Young Writers Society

Raven
I whistled and Fang ran up to me and I hugged him. "If worse comes to worse like I said before someone is getting a knife to the gut and several other places." I hissed my eyes flickering with a deadly blue flame. "Your serious." Garrett said in disbelief. "Naela is my best friend hell she's like a sister to me. She's the only family I have." I said coolly clamping down on my tears. I needed to be as cold as ice my heart needed to be black as the bird that represented my name. My hands curled into fists and Fang nudged my hand and I stroked his head and scratched him behind his ears. "I can also cast a protection for Naela and us."I replied still cool.

>LotDR, Garrett's with Hunter, Keiko, Marroe, and Shadow.<

In my last post I brought Raven to Hunter, Garrets, Keiko, Marroe, and Shadow. Well the other post besides the one on this page. It's either the 13th or 9th post on page 21. I can't count today.

>Okay, it was just so crammed I couldn't read it very well.<

Oh.

Garrett~

Garrett limped out with the others. Blood caked his calf, but he could careless. After Naela, they still weren't done. As he limped with the group, he looked up at the ceiling, drawing a deep breath. "After Naela, I'm afraid I'll have to go on another rescue." At that he frowned, noting the colors of the sky. Dawn was drawing, and it was really only minutes away. The soldiers were already making their way around the execution stand. Townsfolk had already begun to gather, hands full of rotten tomatoes, onions, beets, meat, eggs, anything they could get their hands on.

None of that would touch Naela though, none of it. They all knew her to well. They all knew by now that the prince was in love with this woman. Word traveled fast, surprisingly, in this size of a kingdom. He limped a bit faster. "What do you mean?" Shadow breathed softly, looking up at her brother.

"Mother and father... they might be in danger. That's a very thin might, by the way. You all don't have to come with me, but you can if you'd like. First though, we have to save Naela. You all go ahead, I'll meet you down there." He nodded to the group, some of them confused. Garrett smirked when Dameon and Clare joined the group a bit farther down the hall, both looking back at Garrett. Once they were out of sight, Garrett stepped to the right, and went down a secret staircase, leading to his father's room. He rushed to the corner, grabbing a quiver and bow, wrapping his body in a crimson cape, his face hidden.

A prince wasn't supposed to do dirty work, but he really doubted the little disguise wouldn't give him away. He'd wait till they brought Naela out, and then save her at the last moment. It may be horrorfying to everyone there, other than the guards, but it'll be the easiest, quickest, and safest way to get out of there.

MARROE

It was too silent. Nobody was talking, heck, I could hardly hear breathing. I stole a glance at Raven, who seemed to be debating with herself. If she pulled another move like the one back there, I would flip. "Raven?" I murmered.

"What?" she asked, looking up at me.

How did I explain this without ticking her off? I sighed and shook my head. "Don't try anything again. Not unless you absolutely have to. Okay? It won't do any good."

I turned before she had a chance to protest. My blood was still boiling, and if I had to listen to any words that went against my own, I was afraid I would end up slapping her. I stared at Shadow's dress. It was crooked. If I thought I was absolutely furious before... "Can you tell me exactly what they did to you, so that I know how horrible I have to be when I kill them?" Assuming Hunter and Keiko did more than knock them unconsiouse. I would root for them still being alive.

SHANAELA MARZ

I was sitting huddled in the far corner of the cell, trying to be secretive. I was writing in my notebook, reading over past conversations. One that caught my eye, made me smile, was the one I had with Marroe back in Garrett's room. The one about Twarl. Ha. He was on his own now.

I flipped to a fresh page, hesitating with my pen hovering over it. Did I dare? What could they do to me if I told? I was already dead anyways. And they wouldn't hurt anybody else because of a few sentences I had scribbled in a notebook, would they?

No. They wouldn't. So I wrote this:



I tucked the pen and notebook into my dress, hoping it would be found by my small group of possible-mourners. If it was found by guards, or better yet, Green himself, I was toast. Speaking of which, I was still wearing my party gown. I shook my head, even smiled a little. If you're going to die, die in style.

It was when the guards came with Green and opened my cell door that reality hit me again. My heart raced, and it was near impossible to hide my trembling. One of them had a sack, which Green promptly ripped from his hands and threw to the ground. "No sack. Not for this execution," he growled.

The guard gave him a bestranged look, but he backed off. Two of them grabbed me by the elbows, and I shook them off. Green rolled his eyes, stepped back and bound my hands. I was a wreck inside, but no way I was going to show it.

