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Saturday, September 11, 2010

Part 49 by Taylor

Kyrian woke up as a guard opened her cell. "Time for your judgement," he snickered. Kyrian recognized him as the mean soldier out in the woods. He grabbed her roughly by the arm and yanked her to her feet. "Please keep your filthy hands off of me," Kyrian said. "I may be a prisoner, but I still have a measure of dignity."
"Keep your filthy hands off me!" the man mimicked. He grabbed each of her shoulders in a quick movement. Kyrian drove her knee up into his stomach and kicked his shins as he doubled over in pain. She wrenched his hands off of her and knocked his legs out from under him. Smoothing back her hair, she said, "If I were you, I wouldn't do that again." 

He rose cautiously, but still was full of nastiness. He bowed grandly to Kyrian and sneered, "After you, your highness." They left the dungeon and came out into the sunlight, which momentarily blinded Kyrian. Two soldiers met them and shackled her hands behind her. Quickly, they escorted her through the streets lined with people who apparently hated her. The soldiers tried to maintain order, but still, Kyrian frequently had to duck objects that were thrown at her. They took her up to a stand above the heads of the people, where an execution block sat, dried, blackened blood staining the wood and cobblestones around. Aelysha and Stephneis sat on two regal thrones under a red tent. "This should be interesting," Stepheneis smirked. Aelysha smiled, she had waited a long time for this moment. "Prepare the prisoner!"

Landlion dragged himself along until he reached a tree stump. Pulling himself up, he managed to stand and hobble a few steps at a time before having to rest. Suddenly, he heard a commotion in the woods in front of him. Looking around frantically for a weapon, he scooped up a good-sized rock. Tomas burst out from the trees. "Tomas! It's you!" Landlion breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Tomas stared at Landlion's crippled leg with horror. "What happened to you?!" Landlion disdained to answer, trying to hide his deformed leg behind the tree. "Where's Kyrian?" Tomas asked, suddenly remembering his mission. Landlion averted his eyes and lowered his head. That was answer enough.

The guards forced Kyrian to kneel and lay her head on the block. Aelysha suddenly spoke up. "I would rather see a shooting," she said maliciously. The guards dragged Kyrian to her feet and pushed her over to a wall with bloodstains on it. "Your Highness, a moment while the archers arrive," a man in royal clothes bowed.

Landlion hobbled along through the woods painfully. The army was still several miles away. After only a hundred yards, he knew he wouldn't make it. Agonizing pain gripped his leg so that he couldn't breathe. Collapsing on the soft leaves, he promptly blacked out.

Tomas ran frantically through the woods at full speed. Reaching the tree line, he saw the castle up ahead. He didn't know what he was going to do, but he had to do something. Suddenly, a rope coiled around his foot and jerked him off his feet. A trap.

The archers filed out in single order, a quivers full and bows ready. There were about seven, from what Kyrian could tell. She tried to act brave, but was, in reality, terrified. "Halt!" the captain ordered. "About face!" The archers turned simultaneously and faced Kyrian. "Ready arrows!"

Tomas struggled, but couldn't free himself. He suddenly remembered his knife and dug it out of his pocket. He was in such a hurry, that it flipped out of his hands and landed in the leaves several feet away. He stretched and tried to reach it. His fingertips brushed the polished handle.

It was clear that Aelysha was going to give the command to fire. She rose from her plush throne and walked over to where Kyrian waited to die. "Are you afraid?" Kyrian didn't answer, she couldn't even if she had wanted to. Her throat was constricted with tears so that she couldn't speak. "It seems a shame to kill you so quickly. But, we don't always get the things that we want." Aelysha spoke to the whole crowd. "And it would be pointless to postpone your death now! We've gotten all the information that we need!" The guards and noblemen cheered. Kyrian knew she hadn't betrayed a single word, but still, it hurt to hear her name smeared.

Tomas strained, almost pulling his leg from the socket, but the knife still stayed out of his reach. Suddenly, a boot clamped down on it. Tomas knew it was over. He glanced up.

Aelysha smirked once more at Kyrian, then stepped back behind the archers. "Aim!"

"Mintara! What are you doing here?" Tomas exclaimed in shock. "Helping you rescue Kyrian," she answered, cutting the rope. He scrambled to his feet and they both ran towards the castle. There were no guards on lookout, everyone had been summoned to the execution.

Aelysha purposely withheld the command that would end Kyrian's life, savoring the moment, the fear on the girl's face. Kyrian was disappointed in herself. She had hoped that she would be braver in the face of death. She bowed her head and closed her eyes.

Mintara and Tomas ran desperately. They knew they were out of time.

"Fire!" The archers loosed their arrows.

Mintara and Tomas heard the shouts and cheers and skidded to a halt. Tomas's eyes were wide; he couldn't comprehend what had just happened. Mintara lowered her head and softly spoke a kind of prayer. "No!" Tomas shouted, eyes clouding with tears. "It can't end like this!" He looked at Mintara wildly; the wizard only returned his gaze sadly with a shake of her head. "It's out of our hands now," she said, laying a hand on his shoulder. Tomas burst into sobs and sank to his knees, covering his face with his hands. Mintara wiped a tear from her own eye, not bothering to try and hide it. "Come," she finally said. "Landlion needs us, and so does the army." Tomas didn't answer for a moment, then nodded and wiped his grief-stricken face as he followed the wizard away.

*Okay, I know that this is really bad, but if I may write the next chapter, I promise that you all will be....sorta happy? Satisfied? Something better? =D 

3 comments:

Pink Panther said...

*cringe* Don't kill me!

Emily Ann said...

TAYLOR!!!!!!!!!! I thought we agreed not to let any characters die! *cries*

The next chapter better be better. Otherwise -motions across neck with finger- you'll be meeting Aelysha too.

Okay, I've read part of the next chapter and you're okay now, I'm not going to kill you. -Calls off archers- But seriously don't do that again.

In Christ,
Emily
*This whole comment was covered in sarcasim.(sp?) Please don't think I hate you. I actually like this chapter it just makes me really sad when a character dies, especially one of mine.

Tessa Voccola said...

WHAT!