Silvia kept her eyes open for any signs of the creature. Stopping and scanning the ground very closely to make sure she did not miss any signs. After they had walked a while, she finally picked up a fresh trail and began to follow it.
They continued following the trail in silence, Silvia stopping and inspecting the ground as they went so they would stay on the freshest trail. Lacey kept her eyes and ears alert ready to grab her spear and take chase if they found the beast. Suddenly Silvia stopped.
"We are getting close." She whispered. "I can smell it. It must be really close because my senses have not been able to detect things as far away as they could when we were on the other side of the Island." She added.
They heard a rustle in the bushes a few feet away. "That must be it." Whispered Lacey. Silvia pulled the sword from her back while Lacey got her spear ready and the two girls began cautiously making their way toward the noise. Suddenly the creature noticed them and started running.
The girls immediately gave chase staying awfully close behind. Suddenly Silvia broke off in another direction calling out to Lacey "Keep after him, I'm going to cut him off ahead."
Lacey kept running keeping right on its heels, jumping over fallen logs and crashing through bushes She felt the limbs ripping at her dress as she ran but only partially acknowledged the fact making sure her main focus was on not loosing the creature. They were not going to lose it again.
Suddenly Silvia jumped out of the bushes just ahead of the beast and swiped the sword at its legs which caused it to stumble and fall. The creature suddenly began yelling as Silvia put the sword to its throat.
The beast continued yelling and quickly pulled off its head. Lacey stopped in shock, her spear in mid air ready to strike. Silvia stopped, stunned for half a second and then quickly moved the sword to the newly exposed neck.
"Wait! Stop!" cried the young man. "And Why should we spare you?" asked Silvia. "You have been spying on us ever since we found the treehouse and we don't take kindly to anything that will harm us."
"I won't harm you; I promise." Replied the young man, fear clearly showing on his face as he squeezed his eyes closed as hard as he could. "And how do we know you aren't bluffing?" asked Silvia. "Look." He said opening his eyes and putting his hands into the air.
"See I am not holding anything in my hands." "Check him for any weapons." Silvia said in a commanding voice. Lacey quickly searched him for any weapons and removed two knives and a dagger. He also had a bow hidden underneath his cape that was hanging down his back.
As she searched, she could not help noticing his honey brown eyes with what looked like specks of gold, they followed her every move, he had a square jawline and jet-black hair. Once Lacey had removed his weapons, Silvia command him to stand up.
He stood just a little bit taller than Lacey but only by a few inches he was well built with a set of clothes that were tattered and worn from extensive use. They even seemed a little small in length on his legs and arms.
"I haven't seen or talked with another person for over 8 years so I was very curious to see who and what you were. That is the only reason I was watching you. I wanted to make sure you would accept me before I presented myself."
The young man explained in a somewhat annoyed voice. "Look, I have been stranded on this Island for 8 years, do you think I would hurt another person if I thought maybe they could be some company or even help me get off this place?
And as you can see, I have a bow and arrow and am extremely good with them, If I had wanted to kill you then you would already have been dead." Silvia slowly removed the sword from his neck. "Ok, but if you even try to harm us in any way or run then I will not hesitate to take you down." Silvia put the sword away and Lacey put her spear back away.
"By the way, my name is Raymond. You can call me Ray." He said as he bowed at the waist. Silvia gave him an awkward look and giggled. Lacey smiled and gave a small curtsey as she watched him bow then straightened back up.
"You have been here for 8 years?" Asked Lacey, her cheeks turning red from embarrassment as she spoke. Her body seemed to come alive as she looked at him. "How did you get here?" asked Silvia, she glanced from Lacey to Ray, noticing the color in Lacey's cheeks. "It's a long story." Said Ray.
"Well, you can tell us while we head back to the treehouse." Said Silvia. "And don't even think about running!" She added. "I wouldn't even dream of it." He said, they started walking, Silvia leading the way. Lacey holding the weapons followed and Ray fell in step beside her and started talking.
"I came from an island called 'Keine Magie' which means 'no magic', the people there hate magic. I was born with magical powers so my mother tried to hide that fact from my father, but when an incident happened and my mother was hurt badly and dying I tried to save her with my magic." He paused.
"But when the people saw I had magic they got scared, and my father banished me. This island was made by my father for banished magic. I was banished here when I was eleven, I have been here for Eight years now." He finished. "Eight years!" Silvia exclaimed, there was a short moment of silences.
"So how did you girls get here?" Ray asked. "Ship reck…" Silvia said. He nodded at Silvia then looked at Lacey. "I was swept overboard in a storm…" She answered. "How long have you girls been here?" Ray asked. "Four years." Silvia said. He was still looking at Lacey who sighed.
"I have been here a year and a half." Lacey answered shifting the weapons in her arms. "Hmm." Ray seemed about to ask something else, but Lacey jumped in. "How mad do you think Tim will be when we get back?" She said. "Tim?" Ray asked surprised. "He's our friend, he broke his leg from the crash so he couldn't come." Silvia explained.
"Oh, and where is he now?" Ray asked. "At the treehouse." Silvia answered, Ray did not say anything after that. "If this place is a place for banished magic then no magic can work here?" Lacey asked breaking the silence. "Yeah." Ray answered her.
