Young Writers Society

Dameon~

Dameon looked around the room as he and Clare spun to the music. He had to do everything he could from falling in love with those eyes all over again. Finally, a petite, brunette headed woman, bearing age marks as well as streaks of gray caught Dameon's eyes. Even over forty, she was still a beautiful queen. Dameon stopped spinning, Clare looking up at him in surprise.

"What's wrong?" She asked softly, Dameon diverting his gaze from the crown-bearing woman, back to Clare.

"Clare, how would you like to... meet your mother...?"

Garrett~

Garrett watched as Jaykob escorted a fully healed Raven back up to the top floor. "Milady," he smiled, once they were out of sight. He offered his hand, and Naela took it gingerly. "I thought about making our way back up to the ball room," he led her up the stairs, and after the healer and maid left, shut the door, leaving he and Shanaela in a warm glow of light. "But I figured this would be a bit more... romantic," he chagrinned at his cheap attempt, and pulled away a shingle in the roof, music flooding through the little whole.

Shanaela closed her eyes to listen, and Garrett led her back down the stairs, pulling her closer and letting his hand rest on her waist. "Naela, may I have this dance?" He asked, compassion and absolute love in his voice. Neither wore their masks, but it really didn't matter.

Shanaela nodded, silent like usual, and the two began to dance around one of the least romantic places in all of the kingdom. Somehow, though, that didn't matter. To Garrett, this was right where they needed to be. Out of eyesight, and in their own little world.

Together.

Clare

"My, my mother?" I asked, I looked over my shoulder, where he had been surveying the crowd. None of those people looked familiar to me. I tried to fight back tears. How could I not recognise my own mother! Then one woman turned her head. I whispered to myself.
"Mom?" I turned back to Dameon. He nodded. I couldn't make out his facial expression under that mask. We glided off the dance floor, rather gracefully if I might add and walked over to her. I wanted nothing more then to jump on her and hug her, my mother, but that would be most uncivil. She turned and looked to us as we approached.
"May I help you... Oh Dameon, what a pleasant surprise. Who's this?" She asked looking at me. I could just imagine the smug look on his face right about now. He motioned to me, then said in a quiet voice.
"This, is your daughter." Her gaze snapped to me, and I reach for my mask, pulling off quickly before Dameon could stop me. I dropped it to the ground.
"Mother?" I said, starting to tear up and my voice breaking. We wrapped out arms around each other, and she whispered in my ear.
"Where have you been all these years, I thought you were dead...." I quickly explained to her what had happened. When I was done, her gaze fell to the ground.
"So, Davis tried to take two people away from me." I nodded.
"And now, he has escaped. But, I promise, I will avenge father's death." She put her hand on my cheek.
"There's no need for that my child. You've returned to me, and that's all I ever wanted."

SHANAELA MARZ

I was practically in tears. In fact, I was having a very difficult time fighting them back. I was still convinced that I was supposed to be unlovable... and being loved was still absolutely wonderfully bizarre.

Shanaela, I want to tell you something alright? Love, it's something that can break you into a million tiny pieces. I suppose it can build you back up again, but that kind of love is hard to find... and tragedy likes to search it out. Try hard not to fall in love, alright? I don't want to see you hurt like that...

More of my father's rambling on a late night. Strange, how I had believed him back then. Nodded, agreed to try my hardest. Well, I had tried, and failed miserably.

I pushed the thoughts away, smiling and resting my cheek on Garrett's shoulder. My heart was pounding, and I could feel myself blushing just the slightest. At the moment, the best place in the whole world was in this dungeon. At least I would never, ever forget my first kiss or my first real dance.

Garrett~

He was in complete bliss. Garrett smiled as he and Naela danced, entwined in one anothers arm. This was heaven. Nothing could beat this. Nothing at all. The dim light cascaded over Shanaela's form, Garrett content with her in his arms. "I love you Naela," he whispered in her ear, laughing softly when chillbumps rose over her skin. He didn't know if she replied or not, but Garrett smiled and pulled his torso from hers, their feet still moving in sync.

Placing his pointer finger under her chin, he lifted her beautiful face up, the light falling over it, and smiled at her softly, pressing his lips to hers again, love flowing from him to her. Wonderful, absolutely wonderful. Heaven, it was heaven like he'd thought earlier. Nothing could ruin this moment.

