Just Always be Waiting for Me; Book 5 In The "Love is Weakness" Series

We Don't Answer to Invertebrates

Hartley grabbed Carlos by the arm harshly,  and pulled him along as she ran from the sound.

"Hart! Where are we going? The others! We can't just..." Carlos struggled to plead, as they ran.

"Run! Run! Keep going!" Hartley demanded.

"Hartley, we have to go back!" Carlos argued.

"We can't go back there! We have to go!" Hartley countered, through lost breath.

"Where?" Carlos demanded.

"It's okay, I'll save us. I know a place to hide us. She won't hurt you again!" Hartley stated plainly.

"Who?" Carlos pressed, in exasperation as he continued to run with Hartley. He realized suddenly that she was talking about her mother. "Hartley! Your mother never hurt me. Let go! Wake up, Hart!"

Carlos ripped his hand out of Hartley's and grabbed her arm to stop her running. He took a hold of her shoulders and began to shake her gently to get her attention.

"Shh...breathe..." Carlos chanted, in a relaxed tone, to help her come out of the flashback.

Hartley began to fight back and attempted to remove herself from his hold. But Carlos just gripped her shoulders tighter.

"No...stop! Look at me! Look at me, Hart. Where are we right now?" Carlos asked her.

"Carlos?" Hartley whispered, in confusion.

"Yeah. Are you with me?" Carlos asked, apprehensively.

"Yeah...yeah, I think so. How long did I...?" She asked, concerned and embarrassed.

"Just a few minutes." Carlos answered, "Maybe this was a bad idea...I don't think you can be here."

Hartley ignored his statement and looked around the wooded area, and suddenly realized where she had taken them.

"Oh! Oh, I must've been taking us to..." Hartley began, still short of breath.

The pair stopped and were silent as they heard the clanking of metal armor and the sound of feet pounding the gravel on the wooded path. The sound was growing quicker and closer.

"Come on!" She ordered, grabbing Carlos by the hand again, running.

They ran through the trees, off the path, and came to a disheveled and crooked homestead. The door of the structure had a wooden sign written in purple lettering, some of the letters appeared backward. It read, The March Hare.

Crash!

An enormous tree branch thudded to the ground, following a flash of lightning and a deafening clap of thunder.

Carlos let go of Hartley and rushed her away to the hovel of The March Hare. The hovel appeared to be vacant.

"Hart, get in there, close the door and be quiet!" Carlos ordered, in a panicked whisper.

"What? Carlos..." Hartley argued.

"Go, now!" Carlos demanded.

The Princess of Hearts reluctantly obeyed his order.

He remained to investigate the chaos. The sound of quickened footsteps and metal clattering had stopped. He was now surrounded by silence, even the animals and birds had vacated the area. He took careful and calculated steps toward the rubble of the fallen branch. As he walked closer to the rubbish he saw a soldier clad in armor under it, unconscious, his breathing was shallow.

Carlos stopped and stood still as a statue, casing the area around him. The sound of feet began to approach closer and louder, but the steps were careful and calm. Carlos' eyes widened and his mouth was open with winded breath, as he slowly turned his head to the side to see to whom the steps belonged.

"Raven..." Carlos breathed.

*****

The three VKs, Doug and Ben, found themselves frozen in surprise as the large stagecoach approached the group, quickly stopping before them on the stone path. The coach was completely enclosed and looked to have the capacity to contain four persons comfortably. It was ornately decorated in gold filigree around the edges of the structure and wheels. On the sides were jeweled etchings of hearts and red roses overlaying cream colored paint.

"The Queen of Hearts?" Surmised Doug, in a whisper.

The door of the carriage opened unceremoniously, and out stepped a creature that was familiar yet foreign to the group.

The creature had a number of small feet on the undercarriage of its wormlike body. Its body was a solid blue with silver and violet spots lining it's back. Over its left eye was a silver monocle, a black and silver top hat sat upon its head. It held a metallic blue, glass hookah in several of its upper appendages.

The creature was soon joined by a cavalry of medieval soldiers with red, white, and black armor, their horse's saddles adorned with white piping, some with red hearts and diamonds, others with black spades and clubs.

"Is it a caterpillar?" Asked Evie.

"That's one big-arse caterpillar!" Harry commented quietly, to Evie.

"Alright! I've already had enough of this place." Mal stated, exasperated at the absurdity of what stood before them.

The caterpillar was still, stoic, and stared pensively at the group before him. Periodically taking short puffs from his hookah. Finally, after a long uncomfortable silence the creature spoke:

He drew his words slowly, "Whooo arrre yooou?"

"We're...we're visitors. We're just here to see someone. If you'll excuse us, we'll get out of your way." Ben lied, diplomatically.

"Not until you tell me first...whooo yooou arrre?" The Caterpillar repeated.

"We just told you." Stated Ben, "And, you never told us who you were."

"Why should I have to tell you that?" Answered the caterpillar, "It makes no difference to your answer. Answer the question, visitors."

"Well, luckily for us-- we don't answer to invertebrates." Harry clapped back, in annoyance.

"The Queen will be curious to find out." The caterpillar determined, blowing into a separate mouthpiece of his hookah, emitting a high-pitched whistle.

The guards began to encroach on the group and advance toward them aggressively.

Doug and Evie were quickly forced into a wagon. Bolted to the top of it was an iron-barred, cage-like structure. And fastened to the front of the wagon, were two ornately festooned horses.

Ben and Harry began to fight back at the approaching Knights, swords in hand-- as Mal transformed into a dragon and flew above the cavalry.

Doug and Evie looked at each other in surprise and confusion from within the cage.

"H-how does this domain have magic?" Stammered Evie, in utter disbelief.

Doug shook his head and began to mouth that he had no idea, before the screech of the dragon's roar thundered through the sky.

The fire swelled within her chest as she blew it directly above the Knights in warning to retreat. Ben and Harry began to falter, as they were highly outnumbered by the soldiers. Blurs of black and red, and the sounds of metal clanking and horses whinnying around them-- caused chaos and confusion. Harry was knocked unconscious, and Ben was subdued by the Knights. Mal dove aggressively and made a beeline for the caterpillar.

The Wonderland creature appeared bored as he pulled in a long drag of his hookah, blowing a gust of blue smoke directly into the enormous purple and green dragon's snout, causing violent sneezing.

The dragon's eyes began to droop as she shook her head, dizzy and confused. Mal began to see colors swirling around her, her sight became cloudy, and she lost her ability to keep her dragon form. She fell from a few feet in the air onto the ground in her natural form. She was now unconscious, seemingly a fragile human girl, once again. 

Raven's hair clip lost its glow, and fell to the marshy ground.

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