The Plane

Chapter 10

I searched with the dogs for some hours before whistling, trying to find Romar. The dogs led me back to the campsite of the other thieves where they had looked like they'd seen a ghost.

"What's wrong." I asked flatly.

"Uh- Didn't you just pass..?" Their head guy asked.

"A few hours ago, yes. Why?" I responded, chills went down my spine.

"We just saw another you." He answered, trembling.

"That's impossible," I responded. "And if it were another me, which it's not, it's not real. There's someone obviously messing with you." But I didn't like not knowing where Romar was and it already dark.

The dogs howled, calling for the other two. The dogs came running out of the brush, Treasure following behind. Romar was haunched over the saddle and not moving. I ran to him, pulling him off. There was a cut on his cheek and he was waking up.

"Are you okay?" Worry in my eyes.

"Heh, yeah." Romar groaned.

"What happpened?"

"You attacked me." Romar answered back.

"What? I've been on the East." The chills going through my body increased until I drew my sword, slashing behind me.

I turned to see Faye, bleeding from the stomach wound I had just caused. She fell to the ground in agony, dispersing into two little figures.

"Magic." I said once my head had cleared.

"Magic?" Romar asked.

I groaned slashing at the little imps again, remounting in Guardian. We went home and untracked the horses, grooming and feeding them. We let them sleep in their stalls and we headed back to the house.

"We're dealing with magic here, Romar." I said, the dogs sprawled on the ground.

"You feel unsafe, don't you?" Romar asked, reaching for my hand.

"Well of course I do. These imps can turn into me, Faye, or even you. We can't trust them. It's dangerous. The dogs will help smell the imps out when they're around but what about the rest of the village? We don't have a wall to keep these imps out. This is really bad, Romar." I breathed shakily, reliving the scene from when I was eight years old and escaping the hunters.

"It's okay, Katelyn. We'll get through this. But right now we need to focus our resources on making a wall and protecting the villagers. Even if that puts our lives on the line. We have to do everything we can until Faye is back. She has enough power to hold them off when she's here. But since she's not, we have to be extra cautious. How do we plan to fill in the villagers?"

"I-I'm not sure. We haven't had this bad of a problem since the bounty hunters. Faye's necklace harnesses most of her powers to keep the imp away. I forgot about them until now. They've been kept quiet by Faye for years. Without Faye things might be all lost. I don't know what to do, Romar. For once, I'm lost here." My eyes said it all to Romar, the concerns, the worries, the fears I held.

We fell asleep, dreaming about things. When I woke, it was pouring and cold. I made my bed and changed into some warm armored clothes. I fed the dogs and made breakfast for us, eating quickly and doing the house chores while waiting for Romar. I headed outside to the barn so I could feed the horses and groom them.

I needed to get Guardian out for some training and then work with Trekker. I had a busy day ahead of me. I fed the horses and groomed them all, tacking Guardian up to train. I led him out and mounted, warming him up by walking and trotting him around the village. We worked on reining and racing, trying to increase his stamina.

"Morning, Miss Katelyn!" Vlyad called, sitting on his silver grulla; Keeper.

"Mornin, Vlyad." I called back, slowly Guardian down.

Keeper whinnied and startled at something several yards away. Guardian's ears flicked and he turned his head sharply. Vlyad tried keeping Keeper calm as Guardian reared, almost throwing me off.

"Easy, Guardian! Calm down!" I screamed.

Guardian's hooves slashed the air, his eyes wide. He bolted, taking off for the hills. I pulled the reins tight but he didn't even flinch. I tried pulling him in circles but he resisted, panicking even more. Whatever the two horses felt, it wasn't right. I heard other hoof beats behind us. Vlyad and Romar came galloping after us, trying to rope Guardian. I remembered that Guardian could dirty stop if I asked him to jump something. I aligned him up with a log and went way too fast purposely. He stopped suddenly and threw me forward. I landed with a thunk on the ground.

Faye:

We continued moving, passing the open glade, and walking through thick forest. I remembered the forest and the way it felt. A sudden weight was thrown on my shoulders but I couldn't see anything. The feeling of it was heavy. We kept walking, over taking a forth of the forest. We didn't have much to go until we reached home. Reaching Katelyn, the dogs, and Trekker.

I sighed with relief at the thought of being back home soon. We had been away for far too long and I felt a presence that I hadn't felt in years. I needed to get home and take care of it but home felt so far away. We had been traveling for weeks, barely being able to eat anything.

We passed through a little open patch in the thick forest, a hand made patch. I stopped, feeling uneasy.

"What's wrong?" James asked me.

"It's not safe, there's something wrong." I began, seeing shadows move.

They looked around, the wolves running out of the forest. My eyes widened as I watched the shadows close around us. I knew what was coming. I knew I had been gone for too long. The barrier had failed to protect the village, to protect us. I had been gone for far too long, and everything was falling apart.

As the shadows closed around us, I closed my eyes. I accepted the fate that I had caused. I breathed deeply, and fell unconscious.