“What the hell happened?” Lady Ruby, now dressed in a night gown made of silk; but it didn’t cling to her body. Cedric spoke first. “Ma’am, if I may, we had no chance to get her back. We tried the har-”
“Then explain to me why she’s gone!” The Queen responded. She had her hands clenched into a fist, and her face was bright red, as if her blood was going to explode out of her face. “Just… tell me why” she started to tear up, but didn’t want to show it.
“Please, ma’am, they couldn’t do anything. I saw it all from the garden. The room filled with light and the man and Kelly was gone.” Jack said, compassionately; while trying to console the Queen, who had sat down on the bed. “We’ll find her, don’t worry, right guys?” Jack looked at Cedric, Gabriel and Paige.
“Just get her back.” Lady Ruby replied. She walked out of the room, giving everyone a hopeful glance.
“Jack, Dusk has a great sense of smell right?” Cedric asked
“Yes he does, why?” Jack replied, in confusion. Cedric grabbed some of Kelly’s clothes. “Take a sniff of this Dusk.” Cedric said, holding the shirt to Dusk’s nose. Dusk sniffed it, and bolted out of the room.
Dusk ran out of the city, with Jack right on his heels. He bolted into a forest, where Jack couldn’t see anything but trees for miles. Dusk stopped, sniffed the ground, and pointed with his body for Jack to continue down the path. Jack walked through the forest Dusk following behind him. Suddenly, Dusk started to growl at a space in the trees. He leapt forward, but before he got anywhere, a falcon swooped down picking up the wolf in its claws. "PUT HIM DOWN!" Jack screamed, and a female voice echoed from the shadows. "Do as he says...gently now Dax." The falcon gave a screech and returned Dusk to the ground. Jack looked up, as a girl stepped out of the shadows. She had long blonde hair, which was tied back in a ponytail, but she had a part of it covering her left eye. The falcon 'Dax' landed on her shoulder, and she rubbed its head, feeding it some meat. "Where are you going?" She asked, Jack pointed at Dusk. "Following him! So get out of my way." The girl looked at Jack, as if to see if he was telling the truth, before stepping to the side. Surprised, Jack gave a quick thanks before rushing on. When he looked back, he saw the girl following him, he kept walking. "Why are you following me?" He accused, and the girl shrugged. Jack sighed. "Fine then what's your name at least." The girl rubbed her head. "Umm...truth is I don't know my real name..." Jack was shocked. "What do you mean you don't know your real name?!" The girl looked embarrassed. "I have no memories of that, or my family, but at the moment people call me Shadow, as I like to be out at night." Jack shrugged, but he was intrigued.
“Who was this strange girl?” he thought.
3 hours passed, and Jack was starting to lose hope. “Shadow” had disappeared, and Jack was pretty sure that they – Jack and Dusk – we lost. Dusk was still sniffing the ground in a hope to find something that could help them find Kelly, when he suddenly stopped, rear in the air and teeth bared. Out of the woods flew a volley of arrows, each with bodkin tips to pierce any amour Jack was wearing. Dusk jumped up tried to bite some, to which he did, but he also took a couple of arrows to the side. Suddenly, screams filled the air as the mystery attackers’ faces were attacked by the sharp talon and beak of Dax. Dusk, bravely fighting through the pain of the arrows, attacked a different bandit, who only stopped screaming when their throat was missing. Jack ran up to the now dead bandit, grabbed his sword out of its sheath and turned to see the scarred face of the presumably bandit leader.
Jack held the sword the way he was Cedric hold the sword during practice earlier that day, although it seemed like a lifetime ago. The bandit swung his sword, to which Jack blocked and the two swords were locked in the air. The bandit swung his sword round, and retaliated with a flurry of blows. One to the left. One to the right. Another to the left. Jack used his speed to dodge each of the blows. However, he forgot about the dead bodies. He tripped over one, and hit his head on the cold, muddy forest ground. His vision was going cloudy, but he saw the imposing figure of the bandit standing over him. The bandit only now saw who he was. “Ah, royalty,” he spat, in a low, gruff voice, “hate them. And now there’s going to be one less” He raised his sword upwards. Jack couldn’t move, and was beginning to feel faint. He expected this to be his last sight.
He felt the warm, sticky blood ooze down his face. However, he somehow didn’t believe that he was dead. He looked up, vision clearer, and saw the bandit now attached to a nearby tree, with three arrows embedded into his eye. “Jack, are you hear!?” He heard a familiar voice shout. He groaned loudly, since he tried to shout out but couldn’t. Cedric’s senses heightened, the same as it did when Kelly screamed. He saw Jack lying on the ground, head badly bleeding. “Paige, Gabriel! Over here! I need help!” Cedric shouted once he saw Jack. Paige grabbed the arrows out of the bandit’s skull, and Gabriel packed up his Greatbow – a bow taller than him. It is light blue, with the insignia of the Archers of the City, and above that, the Flaming Bow – the insignia of the Arch Commander of the Archers, Gabriel’s rank. Gabriel and Paige helped pick Jack up. Cedric picked his legs up, while Gabriel and Paige took his arms, making sure that he was safe. Dusk howled behind them, and started to limp towards them, an arrow still in his flank. Something moved behind him. He turned.
A silhouette of a human appeared in the distance. She walked over to Dusk, who raised his head in affection. “Who?” Cedric mumbled
“Shadow…” Jack managed, before fainting, his body going limp.
“Dax, help him,” Shadow commanded, and the falcon picked Dusk up in his beak, but gently this time. “I helped him earlier,” Shadow continued, talking to Cedric, Gabriel and Paige, “can I give him some of this?” She asked, producing a vial of blue liquid from her pocket, “it should bring him around.”
“Let me see that first” Cedric said, taking the bottle from Shadow’s outstretched hand. He sniffed it, and recoiled, before sniffing again. “It’s just liquefied smelling salts,” Shadow continued, “He shouldn’t be hurt by them” Cedric nodded, and placed some of the blue liquid under Jack’s nose. His eyes flickered open. He coughed, and Cedric, gently let his legs fall to the floor, and Jack managed to support his own weight, with a small amount of help from Paige.
“We need to get back quickly. You need to see the apothecary. I’ve lost one person I’m supposed to be protecting, I’m not losing another.” Cedric said.
The sky filled with darkened clouds, and the rain came on as suddenly as Kelly was taken from Cedric. The darkened walls of the City raised above their heads, and they were back.
As soon as Cedric had gotten Jack to the apothecary, he ran to the castle. He walked into the war room – a large, secluded room at the bottom of the castle. It was lit by small candles, and there were four people already inside – The Queen, Paige, Gabriel and “Shadow”.
“First things first,” Cedric said, “Who the hell are you?” he asked Shadow…
