Young Writers Society

A/N: Let me know if this is too long, or the geography gets confusing? There is just a lot going on in this chapter, so I want to make sure it still all makes sense. Also, if you think of a way for me to get Devlin's name to Carris so he isn't just "soldier" let me know. Now, go rip 'er to shreds :D

Devlin held his arms out as he stumbled through the forest, tree branches and thorns snagging at his pants and slapping his bare hands. He grunted as a particularly large thorn sliced his knuckle. It was the first time in over twenty minutes that he actually felt the pain cut through the numbness that was beginning to turn his hands blue. His eyes flicked back and forth. The forest was so dark that he could scarcely see more than a few feet in front of him, and so he was forced to run in a hunched position, watching his footing. He hurtled a log and staggered to his knees as he slipped on a sheet of ice.

"Over there!" a shout went up from uncomfortably close behind Devlin.

He threw a glance back, attempting to spot the Sadorians that had been pursuing him for the last thirty minutes. That was a mistake. His foot caught nothing but air and before he could even let out a shout of surprise he was breaking through ice into frigid water. It hit him with the force of a hammer and he jolted his body in shock.

Come on, think!

Devlin reached out in the black water, finding the bottom of what must be a creek or river. He buried his hands as deep as he could in the frozen ground and pushed off with what strength he had left. His head broke the surface and he tried to inhale but coughed up water instead. He sloshed the fifteen feet to the opposite bank of the creek and hauled himself up, shaking uncontrollably.

Get to the village Devlin. Move!

Devlin shook his hair like a wet dog and steeled his jaw. He could see a few faint lights through a light grouping of trees ahead. He took a deep breath and took off, barely moving his feet at first until he worked up into a sprint, arms beating like a piston. He heard a shout,

"Look! A VIllager!"

Devlin ground to a halt, grabbing a small sapling to slow his momentum. A clump of snow plopped on his head, and he shook it off with annoyance, grimacing as he squinted, looking for the villager.

Someone screamed. A girl? Devlin shook his head. This wouldn't end well. He ran toward where the scream came from, somewhere to his right. He could see the torches of the Sadorians as they crossed the creek. There was a figure near the bank, a short girl holding a jar. Something thudded into a tree nearby. Devlin could see the shaft of the arrow sticking out a good two feet. He was to the girl now with the Sadorians just a dozen feet away in the middle of the creek, struggling to make progress as the ice began to crumble beneath their weight.

Devlin grabbed the girl's hand. She jerked back, flinging the jar at Devlin. It caught him on the elbow as he held his hand up to deflect the projectile. It sliced through his jacket, but he couldn't be sure if it cut him or not. He would have to wait for his arms to regain feeling. If he survived that long.

"Hey, listen, I'm not with them!" he shouted.

The girl looked at him, eyes of stone grey opened wide, dancing in the candlelight. Devlin froze for a second.

Gorgeous. He shook his head. Focus Devlin!

A growl from his left caused Devlin to spin, fists up in a defensive position. A Sadorian was mounting the bank, hauling himself up with his sword buried in the ground to use as a handle. Devlin lashed out with his boot which caught the Sadorian's jaw and caused him to stumbled back into the creek, knocking down two of his companions and shattering the ice around with a cracking sound.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The man had said something, Carris wasn't quite sure what. He wasn't with them? Everything was moving too fast. Armed men climbing the banks of Potter's Creek in the middle of the night? What was going on? A hand grabbing her right arm jolted Carris from her state of shock and she turned to face her assailant. He was huge and his raised double-edged ax was equally large. Carris screamed. The ax came down.

And stopped two inches from Carris's face. She went silent, eyes transfixed on the curved blade. Then she noticed the pair of hands gripping the ax just above the blade. The stranger? Didn't matter. Carris growled. She'd had enough angry people attacking her for one night. She ducked under the blade and screamed, swinging her fist at the Sadorian He looked down at her and laughed, slowing turning the blade towards her savior.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Devlin grunted as the Sadorian slowly twisted the blade toward his face. His knees buckled and he collapsed to his knees, sweat dripping down his nose. It can't end like this.

