Friday, January 13, 2012

Last Excerpt: Chapter 5

This will be the last chapter I will be posting for a little while. These posts more mostly to get people interested and get some feedback. I have received some great feedback and I want to make changes to the rest of the story before I post anymore. Please enjoy this last taste of The Dark Ones.

CHAPTER 5

“Aleena?” someone called, “Aleena Yellow Hawk!”

“Cool it Catcher. She won’t wake up. She was out before I put her in bed,” someone explained roughly.

“Don’t talk so loud. Lance is still asleep too,” Sky said.

“She doesn’t need to see all these people in here when she wakes up,” Skywatcher insisted.

“I’ll go tell the others she’s all right,” Sundance replied, “They’ll be so happy to hear it.”

“That’s a good idea. Leather and Sky can go with you,” Moonstar said.

“Yes. Come young ones,” Sundance smiled.

“Do we have to?” Leather asked.

“Yes. Now run along and go play a game with Shane,” Moonstar said.

“Be good Leather,” Deerhunter said.

“I will Father,” Leather said over his shoulder as he followed Sky and Sundance out the door.

“Moonstar, will you hand me that bowl of water?” Skywatcher asked.

“Here you go.”

“What’s going on?” I mumbled, looking around.

“You just had a knock on the head but you’ll be fine. Just lay still,” Skywatcher answered.

“Where’s Deerhunter?”

“Sitting in the corner. He just nodded off,” she replied.

“Where’s Lance?”

“There. Next to you. He’s finally asleep. He wouldn’t let me touch him until he knew you would be all right. Then he wanted to stay awake until you woke up. He couldn’t do it though,” Skywatcher answered.

“Where’s Jesse?”

“I’m going to leave you to get more rest. You need it.” Moonstar walked over to Deerhunter and tapped him on the shoulder.

“What?” he murmured sleepily.

“You might as well go back to our rooms. She’ll be fine,” his mate explained.

“Are you sure she wants me to leave?” he asked.

“You can go. I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it,” I said, “Thank you for staying with me this long.”

“You’re welcome,” he smiled, standing up, “If you need me, just call.”

“Where’s Jesse?” I asked again. They acted like they had not heard me and walked out the door. I glanced over and watched Lance sleep. He was so cute when he slept. He mumbled and twitched a bit.

I felt a sharp pain in my right side that sent me tumbling to the floor. As I put my hand to my side, I felt something warm run over my fingers.

By Jed’s quickness! I’m bleeding again, I exclaimed. I took a new bandage from the pile sitting next to the bed and wrapped it around my waist. Then I slipped my tunic over my head. It was new and the inside felt as if it were caressing my body.

What could have done that? Glancing at the spot where I had been laying, I saw a dagger sticking out from under the bed frame. I was looking for a something to smash down on the dagger when Lance started to wake up. Walking over to where the dagger was sticking out, I smashed down a wooden platter that I had found. A muffled sound of pain came from underneath the bed.

“What’s going on? Aleena?” Lance called out.

“I’m right here.”

“Where’s Brightwing?”
“Most likely with Catcher.”

“Where’s Jesse?”

“That’s what I would like to know,” I answered while searching under the bed frame, “Ah, here it is.”

“What’s under there?” Lance inquired.

“Just a minute and we’ll find out,” I answered while tugging on what I had in my hand.

“Hey! Let go!” cried a male voice from under the bed frame. When I pulled him out to his chest, I knew who it was.

“Scott Michaels! Get out from under there!” I commanded.

“Aleena?” Scott asked when he climbed out, “What are you doing here?”

“I live here now. What’s your excuse?” I demanded.

“I’m trying to catch elves from this tribe for Mike Stevens,” Scott answered, “Was that you I stabbed?”

“Yes, you didn’t do much damage though. I was already injured,” I explained, “How did you get into this line of work?” I sat back on the bed.

“You know how Joe was always nice to me? All he wanted was for me not to hate him so I would do things for Mike,” Scott replied, “Do you want to hear something funny? They pay me to do this kind of stuff. If I knew you were mates with Lance, I never would have done this.”

“Do you know if they have Jesse?”

“They jumped his group and took him hostage. At the moment, they are probably torturing him,” he sighed, “That’s what they seem to do best.”

I sat silently for a few minutes, digesting what he had told me. I knew Jesse was going to get ambushed. If I would have only been there to help, he may not have been taken. I glanced at Scott. “Would you like to join our cause? We’re going to finish this once and for all.”

“If they catch me, they’ll torture me too,” Scott exclaimed.

“They can’t catch you if they don’t know where you are. We’re moving our camp tonight,” Lance said.

“All right. I’ll join you. I’m really sorry about your side,” Scott sighed again.

“Aleena, what are you doing out of bed?” Icewalker inquired as he entered our room.

“We have a new warrior. His name is Scott Michaels. Give him a place to sleep,” Lance commanded.

“Yes Lance. Come on. I have a room that isn’t being used right now,” Icewalker said, “Aleena, get back into bed. Unless you feel better.”

“I am feeling a big better,” I smiled. I watched them leave the room then went up the stairs to where Lance had a treetop patio under the stars. Jesse had told me about it before he left. I had been standing up there for a while when Lance came up behind me, putting his arms around my waist.

“What are you looking at?” he asked.

“The sky. Do we really come from out there?” I questioned.

“That’s what the stories say. Your father used to tell me that he could travel to our home planet by leaving his body but I never believed him. Anyway, that kind of thing is too hard to comprehend right now,” he explained. He stretched, yawning so loud that Deerhunter yelled at him to go to sleep. “I think I’ll take his advice. Are you coming?”

“No, I think I’ll go for a walk through the camp,” I answered, “I haven’t really seen much of it yet.

“All right. See you in a little while. Wake me up when everyone is ready to leave,” Lance said as he turned his back toward the stairs.

“Goodnight Lance. Remember that I love you,” I called after him.

“I always remember that when I sleep,” he called back. I waited until he was asleep before I went for my walk.

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