Or so he thought. The dungeon door suddenly opened, revealing the large form of the general. His eyes widened at the sight of the prince kissing Shanaela Marz. KISSING HER! They were wrapped in each others arms like lovers, and they were kissing! The two pulled away suddenly, staring wide eyed, and rather fearfully at the general.

SHANAELA MARZ

I stared as the general descended the stairs. I could feel the colour draining from my face. Every part of me seemed to be on stand-still; with the exception of my lips and my heart, which both felt like they were pounding. I could see the outlines of his face, still horribly familiar.

He chuckled, and a shiver ran up my spine. Garrett stepped in front of me, and normally I would have shoved my way past him, but for the moment I was too horrified to do anything.

The general chuckled again, and there were more footsteps on the stairs. Lots of footsteps... I cursed silently and reached for my sword. The one that wasn't there. Oh good Lord, we were both unarmed.

"Miss Marz, I am shocked. Truly, purely absolutely surprised. And Garrett, there's not need for heroics. They won't do you much good." He turned and nodded to the six guards behind him.

Three for me, three for Garrett.

I started struggling, but three against one, and especially when the three are armed, well...you get it. The general walked over to me, leaning so close I could feel his breath on my cheek. "Looks like you've failed your father, hmm Naela?" he whispered, so only I could hear.

I froze, mouth dropping open. The familiar face... it was him! I could feel my breathing quicken. This man, who was not by any means a general, had killed my father. Green. Something Green.

"Mmm, so you remember. Looks like those rougues failed me, doesn't it? Shame I have to dirty my hands with your blood as well." He straightened suddenly, and I could feel the tears in my eyes. "Shanaela Marz is sentenced to be publicly hanged at dawn tomorrow. All attending the party must attend the execution."

My heart stopped and Garrett's head shot up. "You have strict orders from my father not to harm her! When he gets back..."

The general chuckled yet again, shaking his head. "Why, dear Garrett, is it always 'when'? There are very slim chances that your father will be making it back to see that I'm hanged." He turned to the guards before anybody could get a word in. "Lock him in his room, three inside with him, three outside the door and two outside his window. Find his sister and do the same."

The guards didn't have to struggle to drag me back to my cell. I was too stunned to fight back.

Garrett~

No.

No this wasn't happening.

This couldn't happen, not on his watch.

At least he could try to stop in.

The soldier behind him grabbed his arm, and Garrett slammed his elbow into the guards unarmored stomach. He doubled over in pain, and the soldiers drew their swords. "Don't kill him!" The general bellowed, seemingly amused with the struggle. Garrett fought his way over to the cell. One soldier grabbed him around the neck, and Garrett threw the soldier over his shoulder, and into the bars, causing him to scream in pain and land on his head. The other five were starting to get up though. Garrett grabbed the bars of the cell tightly, reaching in for Naela. He touched her cheek, and looked into her eyes, his own eyes desperate.

"I will save you Naela. I won't let them kill y-AHH!" Garrett screamed in pain and let go of the bars, a thick slab of wood was attached to his calf, the nails embedded in it burried in his skin in at least ten different spots, each causing large amounts of pain as they burrowed into the muscle.

'I love you,' he mouthed to Naela as they drug him off, his right leg dubbed useless. They would not hurt her. He'd save her, and then he'd save his mother and father, without a doubt.

Keiko

It had been an hour.

I told Hunter this in a low voice, scanning the ballroom. No Garrett, no Naela. But... guards. Interjecting oaths in the old tongue quite rapidly, I grabbed Hunter's arm. "HUNTER! Guards, guards, guards!" He replied with a word that made several people around us gasp.

The armored burlies were storming over to the patio. Shoot, shoot, shoot- that's where Shadow was... and Marroe... oh, god, god, god! There was some shouting -deep booming from Marroe, clearly, and high pitched screams from Shadow that involved some language I may or may not have taught her- and the ballroom hushed. And then the guards were storming in, a pink haired princess held between them like a rag doll. A rag doll who was about to explode with anger.

Marroe was nowhere to be found.

I shouted and ran, hauling my skirts to my knee. More gasps from the crowd. Hunter was at my heels, keeping the pace. There was a loud crack, and I fell. I don't remember what had happened, but we were in the hall, and Hunter had slid to a stop and was standing over me.

