MagiStream

Chapter 9

Darren leaned against the wall of his cell, hands still cuffed together. With a sigh he slid down the wall to where he sat, hands resting on his knees, which were bent up in front of him. His head was bowed lowly.
The guards had been by a few times, mostly to laugh at him or mock him, but only once to feed him. The cell was small, smaller than his bedroom and with far less décor. There was a small window high up on the wall behind him so he couldn’t see out it, and a small bench against a different wall.

He shivered, it was getting dark out, and the temperature was dropping and the cells weren’t very warm.
His eyes began to droop as he sat there, back against the cold stonewall. His father had been protesting and arguing for his release all day, it had done no good though, they were still insistent that he was guilty. That worried him, if he was found guilty of robbing and murdering the man, he could very well be sentenced to death. And that was something neither he nor his father wanted.

He began to drift off again, drowsy from the day’s excitement. He blinked out for what felt like no more than a few seconds, but when he opened his eyes again the torches in the halls had been lit, though they merely provided light rather than warmth. From somewhere down the hall he could hear voices and footsteps, the sounds echoed in the stone halls. He raised his head, wondering who could possibly be there. There was a scuffling sound, a thud and the sound of a body hitting the ground followed by muffled voices. He pulled himself to his feet, eyes fixed on the bars to his cell.

“Oh good, you are awake.”

He stepped back, only to hit the wall. “It, it’s you!” he exclaimed. On the other side of the bars was the girl he’d met earlier, the assassin.

“Yes, it is me,” she said, looking like she was trying not to laugh. “Seems you’ve gotten yourself into trouble.”

“Only because of you,” he said harshly.

“Me?” she gave him a confused look. “How is it my fault?”

“Because, I was with you at the time of the murder, but I can’t prove it,” he said.

“Then we’re just going to have to prove your innocence another way.”

“How?”

She smirked, “Simple, we find the real killer.”

“Why do you keep saying we?” he asked, a little confused.

“Because, we’re breaking you out of here,” said Nuada.

He jumped, he was sure the man hadn’t been there a second ago and that it had just been Sierra. The man studied the lock for a few seconds before placing his hand against it. Darren craned his neck to try and see what he was doing, but Nuada and Sierra were blocking his view. There was a loud bang and part of the lock went whizzing past his head, the rest of it fell to the ground in pieces.

“What the heck was that?” he asked in a small voice.

Nuada just smirked and flexed his hand, “That was me breaking the lock for you,” he said. “Now get over here so we can get the cuffs off you.” Darren’s face paled and Nuada laughed, “I won’t blast them off you.” He held up a key. “We have the key.”

Darren gave a nervous laugh, “Yeah, of course.”

Sierra rolled her eyes, “Just hurry up, the guards are sure to have heard the noise, we have to leave before they catch us.” She reached into the cell and dragged him out by the collar. She looked back down the hall and bit her lip before turning back to Nuada. “You know what, just carry him, we’ll uncuff him once we’re safe,” she said.

“Aye-aye miss,” he said with a nod. He turned to Darren and threw the boy over his shoulder without so much as a warning.

“Hey, wait a sec, what are you doing?” yelped Darren in surprise. “Put me down.”

“No can do. I agree with her, we have to leave as soon as we can,” said Nuada.

“But, there’s only the one exit,” he said.

Sierra raised an eyebrow, “Is that what you think?” She trotted down the hall, followed by Nuada. “I cased the place out earlier before coming to get you,” she explained, “There’s a secret passage out of here. I doubt even the guards know. Now, hush or we’ll get caught. Besides, how do you think we got in, walked through the front door?”

He sighed heavily as they ran, there was no point in protesting against this, they wouldn’t listen, and he didn’t want to be stuffed back in the cell.

He was amazed by one thing however, and that was how easily Nuada seemed to be able to carry him and how fast he was moving with the lump of dead weight over his shoulder. He hadn’t slowed or changed his pace a bit, it was as if Darren wasn’t even there.

He could hear the guards’ voices as they found the empty cell, curses and shouting filled the air soon after.

He couldn’t help but to smirk slightly as they ran; they’d slipped down a small, hidden passage that would lead outside, behind the jail.

“So, where are we going anyways?” he asked.

“The woods, they’re the only safe place right now,” said Sierra. “It’s large, with lots of places to hide if they do come looking. Also, it’s dark, that’ll make it hard for them to find us.” she explained as they jogged through the alleyways and back roads of town, Nuada keeping to the shadows so as not to be caught.

Darren had to bite his tongue as the back of his head caught on a low hanging beam that Nuada had ducked under. “That hurt.” He said, tears of pain beading in his eyes.

“Sorry, not used to carrying someone like this,” apologized Nuada.

“Naw, you’re just used to carrying me under your arm,” said Sierra snidely. “Now you, keep quiet.”

“If I pass out that won’t be an issue,” he grumbled, his head throbbing.

“You want me to knock you out?” she asked.

“No.”

“Good, then zip it till we’re safe.”

He just sighed and did as he was told, keeping quiet till they reached the forest.


He yelped in surprise as Nuada dropped him roughly to the ground. “Hey, what was that for?” he asked.

“I was tired of carrying you,” said Nuada, rubbing his shoulders. “Now, hold out your hands,” he said.

“What?”

Nuada rolled his eyes, “We need to get the cuffs off you, now hold out your hands,” he ordered.

Darren held his hands in front of himself, wrists still cuffed together. Nuada knelt down and pulled out the key from his pocket and unlocked the handcuffs. With a click they came undone and fell to the ground. He rubbed his wrists, which were red from where the cuffs had dug into his wrists and rubbed. “Thanks, that feels a lot better.” He stood up and looked around, “So, now what?” he asked.

Sierra shrugged, “I dunno. For now we have to stay here. But I do have a few questions for you,” she said, sitting down in front of him.

“What sort of, questions?” he asked, gulping nervously.

“Questions about you, like, what did they accuse you of doing?” she asked. “No one seemed to be willing to talk about it. They were all, hush-hush about it.”

“That’s not surprising,” he mumbled. “They think I robbed and killed a guy. I knew the guy too; he owned a curio shop that I visited when I was younger. I don’t remember there ever being anything valuable in it though,” he shrugged, “Then again, I wouldn’t know valuable junk from normal junk.”

Sierra giggled slightly, “Well obviously there was some, valuable junk there.”

“Apparently, but they didn’t have to kill him. He was just an old man. What did they expect him to do, fight?” Darren shook his head, “It doesn’t make sense.”

