Forgotten Vale

Chapter 14

Pippa and Lucas snuck out of Mage Charley's study and looked around, checking for guards. When the coast was clear, they made their way out of the castle and over to the garden. There, they stopped and began to think through the next step.

"So, we need to climb over the wall, land safely on the other side, and then find a way to get through the outer gate," Lucas whispered.

"Right," Pippa replied. She slipped out of her shoes and began to unbuckle her belt.

"What are you doing?" Lucas asked in horror.

"Relax, I'm just getting rid of some extra weight," she explained. She carefully placed her belt on the grass. Attached to the belt was her sword, which she would need later on. Pippa was grateful that she had gotten rid of that heavy emerald dress, and instead put on lightweight leggings and a tunic. She had left the dress with Britta so that Britta could play her part convincingly.

"Let me scale the wall to see just how difficult it is before pulling you up," Pippa said. "You're lucky I lived with elves my whole life, they are experts when it comes to climbing."

She then proceeded to climb up the wall, slowly but surely. She used the nooks and worn out stone as foot and hand holds. It was a bit easier because she had done this before. When she finally reached the top, she looked down and realized how high the wall actually was. She could still see Lucas squinting up at her, but she had to strain because of the darkness surrounding them.

"Can you toss my stuff up?" Pippa called quietly down to Lucas. In response, her belt and sword came hurtling towards her, very nearly hitting her. She managed to grab them, however, before dropping them down the other side. She winced as they made a resounding clanging sound through the otherwise silent night. Lucas began to climb up, using the same hand and foot holds as Pippa had. When he reached the top, his right hand slipped and he would have fallen if Pippa hadn't reacted quickly and grabbed his arm. Slowly and surely, she pulled him up beside her.

"Thanks," Lucas said, breathing heavily.

"What are siblings for?" Pippa replied with a smile. Lucas smiled back, and in that moment, Pippa felt a strong feeling of kinship towards him. She was beginning to see a lot of similar traits between them.

"Alright, shall we continue?" Lucas suggested.

"Yes," Pippa replied, snapping out of her reverie. And she began the descent down.

Once they were both on the ground, Pippa put on her belt and she and Lucas walked carefully over to the outer gate. Several times, they had to duck behind trees or bushes as guards passed, patrolling the grounds. Pippa's heart beat wildly in her chest at all of the excitement. Four weeks ago, she would never have guessed that she would be caught up in this adventure. But then again, four weeks ago she hadn't met Lucas or Ashton or Britta, or even her own grandfather. Pippa smiled fondly as she remembered Mage Charley. From the moment she had met him, she knew there was something special about him, some unseen connection between them. And there had been.

Pippa and Lucas managed to make it to the outer gate without being seen. But the gate was going to be the tricky part.

"What should we do?" Lucas whispered.

"Well, we can't scale the wall," Pippa began. "And the gate has to be opened from within the barracks, which would cause too much commotion. I wonder if there's another way?"

"If only Ashton was here," Lucas moaned. "He would be able to open the gate with magic."

Pippa murmured her agreement as she thought hard about what to do. That was when the gate began to creak open. Alarmed, Pippa searched the surrounding area for guards. But there was no one. Suddenly, she saw a figure appear out of the barracks. It was Peter. He grinned triumphantly. She let out a breath of relief and grinned back. She beckoned to him with her arms and he began to run towards them. Pippa turned, confident that he would catch up to them, and, along with Lucas, jogged through the gate. But then an arrow whizzed past her head, causing her to duck. Pippa's heart stopped in her chest as she swung back around, searching for Peter.