"Twitch! Twitch, are you alright?"

I spat out a bit of blood and got up, narrowing my eyes. "I'm fine." I tried to run again, but I stumbled over the hem of my dress. With a frustrated growl, I ripped the skirt off below the knee and tore open my corset.

The hem of the skirt now ragged, and my corset open over the original top of the dress, I kicked my shoes off and bolted. As we ran, I caught glimpses of Hunter dropping articles of clothes. There went the coat, the vest, shirt sleeves, and the bottom half of his pants. And the shoes. Our masks spinning on the floor, we ran down the hall after Shadow.

We were too late.

Trailing rainwater, we stood in front of her guarded door. My hair down and the two slim braids falling in my face, my dress, skin, and hair soaked, Hunter's skin shining and clothes soaked, hair slicked down, we just gaped at the two soldiers. One sneered. I caught a glimpse of his eyes through the slits in his helmet and my jaw slackened.

I grabbed his forearm and twisted, paralyzing him. The other guard shouted, but Hunter knocked him out just like that. I dragged the soldier down the hall, kicked him in a closet, and dragged Hunter in. Shutting the door, I yanked off his helmet.

"Robinson." I spat it out venomously. There was no way I was ever calling him Daddy again.

"Who are you, wench?"

I grabbed the front of his armor and yanked him up til we were eye to eye.

"... Keiko. I remembered you blonde."

There was a surprised noise from Hunter and I ignored it. "Why is the princess locked up?" I growled.

"I don't know, why am I guard?"

"Because the general thought you were strong for beating your daughter."

"Maybe I was."

That was when Hunter lunged, knocking me aside. I could feel a grin spread across my face as he acted, his fingers dismantling my father's armor and fists jamming into his flesh, skin, face.

"Why is the princess locked up?!" he shouted, hand jammed into his throat.

"To keep them out of the way. They're executing the Marz girl tomorrow-" -enter a gasp from me- "- and they have lover boy locked up too so he won't try to play hero." my father growled out. Hunter shoved him into the wall and stormed out. I roundhoused Robinson in the face and locked the closet door after myself. I slipped my hand into Hunter's.

"You were a blonde?"

"Shut up and let's go get Garrett."

~Princess Shadow~

They threw me on the bed, and I gasped, sitting up at once. What was going on was beyond me. There were three guards in the room with me, and three outside the door. From what I heard, there were two outside the window. I was quiet for the first few minutes a I sat on the bed, knees against my chest, eyes o the smiling guards they looked disgusting, dirty and gross. So says the princess who is in love with the thief.

One of the guards came closer to me, and if he did what I thought he was going to do, he'd be dead twice over. Once by me, and once by Marroe. He grabbed my arm, and I pulled away from him quickly. He chuckled, looking away for a second, then back to me, a smile on his face that showed his yellow teeth. I made a face, scooting away from him. Grabbing my ankle, he pulled me to him, climbing on the bed with me. I used my knee to keep him from coming too close to me. His smile widened, and he grabbed a hold of my arm again, his free hand pushing my knee down.

I let out a scream, and his hand came off my leg, covering my mouth. Now that my leg was free...I lifted my leg quickly, knee digging into his stomach. The two other guards behind him were laughing as he recoiled away from me, rolling off the bed and hitting the floor. I pulled myself up again, scooting to the other side of the bed. I didn't want to be anywhere near them, and, if they knew Marroe, they shouldn't want to be anywhere near me. He was going to kill them just for keeping me here, I knew it.

I got off the bed, pressing myself against the wall. It was dim in the room, so I wasn't aware that one of the other men as coming towards me until he was on this side of the bed. One of his hands went to my waist and the other held both of my hands above my head. I groaned and kicked him in the knee, watching as it didn't hurt him at all. When he smiled, I noticed that he had a few teeth missing in the front.

"Get. Off. Of. Me!" I said, wiggling one hand free. His hand left my waist, thank god, and grabbed my other hand, pinning it against the wall. Once he had both of my hands held by one of his, he moved his hand to my chest, moving some of my pink curls away. I fought against him, trying to scratch his hands enough so that he'd let me go. Unfortunately, nothing hurt him. His other hand was pulling my corset off, revealing the real dress top underneath. I gasped as he touched my chest again. This would not do.