“Maybe they were trying to steal it and he caught them in the act,” said Sierra.

“So they killed him?”

“No witnesses to ID him,” she stated flatly.

“Well, someone saw him, and they thought it was me,” he hunched his shoulders, “One of them even stopped me earlier today and was asking me all these questions. It seemed like nothing at the time but now, I think he was trying to find evidence that it was me.”

“Do you, know what was stolen?”

He shook his head, “No, they haven’t told me. And, I haven’t been to the shop to check it out.”

Sierra grinned, then looked at Nuada, “Looks like we have some investigating to do.”

Darren blinked in surprise, “Wait, what are you doing? You’re not going back are you?”

“Why not, don’t you want to know what was stolen? I do,” she said. “Do you know how many guards they’ll have there?” he asked. “You’re crazy.”

She smirked, “Who cares. What’s life without a little risk?”

“Livable?” he asked. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel like dying. Not yet anyways.”

She shook her head, silently laughing at him, “You’re a paranoid kid. We’ve got Nuada, we have nothing to worry about.”

“I’m not a kid, I’m as old as you are,” he protested.

“Then stop acting like a scared little kid.”

He sighed and leaned against the tree, apparently arguing with her was going to get him absolutely nowhere, at all. “Well, fine. As long you are sure we are not going to be caught. I do not wish to be thrown back into that cell.”

She grinned, “Oh don’t worry, we won’t get caught. Moving around at night and not being caught is my specialty after all. I mean, you should know, you did figure out who I am.”

“Well, that wasn’t exactly on purpose,” he said, “I just stumbled on you by accident. I bet if I’d been trying I wouldn’t have found you.”


That sat about in silence as the darkness seemed to deepen around them, swallowing up all the small details on the land. Soon, it became near impossible to see anything except what was silhouetted by the moon and even then it was just dim shapes and blurs.

“We should be going now, while we still have the cloak of darkness to hide us,” said Nuada, his voice finally breaking the silence. There was a slight rustling as they stood up and a hand grabbed Darren’s shoulder, hauling him to his feet.

“You’re not carrying me again are you?” he asked.

“Of course not,” said Sierra. “Your feet work, now come on.” She grabbed his wrist and began dragging him behind her. “And keep quiet.”

“Then stop dragging me over every branch and root,” he hissed, “It hurts.”

“Sorry, I just don’t want you to get lost in the dark.”

He quickened his pace so as not to hit any more unseen obstacles and to keep her from tugging on his arm.
Slowly, his eyes began to adjust to the darkness and he was able to make out the shapes of Nuada and Sierra in front of him. Eventually could make out the blurred outlines of the trees and bushes around them.

“We’re almost there,” said Sierra, keeping her voice low. Her pace slowed, soon coming to a stop and she released his wrist. She pointed ahead to the large building. There were several armed guards outside the main entrance.

“How do we get past?” asked Darren. “They’re armed and we aren’t.”

She patted his shoulder, “Leave that to Nuada.” She looked back ahead and directed his attention to watch Nuada, who was creeping in the shadows towards them.

In several swift movements, nearly lightening fast, he struck them. He hit one in the back of the head, knocking him out and grabbed the second before he could react and held him in a headlock. The man finally stopped moving and Nuada dropped him next to his partner. He turned to Sierra and gestured that it was ok.

“Now, let’s go see what they’re guarding.”

Chapter 10

Darren carefully stepped over the men’s unconscious bodies as they entered the building. “They’re not dead are they?” he asked.

“No, just out cold,” said Nuada. “There’s no point to killing them, they’re only doing their jobs. Now, let’s hurry before they wake up.”

He shivered and moved quickly, picking up his pace. “We don’t even know what we’re looking for,” he said.

“Something out of the ordinary, something missing. Anything that’s been disturbed,” said Sierra. “You know this place better than we do, you’d know if anything was out of place.”

Darren nodded, “Alright, I’ll keep my eyes open.”

So as not to attract attention while they snooped around they didn’t light any candles or torches, the light of which would alert anyone outside to their presence. Instead, they allowed the light from outside to help them. Having allowed their eyes to adjust to the darkness, it was quite easy for them to see the room and all that was in it.

The shop was large, the ceiling high out of reach. The walls were lined with cabinets and shelves, all of which were filled with oddities and nick-knacks of various shapes and sizes; from glass figurines to wooden carvings to weapons with ornate handles to old, dusty books.

“What doesn’t this place sell?” asked Sierra as she browsed along a shelf full of books.

“Food?” suggested Darren. “I mean, this guy sold nearly everything you could think of and even stuff that you couldn’t.”

“Oh, like what?”

“Well, I once saw a monkey’s paw, supposedly if you threw it in the fire and made a wish it would come true. Dragon scales, all that sorta stuff. Really weird.”

“Did he have anything worth killing over?” the girl asked as they moved through the shop.

He shook his head, “Not that I know of. But, I don’t know everything he has for sale in here or its value so he might.”

“Well, we’ll keep looking for a while longer,” said Nuada, “But we have to hurry, those guards won’t stay asleep forever.” He paused, “At least, they better not or there’s a problem.”

“Well, aside from an unusual amount of dust, I am not seeing anything here that out of the-”

“Come look at this.” Darren called in a loud whisper, cutting Sierra off.

“I stand corrected.” She shrugged and walked over to him, carefully avoiding hitting herself on one of the tables. “What is it?”

“This case, the glass is shattered like someone broke it,” he said, “Punched it even.”

“What was in it?” asked Sierra, inspecting the broken display case.

“If I remember rightly some form of, gauntlet. It was black though, very dark, like it was stained with oil or something. And it looked, sharp, all the finger joints were harsh and it looked, clawed,” he shivered, “But thing is, there was only one, it’s not like it was a set or anything. It was just one gauntlet.”

“One, why would he only sell one rather than in a pair?” asked Sierra.

Darren shook his head, “Oh he wasn’t selling it. I asked once. It was just for show. He wouldn’t tell me why though, he always got quiet when I asked.”

“Sounds like he knew something that he wasn’t telling you,” said Nuada.

“I figured he knew more about it that he wasn’t telling anyone, but prying would be wrong. If he didn’t want to say anything, I had no business asking.”

Sierra rolled her eyes, “Goody-goody knight,” she muttered.

“Hey, I am not,” he retorted.

“Oh you totally are. Trust me, I’ve met plenty of other knights and none are nearly as goody-goody as you are. They’re a joke and disgrace to any self-respecting person who calls themselves a knight.”

