle glow through the small valley.
When everything was packed and Amy’s leg was all healed they set off. Amy tried to hop on behind Tayon but found she didn’t have enough strength to reach Valk’s back. Even with Valk’s help as he held his arm sideways so they could get up she still couldn’t. Suddenly strong cold arms made there way around her waist and lifted her up and onto Valk’s back.
Amy looked down to see Tayon smiling gently back at her. She smiled gratefully at him then down at her hands. Tearck came up behind Tayon hopped up behind her as Tayon helped Kaprie up behind him. Tayon didn’t look happy about four people sitting on Valk but he didn’t argue about it.
Amy felt slightly squashed but she found it bearable. Valk pushed off the ground and flapped his wings, making a miniature tornado.
Tearck and Tayon laughed and then Amy found herself joining them as the wind whipped her long black hair.
Then they were air born and the wind subsided but didn’t stop. By now it was almost natural to fly on Valk’s back.
They flew higher and higher with the two dishora’s and there riders following them. The cold wasn’t as bad as she remember. Between both Tayon’s and Tearck’s warm bodies she no longer felt the cold.
They flew over many peaks in the next couple of hours. By the time the sun was high in the sky Amy was feeling cramped and was sick of sitting down.
Tayon and Tearck keep her well entertained though. Each one had a million and more jokes and often made Amy laugh. Even Kaprie, who was pouting about who knows what laughed every once in a while with them. All there jokes were new, mostly about dragons, fowlgers, and humans. Amy tried not to act annoyed at their hits on human behaviors.
The she noticed that Valk was going lower and lower as the mountains seemed to flatten out.
No more peaks or endless rocky slopes meet Amy’s eyes as she stared over Tayon and Valk’s heads.
All she could see was water. A vast shimmering lake laid a head of them.
“Welcome to the Untillack Sea.” Tearck’s deep voice whispered into her ear.

Part 2: Chapter Nine ~A nightmare come true~

Valk was the first to react at the site of Kaprie. He grabbed her in one of his huge paws and pulled her over to him. Bags and pots flew everywhere as Kaprie tried desperately to get a hold of something.
She shrieked and struggled against his death hold, trying unsuccessfully to wiggle out. The huge dragon’s movements scared Amy stiff. If she had known that he could do that she would have given him more respect.
Valk, still growling, pulled Kaprie over to his face so that she was an inch away from his scale-less nose. He snarled at her, showing off his white fangs. Each one was as long as Amy’s hands.
Kaprie gulped and then pouted, barely suppressing her fear. Amy had no idea how she managed such a feat.
“Let go of me you filthy lizard!” that was definitely the wrong thing to say. It made Valk furious. Amy made a mental note to never call a dragon a lizard. Or a filthy one come to thing of it.
Valk growled warningly. We shall see who is the dirtiest, eh little pinkie skin? He said and began to rub her into the dirt.
“Valk stop it!” Tayon shouted, the first to recover from the shock of Kaprie’s appearance. Kevyn and Amy joined him in trying to calm the dragon. Safyra did not join them, but stood apart, watching Kaprie with her unchanged brooding look.
Valk looked over at Tayon then growled unhappily and dropped Kaprie onto the ground.
He sat back and watched her, his bright eyes following her every move. It reminded Amy of a cat watching a bird.
Kaprie looked furious, but still slightly scared. She stood and tried to dust all the dirt off her. It wasn’t working. She scowled over at Tayon.
“Do you have no control over your dragon?” she spat the last word. Tayon glared at her and raised an eyebrow.
“I believe I just saved you from my dragon eating you. Though I doubt you taste very good. I believe you owe Valk and me an apology.” He said placing his hands on his hips. His eyes flashed angrily at her, all his earlier mischievousness gone.
Kaprie sniffed. “I’ll do no such thing. I believe you owe ME an apology for not holding your dragon back. This is not how you treat your next queen!”
“You little Rakeer!” The elves blushed at Safyra’s language and Amy just stood stock still, confused. This seemed to be the only thing that Safyra was capable of saying for she didn’t speak any further.
“How dare you even accuse us of doi...?” Kevyn cut Tayon off and stepped between them.
“Kaprie what are you even doing here! We’re already miles from home; this isn’t just a pleasure ride.” Everyone stared at her for a couple of seconds and the tension rose.
