Young Writers Society

Chapter 11 Part Two - Ambush? More like Ampushed me into the Ground

Clandestine had Elliot tied to Billy as she rode her dark steed on the well-traveled path out of town. The sun was rising higher in the clear sky, and the air felt cool. The winds from the south spun the cool air around her and brought with them a crisp clarity that the dusty desert lacked. The further she traveled, the more life she found in the forest. She was glad to have spotted countless signs of wildlife as the trees became greener and taller, and the underbrush got thicker. But she was grateful for the trail of stumbling footprints that she found mixed with those of a horse. The moment they'd strayed into the grassier forest floor, they became unclear but she'd paid enough attention to recognize the print of Tiberius's shoes in the mud. She honestly couldn't tell whether he was following the horse or leading it, but she couldn't imagine a reason for him to be in front since he was captured and all.

She looked over to Elliot as she began to lead them off the path.

"You know his scent, dont'chya? Does it smell like Tiberius?" she asked, knowing he wouldn't reply. Elliot just followed along obediently.

"Well it better be Tiberius," she said under her breath. "Or whatever his name is."

She sighed as they entered the shade of the trees and followed the faint trail. There was no telling how long it would take to catch up to them, and she knew she wasn't out of the woods yet. Dangers could still await her as she diverged off the road, and she had to stay alert.

Her pounding headache wasn't helping. The bruise the bounty hunter left her was a big one. She touched the back of her head again and groaned. But as she heard a shuffle in the forest, she froze. Were she just on Billy, she could quickly dash, but she had Elliot in tow. If there was a creature lying in wait that meant she'd have to fight.

But it wasn't a creature.

A hooded figure leaped out of a tree right in front of Billy, causing the horses to startle. Elliot neighed and pulled sharply on the lead rope, pulling her saddle to the side. Billy took a few hurried steps back, and she could feel the tension in his muscles under her legs.

"Woah!" she shouted, trying to give Billy a comforting pat to calm him down. The pats didn't last long though. What started as one hooded figure turned to three, and one of them rushed between Billy and Elliot with lightning speed, slicing away at the rope attaching the two with a sword. Clandestine could feel the panic wash over her as his heart began to race.

She drew her sword, and turned Billy around to chase after them, but one of the thieves was already leading the scared and confused Elliot away. Elliot tugged and threw his mane with a shake of his head, but it was clear the horse was only getting more stressed. As she zeroed in on the thief with the sword, the other suddenly jumped in front of Billy again, causing him to stumble. She shook, and instead of fighting to regain balance she swung off of Billy and launched her feet into the back of the thief beside them. They very quickly dropped their sword and thudded to the ground with a pained yelp. She stepped off of them and regained her footing as she whirled around to face the horse snatcher in front of Billy.

"Get out of here, quick!" the man shouted from behind his covered mouth. Her eyes shot over to Elliot being hurried away with the first hooded figure who'd opposed her.

"You're not taking Billy!" Clandestine growled as she rushed the unarmed thief with her sword. She watched as they reached into their cloak and pulled out a small dagger to block her swing, but they weren't strong enough to push back. The dagger went spiraling out of the thief's hands to the ground, and Clandestine caught her sword on their cloak, ripping it partially and then flinging it over their face. The moment they couldn't see, she rammed into them, pushing them to the ground.

She wasted no time. She sheathed her sword and leaped back up onto Billy, who was ready to bolt the moment she grabbed the reins. They kicked up dust onto the thieves they left behind and hurried after Elliot and the final thief.

She watched as the thief looked back, visibly froze in panic, and then leaped up onto Elliot's back. But what followed, she hadn't expected.

Elliot didn't budge. The moment the hooded woman took her place in the saddle Elliot came to a full stop, no matter how many times the woman urged him, first with kind words and then with anxious nudges and flicks of the reins as Clandestine and Billy approached. Clandestine drew her gun and cocked it, pinning it on the woman's chest.

"Get off my horse," she said through grit teeth. It wasn't her horse, but she wasn't going to say that.

The woman froze and rose her hands above her head.

"Look, you don't have to - Ahh!"

Elliot reared and threw the woman off his back, and then ran off into the forest. Clandestine yelled after him as she turned Billy around.

"Elliot! No! Wait! Stop!" But her protests fell on deaf ears, and before she could spur Billy forward, a shot whizzed past her head. Clandestine froze for a half a second and then ducked down off of Billy again. They wanted the horses. They weren't going to shoot Billy. They couldn't shoot Billy. If they did she'd- well she didn't know what she would do, but boy, was she lucky that shot didn't land.

She landed on the forest floor with a soft paf of her boots. She tucked her gun away as she snuck around the tree. The gun was only ever a bluff. She used it to harm monsters, not people. Or at least, that's... that's what she'd intended to do.

She saw a flash running through the trees. Their short cloak flowed behind them. She lost track of the other two, but dammit, they were fast. What they lacked in strength they made up for in obnoxious speed. She hesitantly hovered her hand over the hilt of her sword at her side.

"I'm warning you-" she began to speak out into the forest, unsure of where her sentence would lead. "If you guys don't stop-" her words cut off abruptly when she caught movement in the corner of her eye. She ducked. A knife lodged itself in the tree.

On her right, the guy she'd kicked in the back reappeared and knocked her between her shoulder blades with his elbow. Oh, gods, yeah, it had to be his elbow. She groaned as she stumbled to the forest floor and spun around so she was facing upright. She tried to throw herself to her feet but a foot stomped on her chest. She lost air.

She stared up at the two faces above her as if the moment were frozen in time. From below, she could look up into hoods at their shadowed faces. One: a young teenaged boy. He couldn't have been more than 16. He had a big nose and deep-set eyes. The other was a woman. She was probably in her early twenties, but the dark circles under her eyes aged her. They both looked angry, and frustrated, and scared.

She wanted to talk to them, but she could feel the woman's heel digging into her chest. Billy let out a distressed neigh. Tears began to spring up in her eyes, stinging as she fought them back and pushed herself up against the boot.

"You're not taking him," she growled through grit teeth. The woman pushed down harder. Clandestine propped herself up with clenched fists stuck into the ground. As the boy reached inside his cloak for another weapon, Clandestine let out a feral growl. She grabbed the woman's foot and twisted her leg, throwing her to the ground. As she rose to her feet and looked down at the boy, she saw his wide-eyes glued to her hands. She looked down.

Her hands were on fire.

As she looked back up at the boy, her voice was laced with an anger that shook her, and scared her.

"I'm taking back my horse," she said coolly. The boy didn't reply. He stood frozen, and she waved a flaming hand towards his face. He bolted. The woman fled soon after him.

She turned and rushed over to Billy, who was standing obediently in waiting. The remaining bandit abandoned Billy's lead and let go, running after their companions. As Clandestine pulled herself back up into the saddle, she could feel her body begin to ache.

It started in her fingers and spread up her arms. Her muscles were burning. It felt like... like she'd just done a bunch of push-ups, but all she'd done was gotten angry. She spurred Billy forward in the direction Elliot had fled but she found she couldn't stop looking down at her hands.

I didn't even try to make the fire that time, she thought. And now they know I'm a mage.

Her heart was still racing, but as she looked back at where the bandits disappeared, she worried. She worried about Elliot. She worried about Tiberius. She worried about herself, and being found out. She flicked the reins.

"Hurry up, Billy," she urged in anxious despondence. "If we don't find Elliot soon I'm probably gonna cry again, and I don't wanna cry again."