Young Writers Society

ELINIA

I put the necklace around my neck and advised Forlo to do the same. He stared at me for a moment before doing what he was told. I handed one to Angel. "The other one is for you and then there's one for..." I trailed off.

"You'll find 'er in the Mirage Hills remember?" Esteel reminded me irritably.

How had I forgotten that? "Right," I muttered, pocketing the last necklace. "And what do they do exactly? You failed to mention that."

"You won't get seperated while shifting now. If you shift to England now, you'll shift back to wherever the blue necklace is. So don't lose it."

I nodded. This was...odd. "Care to elaborate any more of this to me? It's sort of... nerveracking."

"That's all I know." Esteel shrugged.

I sighed and looked at Forlo, feeling rather hopeless. This whole shifting thing was starting to get to me. Then there was still the earie feeling... Another shiver ran down my spine. "Something isn't right," I murmered, scanning the forest.

FORLO

Elinia peered into the forest, "Something isn't right." she mumbled.

I knew exactly what she meant, I couldn't place what it was, something just felt... wrong. There was an eerie feeling looming over the forest and I had no idea why. As General, it was my duty to find out. "I'll check it out." I said, stepping away from Nia.

She followed at my heels, "I'm coming w-"

Turning around I cut her off, "No, you are going to stay right where you are."

"No matter what may be going on between us, no one tells me what to do."

"No one tells me what to do." said Nia. With a chuckle she added, "Regardless of my feelings for them."

"Regardless?" I asked, rasing an eyebrow.

"Completely." She smiled, "Now move! Let's check this out!"

ELINIA

"Completely. Now move! Let's check this out!" I smiled and nudged Forlo who shook his head and kept walking. I turned back to the troups. They were all standing by. "Di, to the front! Lead them to the Mirage Hills! We'll catch up soon enough!" I called out.

I turned quickly, eyeing the forest. Esteel tapped my arm and I jumped. "Sorry Nia. What exactly are we lookin' for here?" he asked, hands on hips.

"I don't know. Anything. There's just something not right about...something," I replied, sighing loudly.

Forlo nodded beside me. "She's right. Something's wrong here."

"Aye, I feel it, too. I was just hoping you'd know is all," Esteel grumbled, kicking a rock and sending it flying. He had a pretty good leg considering it was so stubby.

I fiddled with my necklace, shifting uneasily. I felt watched. For a moment I could have swore I felt something breathing down my neck, but when I turned there was nothing but forest. A cold breeze blew by and I shivered. There was nothing right with this, but I couldn't find what was wrong either.

"D-did..." I trailed off and inched closer to Forlo. A low moaning noise made it to my ears and I shudded. "Did anybody else hear that?" I whispered.

Forlo shook his head. "Hear what?"

It came again, louder this time.

"That! Am I the only one who's hearing that?"

Esteel crossed his chubby little arms. "Looks like."

I swallowed hard, listening intently. The moan came for the third time and I covered my ears. "What is that?" Forlo and Esteel were both staring at me like I had just suggested the sky was falling.

[This is the second one I've had to do this on but... could someone tell me where and what claudia is doing right now? I know its a hassle, sorry.]

{Claudia's somewhere in the lines. Forlo and Nia just ran off into the forest because there was something totally not right about it. Diana is now up in front while For and Nia are away and we're going to the Mirage Hills where we will FINALLY find Apple's charrie.
Claudia is a healer, so she could be chillin' with Angel.}

[Ok, thanks.]

Claudia

I was with Angel. A sort of overwhelming feeling of doom was creeping over me, but I tried to hide it in my expression. I did well at it- I never had been bad at hiding what I was feeling. Unlike some of us, who were open books.

"Do you feel like something's going to happen, Angel," I asked after a moment.

"Like what?" she asked, looking up.

"Nothing," I said, shaking my head. "Nevermind."

Diana

"Di! To the front! Lead them to the Mirage Hills!" Nia called.

I glanced at Rilian, then back at my general. I nodded sharply, and then looked down at Akkio.

"Stay here, okay?" I said to him.

His ears flattened sadly. '...okay...'

"Hey," I said, kneeling down. "I've got Luvia up in the front. I need you here." I switched the conversation to my thoughts. 'Besides, I need you to keep an eye on Rilian. Keep him in line. Okay?' I winked at him as he smiled, then ran up to the front of the crowd.

"Alright troops, move out!"

Rilian

Rilian watched as Diana wove her way back to the front of the line. Rilian shook his head, a smile playing on his face. Diana was always ready to jump to whatever Elinia or Forlo asked, no matter if it contradicted something else they had just said. Rilian could only take that for so long before he went stir crazy.

