Knowledge Keepers book one: A wizards journey

Chapter 12: No Escape

 THIS CHAPTER DEDICATED TO LONDONGINGER FOR BEING A GREAT FAN!!

They were lead away by the same man who stopped the wagons along with two other men and a younger boy about their age.  The young boy walked ahead of them with the man  and the two other men fell back keeping their distance as they followed them.

David didn’t know how to feel.  He could see the fear on Catrina’s face, and the worry that showed on Richards.  He didn’t feel anything at the moment.  That was until he heard the wagons begin to move again behind him leaving them there helplessly at the mercy of these bandits.  The further the wagons were from them, the less he could hear them, and the more fear began to creep up in him.  Finally, after a minute or two he couldn’t hear the wagons anymore and panic began to flood every part of him.

He felt helpless.  The wagons symbolized everything that had kept them safe since the time they left Fage three days ago.  Now they were gone, the wagons and the men with them who guarded them and kept them safe.  Now all they had were men leading them to someone who shouldn’t even know they existed.

He tried to calm himself, for Richard, for Catrina, but he couldn’t.  He could tell they noticed the fear upon his face and he knew it only made it worse for them.  He tried to hide his fear, but he couldn’t.  his whole life he had stayed stoic as things happened.  When his grandmother died he never shed a tear, he wanted the town to know he would be ok, he was only eight, and his world was ripped apart, he wasn’t ok.  

As he worked and worked like a man at that same young age, he tried to act as if he could handle it, but he couldn’t, he was only a child.  Then years and years of trying to convince everyone his life was fine.  Then the cave, trying to stay strong so Ghaleron and Catrina couldn’t see his hurt, his fear.  Still he never shed a tear or showed that it bothered him.

Then he returned home only to find that he couldn’t stay.  To find out that Lily was lost to him forever.  To find out that the life he wanted and dreamt of could never be.  Why?  Because he had to be strong.  He had to be strong for Richard and Catrina, it was the right thing to do.

But now, being led away by these men, something snapped inside of him, and he couldn’t help but show tremendous fear and rage in his eyes.  Suddenly he found himself tackling the man in front of him.  He grabbed the mans dagger out from its sheath and stood up.  He grabbed Catrina’s hand and began to run through the forest with Richard just steps behind them.  He knew it was pointless.  These were unfamiliar woods to him, but not to his enemy.  They lived in these woods, but he had to try.

He heard the man screaming behind him as they ran.

“Stop, its pointless to run kids.  Like I said we only want to question you.  Don’t forget we have a dozen other men that were right behind us watching the wagons leave.  You cant get far.”  He shouted to them.

A thought came across David’s mind.  “The caravan.”  He said.  “We need to get to the caravan.  They’ve been going slow through the forest because its dark and the road is narrow.  If we can get to them at the edge of the woods before they start to pick up the pace we can make it.  They cant catch us once the caravan gets on the open road.”  David explained as they ran.

He could hear people chasing them in the distance.  He could tell there were several men by the sound and the voices.  He knew that the other men had caught up with their friends and it would be almost impossible to escape, but almost impossible meant they still had a chance and they had to try.  

He turned and started to lead Richard and Catrina to the east parallel with the road.  He knew they must be at least a mile from the road so they needed to head east and hope that the people following them didn’t figure out what they were planning.  He had to head east till they came close to the edge of the woods and then head back towards the trail hoping that the caravan would get there at the same time.  If they were out of the woods when they reached the edge they would never catch up on foot and if they were still in the woods the men chasing them would catch up before the caravan could make it out of the woods and pick up their speed.