"For those wondering why I seemed to be late with my chapters for AOH; then this is the reason right here. I have been spending my days writing this book so I hope it was worth it and I hope that you all like it!! :) "
"Walking in the woods one day; a very unfamiliar smell met my nose. The smell seemed like smoke, but there was no fire! An odor came, but no stench! What could be the cause of all my sniffling if I had no allergies? So wrapped up was I in deciphering the smell that I didn't see the branch until it was too late. I tried to remain perfectly still but they had heard the snap. How could they not? Me and my clumsy shoes I thought to myself."
"Who goes there? Show ye self or else I'll send the Fox after ya. We got ya surrounded, little girl; so there is no place for e to go. Come one out before I drag yer out by your pigtails. Come on; I can see ya."
"I..I...I'm really..sss...ss..ssorry and hate to intrude. See, I smelt something in the woods and not knowing what it was; I ventured to seek it out. My name is Austin and I seek no harm."
"No harm shall befall thee, but if you don't leave then yer be in mighty pain real soon."
"Sir, she's seen too much. Loose lips sink ships; remember? What if she tells? We can't let her leave! She may have seen theâŚ"
"What is that thing glowing in the middle of the blue fire? Wait, it's starting to move!! Who are you people? What is this? Where am I? Who are you trying to resurrect?"
"Too many questions, little one. Now we told you to leave or else harm would befall thee if ye stayed. FOX!!!!"
"I should've told you this earlier, but I aint afraid of noâŚ..big...Fox!!!!"
"Haa! She is not the one who you should be cowering from, my dear."
"Sh...sh...she!! You're a half-breed!"
"Boo!!"
"AAghh! Hide me from here, please!"
"You crack me up, little girl. She's nothing more then a small beautiful girl such as yerself. Come on out from behind and see for yerself if you don't believe me. Her name is Scarlett!"
"Josh, it's happening!! The stars getting bigger!! Everybody get down!!! She's gonna blow!!!"
*BOOM*
"Ahu...ahuâŚ.achh!! Is everyone ok? Wait, where's Austin?"
"I'm over here! Help, I'm stuck!! This log its...aghhh!! Get if ott, get if off!! Whoo!! Whoo!! Sho fire sho! The fire..it's getting too close. I can feel it crawling up my leg!!"
"Austin, don't move! I'm coming for you."
"Wait, let me check my schedule to make sure I have nowhere else to be. Nope, you're good to come over."
"I can see you still got your wits about you. I'll lift this log up and you roll out of the way. Be quick now, little girl."
"Thanks Scarlett. You're not what I typically envision when I think of a half-breed; in a good way."
"You expect us all to look the same?"
"Girls, shh!! Here she comes!"
"Ouch, my head still hurts from the fall. Now who are you babbling about?"
"ME!!!!!!"
"You!! You are supposed to be dead. I watched your kingdom crumble beneath my feet!"
"You know nothing of that day. You were just a little girl when it happened!"
"I...saw everything!! Why have you been brought back? You were banished to your canister for a thousand years. My mother, Anne, struck you down dead."
"OOh, so you think you're Annes daughter ehh!! I remember your tears now that day. How stupid was she to face me. Little did she know that I had a daughter."
"Daughter! Austin, what is she speaking? Who are you and why have you come?"
"Touch her again and we're done!! Austin, my dear...you're not Annes daughterâŚ.but mine!!!"
"Queen Jade, please refrain!! These people know not who you are nor what you've done. They are just wandering kids who have stumbled upon a spell book and wanted to test their limits. They did not know; I swear!"
"You...did not summon me?"
"Haa!! If I had summoned you; then it would be to kill you myself."
"If you have not summoned me, then who did? Speak now and don't be silent."
"It was I Josh Steward. I brought you forth by harnessing the power of emerald and burning it so that you may be released"
"Josh, Josh, Josh!! Kids these days know nothing of true magic. They recklessly steal their parents' spell book and are unaware of the consequences that follow. Then once things get real that is when they are scarred for life. See, my mother told me to come out here so that upon seeing me she would not resort to violence."
"You think you're so smart, little girl? You were never lost in the first place and knew exactly where you were!!"
"Let me go! Let me go, you bully!!"
"Ah! Ah! Ahh!! I wouldn't do that if I were you, Jade. If you so much as make me question your motives then your daughter here will be the first to die. See this knife touched to her neck? She has seen more bloodshed than any of us combined so if it means me killing her to get what I wantâŚ..then I won't hesitate not even a minute."
"You're a monster!!"
