ON HOLD (EDITING) Rise of the Dragons: Beginning

Chapter 10

I burst into the clearing, out of breath from running and panic swimming in my eyes. My heartbeat thudded in my ears and my eyes darted around the clearing, widening with fear as they were met with nothing but pale strands of grass, and thick ancient trees, swaying in the strong breeze that had picked up. 

Something was wrong. I could feel it in my bones. Something was very wrong. "Eridor!" I called, spinning around in the clearing, my head whipping from side to side. Trying instinctively to see everything at once. "Narkul!" 

There was no answer. The wind blew fiercely, picking up my hair and blowing it wildly around my head. "Eridor! Narkul! Where are you!" I shouted, panic laced in my words. Words that didn't seem to stretch past a few metres, as they were picked up by the wind and carried away to god knows where. 

My head snapped to the side, as I heard the raised voices of men shouting over the wind. Voices that were shouting words that sounded suspiciously like orders. Soliders! I whirled and ran away from the direction I'd heard their voices in, towards the village. 

I raced through the woods as fast as I could, the trees blurring around me slightly from the speed I was moving in. Adrenaline pumped through my body as I flew through the forest. Eridor! I shouted in my mind as loud as I could,  hoping he'd answer me. Needing him to answer me. The need to make sure he was okay was sufficating. 

But I was met by nothing but the fear and panic in my own mind. Where was he? How the hell did he and Narkul just disappear? Erdior wouldn't leave me. I stumbled slightly as a horrifying thought suddenly came to mind. Was he dead? 

Had those soilders found him and killed him? No. NO! He couldn't be dead. I would have felt it. I would have known. 

I'd slowed down, while I'd been lost in my mind, and now I skidded to an abrupt halt, as I heard the thud of feet running in front and behind me. I veered to the right and bolted as far as I could, before the sound seemed too close to be safe. Jumping behind a tree, I pressed as far back into the tree as I could, wishing I could disappear into it.         

My heart was beating faster than a hummingbirds wings, and I could taste the bitter residue of fear in my mouth. The thud of feet pounding aginst the ground slowed down and stopped, a few feet away from my tree. 

"Sir," I heard a slightly breathless, young voice say obediently, "There's no sign of the escapee, or the one who got him out. But they couldn't have gotten out. The escapee was injured."

"That's not good enough solider!" A sharp voice barked, and my blood ran cold. It was Ranne. "He escaped under the watch of you and your men."

"I'm sorry sir. We tried-" He was cut off sharply by Ranne.

"I don't care what you tried! The point is that you failed!" Ranne shouted the words harshly, and I sucked in a sharp breath thorugh my teeth. I pried my right hand away from the tree, and rested it on the hilt of my sword. 

I curled my fingers around the hilt tensly, as Ranne continued. "Did any of you see the bastard who dared to break one of my prisoners out!"

"I managed to get a look at him before he knocked me out sir." A new voice spoke, somewhat tentatievly. "He had wild black hair, green eyes with gold flecks and looked to be about 17 or 18. He was wearing a cloak and that covered his face so I wasn't able to make out much else sir."

By the time he had finished speaking, my body was frozen with shock. The wind tossed my hair wildly across my face, but I barley noticed. My heart was beating out of control, and their was a sharp ringing in my ears. The person he'd described matched Narkul excatly. 

I had no idea where he'd gotten the cloak from, but it was definetly him. I was pretty sure that the person he'd broken out had been the same one I'd seen him trying to rescue in my vision. So that was why he hadn't been in the clearing. 

But where was Eridor? Surely Narkul wasn't dumb enough to let Eridor be seen. But suddenly, I wasn't so sure. He'd put us all in danger with this stunt he'd pulled. The soliders would be searching for him and might run into Eridor, or they might find me again. 

Anger strirred within me. He'd put us all in danger. He could have at least told me what he was going to do. I would have been prepared, and then I wouldn't be in the mess I was in now. I'm pulled back to reality by Ranne's sharp voice.

"Well at least one of your men aren't quite as useless as I thought. Fan out and search the village. They might have gone there. Don't leave any place unsearched. Don't let anything get in your way. Find them and bring them to me. Alive." He ordered. 

"Yes sir!" A chorus of voices repiled, and then I heard the thud of feet retreating into the distance. I stayed still, until I was sure they were completely gone. 

Then I froze again and his words caught up with me. They were going to the village. Kayla was there. Uncle Hetray was there. My friends were there. 

I was racing through the forest before my mind caught up with my body. My sword was in my right hand, and I was moving so fast towards the village, that the trees actually blurred. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I registered that I was moving faster than what was humanely possible. 

In my mind I shouted Eridors' name, but I recieved no reply. I was breathing hard and my legs were screaming profanities at me,  but I ignored them.

I had one goal. Reach the villiage.