The Chosen

The Escape

The man who opened the door was tall and obviously dressed in uniform. He was clearly a knight. Melody cringed and waited for him to spot her but he was looking in the other direction. Melody realesed a jush of air that made her realize she was holding her breath. He looked like one of the knights that had been dragging her to her room yesterday. Then again, they all looked the same, so maybe not. She crouched down in the hope he wouldn't see her.

He had left the door slightly ajar and Melody creeped closer to it. She made a dash for the door the minute the knight turned around. Melody winced at her bad timing but continued her rush out of the door. Even as the knight shouted 'Stop!' Melody ran on.

The Knight ran after her. She could hear his footsteps gaining on her, but she ran on. Hearing heavy breathing behind her she knew he would catch her. He lundged forwards and dragged her into an empty room.

"Sshh!" he hissed, "You'll alert the guard." He whisperd ergently.

She looked at him confused, "You are the guard you moron." She whisperd back. Then she cursed herself for bringing it up. Couldn't she ever keep her big trap shut?

The knight looked down at himself. "Oh, sorry I forgot." He shrugged appologetically.

Now Melody was more than bewilderd. She stared at him with a confused expression.

The knight explained to her, "I'm Mike, knight of the Queen of Ice. I was sent here to find you." He finished.

Melody decided to belive him. If this was an act, it was very convincing. It eased her confusion but only marginally. Why was she suddenly wanted by all these royals? Putting off all other questions Melody asked this to the knight.

However footsteps came past the door and they fell silent. A bell started ringing somewhere in the church. The ergent whispers and muttering from outside the door faded. Melody swore she could of heard her name mentioned. They knew she had escaped. Mike dragged her to the door and they fled down the hall.

They quickly walked down the winding flight of stairs. Around halfway down Melody and Mike simutaniously came to a halt. They heard voices chatting happily just around the corner. Melody turned on her heel with Mike in tow. Praying they wouldn't hear her seemingly too loud shoes hitting the ground with a soft thud. Melody stood, struck with horror as she heard voices desending the staircase. Paniking Melody looked around. Nothing. Nowhere to hide, just a small window. Melody rushed to the window and pushed upwards. She grabbed the beams in the ceiling and scrabbled up untill she was precariously balenced on the ledge.

Mike still stood underneath staring at her. When the people walked past he stood up straight and the people hardly glaced at him. Next thing she knew Mike was perched next to her. His asent had been much more graceful than hers.

"Now where?" asked Mike.

Melody didn't know, but still she walked to the edge of the beam and pushed at the wall. Mike raised his eyebrows.

Looking for a secret door." Melody informed.

Laughing Mike replied "This is a church not a mysterious castle." Even as he mentioned the words a door fell open, much to the surprize of Melody and Mike. Melody gave him a smug grin and stepped through. 

The corridoors were dark and unlit. They stumbled on, into the darkness. The tunnle turned and twisted, once Melody thought is was a dead end the corner was that tight. They walked untill the tunnle ended. Melody felt around on the wall looking for an entrace. Finding none she knelt down on the floor. There was a old, dusty rug, pulling it upwards Melody felt around underneath. Feeling a latch in the wood Melody realized it was a trapdoor. Just then the floor gave way and she came tumbling down.

A hand caught her in midair and she swung back and fourth a few times before she was finally hauled back up. Melody frowed at the laughter in her compainions eyes. They glanced down into the room to see if anyone had seen them. No one was pointing with wide eyes and everyone still seemed to look as bored as they did a few minutes ago. The second time Melony desended was much more elegant. She balenced on a beam and waited for Mike.

Mike looked exactly like a castle guard so he could slip into the room unnoticed. Melody however was in a dress which had become torn and dirty over the last unfortunate days. She didn't even look like a servant. Looking down at herself sh groaned. She looked awful. She brushed herself down a liitle but it made no difference.

While she had been doing this she had payed no attention to Mike. He was in the room talking to the guards. She saw them wonder away. Once they had left Melody jumped down and rushed though the door. On the otherside however were two more guards. Cursing at her stupidity she broke into a run.

She knew she could easily outrun these mindless guards. It was more of an inconvinience than anything. The only person she knew who was faster than her was Mike. She dodged around a overgrown hedge and saw a magical barrier. She furrowed her brow but didn't slow her pace. At the last minute she slid out of the way and watched the guards slam into it. They bounced back unconsious.

Without thinking Melody imagined the barrier as a phsical wall that crumbled down. Then thats was the barrier did. It crumbled to nothing. Thanking the heavens for her good fortune Melody ran on untill she was sure she was far enough away.

She peered around the bush she was hiding behind looking for Mike. She didn't know why these people were looking for her, but she knew they probably wern't going to give up. Mike had said the Queen of Ice had wanted to talk to her. Melody thought the next step would probably be to talk to her since she could think of nothing else to do.

Melody set off walking down the road. She didn't know what direction she was going but she knew it was the right one because she was headed away from the church. The road was made of compacted ice but was not as slippy as one might expect. If fact she felt her shoes grip easily to the surface. By the side of the road on one side was a mazzive expanse of fields as far as the eye could see. In some crops grew. She could make out magical shapes of fruits hanging ripely off a branch. Of course, everything was also coverd in bright, blinding snow. On the otherside of the street was one field with some trees behind it. This field was messy with weeds growing everywhere. The air was cold but not unpleasently so. More refreshing than anything.

The road suddenly widened and a few big, houses starting to appear on the side of the road. As time went on the houses got smaller and closer together, then they faded away into shops. Melody saw a little cafe and sat down inside before she remembered she had no money and little to trade. A woman came over to her and asked what i would like.

She shook her head "Nothing, thank you." she relpied. She stared at her like she was from another planet.

"Why ever not!" She exclaimed.

She shrugged and told her "No money."

She looked at her disbelivingly for a minute and fretted "You gotta have money! Who comes into a cafe with no money?

"Me?" Melody suggested.

The lady smiled happily at her. "I like you" She declared. "Hey!" She shouted to someone in the kitchen. "Get this girl some food!"

"You don't have to get me anything" Melody mentioned.

"Sure I do!" She exclaimed. Melody noticed she often exclaimed things. "You don't come here and not taste Mr Snakes amazing muffins!"

Melody shrugged and wonderd who Mr Snake was. He sure didn't sound like anyone she would want to meet. In a few minutes a pile of assorted snacks arrived in front of me. The lady intruduced herself enthusiastically as Gwen. She stole a bun off the pile and started eating. Melody followed her example and ate a muffin, they were surprizingly delishious and Melody finished it quickly. Thats when she noticed a suspisious shadow in the window.