The Hunted

[Mizuki]

Blade came out sometime later, clean and in clothes that fit him better. It surprised him. Gwendolyn must have gone to a taylor some time last night. When he came out so did she, and she looked at him and clapped her hands.

"Good!" she exclaimed, "I anticipated your coming so I had clothes being made for you, but they didn't come exactly on time." She frowned at that, but was happy to know that Blade had fitting clothes. "Let's eat some breakfast then I'll see you two off?"

"Yes!" Blade said gladly, he was famished again. As if he had never eaten dinner last night, which was funny because he ate a lot.

[Emora Deen]

Rai quickly took her seat, waiting eagerly to see what was for breakfast. She was hungry again, and she smelled the air to see if she could get some hint of what it might be. "I dreamed I saw a man in my room last night," Rai said allowed. "It was a very real dream. Thank you Blade for letting me sleep with you."

[Mizuki]

Gwendolyn looked up ffrom her cooking to look at Blade. He shrugged his shoulders. "i'm just glad it was a dream. My heart stopped at the very idea someone had gotten through."

"No one can get through." Gwendolyn said, returning to her cooking. "That barrier was made by some great mages and myself. You can't get in without permission, nor can you get out. We feed it power everyday to keep it strong." Blade felt a newfound respect for his grandmother swell inside him.

"That must be enormous power you produce everyday. You covered the entire town!" Gwendolyn smiled at her grandson's praise. "You don't wear yourself out, do you?"

"Mmm, sometimes. Love, I'm an elf, I have many more years behind me. Do not worry about me, worry for yourselves." Ten minutes later she came back with a breakfast of hotcakes, syrups, breads, and meats. Blade dug in readily, stopping to sip the tea she had poured them. Growing Dark Angels ate ravinously.

[Emora Deen]

Rai ate quickly, eagerly. She was a little excited to get on the road. “This is really good!” Rai told Gwendolyn merrily.

When she had cleared her plate she pushed it just a little ways in front of her and folded her hands in her lap. “Can we walk there today? I love you Blade, but I do not share the same feeling for flying,” she spoke softly.

[Mizuki]

Blade sighed, laughing a litte. "All right, it's really not that far anyway."

"I can have a sled ready for you." Gwendolyn said. "But please be careful, the barrier only covers this town and no more. You'll be exiting it's safety so please, please be careful." She warned them both with ferocity.

[Emora Deen]

Rai smiled. "We will be very careful! Besides, how much trouble could we possible get into just going a little ways?" she winked at Blade as she quickly skipped from her seat and to the door where her coat sat hanging up. She pulled on her boots and waited there patiently with her hands clasped behind her back.

[Mizuki]

Blade got up from the table and stretched lazily. Already up and running after fleeing for hours the day before. It made him chuckle. But his family had been doing it since day one, he had it in his blood. He gabbed a coat and they both waited outside paitently for Gwendolyn to return with the rented sled. She got off and hugged them both. She didn't want to part with them so soon, but she knew what was at stake, and they would all be back in her home. She missed them dearly.

Blade walked Rai to the sled and motioned for her to climb in and get comfy, he would drive it. They didn't have any dogs with the sled, there was no need since his magic could propell it easy.

[Emora Deen]

Rai smiled as she took her seat in the sled. She pulled the hood of her cloak over her head to keep snow out of her curly hair. She wrapped herself up warmly in it and waited patiently as she could for Blade to take his seat and start their journey. She wasn’t quite sure why she was so thoroughly excited about going. She was nervous, probably a bit too nervous, but oddly enthralled with the idea of seeing the Dark Angels. Maybe because they could help get their parents back?

[Mizuki]

Blade propelled the sled forward down the road. The brisk wind chillled his face, but he did his best to ignore it. He gradually increased the speed without alarming Rai too much. They were flying down the snowy road and the people they had passed waved them on. They didn't know their mission, but it was fun to see a racing sled pass by. Farther and farther, this village was bigger than he thought, but soon they came to the barrier at the end of their road. The mage on this end had been forewarned, and she quickly jumped to open it up for them and they flew by, never stopping.