When he leaned his head down to kiss my chest, I hit my forehead against his, sending him back bit. OK, if that didn't hurt him, it sure did give me a headache. My hands fell to my sides and I slid down the wall, sitting there for a moment dazed. The guard had fallen to the floor, holding his head. Standing up quickly, I ran over him, clutching the be pole when he grabbed my ankle and I fell. Kicking was the only thing I could figure to do, and it didn't help me any when the other two came to his aid, one grabbing me by the waist from behind, the other one drawing a fist back then slamming it hard into my stomach. The room spun a little as I gasped for air and fell to the floor, everything going black.

Keiko

I swore again in the Old Tongue as we passed Garrett's room. Two guards, three more that I could hear, and if my memory of the general serves, he'd have more outside the window. My eyes flickered across the doorway and genius struck.

"Hunt, I have an idea." I dragged him around the corner and told him in a low voice. "Think it'll work?"

"I think you're a genius."

I cracked a smile and led him to the laundry room.

Ten minutes, a few more trips, and several swears later, I bustled down the hall pushing a white clothed cart. My hair had been twisted up under a little white hat and my ragged dress was hidden under a maid's uniform. I wondered how they survived in these... these deathtraps. And heels! I had to wear heels.

The guards at the door wolf-whistled and under the cart, I felt Hunter shift. I kicked him gently and giggled sweetly, trying to look... ew... ditsy. "Excuse me, I just brought the prince's dinner. They said he hadn't eaten, and the general told me that he wanted the prince healthy. So...?"

The guards grinned and stepped aside. With a squeaky "thank-you!" and a swing of the hips, I was in. Blood roaring in my ears, I smiled at the guards inside.

"Care for some food, boys? You must be so hungry." They eyed the silver covered dish like I would a gemstone and nodded. I resisted the urge to giggle and kick my heel up as I lifted the lid to reveal... nothing. There was a chorus of "huh-wha?"s before I lifted up the white cloth over the cart, Hunter rolled out, and I grabbed the silver plate.

"Phase two of get-my-prisoner, commence!" I shouted, shoving a chair under the doorknob as it started to rattle. I ripped off the maid's uniform and yanked off the heels, tied the straps together, and flung it like a demented pair of nunchucks. Score one- it clipped one soldier in the temple, and he fell. Ha-ha!

Hunter was taking on another soldier purely with hand-to-hand. One jab under the jaw, a chop to either side of the neck, and poof. "Well done, Hunt!" I told him, grabbing the tray. Steady... throw! And so it flew like the frisbee from the black lagoon, striking the last soldier in the jugular. He fell shortly after I picked it up and repeatedly whacked him on the head with it.

"Garrett!"

"Keiko? Hunter?"

"Yeah, yeah, c'mon, we've still got to get Naela and Pinky." I smiled at my new nickname for Shadow and grabbed Garrett's arm as Hunter did the same on the opposite side.

"Ew. I feel like a prisoner all over again." We let go. "And the guards on the terrace-"

"Thought of." I said smartly. I flung open the window and climbed out, then promptly pushed the two guards over the railing. As soon as I heard the tell-tale THWUNCK! I unrolled my grass rope and tied one end to the rail.

"I'll go down first," I announced before doing just that. Safely on the ground, I rubbed the straps of my bag. We had run to the tower first to grab our stuff, in case we ended up... not coming back.

"Garrett, come on down!" There was a blur of black and tan, a whoosh, and then the prince was beside me. "Nicely done. Hunter, make sure you cut the rope as you go down. We're going to need it."

"Can do, Twitch!"

There was a slicing noise, the ring of fast-moving metal, and another whoosh, and Hunter was on the ground, holding the end of my grass rope. I was glad I'd burnt it. He'd absolutely chop it to bits if it was still green. I clutched my butterfly necklace once, and we were off again.

Stages one, two, and three of operation get-my-prisoner completed. Commence stage four- get the princess.

SHANAELA MARZ

I was pacing across the cell, fiddling with the hem of my dress, tears coursing down my cheeks. I will save you Naela. Garrett's voice ran through my head for about the thousandth time since they had dragged him upstairs. I love you.

