Chapter 22 Escape (1/2)
”The plan is simple, the Thunder bird is almost out of our region. We will have four carriages leave the estate to act as bait. You two will wait here in the house until an hour has passed by. Roland will then take you out of City where I will be waiting with a carriage. The point is to confuse the enemy. If all goes well we will have you back home in a day in a half and I will deal with the council.” The Countess said as she looked at everyone in the room. ”You must arm yourselves, do not let your guard down! We are to ensure our family's safety, so I want every single one of you to return alive, do I make myself clear?”
The room exploded with cheer and the Countesssmirked to herself. ”Alright! Move out!” Everyone rushed out of the room and Roland, with his arms crossed over his chest walked over to Lady Zula, Ariana and Cayden. He carefully eyed Ariana and saw how her complexion had paled. He placed a hand on her head and started to mess up her hair. ”Relax, you are one of us now. We are all willing to fight to keep our Madam's family safe.”
Ariana couldn't help but bring up her hands and wipe back tears as they started to spill out. ”Even if I'm different?” She sniffed and Lady Zula bent down to hug her. ”You're not different your unique. Your world is so small that you don't realize that there are others like you. So cheer up, James will look for Brian and the four of us will go home and eat a feast with everyone.”
Ariana wrapped her arms around her mother's neck and held her close. ”Thank you.” She whispered and kissed her on the cheek. Lady Zula tensed up, she pulled Ariana out of the embrace and looked into her eyes. She swallowed back saliva and grabbed Cayden's hand. ”Sweetie... I love you and I can't wait to go home.” Cayden looked at Ariana's face and saw that the usual light she had in her eyes had dulled and he squeezed Lady Zula's hand. ”Mmh.” Ariana replied without even bothering to bring her gaze up to them.
The hour was almost up and the storm had turned into a trickle. ”Let's go.” Roland said as he brought a cloak over his shoulder with a quick swoop of his wrist. The small group walked towards the stables. Ariana looked at the two horses then the saddle, with a blank express she walked forward and touched the saddle. Roland's eyes became wide as he watched an array of white light shine from Ariana's feet and rise upwards.A gentle, gust of wind started to move the hay but the horses were not spooked as the calmly watched. Colourful balls of lights started to appear and dance around but to Lady Zula's surprise the balls started to take form. She wasn't sure if she was seeing this correctly but they looked like they know had stubby, little legs.
Ronald looked at Lady Zula and noted her confusion while Cayden seemed indifferent to the display. He looked at Ariana and saw that she was just standing their rubbing her finger against an orange ball of light that had waves of long, string like legs and an umbrella shaped head. ”Sweetheart, why haven't they started to disappear?” Lady Zula asked as she took a couple of steps forward.
Ariana brought her gaze up to her mother then slowly looked back at the newly shaped balls of light floating around her. The pink balls turned into chibi deer with tiny antlers, the orange were now jellyfish, the blue looked to have three small feathers stick out of both sides of its head and a small swirl on the top and the purple had tiny fins.”It looks like they got stronger after I swam in that weird river by the grand council building... But I am missing some Luma, red, green and yellow are missing....”
”You swam in the cursed water?!” Roland shouted as he took half a step back. ”It's not cursed, it different and people are afraid of it so they make up stories but it is not cursed.” She said as she stopped petting the lights, she watched as they slowly disappeared. Roland gulped back and felt sweat collect all over his body when he suddenly felt a tug on his sleeve.
”I will not mount a horse, I can run behind you and make sure no one is following.” Cayden said before he walked up to Ariana and help her mount her horse. Roland whipped off a collection of sweat from his forehead as he walked up to his horse. Lady Zula mounted behind Ariana. ”You know how to ride?” She whispered and Ariana absent mindedly nodded her head. She looked back at Cayden and he brought his hood up over his head. ”Follow me.” Roland said as he kicked the sides of his horse. The group moved out.
The path was muddy and uneven from the heavy rain before they left. They tried their best to keep an even pace as they pushed their horses forward. Only slowing down when they started to approach the main gate of the City. ”We need to wait for the signal. Someone from our side will knock out the guards and disarm the enchantment for only a couple of minutes. We need to make sure you get through before it's up again.” Roland whispered as he dismounted his horse and stayed within the shadows of the street and buildings.
He kept his eyes glued to the main gate as the others waited. Suddenly silver smoke started slithering through the air, as if it had a mind of its own, moving back and forth. Roland quickly mounted his horse and tensed up. The smoke started to coile itself into a ball and disappeared. ”Now!” He shouted and the the group moved forward at full speed on the cobblestone. Roland kept his eyes glued to the ground until they all crossed. He looked back and saw that the magic circle glowed with an orange light before it matched the colour of the ground as a light green smoke filled the air. Causing some guards to stir.
”We're not far now!” Roland shouted as mud flew upwards and the wind started to blow harder. ”There should be a shrouded clearing within the forest, just to the left of here.” Lady Zula pushed her horse forward, towards the edge of a dense forest as she tried to keep a close watch on Ariana. The girl was eerily quiet, as she sat within her arms and it caused her to feel unsettled. ”Look we are almost there!” Roland shouted as they approached a large opening.
They slowed down their pace and trotted carefully in. Cayden appeared infront of them and the horses were barely able to stop in time. ”Something doesn't feel right....” Cayden said as he looked at Roland. ”I will go investigate first, please wait here.” and with that he turned and ran down the path. Ariana watched Cayden's back disappear and her body started to tremble. ”No! Don't go!” Ariana shouted as she tried to jump off her horse but her mother was faster and trapped her within her embrace.
Ariana struggled causing the horse to become nervous. ”No! I need to save him, I need to save grandmother! This is the same! I need to stop this!” Ariana cried as she partially broke free. ”It'll be alright! You're just nervous...” Lady Zula swallowed back her words when she saw the desperation on Ariana's face. She looked at Roland for help but he looked just as anxious as her. ”The Luma showed me! Please let me go! The moment Gregory appears it will be too late!”