“How would you know anything about what a knight is supposed to be?” he asked, “You’re a good-for-nothing murderer.”

“No, I’m an assassin,” she said, “And besides, they all deserved to die anyways. They were no good scum who abused their power and privileges,” she snapped back.

“Will you two stop arguing for a minute or we’ll be caught,” hissed Nuada. “You can fight later.”
They both quieted down at this and continued looking around.

“See anything else out of place?” she asked.

Darren shook his head, “No, not that I can see.” He stood up, having been kneeling in front of a case, and bumped into the display behind him. It wobbled, and there was a loud crash as it fell over, the objects on it crashing to the floor very, very loudly. Nuada and Sierra glared at him and he gulped.

“Hey, what was that sound?” said a loud voice from outside.

They all froze; if someone was out there they were trapped. Finally Darren spoke up, “Come on, follow me,” he said.

“Where?” asked Sierra.

“Just trust me, for once, and follow me,” he said.

They looked back at the door before following the squire as he slid through the shelving. “I know this place like the back of my hand, these guys have never been in,” he said, “I found this one of the times I was wandering about.” He pulled aside what looked like a bookshelf, but was in fact, a door. “Quick, get in,” he said. Behind the hidden door was an opening into the wall, a secret passage.

Sierra gulped, and quickly ran in after him, Nuada right behind her. Once they were in, Darren grabbed the door and pulled it closed, making it look once again, like a bookshelf.

“So, where does this go?” asked Sierra.

“Honestly, I don’t know,” he said. “I never got the chance to explore it. I was going to but, then he, Mr. Iantaur, came back so I couldn’t explore,” he said. “For all I know it leads outside.”

As they hid there, the guards who had heard the commotion from outside came inside to investigate, torches in hand, to search for the intruders. All they found was a knocked over display case and two sleeping guards outside. They headed back out, dismissing it as an animal that had gotten inside and kicked the guards to wake them before reprimanding them, the poor guards insisting they had no idea what happened.

…

Sierra and Darren gasped for air, leaning against one another in the dark of the woods. They were sitting on the ground, backs together as they tried to catch their breath.

They’d followed the hidden passage which lead a hidden back door, which Darren assumed the old man had used to slip away when he didn’t want to be seen. Nuada disagreed and said it was more likely something that had been used as an escape long before the building was a shop and that the old man probably didn’t even know about it. Once outside the building Nuada hurried them into the woods lest the guards return and catch them. They’d gotten lucky once, but he wasn’t taking a second chance and risking it. He didn’t stop them till he was sure they were far enough in that they wouldn’t be found. At that point they collapsed against each other, gasping for air and panting heavily.

“Is he…always like that?” asked Darren between gasps.

“Not always,” said Sierra with a headshake. She looked over at Nuada, who seemed to have barely broken a sweat, “I’m not a bloody race horse for you to make run as fast as you want,” she said. “I’m a human being. Don’t ever do that again.”

He gave a half laugh and she was sure he was smirking, “Alright, I’ll carry you next time. And don’t think I wouldn’t either.”

She mumbled something under her breath, “And how come you aren’t tired?” she asked. “You ran all the way here too.”

“Because I’m me. That’s all you need to know. Now, you two stay here, I’m going to make sure no one followed us and that our tracks are hidden,” he said, before vanishing into the bushes.

Darren cast her a sideways glance, “What was that about?” he asked.

She shook her head, “Nothing. Nuada was just being, Nuada.”

“How do you, know that guy exactly?” he asked. “I’ve been watching the two of you and, he’s like, a big brother or something.”

“He’s my guardian of a sort,” she said.

“Your parents don’t look after you?”

“My father died while I was an infant. He had hired, or ordered Nuada to keep me safe, the only good thing he ever did. My mom raised me but, I don’t live with her any more.”

“Why?”

“I have my reasons,” she said.

There was a silence as Darren pondered on something before he spoke again, “How old is Nuada?”

“I honestly have no idea,” she said. “And he certainly won’t tell me. All I know is I’ve known him as long as I can remember, and he is a lot older than me.”

“So you got a personal body guard eh?” said Darren, wiping sweat off his forehead with one hand. “Not to shabby.”

She looked over at him, “And what is that supposed to mean?” she asked.

“Well you’d have to be incredibly wealthy or important to afford or need a bodyguard. And you, don’t look like either.”

There was a loud slapping sound as the palm of her hand made contact with his face. “Watch what you say about me!” She snapped back.

He touched his face in shock, he’d never been slapped like that before. He gaped, trying to find the right words for what to say.

“Unimportant, is that how you see me?” she asked.

“N-no, not like that. I meant like, people of higher class, nobility and-”

“So I’m low class and unimportant now am I?” she asked. She looked about ready to hit him again when Nuada cleared his throat to get their attention.

“Can I not trust the two of you to be alone for 5 minutes without starting a fight with each other?” he asked, groaning as he spoke.

“Yeah, I take it back. You definitely are not lower class. With that high-and-mighty attitude you’re definitely an upper class brat,” said Darren.

“Why you little,” Sierra was about ready to hit him again when Nuada intervened. He walked over and hauled Darren to his feet by his collar and half dragged him across the clearing before letting him go.

“You, stay there and stop antagonizing her,” he said before turning to Sierra, “You, stop trying to beat him up or he’ll run away and rat us out. Or someone could hear us. We may be in the woods, but it’s dead silent and sound travels well,” he said in almost a scolding manner. “Geeze, don’t make me start having to play the disciplinarian, that is not meant to be part of my job. So get along you two.”

Sierra muttered something and sighed. “Fine, but, keep him from insulting me ok?” she asked, pointing at Darren.

“Just, go to sleep, both of you,” sighed the irate guard.

“Wait, sleep here?” asked Darren. “In the woods, now?”

“Yes, is that going to be a problem?” asked Sierra. “Or, is sleeping on the ground going to be a problem? Who has the high-and-mighty attitude now?”

“How am I supposed to sleep on the ground, it is hard and cold and damp,” he said.

“Oh suck it up,” she said. “You’ll have to get used to sleeping that way, we can hardly go to the inn in town now can we?” she snapped back angrily. “Now stop bitching and just go to sleep.”

She pulled her jacket off and lay it in the grass before laying down on top of it with a soft thump. Nuada was leaning against the trunk of a tree, eyes closed.

