Staying

The Seeker frowns. He doesn't want to leave to join the New Amazons any sooner than he has to. He needs time to come up with a plan. Besides, he doesn't want to abandon the villagers.

"No," he says firmly. "We're not leaving. Not yet. The villagers need our help."

Karen looks surprised, and perhaps a little angry, and stares at The Seeker for a moment. She finally says, "Okay. We'll stay. For a week. After that, though, we're leaving."

The Seeker nods. A week should be enough time for him to come up with a good plan. He wishes he could convince Karen to stay longer, but he doesn't want to push his luck.

Karen and The Seeker wander around the village, trying to find out what they can about the situation. As the woman Karen spoke to said, many of the villagers died when the soldiers burned down the houses. Only about twenty-five of the villagers are still alive, and several of them are wounded. All of the houses in the village were burned down, leaving the villagers with no food and shelter. Only Karen and Alyssa's house, Mark's house, and the houses of two farmers who live a couple of miles away from the village were left untouched, probably because of their relative distance away from the center of town.

The Seeker wonders where Mark is. Though he and Karen saw him less than an hour ago, he isn't among the surviving villagers. The Seeker supposes that he may have returned to his own house without ever seeing the village, but he worries that he may have been killed by a straggling soldier from last night's raid.

After a while the villagers start organizing themselves and coming up with a plan. They have only a few scarce supplies, not enough to feed all of the villagers for a week. Worse, it's apparently late in the fall, meaning that it would soon be winter and the villagers have to find adequate food and shelter quickly. If there's a bad snowstorm they might be trapped inside for a few days.

A few of the elder members of the village take charge of the survivors and start giving out various tasks. A few of the youngest and healthiest of the villagers -- Karen and The Seeker included -- are told to go to the neighboring villages and spread the news of the raid and buy supplies.

Karen and The Seeker are sent to the village of Westbury, about five hours away, along with a young man, an eighteen-year-old named Stefan. The villagers give them some food and gold, as well as a dagger for Stefan.

"Could I have a weapon, too?" Karen asks.

"Don't worry, girls," Stefan says. "I'll protect you if we get into trouble."

"I think you're safer if you don't give them weapons," another one of the men says. He and Stefan laugh.

The Seeker blushes as he remembers his new "role" in this reality and this life. He looks at Karen and sees her scowl angrily. He sighs. Perhaps this would be harder than he thought.

The sun shines down though the trees, giving the forest a dim illumination. The Seeker tries to judge the approximate time of day, but he can't see enough sky to tell.

He and his companions have been travelling for about two hours now. The journey has been relatively uneventful. At one point Stefan tried to make conversation, flirting with Karen, but she had reacted coldly and he stopped. They've been silent since then.

The Seeker is tired. Though it's probably only the early afternoon, he's been busy all day, and he's walked several miles in a body not conditioned for long journeys and in clothing not designed for travelling. He's beginning to realize how confining even women's clothing is in this society and this time.

Suddenly he hears a shout coming from the woods to one side of the path, then he hears hoofbeats. He and the others stop and watch as a man suddenly comes out of the woods, riding a horse and racing as fast as he can through the forest. He rides across the path and disappears into the woods again as suddenly as he appeared.

"What..." Stefan begins. He's interrupted by another shout and more hoofbeats from the direction the rider came.

"He's being chased," Karen says. "I'm not sure who it is, but it sounds as though there's more than one of them. Riders. He's probably in trouble."

"And we may be, too, if they see us," Stefan says. He motions to Karen and The Seeker. "You two, get out of here. Go back down the path a few yards, and be ready to run if I yell to you. I'll stand here and guard you." He draws his dagger.

"No," Karen says. "If we get in trouble, we can take care of ourselves.

The man may need our help."

"Get away, girl," Stefan says. "You can't fight armed men."

"And you can?" Karen says.

Stefan turns red. "This isn't a time to argue. Now, go!"

1. Karen and The Seeker do something else [neither run nor stay where they are].

Add New Option

Go Back

View Forward Story Tree
View Back Story Tree