The DragonOrb

Sarah

The first thing I saw when I woke was the face of little Jeremy. He looked at me with his big innocent brown eyes and grinned. I remembered, sadly, seeing him, too, turn to stone. Which meant he'd been at the battle.

"You're awake!" he shouted. A gust of wind blew by, tousling his sandy brown/blonde mop of hair. He was so cute. I admittedly had a soft spot for children, which I had considered a good thing until Sasha found out.

He was so small. So innocent. He didn't deserve this life. A life of servitude. A life of slavery. You could only be in allegiance with Sasha for so long before you lost that innocence for good. I would miss his when it left.

"I have an assignment that you must accept." Sasha's voice came from a little way off.

I grunted and slowly got to my feet. I ached all over. "And if I refuse, your majesty?"

The corners of her mouth turned up ever so slightly. "Someone will pay the price."

I knew what she meant. She meant that if I didn't obey, Jeremy would pay for my insolence. I nodded.

"The assignment, your majesty?"

"I have good reason to believe," she began, "that a small band of very powerful magic-doers left here twelve hours ago. There is only one such group that has ever been formed."

Again, I knew what she meant. "Milo, Brooke, and Mary," I whispered.

She nodded and continued, "They have another with them, and I believe he is the Masked Warrior. It is up to you and Jeremy to infiltrate their group and get me information. The last time they formed, I lost my general, a new recruit, and a minor battle. If they're together again, this time with the Masked Warrior on their side, then I need to know why. Otherwise, they could cost me a war."

I closed my eyes when she said "general" instead of "son". I knew that she had disowned him completely, but I still ached on his behalf. Despite the circumstance, however, I envied Milo a little bit. He had escaped.

"As you wish," I finally said.

She turned and disappeared in a whirl of grey mist and a clash of thunder. She'd always had a flare for the dramatic.

Satisfaction rushed warmly through my body when her words sank in. She still thought the Masked Warrior was a "he". She hadn't yet figured out that it was Brooke, the new recruit that she had spoken of.

Jeremy tugged at my sleeve, and I looked down at his glowing, innocent, almost excited eyes. "Are we going to go on a spy mission?"

I smiled. "Yes, Jeremy. We are."

---------------------------------------------------

I walked away from the portal, dragging Jeremy behind me by the hand. Our plan was to get to the nearest town before Milo, Mary, and Brooke did, but we must have been too slow. We got to the edge of town just as they entered from the opposite direction, and crouched in the underbrush as they passed, looking for a hotel of some sort.

Brooke and Milo were in the rear, supporting each other. It looked like either of them could fall over at any moment. In front of them there was a young man, his head down like that of a prisoner. In the front was Mary and another man whom I had never seen before. They held hands as they walked, and I saw a glimpse of a ring on the finger of the princess. They were engaged.

It wasn't a good thing that I was here at all. Firstly, because Jeremy would have to be the one to infiltrate their group, due to my recent run-in with the Masked Warrior, and secondly, because there appeared to be only two capable magicians. If it came to a battle, I might be forced to destroy them.

That alone, apparently, wasn't bad enough. I also knew who the real Masked Warrior was, and I knew that Jeremy couldn't be allowed to find this out, even though this was his mission. Somehow, it was my job to get Jeremy to infiltrate their group for information that he couldn't be allowed to have, protect him and the group, and create false information to feed Sasha and her dark armies, all the while without being seen.

"Sarah?" Jeremy's voice brought me out of my thoughts. "Should I go now?"

I shook my head. "No. It would be too obvious. We'll keep an eye on them for now, and later, I'll tell you what to do."

We waited for them to pass and made our way into the town. Now, we would wait, and when I was ready, when the time was right for all of our intents and purposes, I would initiate the plan. I just had to come up with one first.