Shifters

Ruins

"I'm guessing the plan didn't go as intended," Cassandra noted as they were once again being carried away, "What happened back there?" 

"A lot more than I expected," Josh admitted, "We would've been released if not for the priestesses."

"Priestesses?" Cassandra asked.

"Sorry, I forgot you couldn't understand what they were saying," Josh replied, relaying the gist of the story to his companion. 

"So, to summarize, you're saying we're on our way to be sacrificed," Cassandra sighed, sitting with her back to the wooden bars of the cage, "any more bright ideas?" 

As she asked the question, Cassandra, who was clearly the more experienced of the two found it odd that she relied on the newbie for an escape plan rather than her being the one to come up with something. Unlike the usual situations, having the roles reversed was both refreshing and unnerving to her at the same time.

"I'm still thinking-," Josh said, stopping suddenly as a familiar house popped into view. 

"What is it?" Cassandra asked, turning around as she noticed his abrupt speech impediment. 

"I assumed the temple would be inside the village, but I guess I was wrong," Josh said, a faint smile spreading across his lips, "It seems we're heading towards the gate." 

"Are you sure?" Cassandra asked, a doubtful expression forming on her face. 

As if to back up his prediction, the men suddenly took a sharp turn, tilting the cages slightly before righting itself once more. Following the makeshift escape route Josh had hurriedly planned out earlier, the men stomped onward as the familiar rope-rigged gate loomed ahead. 

"I'm pretty sure," he replied as his words came to fruition.

"What happens when we go beyond the gate?" Cassandra asked, slightly confused by his sudden anticipation. 

"Hopefully, Herman will be on the other side primed and ready to get us out of this mess," Josh responded, trusting in the skills of his comrade. 

"Let's just hope everything goes as smoothly as you say," Cassandra said, still maintaining her doubtful expression. 

Although she knew Herman to be one of the army's finest, Cassandra wasn't exactly certain of his odds against the warrior-like men carrying them around. Aside from their presence, the lack of armed guards travelling with them only served to make her more uneasy. 

'If Herman really is out there I doubt he'd dare to make a move under these circumstances,' Cassandra thought as she looked on silently at Josh, 'I guess a newbie is still a newbie after all.'

As they neared the primitive draw bridge, two men, that stood on either side of the gate, had already begun lowering the wooden monstrosity. Arriving after it had been lowered, both Josh and Cassandra stared at the gatekeepers as they went past. Just like the servants carrying the cages, both guards were bewitched with the same unnaturally glowing, cyan eyes that the Saintess had displayed earlier. 

"Did you see that?" Josh asked, as they crossed over the now flat, drawbridge. 

"I did," Cassandra replied, staring at the surrounding foliage as they made their way past the animal pens. 

Deciding to follow suit, Josh kept his eyes peeled on the woods, hoping to catch sight of Herman springing into action. However, after a few minutes of travelling and no sign of the large man coming to their rescue, Josh's faith began to wane. 

"Any minute now," Josh muttered, eyes still trained on the low-lying shrubbery dotted in between the leafless trees. 

"I don't mean to be negative," Cassandra said poking her head through the cage as the men skirted the village's wooden walls, "but it looks like he's not going to show."