Kevyn turned to her “well? Why are you here?” he said not too politely. Kaprie looked defeated but still angry.
“I wasn’t going to just let you go without me! So I hid in the bags while you guys weren’t looking.” she looked so smug that Amy wanted to punch her. She wasn’t quite sure what was going on or why Kaprie was even there but she knew that she wasn’t glad of the elf’s company. She reminded her of Breanne; the similar traits put her hair on edge.
“Well, she is not coming along. We’ll leave her here and hopefully someone will find her before a rakeer does.” Safyra said still looking furious. Tayon shook his head and glared at the elf princess.
“You know we can’t do that. But we’re to far away to take her back now or we’ll just waste time, so I say she stays.” Tayon said not bothering to show the horror behind his logic in his own voice. Kaprie smirked as everyone agreed rather unhappily.
“Now, let’s get camp started!” Kevyn said, exchanging a quick look with Safyra. They all nodded and went to work.




“This is really good Tayon!” Amy said as she ate the last of the smoked deer meat. The others agreed and even Kaprie gave a slight nod. Safyra gave no notion that she heard the conversation. She was staring off in space, her fork making a mess of her food below her, twisting around and around.
Tayon grinned, not noticing Safyra. “Glad you like it…you should thank Valk for hunting it though” Valk grinned. Amy decided that a dragon grinning was very scary. They stuttered their thank you’s to him and then stood.
Tayon made water appear in a bowl and they washed the dishes. Amy stared at Tayon for a bit.
“How does this magic thing work anyway?” she asked hesitantly. Tayon smiled at her question.
“Well, magic is rather a crude word for it. You’ve probably already heard what we call it. We elves call it jaharah. It’s different for everybody. There’s a… a power ring in us and we draw our jaharah from that to do spells. With each spell it draws strength from your ring until you’ve used it up. Then you have to wait till it fills up again. I don’t know, I probably am making it sound really weird. I don’t know HOW to explain it to tell the truth. It’s natural for all of us elves. It’s like growing hair or walking. It just happens.” Amy nodded. She understood most of what he had said.
“Well how come I don’t have one?” she asked after a moments thought. “Whatever happened back at the castle with your magi…jaharah bottle. I know I’ve changed! I look different don’t I?” Amy said staring up at Tayon.
Tayon frowned and eyed her for a second. “Yes, you did change. But even if you look like an elf now I don’t think that you are an elf. I don’t know why you even changed into an elf anyways. I didn’t know that could happen.” he reached over and brushed her long black hair out of her face and looked at her now pointy ears.
Amy blushed, embarrassed by the attention. “Oh well, I don’t feel like an elf. I feel so odd around you elves. Well, not really you, just Safyra. She’s so stiff and formal...” She frowned as she thought of the elf princess.
“Well, its not that she does that on purpose you know. It’s how she is. Aletheaon elves have always been a little weird.” He paused to laugh heartily at his words. “They seem to think talking unnecessary unless really needed. That is why we talk around you, so you can hear us. Plus, you have to take in consideration that Safyra is an Elvin princess. She has grown up knowing serious things that she has had to deal with. She is born a natural leader, and with that comes responsibility. She doesn’t shun us when she’s silent, she thinks, she broods.” They fell silent for quite some time after Tayon’s words. “At least that’s what I think.” He added after sloshing more of the plates around in the now murky water.
Amy shrugged. What Tayon said made sense, but she still thought Safyra was strange.
They finished the dishes and built a fire and settled down to sleep. Amy fell asleep as soon as her head hit the ruff pillow. She’d never been so tired, scared or confused in her whole strange life.




The second day of flying wasn’t as bad as the first. Well, flying wasn’t as bad, but now they had a new companion...things weren’t looking to good. Kaprie had no choice but to travel on Valk with Tayon and Amy. This didn’t please any of them.
Amy frowned as Kaprie clutched to her tighter, complaining about the cold. Amy felt it too but didn’t complain. She refused to bring herself down to that level.
After awhile Kaprie shut her mouth and drifted off to sleep. Her saddle straps kept her securely tied to the saddle.
Her head was uncomfortably pushed into Amy’s back though. Amy didn’t complain…as long as she was asleep and not talking.
