The Beginning (25 page)

Before they could get a chance to see what had caused the ruckus, someone shouted, “NOW!”

Several people in costume came crashing out of the shadows and ambushed them.

“What the–” Scede started to say before being choked off by a hard shove.

Within seconds, Jahrra, Gieaun, Scede, Pahrdh and Rhudedth were surrounded by six intruders. Two of them wrenched the torches from Scede’s and Pahrdh’s hands and snuffed them out.

“Hey!” Gieaun yelled as one of the attackers grabbed her arms, trying to subdue her.

A scuffle ensued when someone else threw their arms around Pahrdh, pulling him roughly and noisily to the ground while another dark figure landed a blow to the side of Scede’s head, causing him to collapse with a winded grunt. Someone massive and strong managed to seize one of Jahrra’s arms, but she reacted quickly, remembering one of Yaraa’s maneuvers, and twisted away, running head long into the sinister trees. As Jahrra disappeared into the darkness, she heard more muffled yells as one of the ambushers restrained Rhudedth.

After a few minutes of agile running between the low pine branches, Jahrra no longer heard the sounds of pursuit. She ducked quickly behind a huge tree and stood very still for a while, secretly appreciating the many years of defense lessons she’d taken with the elves of Dhonoara. She was also especially grateful that her costume was black. She listened for a moment and heard nothing, only the stifled sounds of people being gagged and tied. She’d lost her mask somewhere (perhaps it was back with the group) but right now that was the least of her worries.
Who were those people?
she thought. But she knew she didn’t have to ask herself that question. It was Eydeth and his thugs; she’d picked his voice out from the others immediately.

Gradually, Jahrra crept back towards the edge of the trees as quietly as she could. It was no wonder they hadn’t seen anyone. Despite the fact that the now risen moon was bright enough to bathe the fields in silvery light, the forest was well overgrown and provided many dark places to hide. As she moved closer, Jahrra strained her ears to hear the attackers talking.

“Did you catch her?” demanded an annoyed Eydeth.

He was wearing a mask, the head of a lion, but Jahrra knew his voice anywhere.

“No,” answered what looked like an exhausted eagle, “she was too fast for me.”

“Great! The whole point was to teach the Nesnan a lesson, and you let her get away!”

Jahrra looked around and saw that all of her friends had been tied up and gagged, but other than looking very angry and slightly frightened, they weren’t harmed.

“Can’t we do something to her friends to teach her a lesson?” a dark gray wolf with a gruff, muffled voice asked. Jahrra recognized it as Criyd’s. “It’ll teach them not to cross us again, won’t it?”

“I guess we could untie them and throw them into the river. Or better yet, just throw them in as they are,” Eydeth said, having the nerve to sound disappointed.

Jahrra seethed with anger. Why did Eydeth have to target them anyway? And why was he even here when he should be at some fancy party in Kiniahn Kroi?
To torment us, of course
, Jahrra thought irritably. She took a deep breath to calm her temper. She knew she had to do something, and something fast. She couldn’t let Eydeth and his ruffians throw her friends into the river.

Suddenly, Jahrra’s armlet flared up again. She nearly gasped as she clutched it with her other hand, and before she could figure out what was going on, a strange scene passed in front of her eyes: a scene of someone dressed in a dark costume running deeper into the woods as others followed. The vision faded and the sensation passed, leaving Jahrra slightly dazed and confused. She blinked several times and looked back towards her friends, realizing that Pahrdh was about to receive a cruel kick from someone in an ugly goblin suit.

Without giving it any further thought, Jahrra jumped out from behind the trees and shouted in the direction of the group, “Hey! Leave them alone, it’s me you want. Let’s see if you can catch me you over-stuffed, un-bathed swine!”

She had a good dozen yards on them, so she began running back through the woods without even pausing to check if they’d seen her. After a few moments, she heard voices calling out behind her.

“Don’t let her get away! Catch her! Criyd, you go to the left, Broeghen, you to the right!”

