Part 21 enjoy!!!

Chapter 20

We all spent the day preparing for the battle. Luckily for me, I was rewarded with new clothes, I looked like a proper warrior though they decided to give me body paint so now I look exactly like Keira Knightly in that film 'King Arthur'. I didn't bother much with weapons apart from a pair of daggers, one attached to each thigh. My hair was messily tied up and I had a thin piece of leather that wound around my wrist and up my arm and a matching strip of leather around my neck. To say i looked bad ass would be an understatement.

Holly was also dressed like me but a more conservative version which I'm grateful for because the young sorcerers in camp had already been eyeing her up, stupid perverts. I pressed Isadora to my chest and rocked her back and forth and we slowly made our way to the capital where the Kings castle was situated.

I could feel the nerves pulsing through me and the wind that seemed to whip around me as if in a comforting embrace. We'd left everything we didn't need at the camp because it would have been too heavy to carry it all and we needed to get to the capital before the king was fully organised. I can't help but think though, what if it's a trap? What if he knows we are coming?

After 4 hours of walking the trees of the forest began to thin and the sound of the bustling towns began to float towards us in a low hum. I think I felt the castle before I saw it. I suddenly felt this darkness that filled me with dread and hopelessness. I heard Holly gasp but that's to be expected as one of her abilities is that of an empath, so if I can feel it then I can only imagine it's a hundred times worse for Holly. I grasped her hand and she sighed with relief. Yeah well I was putting out some strong emotions right now; Love, contentment, joy... yeah I have fear and other bad emotions but for the sake of Holly I am focusing on the good ones.

As the last of the trees disappeared I couldn't help but gasp at the sight of the castle in the centre of the city. It kind of looked like the Disney castle but cloaked in darkness and shadows that gave it that eerie feeling. Sam called us back and we retreated back into the line of the trees so we wouldn't be spotted.

"You know the plans. You blend in with the people." Sam said tossing Holly and I some cloaks to cover our warrior attire. "Meet us at the gates of the castle. Team one you will take down any guards, don't be quick on the trigger there could be innocents inside and we don't want unnecessary death." A few people nodded at this. "Team 2 you will create shields for the trinity and will clear the path to the throne room in the castle. I have a feeling that's where we will find the King. Good luck everyone and remember we only have one shot at this." With that Sam slung an arm around Ingrid's waist and walked towards the busy streets and disappeared into the crowds.

I pulled up the hood of the cloak so that my face was in shadows and Nate did the same next to me. Well I think people would stare if they could see the amount of tattoo's covering our bodies. The rest of the group split up and entered into the city from various points but all immediately blending in with the crowd.

Well here we go. I grasped Nate's hand and tugged him towards the city my heart pounding a mile a

minute. I could feel the elements stir so I took deep breaths to calm myself down.

As we entered the crowds I was overwhelmed but the various smells and sounds that came at me from all directions. The streets were fairly clean for a place that had no plumbing and no electricity. I could see the channel down the centre of the street which made me retch from the foul smells emanating from it but I could see the genius of it because these channels only appeared on every couple of streets and they all seemed to be connected together in a huge maze that flowed out of town into the waste pit.

Luckily for me the smell of the stationary waste was overcome by the smell of freshly baked bread and pastries and we quickly moved onto the market street which fortunately didn't have any channels. I walked cautiously through the throng of people keeping my eyes out for anyone who might try and harm our group whilst also looking out for familiar faces of the people at camp who now kind of felt like my family. It's strange to think that I haven't been here very long and I've become so attached, I just don't think I'll be able to leave at the end of all this.

We spent the rest of the daylight hours milling through the endless streets before making our way to the castle just as the sun began to set. I could see the group situated in different points along the wall not that the guards took any notice; they probably thought it was any easy job and no one would dare attack the King. Well they obviously haven't met me yet have they?

All of the sorcerers looked towards Sam who looked at me. I nodded as I removed the cloak and looked down at the sleeping Isadora on my chest. Blake was quite the genius to bring this baby carrier thing from our world because I now had my hands free to do some magic. I watched as Holly raised her hands and dark clouds began to cover the sky and mist spread out across the grounds giving us a heavy cover. Damn Holly get's the cool powers; though mine do kick ass too.

Team one stepped towards the huge wall surrounding the castle while team 2 stepped behind them. The people in front took on a fighting stance whilst the person behind them knelt down and placed their palms on the ground creating a platform which levitated both of the people up towards the awaiting guards.

Holly, Nate and I waited for Sam, Ingrid and Ryan who all stepped up behind us.

"You guys ready?" Sam asked and we all just nodded before Sam, Ingrid and Ryan knelt down next to each other and created a huge platform that lifted all of us up the top of the walls. If I wasn't on the edge of my seat right now I would have be jumping up and down like a little girl saying how cool it was but the sound of fighting in the proximity made me more wary and alert.

As soon as we reached the top of the wall they all leaped of the platform on I was a bit more careful because of the baby in my arms and I gently stepped off of the platform with more grace than I was accustomed to. As soon as my foot touched the hard stone of the battlement we were quickly charged at by the waiting guards. One pulled out a gun so I quickly used fire with a twitch of my hands to heat up the metal of the gun so that they dropped it with a yelp. Nate stepped forward with a small gesture with both hands the two guards in front smashed into each other so that they were unconscious.

We stood still and waited for the signal from the others that we had the all clear and then we slowly moved towards the stairs that clung to the side of the wall. Along the way we met a few others and when we finally reached the stairs I had to let go of Holly's hand so we could go single file. At the bottom of the stairs a group of 20 sorcerers were stood there waiting for us.

It was getting harder to see as the sun was no completely gone and the last rays of gold were slowly turning into the inky blackness of night. We waited for the rest of the people to reach us trying to keep as quiet as possible so as to not alert the King of our presence. I turned to Ryan who was stood beside me and pulled him away from the group.

"Ryan can you do me a favour?" I asked him in a whisper. I knew Nate was listening to my thoughts but I didn't care I just wanted to make sure my family is safe.

"Umm sure." He said his eyes darting around looking for trouble.

"If anything bad happens to me and Nate...if anything happens make sure Holly and Izzy are safe." I said looking him in the eye. "Can you do that for me?"

"Yeah of course I will Ari." He said giving my arm a reassuring squeeze. "But nothing is going to happen to you and Nate I can feel it." It's strange, over the time I've spent with the sorcerer's, Ryan has become a great friend to Nate and I and I don't think I could trust anyone more with the thing that are most important to me aside from Nate. I heard Nate let out a sigh of relief at the same time I did.

We walked back to the main group and waited for instructions. Nate immediately started talking.

"Right there are two different ways to get to the throne room through the secret passageways. I know my dad doesn't know about them because he doesn't like to read and they hadn't been used for over 100 years by the looks of it when I discovered them so we should be safe enough to use them. Now one entrance is through the waterways and the other we have to go through the front door. Ari you'll have to take the front door we don't want the baby to catch a cold." I nodded. He then went on to give each group instructions of how to get into the secret passages and how to get to the throne room but I zoned it out.

I felt a wave of panic and fear hit me as realisation hit in. I could die and so could everyone I love...

© Katherine Pocock 2010