But how? How was he going to save me? Dawn couldn't be far off now, and even if it was, what about his leg? No way he could get past all of those guards and down here in time with that injury.

I was going to die.

I collapsed, knees pulled up to my chest, tears streaming down them ten times faster than they had been before. I was going to die, and I hadn't even been able to tell Garrett that I loved him. Sure, he probably already knew, but it wasn't the same. My head lifted to face the ceiling. I love you Garrett. I would mouthing things....to a ceiling.

Green stepped out of the shadows, chuckling at my expense. Every bit of my body was screaming at him, cursing him, begging for him to be dragged to hell. But he was still there, chuckling, mocking me. "Strange how a disgusting wretch of a girl like you managed to weasel your way into the prince's heart. I never did understand you Shanaela," he muttered, voice amused.

He's manipulating you. Don't listen. I told myself sternly.

His grin grew, making me shudder. "Dawn's not far now. My life's goal is close to complete..." he paused, eyeing me up and down, sending shivers down my spine. "The guards will be here in about half an hour my dear."

MARROE

I groaned and forced my eyes open. My head throbbed, spun a mile a second. What had just happened? I was laying beside a bench, which I found myself grabbing hold of and using to shove my body up. Every bit of me was throbbing.

Shadow.

My blood started to boil as memories came back. Guards yelling at me to step away from the princess, me backing into a corner, Shadow behind me. Throwing a few good punched, Shadow all but clawing the eyeballs out of a few guards (I grinned at this), getting knocked around and finally something hitting me on the side of the head. Hard. My smile faded. They had Shadow...

I shook off the memories and took off running. Running where, I wasn't so sure, just running. I was going to rip the flesh from the face of every single guard, spread their blood on a slice of toast and scarf it all back with a cold glass of milk.

Something blue caught my eye and I haulted, breathing heavily. Keiko's back between a very sore-looking, limping prince and a very protective looking Hunted. Where were the others? Raven, Clare, Dameon, Tal, Elle--Naela? Doesn't matter. I told myself quickly.

Well, I couldn't yell at them. Somebody would hear, and come maul me all over again. Delightful. I was still out of breath, no way could I catch up to them...even with Garrett's limp. I checked the ground around me, grabbed a rock and flung it at Keiko's back. Thank the Lord above I hit my mark.

Keiko

Owowowowowowowow. "Make sure Garrett doesn't die while I beat the life out of whoever hit me," I told Hunter before whipping around to see a very angry looking Marroe. I raised an eyebrow, sprinted back, tossed the boy over my shoulder, and sprinted back. Breathing normally, I set him down. The 'gr I am mad!' expression had just switched to 'whoa didn't know she was capable of that'.

"Stronger than I look." I told him in a low voice as we kept creeping through the gardens. Garrett was leading us to his sister's room, as I didn't know where it was. Nor did Hunter. "And I will beat the life out of you if you don't tell why you're not dead."

"Wait, what?"

"Just tell me what happened."

It didn't matter that he was four years my senior. He could be twenty-five and I would still be treating him like this. Didn't matter that he was close to twice my size. I was in the zone, and therefore it didn't matter that I was fourteen. I was running this.

"Okay. The guards came, and we tried to fight back. I think I got hit in the head and blacked out, and they got Shadow. I saw you and threw the rock because I knew you could help."

I nodded and turned on my heel. "We're going to get Shadow first, then Naela. If we have to stall the... execution, we will. Me and Hunter'll go up first, take care of the guards on the terrace, and then y'all will come up. Garrett, you'll have to hold onto the rope, and we'll pull you up. Agreed?"

"Agreed." chorused the others. I suddenly felt very proud for being the only girl here and still coming up with the plans.

Dude, I was rocking this.

MARROE

I stopped, blinking. Execution? That did not sound good... "Woah, woah, woah wait," I demanded, holding up a hand.

The others stopped, looked back at me. "What?" Keiko asked.

"What about an execution now?" There was an awkward silence, and Garrett's eyes seemed desperate. Something hit me, Shanaela wasn't here, and I doubted that Garrett would have just left without a good reason. "Naela..."

They nodded and a tension grew in the air, hung there. "When?" I murmered.

"Dawn..." Garrett murmered, voice strained.

I glanced over my shoulder, eyeing the bit of light in the distance. My face paled. "We've gotta hurry."