And once again, without even trying, Jahrra found herself the object of yet another one of Eydeth’s manhunts.

-
Chapter Eleven
-

Fright and Flight on a Sobledthe Night

Jahrra heard the crashing of underbrush and knew she’d distracted enough of Eydeth’s gang to give her friends a fighting chance. She ran for another few minutes until she came upon a small clearing in the woods. The exertion had put her slightly out of breath, but she knew she’d gained some distance on them for now. She leaned over, hands on her knees, sucking in great gulps of air while quietly blessing the strange bracelet for helping her out once again.

She decided to wait until they caught up a little before going any deeper into the dark forest. She eventually straightened up and decided to look for a place to hide until her attackers arrived. Before Jahrra could make any progress, however, someone much bigger than any of Eydeth’s friends grabbed her firmly. A strong hand closed tightly around her mouth while another arm clamped itself forcefully around her waist. Whoever this was, he or she was very strong. Before Jahrra could think of anything else, she began to panic. She kicked and tried to claw at the arms holding onto her, but to no avail. She was sure that those chasing her were still far behind, but could she have been wrong? Could Eydeth have set this trap for her?

The man, or creature, that held her was trying to drag her back into the woods away from the clearing and out of the only moonlight that was pouring down from the broken canopy above. Jahrra felt hot tears welling up in her eyes. She couldn’t tell if they were a result of fear, anger or from the strong smell of creosote, smoke and sulfur that enveloped the stranger restraining her. She could hear his raspy breathing, but he didn’t attempt to loosen his grip or tell her to stop moving. Jahrra feared the worst.
I’m going to die!
she thought frantically. Her captor had successfully dragged her to the other end of the clearing and was about to disappear into the trees when the group that had been chasing her burst through the undergrowth on the other end of the tiny meadow.

“She must’ve come this way! Look at the path she made as she tore through here!”

It was Eydeth. He had his mask off and was pointing a great lion’s paw towards where they had just broken through. She had never been so glad to see the horrid boy in her life. Jahrra took advantage of this one moment of opportunity. She quickly opened her mouth and bit down as hard as she could on the hand that covered it. The man bellowed in pain, and ripped his hand away.

Jahrra screamed, “HELP! HELP ME!”

She had managed to get somewhat free in the confusion, but the stranger still grasped her around the waist as she struggled with all her might, trying to run to Eydeth and his friends.

“Eydeth!! There is a strange person here, please!”

She broke free with one of her recently acquired defense moves and ran as fast as her wobbly legs would carry her. Eydeth and three of his friends stared in shock as she hobbled towards them, only to look at the stranger when he shook off his injuries and started after her. Jahrra reached the boys and glanced desperately into their eyes, but they were distracted by something just over her shoulder. When she finally saw the composition of their faces, Jahrra’s blood ran cold. Eydeth and his friends looked paler than death, something that was more than a result of the white moonlight. They had a terror in their eyes she’d never seen before in anyone.

Jahrra’s heart began to race, and she could feel her arms and legs tingling, only this time it wasn’t because of her magical armlet. She couldn’t bring herself to glance over her shoulder, and she couldn’t coax her dry, swollen throat to speak. She just looked helplessly at the boys as they continued to stare like graveyard statues at the man Jahrra could feel approaching. As soon as the boys got over their shock, however, they turned and ran as fast as they could.

Jahrra felt helpless, frozen, petrified, and she began to shake. She now realized that it hadn’t been a trap; that this person had nothing to do with Eydeth. She tried her deep breathing technique again, but breathing couldn’t help her now, nothing could help her.
Stop it!
her inner voice screamed.
You’ve survived many years of hard training just for this kind of situation, pull yourself together!
Jahrra reached out her trembling arm and placed her hand against a tree for support. Suddenly, she stopped shaking and felt a flicker of ease rush over her quaking body, her armlet tingling once again.
I can handle this
, she thought as the calming magic spread through her body.
I know what to do.

