The Rising Pheonix

Chapter 2

When the arrow pierced the tree Prince Jacobe became infuriated. That could have hit Elnora! He thought.

Within the blink of an eye, Prince Jacobe drew his Sword and charged at the asailer. "Keep riding! I'll be right behind you!" Prince Jacobe yelled at the maid.

He needed to make sure Elnora was out of harms way before he attacked so no arrows would get close to her. The mere fact of her life being in danger, so soon after leaving the castle, confirmed his mother's fear of spies. Desperate to keep Princess Elnora alive he charged at the archer.

Prince Jacobe eyes started feeling hot and he knew they were glowing. Normally, his eyes are Blue (right eye) and Grey (left eye); however, when he has strong emotions his eyes glow Green (right eye) and Red (left eye). As he raised his Sword, the earth started rumbling and his horse galloped faster toward the archer.

Though it was dark, the archer saw two glowing orbs and became frightened. He hurriedly knocked two arrows at once and let them loose. Jacobe was expecting them, so he slashed the air and cut them in half. Seeing the arrows cut down discouraged the archer and he tries to retreat.

Prince Jacobe saw the archer turn his horse to retreat, and he knew that should he succeed there would be more following them. He spurred his horse faster, raised his Sword, and when he was close enough, cut the archer in half.

However, it was no normal cut. The two halves were burning, and the flames grew to consume them. Before the flames fully consumed the lower half, Prince Jacobe knocked it from the horse. He did not want to destroy the horse as well.

After checking to make sure the archer's body was destroyed and he was not followed, he took the archer's horse and chased after the maid and Princess Elnora.

He had only ridden for five minutes East before he heard them. Princess Elnora was crying and the maid was frantically trying to soothe her. The maid was so caught in soothing the princess, that she did not see Prince Jacobe ride up to them.

"What's wrong with her? Was she injured?" Prince Jacobe asked trying, unsuccessfully, to hide his worry. Had he already failed at keeping her safe? He wondered.

"Good Heavens!" She shouted. She was not paying attention and she was lucky it was Prince Jacobe. "She is not injured, my Prince. Just startled by the fast pace we rode. She was asleep when we had to get away. Princess Elnora will not calm down." The maid said in a hushed tone.

Prince Jacobe knew the maid must be scared as well, but if Elnora is not calmed they may be found again since they are still close to the castle.

"I will take Elnora and you take this horse. We must keep riding, we are too close to the castle and will be found easily. " Prince Jacobe said while getting off his horse. They had to move fast. Jacobe tied the reigns of the archers' horse to the maids, then got back on his horse.

"Pass her to me. Gently. We do not want to frighten her anymore." Prince Jacobe said as he moved his horse closer to the maid, to safely receive his sister.

"Please make sure you're mindful of her head." The maid added while she handed Princess Elnora to Prince Jacobe.

Jacobe held his sister and stared at her for a few seconds. She looks just like mother. He thought fondly as he gently wiped the tears from her face. "There there, Elnora, big brothers here." He whispered while bouncing her gently. Ever since he found out he was going to be a big brother, he has practiced how to hold a baby.

"We've wasted enough time. We must go. Do you have a long blanket?" Jacobe asked.

"Yes, Your Highness." The maid said and held the blanket out to him.

"First, I need you to fold the blanket in half, horizontally. After you do that, hand it to me." Prince Jacobe instructed.

The maid did as she was told and handed the blanket out to the prince. Prince Jacobe grabbed the blanket and threw one-third of it over his left shoulder. Then wrapped Princess Elnora in the portion that lay across his stomach. While still holding her with his left arm, he used his right hand to put the remainder of the blanket behind him, lying it on the horse. Switching arms to hold Elnora, he grabbed the blanket, pulled it tighter, for snugness, and lifted the blanket to his left shoulder again. Realizing he still has a lot of unused blanket, he wrapped it across his body again once he pulled it back up across his back and left shoulder, Elnora was secure enough for him to use both hands to tie the blanket.

After the blanket was tied, tightly, on his shoulder, he adjusted Elnora to make sure she was comfortable and secure. While Jacobe was strapping Elnora to his chest, she had stopped crying and was almost asleep.

"Let's ride. We have been here too long. We will start slow then speed up to not shock Elnora but we must travel now." Jacobe stated as he put his horse in a trot. The maid immediately followed, staying close to the Prince.

Occasionally they would look backward to check their surroundings. After four minutes of trotting, Jacobe became frustrated because he felt they were still too close to the castle. "We're going faster now." He stated, then spurred his horse faster into a canter.

Finally! He thought. We can get somewhere safe. With the speed change, he checked on Elnora to see if she was still comfortable and sleeping. Luckily, she was. He waited a few more minutes before going into a full gallop. He checked behind him and saw the maid push the horse into a gallop as well

Looking up at the sky and the position of the stars, he could tell it was around midnight. Jacobe decided after they leave the city completely behind and pass another town they will rest for a couple of hours.