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I walked toward the castle and saw my friend, battle_dragon_143,
otherwise known as Lady Raven, standing outside, talking to Lady Kiddo, with her
Zafara, Jin_PawPick, at her side. She was dressed in a loose tunic and breeches.
Her sword was at her waist. Jin was also wearing her weapons today. They saw me
and waved. I walked over.
"How are you, Lady Nighthawk?" she asked. "You
haven't been around in a few days."
"I've been working on a few "jobs". Don't ask",
I said as she looked at me disappointed.
"I thought you quit doing those things."
"It wasn't something like that. I had a few
things I had to do. It was perfectly legal, don't worry. So, has Pace attacked
anyone this week?"
"Thankfully not this week" she chuckled. "Though
he almost attacked Lord Sabreur as he slipped a letter under my door."
"I'm not surprised," I said. "By the way, have
you seen Lady Mera?"
"I think she just went into the castle a little
while ago."
"Good. I want to ask her a question. Listen,"
I said. "Can you keep a secret?"
"Sure," she said. "What do you need?"
"Well, I think I may have found something really
creepy. Remember I was telling you about the Lupe pack that kidnapped me?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Well, I've been reading some ancient text about
Neopian history. And it says that in ancient Neopian times, another Lupe pack
was terrorizing people. A Uni and a Zafara knight defeated them, and the pack
swore revenge on the descendants of the two lady knights. Now, this may seem
weird, but Topaz says her family was killed by a pack of wild Lupes, and Sapphire
says that she heard the Lupes say that they were going to take revenge on her
and her family. She also told me a while ago that her brother was taken by a
pack of wild Lupes"
"That's really creepy," she said. "That can't
be a coincidence."
"Something tells me that something is going
to happen sometime soon. I can feel it!"
"Magic kicking in again?" she asked.
"It might just be instinct. I don't know. But
we have to do something."
"I'll do whatever I can to help," she said.
"Good. Get your suitcases ready. We're going
to Meridell!"
{}
We arrived in a small clearing about midnight. I hopped off of Ruby and began
to set up camp. She took off her saddle and began to help me with the tents.
We finished in about fifteen minutes.
As we sat around the campfire, Ruby asked me
about the mission. "Well," I said. "I figure since they've been heading towards
Meridell, we should meet them in the forest as they head toward it."
She nodded and then settled down to sleep. I
turned around and looked around at the forest. I would take first watch, and
look for danger.
I pulled out my sword and walked a bit into
the forest, my ears picking up sounds of life. I came to a stream, trickling
on the rocks in the moonlight, and bent down to drink. Suddenly, I heard a rustle
in the bushes. I swung around, but saw nothing. I suddenly felt a tug on my
left arm. I looked at it and saw a rope. I immediately tried to pull it off,
but another one wrapped itself around one of my legs and pulled me to the ground.
I growled and tugged at it, but another rope grabbed my other arm, and another
one got my other leg. All pulled at the same time and I was flat against the
ground. I strained, but could not pull them off. I was trapped.
Four silver Lupes appeared and tied the ropes
to trees. Then they put a cloth in my mouth to silence me. I tried to spit it
out, but they tied a kerchief around my mouth.
They untied my ropes and pinned me to the ground.
Then they tied my hands around my back and put chains on my legs to hobble me.
They tied a rope around my neck and dragged me away to their camp. I tried to
scream for my friends, but the gag silenced me. I struggled violently, but they
kicked and punched me. They dragged me into their camp and tied me to a pole.
They started to poke me with spears and throw rocks at me. I eventually was
so injured and tired that I slumped to the ground. They laughed and left me
there for the night.
I looked around the camp. I was a jumble of
tents made up of wood and bark. They were big and round. Lupe pups ran around,
nipping at each other, with mothers running after them, catching and scolding
them. One mother turned and looked at me. Her fur was a little bluish, and a
white scar ran down her forehead. She walked up to me and sniffed me. I tried
to kick her away, but was too weak to move a muscle. She pulled her head up
and stared straight into my eyes. I felt relaxed immediately. She put her hand
on my forehead and muttered a few words. I felt the pain leave my body and I
was full of energy. She had healed me.
She pulled a dagger out of her belt and slid
it up my sleeve. "Use this when the time is right," she said. Then she ran off
after a cub.
I watched her leave and then settled in to sleep,
hoping that somehow, I could get out of this.