Darren muttered something and curled up, knees tucked to his chest and arms around himself. It was chilly and he was not prepared to be sleeping outside. He closed his eyes, in one day his life had been turned totally upside down; he was a fugitive, accused of a brutal murder and theft and had no home to go back to lest he get arrested again and thrown back in jail, or worse. If he was convicted by an actual court, and found to be guilty of the murder, especially since it appeared to have happened while committing another crime, he could be put to death.

He felt a tear roll free and splash onto the grass. “This isn’t what I wanted. I just want to go home,” he thought as he lay there. “I just want to go home.”

More soon? I'm in love with this story.

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Chapter 11

A drop of dew fell from a leaf and splashed down on Darren’s face, the chilly water jolting him from his slumber. He opened one eye and moved his hand to wipe the water from his face. As he moved his arm he stopped, something felt odd. He felt warm despite having been sleeping, exposed to the elements, all night. Raising his head slightly he saw that someone had thrown a jacket over top of him sometime in the night.

Looking around the small clearing through half opened eyes he saw Nuada, still asleep under the tree, and Sierra, curled up on the ground and shivering. She didn’t have her jacket on or under her. He blinked, then looked at the jacket, then back at Sierra as it slowly pieced together in his mind; Sierra had given up her jacket so he could stay warm.

“Why would she do that?” he wondered silently. “She totally hates me, why would she do something so nice?”

“She doesn’t hate you, you just rubbed her the wrong way last night,” said Nuada, as if reading his mind, as he covered Sierra with his cloak. “I think the only people she actually hates are those that get away with breaking the law by abusing their power or status.”

“But no one’s above the law, no matter how much power they have,” said Darren, “Even the queen must follow the laws of the land.”

“No, but there are some who use their status to keep the law from touching them. The last one she killed for example. He was a gambler and a poor one at that, always amassing debts he couldn’t pay. So, to get the money he would blackmail and threaten those of lower status into giving him the money he wanted. They could not go to the authorities as, who would they believe more; a prominent member of society or a poor wretch who could gain a lot of money from such an accusation?” He folded his arms over his chest, “And sadly, there are far to many people like that, abusing their status and power to get what they want without getting their hands dirty or getting in trouble.”

Darren was silent, he’d met the man once, but had no idea he had done things like that. “So, all those people she’s killed, they all got away with crimes because of their status?”

Nuada nodded, “Yes. Despite my best efforts to stay out of her business as an assassin or mercenary, she does tend to tell me about her mark before hand. My only job is to keep her alive and out of jail,” he sighed and shook his head.

“But why did she choose to do this?” asked Darren.

“That is something you will have to ask her. It is not my place to say, even though I do know. Do not expect a response from her though, she’s rather secretive,” he said. “Also, do excuse her, attitude. She’s not all that accustomed to having other people around regularly; usually it’s just me. And conversations held with other people are usually for buying something or getting a place to stay. Her social skills are, a bit lacking you could say. Be patient and be slow with her.”

Darren just sighed, “I’ll try, but she has to try too.”

Nuada chuckled, “Don’t worry, I’ll speak to her about it when she wakes up.”

“When will that be?” asked Darren, looking over at a sleeping Sierra.

“When ever she wakes up,” said Nuada.

“Can’t you just, wake her?” asked Darren.

Nuada looked back at him with a ‘are you kidding me?’ look. “I’m not suicidal. She is not a morning person, she’ll wake up on her own.”

Darren groaned, “Great, we could be here for a while.”

“And what the heck is that supposed to mean?” came a muffled, grumpy sounding voice.

“Oh, you’ve done it now,” said Nuada as a sleepy, grumpy, Sierra sat up. She was holding Nuada’s cloak around herself tightly, her hair a rumpled, tangled mess.

“What do you mean?” asked Darren, looking between them.

“You woke her up.”

“No he didn’t,” said Sierra as she stretched out, “I woke up on my own. The ground isn’t exactly comfortable you know.” She looked over at Darren through half open eyes, “What did you mean by, ‘we’ll be here a while’?” she asked.

He gulped nervously, “Well, he said you weren’t a morning person, so I figured you’d sleep in late.” He spoke quickly, hoping she wouldn’t get made at him.

Sierra just rolled her eyes, “My god you are paranoid. You’re right, normally I would have slept in, but since we have you, we have to move and get out of here before anyone finds us.” She rolled her neck, stretching the kinks out of it, “Which means no sleeping in, even for me.” She tossed the cloak back to Nuada before grabbing her jacket from Darren. “I hope you slept well last night, cause we’re going to have a very busy day.”

“We, are?” he asked, clearly confused, as if he’d missed something.

“Yeah, we’re going to be walking a lot to try and get away from this city,” said Sierra. “You didn’t think we were going to stay here, what with having broken you out of jail and all did you?”

He was silent at first, that part hadn’t occurred to him, the streets would be crawling with guards looking for him, an escaped convicted murder. Well, he hadn’t been convicted yet since there had been no trial, but they had obviously made up their minds about whether or not he was guilty already. Even his father hadn’t been able to sway them.

“I suppose not but, if we leave, how are we going to find out who broke in there and who killed Mr. Iantaur?” he asked finally. It was a valid question; you can’t investigate from a distance.

“Who ever killed him is probably long gone, they wouldn’t have stuck around,” said Nuada, “If anything, we’ll have more luck asking outside the city. A metal gauntlet, like the one stolen, isn’t easy to hide. We just have to be, discrete when asking around.”

“Do you even know where we’re going?” asked Darren, looking between them.

“Not a clue, but there’s another city half a days walk from here.” Sierra stood up, brushing dirt and leaves from her clothes, “Come on, we should start moving as soon as we can.”

Nuada stood up as well, hauling Darren up by his collar when the young man didn’t move. “You heard the lady, we’re moving.”

“What about breakfast? I’m starving.”

Sierra groaned, “Well I can see you’re going to be fun to have around.” She dug through her bag and pulled out some rather hard bread, “Here, have some of this for now, we’ll eat later once we’re safe.”

He looked at the bread in his hands; it was hard, almost stale and didn’t look very appetizing. He tore a piece of bread off, the simple action taking more strength than he had anticipated at first due to the bread’s hardness. It almost looked stale to him and he wondered how long they’d had it for. It was bland and tasteless, tasting like sawdust and bread and just as hard to chew on as it had been to tear apart.

Darren silently walked behind Sierra and Nuada, who seemed to be talking in low voices. He looked at his hip, having taken it off prior to his arrest he didn’t have his sword with him, meaning he was weaponless. He knew he couldn’t ask them to go back to try and get it, not only was it selfish but it was stupid and dangerous. They’d have to break into his house to get it, and with all the guards wandering about it was too risky to try. He sighed he would just have to go without for the time being.