The whole morning had been exasperating. Everyone was either angry or annoyed during breakfast then packing up had taken longer then they had wanted to spend.
Tayon also seemed tenser and talked less often as they flew over the outside peaks. One hand was always on his sword at his side. Amy didn’t know what he was afraid of but whatever it was it was getting her spooked too.
The mountains were a desolate place. Their peaks were toped off with snow and Amy shivered as the air started to get colder as they flew higher to get over the top. Tayon didn’t seem to notice, which frustrated Amy. Neither of the elves seemed bothered by the cold. Was it just a her?
Valk flew lower so they barley skimmed the peaks. Amy shivered more and was glad of her position between the two warm elves.
Safyra yelled something over the roar of the wind and Valk plunged lower so they could fly closer to the dishoras. Her ears popped at the sudden drop and she cringed at the buzzing in them. At least the air felt warmer down there.
“What is it?” Tayon called over to Safyra. The Elvin princess seemed annoyed at the shouting and Amy knew exactly why. Was she really a bothersome bundle? Couldn’t she learn to speak through their minds? The idea made her cringe though; she didn’t want anybody in her mind. She still remembered the strange feeling of Tayon’s mind pushing it’s was into hers...
“The dishoras are having a hard time making it over the mountains! It’s getting too cold Tayon! I know you grew up in the mountains but some of us aren’t that used to this!” she called, her voice rebounding from the straight slopes on either side of them. Amy felt relived that she wasn’t the only one that was freezing. Sadly, the elves had more control of their feelings so they hadn’t shown it.
The new information she got was interesting though. Tayon grew up in these mountains? She guessed that Safyra had talked to Tayon about where he had come from while she was in bed, healing. Tayon frowned at Safyra’s words though.
“We’re almost to the campsite I planned, just another five or so miles. Another hour and we’ll probably be there…” he didn’t get to finish his sentence. Something appeared out of a small cave and slammed into Valk. They were thrown sideways and Kaprie woke and screamed sharply. Her cry was covered by the tiny screeches that started from all over the canyon’s walls. Dark figures were crawling over rocks below them.
Valk was roaring in fury and swiping at something in the air.
“FOWLGERS!!” screamed Tayon in fury and pulled out his sword.
Amy stared in discuss at the flying figures flying around Valk. They were like short men with small horns protruding out of their foreheads. They wore no clothes but they didn’t need them. Their whole bodies where covered with long greasy hair. They had small black wings that grew out of there shoulders and back. One of them hissed at her and she saw its long curved fangs. This couldn’t be good. Not only did this weird world have good mythical creatures, it had bad ones as well.
Valk twisted his neck suddenly and caught one of them in his mouth. The sound of bones being crushed crackled through the air with its scream. Amy gagged and looked away in disgust.
Another fowlger wasn’t fast enough and Valk ripped him to shreds. There were only three left in the air. The others on the ground had scattered after the deaths of their companions and the only thing visible of them was their eyes from within the caves.
One flew too close and Tayon caught it on the shoulder. It shrieked and fell to the earth below them.
Her terror was beginning to set off something strange inside her. A deep, vast feeling drummed inside her chest. She gasped for breath as the pressure quickly increased.
Suddenly a fowlger dogged Tayon’s sword and grabbed her by the hair, ripping her free of the slender ropes tying her to the saddle. She screamed in pain as she was suspended in the air by her hair.
Scrambling for something to grab she waved one of her arms wildly while the other held firmly to her hair trying to relive the stinging pain.
The fowlger teasingly let go of her hair then before she could fall far caught her again in its arms.
It grinned at her, showing off its long fangs each easily as big as one of her fingers. Even though it was slightly larger then a tall man, it struggled to keep aloft as she tried desperately to get away from it.
I hissed furiously and glared at her, trying to avoid her punches. Whatever was building up in her chest was almost becoming unbearable.
With in-human speed it bent down and bit her sharply on her shoulder. She cried out and random words that come to her head.
The pain in her chest vanished, as suddenly she found she could push it out.
The fowlger shrieked in surprise and pain and dropped her. She shouted one last word as she fell, and the fowlger was gone. A cloud of ashes floated down to the ground millions of yards below.
Amy screamed in shock as fell. Then she was plucked out of the air and found herself in Valk’s claws. She couldn’t stop screaming though, her mouth running without her thinking. Her horror seemed to be coming all out.