***
Come on!" I shouted. "We have to get to Meridell before sundown. We were almost
to the city, but the sun was falling fast and we were still miles away. Raven's
Shoyru, Lamen, had flown ahead to she if she could see the city ahead. She flew
back and said it was about five miles away.
We trudged up the hill and finally reached the
top. The city was lain out before us. It was decked in the setting sun, the
light glinting off the stones of the castle, highlighting the Turmaculus, and
casting a glow over the Cheese Roller hill.
We slowly walked down. It was so steep that
I had to punch my staff into the ground every few feet. When we reached the
bottom, I told the others to stay behind and set up camp. Then I walked off
towards the city. My destination was the castle. I needed to find some things
in the castle library. I strode towards the gate. It went up, and I walked in.
The castle was magnificent. It had large, swooping
rafters, huge columns, and marble floors. It was even more magnificent than
Criosdail. I walked onward until I reached the library. This was the utmost
authority in Meridell history. I hoped to find some answers in here. I wandered
around a bit until I found a section on the medieval times in Meridell. I pulled
out a few books and began to read. It was late before I found what I wanted.
It was a book of ancient family ancestry from nobles in medieval Meridell. I
figured that I would check it out and read it back at the campsite.
I checked out the book, and then left the castle.
I was walking towards the campsite, when something caught my eye. I turned to
see a garbage dump. I touched my fire pendant and saw that two elements of magic
were in the dump. One shone blue, the other green. I slowly walked over. Disgusted
at the mess, I burned most of it away. After a little while, I came upon two
necklaces. One was a yellow topaz jewel, one a sapphire. The yellow topaz shone
blue, while the sapphire shone green.
I shivered, feeling the power emanating from
them. I knew that they were powerful, somehow.
I threw them in my sack and headed back to the
campsite. Topaz and Sapphire had gone off to collect wood. Pace was guarding
the area. Raven was cooking dinner, while Lamen awkwardly set up the tents,
with Jin helping her. Stalker was lying by the fire, reading a book that looked
to be a few thousand pages long. I sighed and sat next to him. I pulled out
the necklaces and began to clean them.
Topaz and Sapphire got back a few minutes later.
Topaz had just dropped her wood in the pile when she glanced over. Trotting
over, she looked at the necklaces. "What are those?" she asked.
"I don't know," I said. By now everyone was
looking at the two necklaces I held in my hand. I had an idea. I held the necklaces
by their gold chains and held the gems in the fire. They crackled and a burst
of colored light came from each. I took them out and placed them on the ground.
They slowly floated up into the air and hovered in front of us. An odd voice
emanated from each.
"Two pets, sorrowful pasts
Twixt glade and stone the master has found the tools.
Use them well, for danger will come
Flee to the woods to await your destiny.
Stop the madness
End the tyranny
Silver cords undone
End the feud for everyone."
{}
Dawn brightened the sky. I moaned as I struggled
up, still bound to the pole. My tail was aching, and I was cut and bruised.
I slowly opened my eyes.
The Lupe camp was quiet. Only a few wandered
in the early morning. A pup scampered by me and stopped. Looking at me curiously,
it sniffed my feet. I growled and kicked it. Yipping, it rolled backwards into
a pile of cotton sacks. One broke, and showered the pup with its fibers. The
pup now looked like a frost-bitten dog. It stumbled out and began yipping at
me. I sighed and looked around.
The pack leader slowly emerged from his tent.
He walked towards me and inspected me. He turned and howled. The villagers emerged
from their tents and gathered around me. The Lupe began to speak.
"This Zafara is guilty of trespassing. She has
also been found with a warrant for our capture. What shall we do with her?"
The crowd chanted. "KILL! KILL! KILL!"
The Lupe howled and the crowd settled down.
"Very well! She will die in a combat, since she is a 'knight'" he said in a
mocking tone. The pack began to howl in laughter.
My bindings were cut and I was pinned down.
A wooden contraption was brought out. It looked like a huge wooden cage. There
were two doors on the sides, locked. The guards threw me in one door and tossed
a staff inside. The pack leader walked in and shed his garments until all he
wore was a robe. They handed him a long sword and a dagger. Talk about playing
unfairly, I thought.
I stood in the center, twirling my staff. The
Lupe drew his sword. "Prepare to die, lady knight," he growled. He charged,
the sword aimed straight at my heart.
To be continued...
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