"Alright troops, move out!" came Diana's call from the front. Rilian waited a moment for the bulk of the group to begin to move. He started as a low whuff came from behind him. Rilian glanced down, and saw Akkio staring back up at him.

Akkio glared at him, obviously a silent order for Rilian to get moving. Rilian raised an eyebrow at the wolf, and took a small step in the direction the group was moving. Akkio watched him with beady eyes, waiting for more movement. Rilian sighed, and began to walked after the group. He heard Akkio trotting after him quickly.

Rilian rolled his eyes. "Great, now even the bloody wolf is ordering me around..."

Akkio nipped Rilian ankle in agreement. Rilian scowled down at the beast, but walked quicker.

FORLO

"What is that?" moaned Nia.

"What?" I asked, getting alarmed.

Nia moaned again and covered her ears, "Esteel, is this a Shifting thing?"

Esteel scratched his head and thought for a moment, "The Great One din't mention anythin in thelike o' that."

"Then what is that noise?" she growled.

Esteel and I exchanged glances, "I think we should go ba-"

"No!" snapped Nia, "I need to find-" she trailed off, wincing, "There it is again."

ELINIA

I pulled my hands away from my ears and went for my sword. I scanned the forest, flinching when it came yet again. "What in-" My mouth clamped shut, mid-sentence.

"What?" Forlo asked, obviously concerned.

I didn't answer, just stared. Had I just seen eyes? Better yet, yellow, beady, cat-like eyes. I took a step back, breathing slowly through my nose. I was going mad, hallucinating. My brain had snapped under the pressure and I was seeing things. Ha! I was dellusional!

Only the eyes opened again, and this time they didn't close. Had I been anybody else, I might have shrieked, but shrieking wasn't something I did. No, I just gasped and took a step back.

"What?!" Forlo repeated, obvioiusly concerned for my sanity.

I pointed. "What do you see?" I asked horsely.

"Ummm...trees?"

"Esteel? What about you?" My voice was quavering, my palms sweating. I couldn't possibly be seeing what I was seeing...

"Aye, just trees."

I swallowed hard, taking another step back. The eyes blinked, and the moaning noises came again, sending shivers down my spine. It was definatley whatever the thing in the trees was that was making the noise. The thing that nobody else was seeing...

It jumped out of the tree, becoming fully visible. Long, black body, rib-cage showing, small bits of flesh hanging from its body. It stared at me with eyes that turned from yellow to red, pupils disapearing. Its rounded ears pinned back, flat to its head, its tail twitching behind it. A Kirasha. Not a single one had been seen outside the Forbidden Forest since the Fall.

I allowed myself to yelp, jumping backwards, sword extended.

"WHAT?!" Forlo shouted.

"You can't see that?" I hissed, not taking my eyes off of it.

"No!" Esteel and Forlo answered in unison.

The thing laughed, it laughed! "They can't see me because I chose not to show myself to them," it hissed, voice slithery. Wait...they could talk too? Of course they can, they've always been able to talk. "Put the sword down. You wouldn't dare use it against me."

That's what you think. I thought bitterly.

The thing lunged at me and I shrieked falling backwards. I did end up using the sword. It wriggled on the end of it for a moment before going limp.

"Holy...." Forlo muttered, gawking.

"Now do you see it?" I hissed, wiping the sweat off my forehead.

**Wanted to see if I could revive this. It was a good storybook. Isha - I am not sure if this is what you were planning, but I'm going to go ahead with it. Tell me if I need to edit.

Rilian

Rilian froze as he heard a distant shriek. He looked around the forest, watching for movement. Slowly, Rilian moved to string an arrow on his bow.

Diana had obviously motioned the group to halt, as the troops were no longer marching. Rilian glanced down at Akkio and saw that his fur was standing on end. Rilian scanned the surrounding woods again.

"Keep a sharp eye," said Rilian sharply to the nearest soldier. Rilian quickly threaded his way up to the front of the ranks. Diana had her sword drawn and looked tense.

"Did you see anything?" Rilian asked her. She glanced at Rilian seriously.

"No," replied Diana tersely. "But it came from the direction where the generals went."

Rilian wiped his cheek with his shoulder. He met Diana's eyes. Her gaze mirrored his. At that moment, the same word was in both warrior's minds: ambush.

Suddenly, Rilian heard a low - sound - come from the forest around them. Out of the corner of his eye, Rilian saw Diana raise her sword. Rilian concentrated on the minute details. If their enemies were invisible, then the way to see them would be the small things. A leaf moving, a twig shifting, any of that.

That was when the attack came.