“I hope you two aren’t talking about me up there,” he said, still unable to hear what was being said.

“Of course not. Aren’t we allowed private conversations?” an irked Sierra asked him.

He muttered something under his breath, sure they were allowed but it just made him feel like the third wheel of the group and that they didn’t really want him there. “If you aren’t going to talk to me, why exactly am I here?” he asked finally, “Because I’m getting the impression you’d rather I be somewhere else at the moment. You’ve barely said anything to me.”

“Did you have anything to say?” asked Sierra. He opened his mouth, and then shut it again and she just smirked, “Then don’t complain.”

They walked in relative silence, Darren hanging a few paces behind them, still feeling left out.


It was just past midday by the time he finally spoke, having kept to himself. After leaving the forest they’d found the main road and had decided that the fastest route would be to follow it.

“Did you guys hear that?” he asked.

“Hear what?” asked Sierra.

“Hooves, like horses on the road,” he replied. “There it is again.”

They were silent and sure enough the faint sound of hooves clattering along the ground reached their ears.
“It sounds like there’s a lot of them,” said Nuada, scanning the roadway ahead of them before looking behind them. The next thing they were aware of he’d grabbed them by the arms and dragged them off into the bushes and trees at the side of the road.

“The hell has gotten into you-mrmph!” Darren was cut off as Nuada covered his mouth with one hand, pulling them in behind the bushes.

“Hush!” hissed Nuada under his breath.

As they lay hidden the thundering of hooves drew nearer and a small group of horses thundered by them at break neck speed. Darren’s eyes widened when he saw them, they were knights! Some he recognized but most he didn’t. But, where were they going?

“Damn!” cursed Sierra once they were gone, “So much for heading to the city, the knights are going too. They probably think you’ll be there already, or that they can beat you there and catch you when you arrive.”

Darren shook his head, “You certainly seem to know a lot about the way they think,” he said once Nuada had uncovered his mouth.

She offered no reply to this and leaned against the tree, “We can’t head to the city, not with them going to be there as well.”

“So, what do we do then?” asked Darren.

“I don’t know,” she said, glancing down the road, “I suppose, we can hide out and wait. That’s all we really can do for now.”

Nuada nodded in agreement, “The lady is right, all we can do is hide out here for now. And try not to get into trouble,” he stressed the last part of his sentence as he looked between the two of them, “Understood?”

Sierra just grinned like a cat, “Do I ever cause any trouble for you?”

“Yes.”

So sorry for the wait. I really have no excuse. Please forgive me.

Chapter 12

The first one to fall asleep that night was Nuada, apparently more tired than he looked.

“I keep telling him to get more sleep,” said Sierra, shaking her head as she pulled a blanket over him. “But he never listens to me and stays up all night keeping watch. He keeps forgetting that he needs sleep too.” She sighed as she sat back down in front of the fire. “How are you holding up?”

Darren looked up, having been looking into the flames, his mind lost in thought. “Hmm? Oh, I’m alright,” he said. “Feet are sore but I’m good.”

“Not used to travelling?” she asked.

“Not used to walking this far or for this long,” he admitted. “Riding yes, but not walking.”

Sierra laughed quietly, “Well get used to it, cause you’re going to be doing a lot of walking.”

“Why don’t you buy horses or something?” he asked, “They get you around much faster than feet do.”

“Well, for one they’re expensive, two they’re hard to find and three, they’re hard to hide. I’m trying to keep a low profile remember, a horse would make it hard for me to hide, it’s simpler on foot,” she explained, twirling around a small stick that she’d picked up in her hands.

He sighed and tucked his knees up to his chin as he returned to gazing into the warm, flickering flames. The coals at the base glowed warmly, shimmering gold and white. He’d never been this far from home before, and he’d definitely never been unable to return. It was a strange feeling, being unable to return home.

“Hey is something bothering you?” asked Sierra, leaning down to try and read his face.

Was something bothering him? What sort of a question was that? He lifted his head and looked over at her, “Is something bothering me? Of course something’s bothering me!” he snapped. “I can’t go home because I was accused of a murder I didn’t commit, I’m stuck with people I barely know, I’m hungry, I’m tired and, and I just want to go home!” he said. He flung his arms in the air as he finally let out everything he’d been bottling up. “So no, something isn’t bothering me, lots of things are.” He dropped his arms and sighed as he looked back at the fire. “I don’t know what to do anymore.”

Sierra could only listen as he let it out, it hadn’t seemed like much to her, but he’d had a very rough past few days. She placed a hand on his shoulder gently, “Hey chin up, thing’s will get better,” she said, “I know they will.”

“Not unless we can clear my name,” he said. “They only put me in jail to hold me before a trial. If I was found guilty of murder, especially one committed in the act of another crime, in this case robbery, and of a former lawman, I’d be facing the gallows.” He closed his eyes and bowed his head.

“Execution? Are you sure?” she asked, her voice ringing with genuine surprise.

He nodded, “If I was lucky and they decided against that I would spend the rest of my life I jail, which would be just as bad.”

“I, I didn’t know,” she said.

He blinked in surprise and lifted his head, “You didn’t? For someone with as much knowledge of the law as you, I thought for sure you would know the penalties for crime, especially considering your, er-job.”

“I know if I was caught I would be executed without trial but, I just figured, you being your age-”

“Hey, I’m not that young!” he snapped back. “I’m 20.”

Her cheeks warmed in embarrassment, she hadn’t quite realized just how old he was. “You look, younger than that,” she said.

“Besides, even if I was, how old are you?” he asked.

“I’m 19,” she replied.

He grinned, “You’re younger than me.”

She pushed him over, “Oh don’t even start,” she said, “You don’t even look 20. I mean, you don’t even have like, whiskers. Don’t most guys have whiskers at your age?”

He grabbed her hands to keep from being pushed over and tried to push her away, “So, what does it matter if I don’t have a beard or anything yet?” he asked.

“What do you mean so what? It makes you look, boyish,” she teased back. She was attempting to grab his wrists, pushing him back, the two of them now engaged in a pushing match.

“If you’re gonna flirt, keep the volume to a minimum please,” grumbled Nuada, “I’m trying to get some sleep.”

“We’re not flirting!” they retorted at the same time, faces flooding bright red.

“Yeah, sure you ain’t,” he growled again. “That’s the sound of flirting, now knock it off.”

