Title: To the Stables!
Author: Spiffy, Stana
Date: 1/7/00

Clip parried another blow, and then chanced a quick
look over his shoulder, realizing the two girls had
escaped. He dodged another blow, and snorted in
contempt. These soldiers had been trained to combat
warhorses, but he was certainly not one of those. He
was a Unicorn, and they were all about to learn what
that meant!

Abruptly he changed direction, darting back down the
corridor, he pahased into human form, slipped through
the doorway, and was pounding across the room as the
soldiers followed. Not hesitating, he crashed through
the window, feeling the slashes all over his body.

__________________________

Stana narrowed her eyes as she drew the stringed arrow
back. The door opened and her arm tightened, but did
not release.

Nothing was there, just a hollow dark eye of the
doorway.

There was the sound of movement, and then a dagger was
pressed up against her throat.  A gruff voice came
from behind her.   (How had he gotten there already?)

"Easy there, lass - I'm not here ta skewer you and I'd
prefer if you did likewise."

"YOU watch it!" Teri barked from behind, shoving the
broom into his back--of course she hoped he didn't
realize it was a broom, but still a good whack to the
head would cause some damage, with or without a proper
weapon.

"Kal, these are probably some of the last people you
want to threaten. There's at least 3 armies willing to
go to war over them."  Elainas walked around the
corner.  she had been just out of sight as the door
opened, to shield her against just such an attack as
Stana had almost launched.

The Syl took one look at the glares from the Chosen
and sighed.  "I'll explain everything when there is
time. For now, I believe running is in order."

The glaring had not lessened much, but nobody standing
seemed quite ready to kill another person in the room,
so Elainas took it as the best victory she could get
for now.  This would cost her later on the journey,
she was sure.

If there was a later.

"That may be harder done than said," their new
companion interjected, "Only a fool would storm the
front without someone in the back to catch the prey. "

"So you want to stay here?"  Teri's tone of voice made
it very clear she was not of like mind.

"#%@&, NO!  But as soon as I open this door you'd
better run like yer butt's on fire!"

The thief tossed some metal objects to the ground and
put his hand on the door latch.  it wasn't until he
opened it that they realized he'd pulled out the pins
for the door hinges.

There were indeed soldiers waiting for them outside,
including one waiting to strike just on the other side
of the door.

The soldier had positioned himself just to the side of
the door, hoping to catch any escapees off guard.  He
had not, however, expected the door to open outward
when the hinges were on the inside, and towards him
when he was on the same side as the latch.

The only sound he made was a thud as the sturdy oak
door turned him into a sandwich, and a whump when he
and the door became subject to gravity.

Then the three heroes and a thief were off and running
for the stables.

Elainas broke from the group, yelling that they should
take her horse from the stables and meet her in the
woods.

"Where do you think you're going?!"

Elainas offered a reply, but she was running too hard
for it to be comprehended.

Kal just muttered something about using a signal flare
to tell the soldiers where they were, what with all
the screaming.

______________________

Hurtling through the air, Clip shifted form once more
and landed lightly outside the inn, kicking up dust
and gravel in the faces of a group of soldiers huddled
there. Clip saw a glint of gold in the night, and then
he was off, kicking his heels contemptuously in their
mortal faces.

His body flckered ghostily as he ran, faster than most
could register. By the time they realized he had been
there, the Unicorn had already passed by.

He slowed as he neared the stables, ears flickering
warily. He stopped, disconcerted as he stared at the
bodies of the enemy soldiers lying prone across the
ground, littering the grass like so much dark
confetti. Whickering softly he stepped over them,
easing into the barn, then turning abruptly, horn
bearing down on the mortal he had sensed was behind
him.

He pulled the blow just in time as he saw Audion
gazing at him with something akin to cold amusement.
He indicated the already saddled mounts and mounted
his own.

"Shall we get the Chosen?" he asked.