The blade cut through his jacket, then shirt, and he was sure would cut through his chest just as easily in a matter of seconds. Devlin looked at the Sadorian. There was a fire in his eyes. A burning rage. He could see the blood vessels about to burst in the Sadorian's temple. He was putting everything into this. That's it!

Devlin inhaled, then shoved the ax to the side with all his might, then rolled to the other, as he released the handle. The Sadorian let out a startled grunt as he suddenly was putting all his force into nothing but air. The one blade rammed into the ground and the Sadorian rammed into the other. His eyes went wide and a whimper escaped his lips as the blade severed his chest in half.

Devlin pushed himself to his feet as the other dozen Sadorians now mounted the creek bank. He realized that the girl was still standing there, one hand pointing at the Sadorians, with a jagged shard of the broken jar in the other hand. Devlin nodded vigorously as he grabbed her arm.

"We have to get out of here! Warn the village!"

The girl flashed a glance back at the village and nodded, then looked and Devlin's hand on her arm and shoved it off.

Touchy.

"Do you have an alarm bell or some sort of siren?" Devlin asked, following Carris at a sprint towards the nearest building, a small cabin.

"There's a bell tower in the center of town," Carris said, pointing in the general direction of the town.

"And any weapons or soldiers?" Devlin said, dodging a low-hanging branch.

"Just a platoon."

"We need to alert them of the Sadorians!"

"Sadorians?" Carris turned to Devlin, as a fresh feeling of fear drizzled down her spine.

"Yes. They breached Hoder's Pass this morning."

That can't be right. "I thought Hoder's Pass was impregnable during the winter?"

"So did I."

Carris took a quick glance at the soldier. Young. Probably never fought a day in his life until today. Hoder's Pass can't be breached. Something wasn't adding up. Carris was about to ask how it had happened, but they reached the cabin first with Devlin taking the lead. He swung the door open wide.

"Anybody here?" he yelled.

Carris brushed passed him. "Mother! Mother, wake up!" she screamed.

Sandra, passed out in the kitchen chair, made no indication of waking up.

"We don't have much time. Get the bell, I'll get your mother." Devlin motioned to Carris.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Carris glanced back at the cabin as she headed for the center of town. She's not worth it. A twinge of guilt ran down Carris. Sandra was still her mother. She should have some sort of loyalty to her, shouldn't she? She shrugged it off. That wasn't important right now. Ringing the bell was.

Carris covered the ground between the cabin and the town within a minute, mind running as fast as her legs were. This is crazy. After all, why would Sadorians come to Potter's Creek? It was in no way strategic or useful in an assault on Astoria.

"Figure it out later," Carris muttered to herself. Whoever was attacking was bad. That was enough for now.

Porgie's Pub and Inn rose two-stories high to her left, filled with warm yellow light and the subtle sounds of laughter and chatter, while the blacksmith hunkered down on the right side of the road, dormant for the night. Carris mounted the three steps to the inn's door and thrust it open.

The inn had a simple layout. The front door led into a wide common room littered with table for eating and drinking, while a bar lined the back wall. Through a door on the right, the staircase led up to the rooms on the second floor for weary and wanton travelers. In the dead of winter, these rooms were occupied for months at a time while the weather made traveling a nightmare in the best of circumstances.

This meant that while very few residents of Potter's Creek were enjoying the perks of Porgie's at this time of night, there were still a dozen or so visitors seated at the bar or tables when Carris burst in. Her entrance, followed by a heavy, cold gust of wind that howled through the doorway, caused all inside to stop mid-sentence or mid-drink, whatever the case may be, and stare at her with confusion.

Porgie himself, the owner of this despicable place where Sandra made and lost more money with men than with her actual job as a waitress, was wiping down a table near the bar. Carris pointed at him.

"You need to get everyone out of here! Sadorians are attacking!"

Nobody moved. A chuckle came from somewhere near the bar.

Porgie stood up straight, belly hanging out under a shirt that was a tad too short, and tossed the wiping rag over his shoulder. He cocked his head to one side.

"Carris, what are you doing here? And what is this ridiculous story?" He let out a slight laugh.