Sierra and Darren let go of each other as if they’d just been burned. “Just go back to sleep,” said Sierra.

“We need you awake for tomorrow, we can’t carry you, you’re too heavy.”

There was a muffled sound as he rolled over and made himself comfortable. A few seconds later soft snores filled the air.

“He fell asleep awfully fast,” said Darren, sounding very surprised.

“He was exhausted, what did you expect?” Sierra shook her head, “Anyways, we should turn into bed soon too, we need sleep as well.”

He simply nodded in agreement. “I hope you’re right,” he said finally.

“About what?” she asked, looking over at him from where she was getting comfortable.

“About it getting better. I hope you’re right.” With that he lay down in the grass, one arm tucked under his head for a makeshift pillow, jacket draped across his torso and legs half tucked in an attempt to keep warm in front of the dying fire.

Sierra sighed as she closed her eyes where she lay; she hoped she was right too. Darren seemed like a decent person; he certainly didn’t deserve to be put to death for a crime he had no hand in. But that raised a new question, who had actually committed the crime?


…


“So, how long does he sleep for?” asked Darren curiously.

Sierra shrugged, “I don’t know, I’ve never actually seen him sleep till now,” she said.
Sierra and Darren were crouched near a sleeping Nuada. They’d both woken up just after dawn and had started up the fire again to keep warm. Nuada was still asleep and snoring softly. The fire had since died down and the older man was still fast asleep, and Sierra and Darren were curious as to how long he would continue sleeping.
“Until now,” she continued, “I didn’t even know he could sleep.”

“You going to try and wake him?” he asked.

“Hell no,” she hissed back, “He’s probably worse when it comes to being woken up than I am. I’m not crazy.”

Darren looked at the sleeping man again; all that could be seen of his face were his eyes. “Does he ever take that, mask off?”

“I don’t think so,” said Sierra. “At least, I’ve never seen him do so. If he does he’s discrete enough that I’ve never seen it.”

“Wow.”

She just nodded, it was true, he’d never taken it off around her. She looked up at Darren, “So, what do you want to do till he wakes up?” she asked.

“Well, we can’t leave him here can we?” asked Darren, “So, we gotta stay here.” He looked around the small clearing; the fire was smoldering and dying, smoke rising from the small pit.

He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped at a rustling sound in the bushes. Sierra seemed to hear it too as she raised a finger to her lips to indicate for him to be quite as they moved to sit on their knees. In one swift movement the knife she’d stowed in a sheath on her ankle was unsheathed and in her hand as she turned around, looking for the source of the noise. Every thing was silent, still and unmoving as they waited, praying it had been their imaginations.

Unnoticed and behind them, a silent, silvery smoke became to spill out from the bushes and creep towards them spidering across the ground.

Sierra swayed on her feet before collapsing into the grass, the knife slipping from her hand.

“Sierra what’s…” Darren trailed off as a heavy sleep descended over him and he collapsed into the grass. Fighting to stay conscious amidst the smoke he could just make out movement as someone walked towards them before he lost all consciousness.

O.O

Please, write more - soon!!!

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Chapter 13

“Darren, Darren. Darren!” a voice called his name out loudly as someone shook his shoulders, jerking him awake. He groaned as his eyes slowly opened, his head throbbing as if he’d been clobbered over the head with a bat. “Darren what happened, where’s Sierra?” The voice, he now realized, belonged to a now wide-awake Nuada, urgency in his voice that Darren had never heard before.

“I, don’t know,” he groaned, eyes fluttering as he slowly opened them.

“What happened, what do you remember?” he asked. “You were collapsed on the ground, what happened?”

“We were waiting for you wake up. We heard what sounded like movement in the bushes or something. Then, there was a funny mist and I got all light headed. I saw her collapse and, I don’t remember anything after that,” he shook his head, “I’m sorry.”

“Mist? From where?” asked Nuada. Darren pointed over to the bushes where the strange smoke had come from and Nuada let him go before bounding over to investigate. Darren rubbed his head as he sat there, trying to figure out just what had happened. There came a loud cursing from the bushes and Nuada came back over as he dropped something onto the ground in front of Darren.

“What, is that?” he asked, looking at the dropped object.

“A spell component,” said Nuada, tipping the bag upside down. “It’s almost empty, but it looks like it once held fine sand. Going by what you described, they used a sleep spell combined with a fog spell to disperse the sleeping spell quicker. Now, do you remember anything from just before you fell asleep?” he asked, putting his hands on Darren’s shoulders.

“I-I don’t know. I mean, everything was just, spinning and blurry.” He shook his head, trying to remember made his head hurt even more.

“Darren I need you to try. Think, anything. Did you see anyone, anything? Hear something?” Nuada gripped his shoulders tightly as he spoke, almost panicking. “Anything you can remember will be helpful.”

Darren clenched his eyes tightly, trying to think. “There was mist and, I saw Sierra collapse first and,” he paused, “Before I blacked out there was, I think I saw a person.”

“You saw someone?” asked Nuada.

“I don’t know, maybe. I think I did. I saw, something move towards her. They were, big,” he shook his head, “I’m sorry, that’s all I can remember.”

Nuada sighed as he let go, “Well, it’s something. Better than nothing I suppose.”

“What is going on?” asked Darren.

“What do you think? Someone came here with clear intentions to kidnap Sierra, I don’t know why or who though. We need to rescue her.”

“We don’t even know where they went. Or even who took her,” said Darren. “How are we supposed to find her?”

“Leave that to me.” Nuada stood up and went to pick up the fallen knife. He handed it to Darren, “Here, hold onto this. You may need to use it. You do know how to use it right?”

“I think I can figure it out,” he replied flatly. “I’m not that uneducated. If I can handle a sword, I can handle a small knife.”

Nuada smirked, “Good. Oh, and don’t lose it, Sierra won’t be to happy if you do.”

“Got that.” He tucked the knife inside the belt loop as he stood up. He wobbled on his feet and Nuada caught him before he fell and hurt himself.

“Easy there, you’re still under the effects of that spell. You’re going to be wobbly for a bit, take it easy.” He helped him to stand and kept him from falling over till the haze over his head finally lifted and he no longer felt wobbly.

“How come this stuff isn’t affecting you?” asked Darren as he leaned on Nuada.

The man just seemed to smile, “I guess you could say I’m immune to it.”