*My computer crashed sorry if this doesn't work if it doesn't help me then pleeeeeeaaaaaaaasssssssssssssseeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*
Raven
I ran out of the castle past the guards and then in the cover of the trees slit my dress up the sides so I could run I had only one thing on my mind to shift into a raven again. I prayed that it would work. I concentrated on the form of a raven and then felt myself shrinking and I was a beautiful black raven I grinned briefly then flew to Keiko and the others and landed on the ground and shifted back. Keiko gave me a WTF! look and I just grinned. "I'm going to talk to Naela anyone who tries to stop me will get a dagger to the gut." I said coolly taking off my shoes savoring the feel of the earth. I shifted back and flew to Naelas cell window. I waited until the general left then I landed on her shoulder and nuzzled her under her chin. She froze but then realized who I was. She looked at me with joy and mouthed 'Your here to help.' I looked at her scornfully and tossed my feathered head "Why wouldn't I be." I croaked under my breath. "Naela you will get out of here I need to get back to the others we will be back." I said quietly. She looked skeptical then I shifted back very briefly and handed her my ankh. "I swear by the Lord and Lady I will be back." I whispered. She hugged me and I hugged her back tears in my eyes. I shifted back and flew out the window and back to the others I shifted back.

~Princess Shadow~

My stomach was hurting, and I suddenly became worried. My eyes flashed open, and I sat up quickly, looking around the room. Two of the guards were asleep against the wall at the foot of the bed. The other one had his back to me, laying on the bed. I felt violated by what had happened earlier. I was out so I wasn't sure what they had done to me in that time.

I pulled my legs to my chest, wrapping my hands around my knees. I felt the tears roll down my cheek, and I knew that, if I wanted to get out of here, now would probably be my chance. The only thing was, I had no clue how I was going to escape. There were three guards outside the door I'd have to deal with, and two outside the window. I could only hope that they were stupid enough to fall for a trick.

I wanted to be in Marroe's arms, I wanted him to hold me and tell me it was all OK. I knew it wasn't but how much damage could a tender lie do? (>Ignore the resemblance to a song<) And, with that, I held my breath as I stood, trying not to make a noise as I went to one of the guards. So these were the people keeping my kingdom safe? I grabbed two of the swords with shakey hands, not really sure what I was planning to do with them. I wouldn't be able to use them, I just needed to look threatening with them. When I reached the door, I let out my breath, feeling a little safer now that I had something to kill them with--or look like I would kill them.

Before I had time to do anything, I heard some comotion outside the door, and I froze for a moment, listening and hoping it was someone to get me out of here. I hd a sharp pain in my stomach, and dropped on of te swords, grasping my stomach. I held my breath as the three guards behind me woke.

Keiko

"Shadow?" I whispered over my shoulder. There was a pink blur and then the door on the terrace was open. She looked... terrible. Scared, gaunt, frail. What had happened in the space of four hours? I didn't want to know. I had opened my mouth to speak, but was cut off with a sandy brown blur. Marroe had knocked me to the side (how many times was that now?) and was holding Shadow, baring his teeth at the guards. If it wasn't so scary, it might've been funny.

"Got it!" I shouted before latching onto one's back and covering his eyes, spurring him into the wall repeatedly until he fell forward. Leaping nimbly up, I leaned over the railing and whistled, signaling Hunter to come up, and for him to pull Garrett up. Soon, there was a mop of black peeking over the railing, and then the rest of Hunter's body came over, followed by an embarrassed looking Garrett clinging to my rope. I sliced the end off, so only the knot was left tied to the ledge.

"Hunter, take care of the bigger dude. I'll grab the wiry one, Garrett, make sure Shadow doesn't... flip out or something."

"What?"

"Well, I don't know! You're her brother, use your brotherly charm!"

He shrugged and limped over to Marroe and Shadow. I grabbed a hairbrush from Shadow's vanity table and charged the wiry guard, whacking and jabbing and stabbing until he was cowering in the corner. I punched him between the eyes hard enough to knock him unconscious, just in time to see the burlier guard fall onto Hunter's feet. Making a face, Hunter pulled his feet out and beckoned for us to follow. I gave Shadow a brief arm-squeeze and then helped Garrett up to where we were walking.

"And now we get Naela?"

"Now we get Naela."