"I'm sure I can, General."
Sebell nodded slowly. "Alright...but be careful. Lucien expects us back at camp in one week, and I can't afford to lose any men before then. Understand?"
The commander looked slightly unsure suddenly. "Um...of course. We will not fail."
Sebell's eyes narrowed into slits. "You had better not."
"What is our plan...um...precisely?"
Commander Kylin rolled his eyes. "Your job is to obey, not to ask questions."
The young warrior looked down. "Yes, Sir."
The commander looked pleased. "Good. Then we have work to do."
Kylin leaned toward the warriors surrounding him and spoke in a low tone. Finally one of the men looked up in shock.
"We aren't really going to do that, are we?"
Commander Kylin's eyes flashed. "Don't you realize what could happen to us if we fail? The general is counting on us. If this is the way we have to do it, then this is the way we have to do it."
"Whatever you say, Sir."
Looking out at the vast Estrellican countryside, Jayrin wasn't sure whether she should be excited or afraid. As the east gate of Stellin closed behind her, she tried to ignore her sudden urge to run back.
"Do you think we can do this?" Naomi asked, voicing Jayrin's own thoughts.
"Of course we can." Cheydine replied, optimistic as always. "I know it."
Dallian just rolled his eyes. "I guess we'll see, won't we?"
Three days later, Jayrin was beginning to feel better. After all, this hadn't been hard at all so far. Going over Melodica's directions word for word in her mind, she guessed that they weren't very far at all from the village they were trying to reach. Once they got there, they would be one step closer to finding the Story of Shaddi. They were so close already!
As soon as Jayrin glanced toward her companions, however, all of her excitement disappeared immediately. It wasn't Naomi and Cheydine she noticed, it was Dallian. Usually, he would be trying to make Jayrin angry by now...but he wasn't. In fact, he was being uncharacteristically silent.
"Dallian, are you alright?" Jayrin asked, not expecting to get much of an answer.
"I'm fine, I just thought I heard something for a minute."
Naomi looked confused. "Heard something like what?"
Before Dallian could answer, a terrible sound pierced the air to Jayrin's right. It was an unearthly cry, unlike anything she had ever heard before. It was unmistakeably evil.
Naomi gasped, but Dallian just looked as if he had expected it.
"That's what I mean." he whispered.
"What was it?" Cheydine asked, fear in his voice.
Dallian just shook his head. "We have to get out of here. Now."
Jayrin had never seen him look so serious...or so afraid.
No comments:
Post a Comment