Once Darren could stand on his own two feet without falling over and possibly hurting himself with the knife-it’s blade exposed and bare due to not being in a sheath-Nuada set about hunting the bushes and clearing for any clues as to who had taken Sierra and where they’d gone. Darren watched him silently, it looked like he was tracking, something Darren had no idea how to do. He could follow a trail of footprints easily enough, but that was about the extent of his tracking. His studies had been focused on hand-to-hand combat, riding and swordplay as well as the laws of the land; tracking was not part of it.

Eventually he sat down, there was no point standing when he had no idea how long it would take Nuada to do whatever he was doing. He took the knife out of the belt loop and looked at it, not having actually looked at when Nuada handed it to him. It was a decent size, the blade was about the length of his hand and the handle fit perfectly in his grip. The blade was in pristine condition, she obviously kept it well maintained, sharpened and cleaned regularly. The handle was carved from bone, thin decorative lines twisted and ran along it. There was a faint etching at the base of the blade where it connected to the handle. Narrowing his eyes he squinted to get a better look at the etching; it was a rose with branching leaves and brambles entwined around the stem. He shivered, he’d nearly forgotten who she was. And yet, she didn’t seem like the sort of person who had left a trail of bodies behind her.

“What exactly are you looking for anyways?” asked Darren, looking over at Nuada, who had been wandering the clearing aimlessly.

“You’ll find out when I find it.”

He sighed and leaned against the tree behind him, in other words it meant Nuada had no idea what he was looking for either.
“You know, it’s been bugging me. If someone wanted to kidnap her, why go to all that trouble, why not just, confront her face to face?” he asked.

Nuada stopped looking and turned to face Darren, clearly not having thought of this before. Then a realization seemed to come over him. “Because, they knew that if they engaged her in a fight they would lose. Magic, sleeping magic, was the only way they could get to her successfully,” he said as things fell into place in his mind, “Goddamnit! I think I know who took her.”

Darren looked over at him, nearly dropping the knife in surprise. “Wait, you do? Who?”

He just shook his head, “No time to explain that.”

“Then, how do you know who it is?” asked Darren, “Surely you have time for that.”

Nuada sighed, “Not to long ago we were ambushed by some bandits. But it wasn’t just some random attack, they had been sent like someone.”

“Like, a test?”

The man nodded, “That’s what I thought too. Who ever sent them realized that it was to risky to try and kidnap her by just outright grabbing her, they would need well to incapacitate her in some way.”

“You mean the sleep spell?” Nuada nodded again. “But, why the mist then?”

“Like I said, to help spread the sleeping dust better, or just to be flashy.”

Darren stood up, putting the knife back in the edge of his belt like before. “Do you have any idea where the person or people that took her are?” he asked.

“Not a clue, however, I do have an idea of which way they went,” said Nuada, pointing to the grasses, “They weren’t exactly careful about covering their tracks.” The grass had been trampled flat in several areas and there was a clear-cut path through the bushes, branches having been broken off in the process.

“I hope we aren’t about to walk right into some trap,” said Darren as he surveyed the mess.

“You and I both.” Nuada looked off into the woods as he spoke, a heaviness in his voice that hadn’t been there before. “We have to find her, before anything happens to her.”

“What do you think they’ll do to her?” asked Darren.

Nuada just shook his head, “I don’t want to even think about it because we’re going to save her.”

“And you’re sure you know who has her?”

“Quite.” He turned to face Darren, “Are you ready to do this?”

“I don’t think anything I say is going to change the fact that we’re going anyways, so sure, I’m ready,” he said.

Nuada’s mask creased with a smile, “Good, because we’re leaving now, before they get to far ahead of us.”

Darren grabbed what was left behind before bounding after Nuada, who’d already started walking, letting no time go to waste.

Chapter 14

Darren noticed something he hadn’t before as they walked, the woods were very quiet. Occasionally they would hear the loud, distant buzzing of an insect from somewhere high in the trees, but it would soon die down. There weren’t many birds chirping or singing either; the occasional caw of a crow or the drumming of a woodpecker would echo through the forest but for the most part the only sound that could be heard was the tramping of their feet through the sticks and leaves and brush.
Eventually, curiosity getting the better of him, Darren inquired as to why the woods would be so quiet despite being very alive. The birds, Nuada explained, only sang like that and that often during the spring when searching for mates, being mid summer there was no need for that so although they were there and could be spotted flying, they were silent. He couldn’t offer a reason for the insects aside from the fact that it was daytime and most insects weren’t active till nighttime. Darren accepted these explanations and returned to being silent till he spoke again.

“This has been nagging at me for a while,” he said. “How come you two rescued me? I mean, you met me all of what, two times? Three in her case.”

Nuada sighed, “It was all Sierra’s idea. She’d over heard some people talking about how you’d been thrown in jail and managed to weasel some information out of them, nothing more than you knew. She said it didn’t seem like the sort of thing you would do, you didn’t seem like that sort of person.”

“Which brings me to my first point, you met me all of three times and the first time she was within inches of cussing me out. She barely knows me.”

Nuada grinned, “When it comes to being able to tell the kind of person someone is, Sierra is very good at it,” he said. “She is a very good judge of character. Besides, did you want to remain in there?”

“Well no, but it confused me as to why someone who barely knows me would risk so much to rescue me.”

Nuada laughed and Darren jumped, “Darren, she risks more when she assassinates people than when she went and rescued you. That was not much of a problem for her.” The man smiled, a humour and lightheartedness to his voice as he spoke “Despite how she acts and her, rather unsavory job, she has a kind heart. I mean she trusts you, she’s never trusted anyone besides me before.”

Darren raised an eyebrow, “Really? How can you tell that she trusts me? It seems more like she just, tolerates me.” he said.

“She rescued you from the prison and let you stay around her, that is proof enough,” he replied flatly as they continued making their way through the woods.

“If you say so,” sighed Darren.

There was no response as Nuada continued walking, pushing branches aside. “Just, keep your voice down, I have no idea if or when we may come across them,” he said to Darren before he could speak again. Darren nodded that he understood and followed the older man in silence, being careful where he stepped so as to try and minimize the amount of noise he made, something Nuada had been doing for a while now. In fact, he was so quiet Darren hadn’t even heard him moving, save for the occasional rustle of grass or sound of leaves brushing against each other as he pushed a branch.

“No wonder he’s her bodyguard,” thought Darren, “You’d never know he was there unless he wanted you to know.” He was like a living shadow; dressed dark to blend in and made no sound when he moved. It was a little eerie to be sure. He was, from what Darren was witnessing, extremely loyal and clearly willing to go to great lengths, whatever lengths, to rescue her even though he had no idea where she was.