~Princess Shadow~

My stomach dropped and my heart sunk as I thought about what they had done to me. I buried my head in his chest, sobbing. No matter how much I wanted him to make them suffer for it, I couldn't bring myself to say what they had done. He put his arms around me and I melted into him. I was cold, freezing, but happy. Or, at least happy to be in his arms. He pulled away a little and looked me in my face, putting his index finger under my chin and turning my face back to his when I looked away.

"They..." I started, my voice low so that only he could hear. "They...they..." I buried my face in his chest again, tears coming faster. I was ashamed, but not because I was violated, but because I was Marroe's, and his alone. "They hurt me." That was all I was able to say at the moment while I hiccuped then began crying again. "And...and they...they raped me..." I whispered a low as I could between hiccups.

Marroe's back stiffened as he pulled me tighter. I closed my eyes and listened to his heartbeat. Took me long enough to say it. I knew we had something to do, and that the guards weren't going to stop me from helping save Naela. She would be my sister in law, and I'd see to that. I smiled a the thought.

"Are you OK?" Marroe asked and I looked up at him.

"Yea," I said nodding. "Other than my stomach hurting from one of them punching me, but I'm fine." Truthfully, I didn't know why my stomach was hurting. It wasn't an ache like you'd get from being punched. It was more a feeling like I wanted to throw up, like I was sick. I pushed the thought away for the moment, focusing on what we had to do, what the plan was--we didn't have one that I knew of.

MARROE

Rape?! My whole body was trembling. Now this feeling, this feeling was familiar. Pure, raw rage. I had never been angrier in my life, never wanted to kill anybody as badly as I wanted to kill the guards in Shadow's room. "Keiko?" I asked, voice low.

"What?" her voice was low. Stunned maybe? I couldn't tell.

"Did you leave those guards alive?"

"I...think so..."

I gritted my teeth. "Good. The second Garrett rescues Naela, I swear I'm going to kill every one of them-brutally." I paused, let the anger boil a bit. "Then I'm going to rip of strips of their flesh and lay it around the guards' quarters and drink their blood." My voice was trembling. I didn't doubt that my little pomise came out as more of a growl than anything.

I looked down at Shadow. She was staring at me now, but she was distorted. I blinked a few times. Tears? Well, they weren't streaming down my face, but they were tears all the same. My stomach churned. At least you got to claim her. My subconscious was pestering me. What did it matter? They had hurt her, and it wasn't the kind of hurt that would just heal and everybody could forget about it.

And usually, when a man is this mad, his first impulse is to grab something-somebody even-and rip it to shreds. Which I wanted to do, but seeing as there was nothing to rip to shreds, that was sort of not an option. Instead, I pulled Shadow even closer to me and kissed her. She was mine, not some spastic, disgusting, hell-bound guard's.

Raven
I bit my lip and very quickly whispered a protection spell praying that it would be enough "Lord and Lady grant your protection on Naela until we can save her please?" I stepped in front of Garret and looked him straight in the eye. "We will save Naela then we will go find your parents and tell them. Then whoever dares stand in our way will pay with their lives." I said coldly. Garret for a second looked scared of me and I looked him in the eye again. "Lover boy if you don't save her I will. And you better be careful with her or you will hear from me." I said patting him on the arm.

Garrett~

Garrett just nodded at Raven's suggestion, his mind not only on Naela, but his sister as well. Just why had she been acting so... strangely? He'd ask later, right now he had to save Naela. The kingdom's bell tower chimed ominously (sp?) with the call of a execution. Thank god they hadn't ordered a decapitation. That would have been a little more dangerous to stop. Garrett tied his ascot around the window hinge and tied the other end around his belt loop, giving him just enough leverage to shoot the arrow and hit the target directly.

"I don't get it!" A young Garrett huffed, throwing his bow and quiver down. His father, a greying king took his shoulders and face him, looking him dead in the eye.

"You can do this Garrett! Just focus!"

Garrett's father's words repeated in his mind. That was right. The king wasn't the king. The king was Garrett's father. Sure, he wasn't his birth father, but ever since Garrett's real father, the king's best friend, died, Garrett saw the king as his father. The guards led Naela out onto the platform, no sack over her head. The crowd had fallen silent. No tomatoes, rotten meat, pies, etc. were thrown. Only a dead silence rose over the entire kingdom, like everyone was holding their breath.