Valk didn’t stop his decent and they flew to the ground below which was free from any Fowlgers. Valk dropped the bag and then landed on the ground. He gently set her down on the ground, and leaned down, his nose so close she could feel his acid-like breath.
She eventually ran out of breath and gasped as she stopped screaming. Her shoulder was stinging so badly now that she could barely take it. Tears ran down her cheeks as she jerked in pain on the ground, Valk snorting in obvious distress.
Tayon jumped off quickly and grabbed her in his arms, trying to calm her.
“Shh…its alright your okay now…” he tried desperately to calm her as she jerked around in his arms.
“It sings oh please stop it!” She cried out, shutting her eyes. She felt delirious, barely understanding what was happening around her.
“Tayon it bit her!” Kevyn cried and his voice echoed in Amy’s head. She felt the world slipping away and grasped Tayon’s hand hard.
She heard echoes and then identified Safyra’s mumble through the chaos of her brain.
She felt cold fingers on her neck and then felt her shoulder sleeve pulled back and cold hands pushing and pricking at her stinging shoulder.
She moaned at the pain and tried to pull away but found she had no strength. A stiff coldness was spreading though her body from her shoulder.
Then there was a burning, she couldn’t tell if it was cold…or hot for the longest while…then the stinging slowly disappeared and she felt herself coming back, her vision un-hazed and she gasped for breath, and looked around.
Safyra and Tayon’s worried faces were above her and Kevyn was holding her down, his hands pressed hard against her arms.
“What happened?” She said drowsily and she noticed that once she spoke their worried faces smiled in relief.
“Amy, is the stinging gone?” Safyra asked and Kevyn let go of Amy’s arms, standing up. Amy experimentally reached up and felt her shoulder, then nodded. Relief washed over their faces. Tayon leaned down and gently raised her up, his strong arms supporting her weak limbs.
“Fowlgers have a deadly poison in there bite…I’m sure glad we didn’t lose you.” Kevyn said, and Amy was grateful to him because he looked like he meant it.
Then suddenly Safyra was right in front of her, her face full of anger…and was that fear she saw too?
“Amy, where did you learn to use jaharah?” She hissed, reaching forward grabbing Amy’s shoulders. Amy blinked several times, trying to make out what the elf was talking about.
“Do jaharah? I didn’t do jaharah, you guys burned that thing up…didn’t you?” she asked.
“Of course not! I don’t even know how to do jaharah like that!” she cried.
Amy raised one of her thin black eyebrows at her, not enjoying the joke on her. Of course they had done that, or maybe Valk. “I didn’t do any jaharah.” She almost shouted, tensing up as she began to get her strength back.
Safyra said something dark in another language and realized Amy’s shoulders, only to grab them again more vigorously.
“Then who do you think burned that fowlger to ashes?” Amy rolled her eyes, this was getting old. They knew she hadn’t done it…right? “That wasn’t me it was Valk…wasn’t it?” she said, fear was growing in her chest. She remembered another feeling she had felt there…hadn’t it left when the fowlger had burnt? But there was no way she could have done that…. She tried to push the memory of the pain in her chest that had disappeared as soon as she had let it leave her.
She glanced over to Tayon for reassurance, but he was looking puzzled, and she could see that he thought the same as Safyra, his eyes told it all.
“That wasn’t Valk. That was you.” Amy turned away from him, hating the fact that he had sided with Safyra.
“It can’t be…” she muttered. “I am not some freak who can do tricks!” she cried and shoved Safyra away and jumped up, throwing off Tayon’s arms. She glared at them all, how dare they accuse her of murdering anything, even that evil fowlger. She couldn’t’ do jaharah, it didn’t even exist.
“Are you suggesting that we’re freaks?” Safyra’s voice was deadly, her eyes a cold, ice blue.
“Maybe I am.” Amy hissed back and turned and practically ran away from them. They didn’t follow, but she could fill their anger even now that she was gone.
She reached the forest, and could see the sparkle of a lake between the trees. She turned back, her eyes still furious.
They were still standing there, whether by shock or by anger. She turned away again, and walked back into the forest, her anger cooling and a sadness spreading through her. Reaching up she ran her fingers though her long black hair uneasily.
Stopping by a tree she leaned heavily against it and continued to play with her hair, staring down at it, as if it held hidden answers for her.
