“Where are we?” Kaylyn asked groggily, raising her head. She’d been hit over the head by one of the guys and had a raging headache.
“In some dungeon,” Sam told her. “Those guys who kidnapped us dragged us here.”
As she said that, footsteps were heard on the stairs and the dungeon door was opened. Justin, Joey, Josh, and Lance were thrown into the dungeon. The heavy metal-laced wooden door closed behind them, on a wicked laugh.
Justin looked around. “Where are we?”
“In a dungeon,” Sam told him.
“I can see that,” he replied. “Do you know where we are? Are we still in the forest?”
“Yeah, we are.” Sam looked up at the small window high in the corner. “I can’t see out of that window, but I know this forest like the back of my hand and we didn’t travel far enough to leave it.”
“Are there any castles in the forest?”
Sam laughed. “Castle? You think this place is a castle? Where did you get that impression?”
“I saw a castle when we were riding up here,” Justin said. He glanced at Joey, Josh, and Lance, who all nodded their heads. They’d seen a castle, too.
“Oooohhh,” Sam drawled. “They have a image spell on this place. It made you see a castle, not the hut it is. This is only a cellar with a spell to make it deeper and more fortified.”
“Why didn’t you see a castle?” Josh asked.
Sam shrugged. “I don’t know. Most spells can’t get past me for some reason.”
Josh looked at her, took in her black hair and dark blue eyes. His mother had looked like that. So had someone else in his life. A faint voice echoed in his mind. Something about playing a game, said in a soft, light voice. “You look really familiar.”
“You do, too.” Sam looked him over then shook her head to get the feeling of deja vu out of her system.
“Does anyone have any ideas of how to escape?” Lance asked.
“Yeah,” Sam said. “My friend Willow should be here soon.”
“How will she find us?” Joey asked. “And how can she help us?”
“She’ll find us because Nyx, my cat, was following us, and Nyx’ll lead willow here. Willow will-”
She was interrupted by the sound of the door opening.
“-Break you guys out,” Willow finished, sitting her head through the door. She grinned at Sam. “I forgot just how vicious your cat is when someone tries to hurt you.”
“She didn’t hurt anyone, did she?”
“Only a few scratches and cuts. The leader will have a nice scar from her claws. But I don’t blame Nyx. She’s only doing what most animals will do once they become attached to someone.” Willow forced the door wider. “Hurry up. Nyx and the spell I put on them won’t be able to hold them off for long.”
They walked out of the dungeon, Sam supporting Kaylyn, who was still unsteady on her feet.
“We’ve got to get our horses,” Justin began. “And all of our belongs.”
“Gather what you can carry,” Sam and Willow said at the same time. “And we’re not getting the horses, at least not right now.”
“But... but... we need those,” Lance said.
“You can survive without them,” Willow told him. “We can’t risk having them right now. They’re too big, loud, and will be too easy to follow.”
Kamryn was waiting at the top of the stairs for them. She helped support Kaylyn while Sam found Nyx and the guys gathered as many things as they could carry.
They walked from the house and deeper into the forest, surrounded by a glowing light and Justin and Joey, who hadn’t seen anything like it before, wondered how they were going to be safe while they glowed. Josh and Lance, who had been around things like the strange glow before, shrugged it off as some sort of a spell. Kaylyn, who had become accustomed to Sam and Willow, and Kamryn, who had grown up in a small village very close to a forest, knew what it was and accepted it as something they needed. Sam and Willow knew about it, for they were the ones using their energy to keep the invisibility shield up.***
“They’ve met now, you can’t bother me anymore.”
They don’t know who each other is, though.
“Picky, picky, picky,” Chris muttered.
You know I’m right.
“How in the hell did I end up with a damn conscious that talks to me and thinks it always right?” Chris yelled.
You were lucky.
“Ha, I was cursed. Damn my family.”
Yeah, it is because of your family that you’re in this position.
“You are the most annoying thing I know. How do I get you to shut up?”
Go to the forest and make sure Sam and Josh learn about each other.
“Fine, if it’ll make you happy. You just can’t say anything, because I’ll talk back and then they’ll think I’m crazy.
Chris, I hate to tell you this, but you are.
Chris ignored the comment from his conscious and began making preparations for his trip to the forest.***
“Do you know where we’re going?” Justin asked in a whisper.
Sam and Willow ignored him, too busy trying to hold the shield in place. The invisibility shield was an easy thing to do, if it was just them or for them and another person. But this time it had to span a larger amount of space and protect more people, so it took both of them to keep it up.
Kamryn looked at him. “To our hut.”
“How much further is it?” Joey asked.
“I’m not sure,” Kamryn responded. “We should be there soon.”
The rounded a large tree, and there was the hut. The glowing sphere around the group disappeared and Sam and Willow walked straight for the hut. Kamryn and Kaylyn slowly walked after them. The other four followed, once they realized that this was where the girls were headed, and that it would be their only shelter for the night.
Chapter Six
The Quest Index