"Then why does it work on the other side of the mountain?" She asked. "It does?" He was surprised. "Yeah my dress hasn't changed colors since we have been on this side." She said. "Your Dress?" He said surveying her, then turned back to look ahead.
"You guys came from the other side of the mountain? How did you get here then?" Ray asked. "We rode Lilly." Silvia said. They walked out of the trees and into the clearing, Lilly saw them coming and come over to Silvia, staring at Raymond wearily. "This is Lilly." Silvia said petting her bird friend.
Ray stared and the bird. "She's huge!" He exclaimed. Silvia laughed "She is just a baby." Lacey looked up at the stairs of the treehouse to see Tim hanging on to the railing. She quickly shoved the weapons into Silvia's hands. "Hey where are you going?" Silvia yelled as she rushed up the stairs to Tim's aid.
When she had his arm over her shoulder, she looked down to where Ray and Silvia where talking. "Who's that?" Tim asked. "He's Raymond. He was wearing the deer beast custom." Lacey said. "Wha." Tim said, they had reached the bottom of the stairs, Silvia and Ray had come over to meet them.
"This is Raymond, he has been telling us all about the island!" Silvia said excitedly. "Oh." Tim said. "How about we go inside and I will make some meat sticks for us." Lacey said sensing the tension between Tim and Ray. "Yes! that sounds great." Silvia smiled at Ray. "Here." She said handing him his weapons. "Just remember."
Silvia said, her smile fading. Silvia took Lacey's place by Tim's side, and she turned to get a piece of meat from a tree, Silvia and Tim headed up the stairs.
"What's your name?" Ray asked turning to Lacey, who had started climbing up a tree. "Uh.." She stopped with one leg up.
"Oh. I'm Lacey." She said putting down her leg. "What's your full name?" Ray asked. "Lacey Walela Taughton." Replied Lacey. "Pleased to meet you Lacey, and where are you from?" He questioned. "I'm from Latalla. An island about a day from here by boat." She answered with a sigh.
"So close, yet so far." Ray remarked. Lacey sighed again and jumping up she grabbed a branch and climbed up into the tree where she grabbed the meat that Silvia had hung there, before jumping back down. Ray watched Lacey while she brought the meat down from the tree and followed her into the treehouse.
When they entered Silvia and Tim were sitting at the table. Silvia was sharpening the sword while she told Tim of the events leading up to capturing Ray. "Come sit down." Silvia said to Ray as Lacey began making dinner. Ray went over and sat at the table with Silvia and Tim. "So now that you guys know my name, what is yours?" he asked them.
"I'm Tim." Replied Tim "and this is Silvia." He continued gesturing in her direction with his hand. "Pleased to meet you." He replied with a nod to each of them. "So, how long have you been here Tim?" "a couple of months, probably 4 or 5?" He replied.
"He was left behind by the pirates that we scared to death." Said Silvia laughing. Lacey started giggling too and Tim looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry," Lacey said through her laughter "It was just so funny the way they ran off." And then Silvia burst out in a loud laugh and added
"And the way we found Tim was so funny. Sorry Tim, I just cannot help laughing. It really was funny." As she turned toward Tim who had turned a deep red from embarrassment. Lacey added, still giggling.
"It was funny how you were bound and face first in the dirt because they dropped you when they got scared, and the look on your face when you thought we were going to kill you.
Please forgive me, I cannot stop laughing from the thought of how you looked and also how scared the pirates were. They couldn't get out of there fast enough."
"So, you were their prisoner?" asked Ray looking at Tim. "Well kinda. They kidnapped me to be their cabin boy and then when I didn't want to come onto the island with them, they bound me and brought me anyway just to teach me a lesson." Replied Tim with a scowl.
"Wow. This is quite a group we have here. Isn't it?" Said Silvia. "Are we all of royal birth?" asked Ray. "I don't think I am." Said Tim. "I lived with my family on the docs of Almaraei."
"That is the Island where my Mother came from." Said Lacey excitedly.
"Oh, where in Almaraei?" Tim questioned. "She was the second princess, before she married my Father." Lacey said. "So, you are royal?!" Silvia asked. "Yes. The first princess of Latalla." Lacey replied. "Wow, I could tell you were of the upper class, but never even considered you being of royal blood." Said Silvia.
"And What about you, Silvia?" asked Ray. "Do you know if you are of royal blood?" "I think so." Replied Silvia. My memories are somewhat vague, I was so young when I came here and at first I was with a friend but then he got killed by one of the beasts on the other side of the Island and I was alone after that until Lacey came." She added.
Lacey brought the finished food over to the table and the group sat down to a delicious meal. Talking and laughing as if they had been friends forever.
As they were finishing Ray noticed that the sun was setting and he knew it would be dark before very long. "Would it be all right if I go home now?" He asked the group. Silvia's face wrinkled a little into a scowl and then thought better of it and replied.
"Sure. Where is it that you live?"
"I live in the claw tree. You guys should come see it tomorrow and I can show you my work that I have been doing the past 8 years." "Work?" Lacey asked, but he had already left. The door closed behind him, she sighed. Silvia giggled,
Lacey got up and locked the door. "I am going to go to bed." She said headed up the stairs, Tim's and Silvia's laughter followed her out.