She felt a coldness trickle down her cheek and she reached up and brushed away a tear. Why was she crying? She felt so confused.
She didn’t have magic powers. She didn’t want to be a weird elf, no matter how beautiful they were. Not at ALL. She was just a normal girl that had somehow got stuck in this weird place and was trying to find her friend so she could get back home.
Somehow she doubted she would ever go home after this. She closed her eyes and slid down the smooth white trunk of the tree until she sat on the leaf-covered ground.
She sat in thought for many minutes until her tears and thoughts had cleared.
She stood and walked further until she came to the lake Tayon had been talking about earlier. She stared out across the lake. It was foggy here and the lake was clouded in its mist, only jutting rock fixtures sticking out.
She had a strange foreboding feeling about his place but she shook it away. Nothing was wrong; she was just feeling the aftermath of the battle. Had that really been her?
She heard footsteps behind her on the sand and she bit her bottom lip worriedly.
“Amy?” Amy started. It was Kaprie. She turned and frowned. Kaprie had a stubborn annoyed look on her face.
“They wanted me to come get you. That…dragon…is hurt so we have to camp here for the night.” She looked over across the water, a frown pulling at her eyes and mouth; clearly she wasn’t happy here.
“Fine.” Amy said and turned back to the water. Kaprie huffed a little as she walked back. Let her be mad, why would Amy care? After all, they didn’t really care about her, she knew it. But…what about Tayon? She pushed the thought from her head. Tayon didn’t like her, she could forget the feelings she had felt.
Turning back to the lake she flung a handful of sand into its still surface. The tiny grains bombed the surface of the lake, making tiny ripples.
Taking a deep breath Amy walked back up the sandy beach and into the forest, following Kaprie.
They set up camp; Amy didn’t attempt to go help. She was still annoyed at them. She also needed time to think.
Tayon brought her sleeping roll over to her. At his kindness, she felt slightly bad at totally rejecting him. He hadn’t actually been mean to her.
“Thanks” she muttered quickly as she tucked it under her arm, ready to leave and go back into the forest. She wanted to sleep alone…far away from them.
“Amy I’m sorry for what happened today. I hope you didn’t mean…what you did. But you did do jaharah. Maybe you don’t think you did. Or maybe you just want it to be like that.” He leaned closer to her, reaching hesitantly for one of her arms. “It’s not that scary it’s really not. I don’t know how you did jaharah but you did.” Amy looked up at him and frowned.
“I guess your right” she said sighing. “I’m sorry, but for right now I don’t want to think about magic...or jaharah or anything else. I know I shouldn’t have gotten mad. But….” She looked angrily up at him, as if trying to persuade him. “Jaharah isn’t real!” He flinched at her words but didn’t pull away.
“Well, maybe by the morning you’ll have come to your senses. After all, you’ve just spent several days with evidence of jaharah in it. I don’t know how to get past your hard, stubborn head.” She glared at him, hating how his words hit a weak spot in her mind.
“Goodnight.” She spat out and turned, walking away and into the forest.
She reached the lake and spread out her bed roll onto the soft sand. She climbed into the soft material, trying to clear the look on Tayon’s face from her memory.
The smell of the lake was making her head feel fuzzy. Somewhere in the back of her head she thought that maybe she should move farther away form the lake but ignored it. She crawled under her blankets her head reeling. What’s wrong with me? She thought though it was only half hearted. Nothing was wrong with her…she closed her eyes, and dreamt.




Amy’s chest heaved as she ran on and on through the forest. Trees crashed behind her and she ran faster. Something was chasing her, something big. She cried out as she fell to the ground and quickly tried to stand back up but it was too late. Something grabbed onto her leg. She screamed and was jerked awake. She stared up at the stars that were barley visible behind the fog. She was breathing hard. She had just had a nightmare. Nothing more. But the effects from it hadn’t left. Her leg still hurt a lot. More then it should. Her hands clenched the sand beneath her. It felt like her leg was getting ripped apart by knives.
Sand, she wasn’t in her bed. She was several feet away from her bag which was shredded and had orange substance all over it.
The pain in her leg grew greater and she had a sudden terrible thought as her leg jerked strangely without her doing anything. She sat up, looked down at her leg, and screamed in terror.