Now they were in the open fields, open to any kind of attack... if Arken was anywhere nearby. Blade kept their pace fast and steady, always steering with precision towards the Dark Angel fortress.

[Emora Deen]

Rai settled back against the sled, propping her feet up on the railing before her. She tilted her head at Blade and smiled. “This is nice,” she commented to Blade as they crossed the deserted snowy field. Dead twigs and springs of grass protruded from patches of snow. Leafless trees hung over the edge of the field, looking more haunting by the minute to her.

When they crossed the field and entered the forest again the snow capped trees creaked eerily from the wind. It made whistling noises as they passed. The path grew darker as the sun was covered by the clouds, and before long it was almost like night had come to them.

“I think it is going to storm,” Rai muttered as she tilted her head to look up through the stark iced branches of the trees.

Rai tilted her head back down to the path before them and screamed. “Blade! Look out!” There before them on the path was a group of men. Arrows and cross bows trained on them.

She glanced down at their feet, and just a head of them at the rope pulled taunt across the path. She wasn't quite sure what would happen if they hit it, only that it probably wouldn't be good for the sled.

[Mizuki]

Blade's eye narrowed at the scene, and he quickly took evasive action and propelled the sled upward into the air. The men gasped, not expecting it. When they landed, it was a hard one. The railing Rai had her feet on snapped and was now only hanging loosely, feebly, onto the sled. Blade cursed, but he kept the sled moving and made sure Rai was still safely on board.

"I'm going to outrun them, alright!?" Blade yelled to her, and he increased their speed drastically. Weaving through the trees and fallen debris on the snowy ground.

[Emora Deen]

Rai screamed as her legs slipped from where they were. She slid forward, as if to fall out of the sled, but pulled herself back in, grabbing onto the seat for dear life. “Okay,” she told Blade as she whirled in her seat to look back behind them.

She didn’t see them anymore. Her heart gave a panicked thud in her chest. “They didn’t look like the ones who were after us before,” she told them as she sat more calmly in the seat. “I don’t think they are following us…”

[Mizuki]

"Probably bandits, or renegades." he announced grimly, his mouth set in a firm line. Could never be easy, could it? He kept the sled racing forward and they eventually broke through the sparse forest they had entered. He could see the fortress in the distance. It wasn't far now..

TWANG

An arrow flew right by his ear. Blade spun aroun to see the men. Damn! How had they kept up!? Seeing no sled dogs driving their sleds, he assumed they were using magic as well. Which meant anything from either Arken or bandits with magic. A string of curses flew through Blade's mind.

Thinking fast, he plucked a sliver sphere from his bracelet and extended it around them from behind, serving as a shield. He couldn't battle well and steer at the same time. He could damn well try, but he perferred to go on the defense first.

[Emora Deen]

Rai watched Blade as they continued on their path. He seemed confident, and that made her feel more comfortable about the situation.

“They won’t catch us,” she affirmed more to herself than to him. He probably knew they wouldn’t. In the back of her mind she feared, though, that they would.

And she still hadn’t had to deal with the Dark Angels yet. The day wasn’t seeming to start off very well.

[Mizuki]

Blade blocked their blows with the shield he had made. Thankfully, it seemed that their magic didn't match up to his and he was slowly losing them. As they raced forward, the fortress came on bigger and bigger. They were close enough now that Blade could give them the call.

It was something that Rai would never have heard anywhere else. A cry that was beautiful and terrifying. A melody that couldn't have possibly come from Blade's mouth because it held two promises within, love and death. It deffinatly wasn't a human sound. Blade was using a specific magical spell to amplify and distort his voice, making it loud enough for anyone on the wall to hear.

And hear they did. The call of their Prince. Three guards leapt into the air and descended fast upon them. Scaring the trailing bandits behind them so much so that they turned too fast to get away. Their sleds capsized into the snow. But they were largely ignored by everyone else present now.