As the sound of the boys’ crashing back through the dark woods faded away, Jahrra slowly began to turn around. She knew she didn’t want to see what was there, but something made her turn, a voice, this time not her own, calling from somewhere beyond reach, telling her she must see . . .

She looked directly into the middle of the meadow, and there she saw him, the man who’d tried to abduct her. The stranger was fumbling for what looked like a long cloth that had covered his face. He wasn’t nearly as close as Jahrra had thought he would be, and was now falling back further and further away from her. He managed to pull the scarf over his face before Jahrra could get a good look at it, and his eyes were shrouded in the shadows cast by the silvery moonlight. He was wearing a heavy, hooded type of jacket or coat, and his pants and boots looked rather ordinary if not a bit threadbare in the dim moonlight. If Jahrra were to place him, she would assume he was a common thief who’d just been trying to rob her. But why did Eydeth and his thugs look at him as if he were a demon?

Jahrra didn’t stand around long enough to ponder the question. She took advantage of the stranger’s scrabbling and began to run again, to run back to the path that led out of these dangerous woods and to her friends. She didn’t even care if she stumbled upon Eydeth and his group. She figured they had been scared witless and wouldn’t be coherent enough to try and capture her again. She slowly regained her nerves as she made her way through the dark, hoping that the stranger had kept on going in the opposite direction.

Why did he back off after I got away?
she wondered as she pushed past the prickly branches, moving further and further away from the meadow.
I was standing still long enough for him to grab me again, so why didn’t he?
Maybe it had something to do with the wooden beads laced around her wrist. Perhaps their magic had helped her after all. Or maybe it was because Eydeth and his friends had seen the stranger’s face.
Yes, that must’ve been it
, Jahrra told herself with a chill.
I must thank Eydeth someday
, she thought with sour humor.
He unknowingly saved me.

Scede and Pahrdh were untying Gieaun and Rhudedth when Jahrra finally emerged from the woods.

“Jahrra!!!” squeaked Rhudedth, still sitting in the dirt, her brother trying to cut her hands free. “What on Ethoes happened in there?! Why did you go running off? Why did Eydeth and his friends come charging out of the woods like they’d seen a ghost!?”

The girl was almost in hysterics, and her brother was trying to calm her down. Jahrra looked around at her friends. Gieaun and Rhudedth had been crying, Pahrdh appeared to be pretty shaken up, and Scede looked dazed and more worried than Jahrra had ever seen him.

“I’m alright, but what about you guys?” Jahrra was still winded from the tight grasp the stranger had had on her, but she was more concerned about her friends at the moment.

“All we know,” Scede began quietly, holding his hand gently against the side of his head, “is that you yelled at Eydeth to chase you and then he and three of his friends took off after you, leaving two behind to guard us until they returned. We waited probably a half an hour or more before Eydeth and his goons came tearing out of the trees, making the most noise possible, and screeching, yes screeching, at his friends to “run and run fast”.”

Scede exhaled unsteadily, looking whiter than ever. “They listened to him without blinking and they all took off running towards town, leaving us all tied up here.” He took a deep, shuddering breath and whispered, “I thought you had died.”

“Jahrra,” it was Gieaun that spoke this time, in an eerily calm voice, “what happened in there?”

Jahrra hesitated for a moment. Of course they would want to know what really happened, but she wasn’t about to tell them, at least not now. Scede and Gieaun would panic and say this was just like all the other times she talked them into doing something dangerous. Pahrdh and Rhudedth might not ever associate with her again if they knew she was prone to being attacked by strangers. They would also insist that she tell Hroombra, which was something she couldn’t bring herself to do. He would worry too much, and she was alive after all, so why bother frightening everyone?

She darted her eyes over to Scede, noting the white tusks protruding from his mask, and blurted, “It was a boar! A great big boar that came crashing through the underbrush!”

Jahrra’s four friends looked as if they’d been broadsided by a bear.