Carris growled. "I don't have time to explain but you need to leave!"

She turned her back as Porgie stood there, still unsure of the news he was receiving. I warned them. Their fault if they don't listen.

Carris left the inn, jumping the steps. The bell tower lay directly ahead of her, a structure of about thirty feet, made with the reddish-brown clay that Potter's Creek was known for. She slipped through the open entrance beneath the tower where the thick, worn rope swung violently in the breeze. She grasped the corse rope with both hands and yanked down with all her might.

The bell let out a deafening BONG! There were a few seconds of silence before Carris could hear the town start to wake. There was the slamming of doors as people exited their homes to see what the noise was about. Carris rang it once more, then released the rope which was caught up in the wind within seconds, flailing about like a reed.

I need to get Gwyn. She exited the tower and glanced back toward the path that led to her cabin, She could see her mother now, stumbling alongside the soldier, and in the back, the bright light of torches lit up the white snow.

Carris sprinted passed the blacksmith, feet slipping and sliding in the thin layer of fresh snow that mounted the already snowy landscape. She hooked a right, headed into the main living quarters of the town, several cabins rowed on both sides of the street. Carris headed for the center one on the right, where a dim light flickered in the veiled window.

Carris pounded on the door. She could hear the shuffling of feet inside, and the cry of a baby. A disheveled Gwyn answered the door. Her hair spiraled out of control and her eyes looked blurry and unfocused. They also widened when she saw Carris.

"Carris? What's going on?" she slurred, rubbing her eyes with balled fists.

Carris grabbed her wrist. "No time to explain. Your family needs to get out of here, now!"

Gwyn took a step back. She stumbled over her words. "What do you mean? Carris, what's wrong?"

"We're under attack."

"From who?" Gwyn asked slowly, almost absent-minded. Carris could see the fear taking over her body. She was beginning to shake, and her eyes flickered back and forth.

Carris ignored her and pushed herself passed, entering the cabin. Gwyn's mother stood at the entrance of the hallway leading to two large bedrooms. In her arms, she held the newest addition of the family, seven-month-old Corbin. She looked exhausted. Heavy wrinkles lined her forehead, her eyes were blood-shot, and she looked even paler than usual.

A cough wracked her frame underneath a poor excuse of a nightgown, one that was not nearly thick enough for winter.

Carris held out her hands, palms open.

"Mrs. Hevel, I need you to get your children and come with me." Where do we go?

Mrs/ Hevel was equally as frozen as Gwyn. Carris sighed. There wasn't time for this. She snatched Corbin from his mother's arms and walked passed Gwyn who was just standing there, wringing her hands.

That should get them moving.

Carris left the cabin, baby, in arms. The other villagers were now stirring, torches were being lit everywhere, and one of the guards of the village was rushing down the street, armor clanking as he strapped on a helmet while calling the villagers to action. A hand gripped Carris's shoulder and she spun in defense, realizing as she did so that she had a baby in her arms, and there was nothing she could do against an attacker But it was only Gwyn

"Gwyn! Come on. I need you with me. We've got to get your family out of here."

Gwyn nodded, pulling on her heavy coat. Her family was scrambling out of the cabin now, a small army of seven children, including Corbin, with Mrs. Hevel leading the way.

"Where do we go, Carris?"

"The waterfall. You know the secret cavern we found underneath it? Take them there."

Carris offered Corbin into Gwyn's oustretched arms, then turned back towards the center of town.

"Carris, what are you doing?" Gwyn screeched. "The waterfall's this way," She said, nodding away from the town.

"My mother is back there." Carris sighed. "I should help her, right?"

She didn't wait for Gwyn's reply, but fought through the flow of traffic now bustling down the street, filled with half-dressed villagers and crying children. Up ahead Carris could hear the clang of steel on steel. The Sadorians had met the guards.

Carris reached the blacksmith and surveyed the scene. The guards had formed a wall just a few feet in front of Carris, and the Sadorians were uprn then, axes and swords flailing. The inn was up in flames, casting wild shadows over the entire scene, and the night air rang out with shouts and crashing of metal. But the soldier and Sandra were nowhere to be seen.