Garrett cocked his bow with two arrows, and the General yanked Shanaela up to the noose, her head sliding through it. The general rose his hand, and then let it fall, the two henchmen pulling the lever at the same time Garrett let the arrows fly. He heard someone scream, probably Keiko, or Shadow, or maybe even Raven, but all he watched was one arrow fly for the rope right above Naela's head, the second shooting for the General's heart.

SHANAELA MARZ

I stepped onto the platform, keeping my head held high as I could. If I was going to die, I most certainly wasn't going to do it quivering in fear. But I couldn't stop tears from prickling my eyes as the noose was slid over my head. My whole body tensed suddenly, bracing itself perhaps.

"Death my dear, is unavoidable, but when you die, do it proudly. Don't let them see your fear, and when you're going to die, never, ever cry in front of your killer."

Alright father, I won't cry. I thought to myself. The general was practically peeing himself with delight as he raised his hand. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before his hand dropped. I could hear the sickening grind of the lever, and the platform falling away under my feet. A scream.

I expected the tension at any time, I expected my neck to snap, but it never happened. There was a gasp, a few shrieks, one from the general. I hit the ground, and my unsuspecting knees buckled under me. A grin spread across my face, and I let my eyes open slowly. Garrett. Good Lord I loved that man.

~Princess Shadow~

I couldn't help but scream. But when the arrow hit the general, I couldn't help but smile. I turned to Marroe, wrapping my arms around his neck and kissing him. Naela wasn't dieing today.

"Is there anything I can do?" I asked, looking at him. "Really, I feel useless, is there anything I can do to help?" Anything that could make our survival any better, I would do it. Unless someone told me to leave. I wouldn't go anywhere unless they were with me. I pulled Marroe closer to me, putting my head on his chest and closing my eyes. I just wanted to be with Marroe and my family, screw all the people who tried to stop us.

>Short<

Keiko

It took me two point seven seconds to completely and utterly lift Naela off her feet. Forget the fact that she was four years older than me- she was alive. I mean, yeah I was discovered now (hugging the Marz girl? Scandal!) but that had sort of already happened. Ragged remains of my once- radiant ball gown whooshing around my knees, thick turquoise waves swirling loose around my shoulders, looking like a warrior woman from the earliest days of some distant planet- I'd be suspicious of me too.

A dense weight thwacked bluntly onto my back, and I felt Hunter's familiar forearms reach around my shoulders to wrap around Naela. I finally squirmed out of the hug cluster and slipped out onto the platform to face the crowd. Beaming broadly, I lifted my chin and shouted my message to the kingdom.

"People of Sarla! You will remember this day as the one you nearly destroyed one of the most incredible young women to walk this land, and the one you were put to shame by a group of young people fighting for change!" With that, I bowed, made sure the group was clustered around together, and together, we ran from the scene, to save the two people that would probably hang us all, save Garrett and Shadow.

Speaking of such. Garrett had successfully pried each person off of Naela and was refusing to let go of her, his arm tightly wound around her waist and lips at her ear, most likely repeating words of encouragement and affection and plans and the golden words to make her strong. Shadow and Marroe were effectively entwined, leaving me and Hunter trying not to gag. Raven was just on the other side of Naela, happy as a clam. As for the others, they were all in their own respective worlds, safe at the moment, and content and pleased.

And off we went.

MARROE

I walked with my arm around Shadow's shoulder, my body tense. I knew that at any given time, one of those spectators could turn on us and pelt us with rotten food...or something more lethal if they had it on-hand. Would they just stay like that until we were safe? Stunned into absolute silence?

I prayed it to be so.

I turned to Garrett, just as he was about to say something. Probably something of utter importance, but I needed to say my piece first. "Before anybody says or does anything," I started, "I have some men I need to go get even with."

I felt Shadow's body tense beside me and I kissed her temple quickly. She knew which men I was talking about. As did Keiko and Hunter, or so I was assuming. Garrett...he was clueless. As were Shanaela and Raven. I would have time to explain later, unless Shadow explained while i was gone.

"Anybody have a sword?"

King Torran

Finally. We were arriving at the palace gates, and it was about time! Adola had fallen asleep on my shoulder and I nudged her gently. She yawned.

"We're here?" she asked groggily.

I nodded. "At long last."

The guards dipped their heads and opened the gates for us to drive through. Now, if these horses had been galloping, we could probably have been here yesterday. But no...we had to use carriages. The horses had to trot to pull them. Walk even.

I sighed and scrambled out of the carriage and onto the cobblestone. Glug and Adola followed, Glug stretching. A few guards had taken steps backwards at the site of the lion, which made me chuckle. "Now, I believe there's a meeting this evening?"