He was focused on the path ahead, paying a now silent Darren almost no attention, something he didn’t appear to mind as it meant he wasn’t causing any problems and something about Nuada was imposing, he wasn’t someone to be messed around with.

“Watch your step,” he warned, just in time for Darren to spot the rabbit hole he’d just about put his foot in, something that would have had disastrous consequences. “Don’t need any broken ankles.”

“You could have warned me sooner,” he muttered, “I nearly stepped in that.”

“Keeps your eyes open and stop day dreaming then.” Any of the humour that had been in his voice earlier had all but gone now, replaced with a seriousness that made it clear he had no time for idle chatter.

“I’m just trying to keep up with you,” he said, “Never mind watching out for rodent burrows I might step in.”

“Can’t you do both?”

He opened his mouth to speak but no words came out and he shut it again silently. He was beginning to get sick of how he managed to do this, twisting his words around in such a way it made him look and feel, foolish. “I can try,” he muttered, “But you have to give earlier warnings alright?” Nuada suddenly came to a halt and Darren just about crashed into him. “What happened to warning me-” Nuada held a hand up to silence him cutting him off in midsentence.

“You hear that?” he asked in a low voice.

Darren nodded; he could hear what he was referring to now, a soft hush of several voices from somewhere up ahead. They were speaking in low tones, so they couldn’t make out what being said, but they were most definitely talking. Darren looked up at Nuada who seemed to be thinking the same thing, who would be all the way out here and this far in the woods?

Crouching down, Nuada gestured for Darren to do the same as he slowly and silently made his way forward. He placed the tips of his fingers on the ground as he moved, keeping his movements near silent. The voices grew more audible as they neared them, bits of the conversation coming into earshot.

Nuada rose up slightly to peer through the plant life to see the speakers. There were only two of them, a pair of large, burly looking men. They appeared to be cleaning up the area, which was covered in the remnants of a campsite- a fire pit full of ash, food scraps, patches of flattened grasses from where people had sat or slept. They were covering their tracks. They knew they were being followed, or would be followed shortly and were obviously hoping to keep from behind found.

One of the men rolled his sleeves up as he picked up some of the supplies, or junk, from the ground and Darren noticed a striking green mark on his arm. It was a tattoo of some sort, though from the distance he couldn’t tell of what. Nuada however apparently could, or recognized it for when the tattoo had become visible he’d stiffened up, one hand tightly clenching his dagger. He wanted to ask if he knew who they were, if they were the ones who’d taken Sierra, but decided that now was not the time.

Then, the older man moved, bolting out from his hiding place towards the men. He struck the first from behind, a well-aimed blow to the back of the neck that dropped him to the ground like a stone, not dead, but unconscious. The second man heard the thud and turned to see what had happened, and froze when he saw Nuada.

“Let me make this clear and quick,” said Nuada, one foot on the unconscious man and his dagger pointing at the other, “Tell me where she is.”

“I-I d-dunno what you’re talking about,” stammered the man nervously; arms now raised in surrender when he saw the dagger and Nuada, afraid of both and recognizing the latter.

“Oh but I think you do. That mark on your arm says you do. Now I shall ask you once more, where is the girl?” There was an iciness to his voice that chilled to the bone when he spoke, an anger that didn’t need to be expressed through a raised voice.

“Sh-she ain’t here no more,” he gulped nervously, beads of nervous sweat rolling down his face and neck. “We only brought her here, the master took ‘er from us once we got her. I dunno where he went, we had ta stay and clean up.”

Nuada remained where he was, clearly unconvinced by this, “Once you had cleaned up you were going to go somewhere, you’d have to meet up with him after. So tell me, where were you going to meet?”

The man licked his lips nervously, hands still raised in surrender as he eyed Nuada. “What good’ll telling you do? You’ll be out numbered, ya may be strong but even you wouldn’t be able to fight off more than one at a time.”

“Did I ever say I was alone?” asked Nuada, almost mockingly. “I have some help, and I assure you, I’m not as weak as you think. Now, the meeting place?”
He bit his lip in silence and seemed unwilling to speak.
Nuada sighed as he stepped over the man on the ground, “Darren, I think there’s some rope in their supplies somewhere, come be helpful and tie with one up. I don’t need him running off when he finally comes round,” he said, not even turning around.

“What about you?” asked Darren as he rose to his feet.

“Well, since someone refuses to be cooperative, I think a little persuasion may be in order,” he said, “I won’t be long.” He grabbed the other man by the arm and began to walk him into the trees, dagger still pointed at him.

Darren watched, mouth slightly agape. Nuada seemed, almost hostile, towards these people. Did he know them? Or at least who they were? He wouldn’t act like this towards someone he didn’t know, would he? Shaking the thought out of his head he dug through their belongings to search for rope or something else to tie him up with. As he was searching he heard a scream, an agonizing one. He shivered and tried to block it out, the thought of Nuada, who seemed so kind, doing something that would cause someone pain just didn’t sit right with him and made him even more nervous. He finally pulled out a length of rope and set about tying the man’s hands and feet. He tugged the ropes, pulling them tight.

“That should hold you,” he thought, looking at the now tied up man. He certainly wouldn’t be going anywhere for a while. He looked towards the trees where Nuada had gone; he could hear the sounds of a struggle and the occasional yelp of pain. The noise eventually died down and Nuada came back through the bushes, blood on his hands and knife, dragging the man behind him. The man had cuts on his face, arms and chest and was barely conscious. Darren didn’t even want to know what had happened to him, but the words came out anyways as Nuada tied the man’s hands behind his back.
“What did you do to him?”

“He was being uncooperative when I asked for the whereabouts of the meeting place, so I convinced him to tell me,” replied Nuada. “Oh don’t give me that face, I did what I had to. Besides, we now know where they were supposed to be going, so we may be able to find Sierra.”

Darren shuddered slightly, “I still don’t think that method was right,” he muttered. “So, where are they?”

“He said once they were done they were to meet down by the old mill at the river, it shouldn’t be more than a few miles from here. We should be able to make it in a few hours, maybe less. As long as you can keep up that is.” He tightened the knot and tapped the man’s head, “There, that should keep you for a while. And, if you do manage to get free, don’t try to follow us. I might not be so nice next time.”

The man didn’t respond, which seemed to suit Nuada just fine as he began to walking, not even waiting to see if Darren was following him or not. Darren was, but keeping a safe distance behind, he didn’t want to incur his wrath if that was what happened to people who angered him.