She swallowed the anxious lump in her throat and continued, “I ran until I came to a break in the trees, and while I caught my breath, Eydeth and his friends caught up to me. Just as they stepped into the clearing, this wild pig came flying out of nowhere! I jumped up the closest tree and watched as it chased after Eydeth and his friends.”

Jahrra ended her speech with a very dramatic breath. Everyone gazed at her quizzically, but they were too tired, their nerves too jumbled to wonder if she was telling the truth.

“Weren’t you afraid the boar would come after you once it stopped chasing Eydeth?” Rhudedth asked timidly.

“Sure, but I was also worried it would get you guys.” Jahrra smiled, pleased with her own quick thinking.

“I think we should go back into town, who knows what else is in that wood,” Pahrdh said, eyeing the dark edge of the trees suspiciously.

Everyone, not surprisingly, agreed with him. They dusted themselves off and examined any injuries they might have received, Gieaun affectionately cleaning off the cut on her brother’s temple as he squirmed in annoyance.

“Too bad we couldn’t finish the scavenger hunt,” Jahrra mourned as they plodded back along the deserted road.

It was easier to dwell on her disappointment than to think about the fear she had felt in the woods. Everyone gave her a scathing look, so she didn’t press the matter.

“Oh, here Jahrra,” Scede said, handing her the raven mask once they’d put some distance between the woods and themselves. “It fell off when one of the boys tried to grab you. You should put it on, it’s still Sobledthe Eve, and there’s still a lot to do when we get back into town.”

“Maybe we should tell someone, you know, about what happened?” Rhudedth suggested carefully. “Not the boar part, but how Eydeth and his friends attacked us?”

“No,” Jahrra said automatically.

For one reason or another, she didn’t want anyone to know about the incident, and she really didn’t see the point. Telling people about Eydeth’s attacks hadn’t helped her before, why would it help now?

“Besides,” she continued after noticing Rhudedth’s crestfallen expression, “I have a feeling they’re long gone.”

More importantly, Jahrra didn’t want anyone to know about the stranger who’d tried to capture her. If Eydeth’s name was brought up, he may be questioned and he might say something about the man who had frightened them. Jahrra wanted to keep on believing that the stranger wasn’t dangerous, and investigating the matter further could prove that he was. She shivered at the thought of someone actually wanting to kidnap her, and then suddenly remembered the look she’d seen on Eydeth’s face once he spotted her would-be captor.

Jahrra squeezed her eyes shut and forced herself to believe that the look of fear on her classmate’s face was just a reaction to seeing someone who could actually harm him. It wasn’t because this dark stranger was evil or particularly dangerous; it was because, no matter how much Eydeth told everyone how tough he was, he really was a big coward.
Yes
, Jahrra reassured herself,
that man was just a hermit or a drifter and we startled him. And no one got hurt, so why bother telling anyone at all? What good would that do?

She relayed her thoughts to her friends and they all agreed to keep what happened tonight secret. They all accepted the incident as just another one of Eydeth’s foiled attempts to terrorize Jahrra. They were just grateful the boar showed up in the nick of time to save their friend.

“You’re right, telling on them is a bit childish, and it won’t do any good,” Gieaun fumed after they’d made their decision. “But now I
really
want to get him back for this. Throw us in the river? I’d like to throw
him
in the river!”

“I know, Gieaun,” Jahrra sighed with a slight smile. “But just think! We’ve had a real life Sobledthe adventure!”

“I hate to take the thrill away from your enjoyment of our narrow escape with death Jahrra, but can we walk a little faster please?” Rhudedth breathed as a raccoon emerged from the fields and onto the path in front of them. “I can’t wait to get back into town!”

“I agree,” Pahrdh added nervously as he lengthened his stride. “Besides, I don’t want to give Eydeth and his friends another chance to attack us.”

Just as the children were coming up to the embankment of the main road that led into town, the sky suddenly lit with a flurry of burning red, gold and violet sparks.