"No, you, my dear, are a monster and you'll help me prove it or else. They say nothing is stronger than a family bond so let us test this strength of yours. NOW MARCH!!!"
"Wait, what was that? The bushes just rustled. I think we are being watched."
"Look kid, of course we are being watched, but not by what you think. We are deep in the woods so can you guess who lives here besides us?"
"Animals!!"
"Exactly, so no more nonsense. We got the queen and we've done our mission. No more dilly dallying."
"Did you catch all of that, over?"
" Yes, I caught all of that, Kerina. What has this Austin girl gotten herself into now?"
"Look, her parents said she ran away from home and told us to find her and bring her back, but this is outside of our reach. They didn't pay us enough for this."
"Kerina, no amount of money could've predicted this. What should we do? Should we rescue her and send her back to her parents?"
"What parents? Do we even know who her parents are, Nevaeh? What if her 'parents' are just shielding Austin from her true parents, but once Jade called her then she was trying to get back to them? Who is in the right now?"
"I don't like where you're going with this. We may be able to rescue Austin since she is small, but there is no way we are rescuing Jade. What if she doesn't see us as helping but only perceives us as a threat?"
"That's a risk we'll have to take. Come on! They're getting away!!"
"Of course they are. Remind me again why you were named Kerina?"
"Kerina means peacemaker. We are of a pureheart and the helpers of the world no matter how dark of times we may have to go through in order to help. Don't disappoint me on your name, Nevaeh; because your name means loyal, caring, wonderful, and trustworthy."
"Of course it does! Why can't we go back to just giving our random names that have no characteristic of the person bearing it? I'm coming!!"
"No name is given out foolishly and every name hides a secret. We just have to find out what that secret is."
"A secret you say? Let's see here. Maybe if I...Nevaeh!! Where'd you go?"
"Grab my hand and we will turn invisible together!"
"Josh, the bushes are rustling again. I don't like this one bit."
"Kid, for the last time; the only thing out here areâŚ.ghosts!!!!"
"Kerina, drop the boulder now.
Uncuff our friends or face the consequences!"
"Scarlett...attack!!"
"Oh no you don't. Austin, run!!"
"Not without my mom!!"
"Get back here!"
"Too slow old man!"
"Stop turning invisible and let me hit you."
"You wouldn't hit a girl would you?"
"Not if she hit me first!!"
"Austin, come on! We're finally free together."
"Wait, we can't just leave them to die."
"They sacrificed their lives so that we could be free. There is no greater honor than that."
"Where is your heart, mother? If we help them then they won't need to sacrifice. Please Jade. Find it in your heart to help them this day, I beg of you."
"Austin, we are finally free and I can hold you in my arms once again. Is that not enough?"
"None of it matters if the cost of our embrace was at the bloodshed of others. Now I am going back to help themâŚ.with or without you!!!"
"Austin, we told you to run. If you stay then you'll die!!"
"How better off are you?"
"You made your point. Everybody, back to back!! This fox is a sly one."
"Where's Josh?"
"He took off as soon as we arrived. Don't worry though. We'll take care of him soon eâŚ.aghhh!! No! NO! Nooo!!!!!!!"
"Let her go, you evil monster."
"Aaagh! She's biting into me. My bones can't take much more of this!!"
"Drop her this instant!!"
"Mom, you came back. I knew you would."
"Girls, get behind me. I'll deal with this foul beast myself. Spirits of night and spirits of light; come into me and give me might. Turn this girl out of sight!!"
"Mom, no!!"
"Austin, what are you doing? You made me miss."
" Run!! Go!! Get out of here, Scarlett!! Hurry!!"
" Out of my way, little girl. Your soul...is mine!!"
"Aaagh!! Rarr!! Rar!"
"Jade, can't you hear her screams? She does not need to suffer more."
"Almost there! Almost there! I can feel her heart within my reach."
"Jade, I saidâŚ.E...NOUGH!!!!"
"Hold onto something or else we'll be blown away!"
"Austin! Austin! Can you hear me? Wake up."
"Kerina, come on. She used too much magic at once when she knocked out her mother; that it drained her."
"We can't just leave her here!"
"We can't take them all either. We dont have enough hands."
"Fine! I'll take Austin and you take Jade. Where'd Scarlett go?"
"Take me with you! Please!! I'll die out here alone if you don't!!"
"Get off me! Why would we want you? You tried to eat my friend. See, she still has blood dripping out of your teeth marks."
"I'm sorry. It was my animal instincts. Please forgive me."
"Nevaeh, it's ok. Scarlett, I forgive you."
"Kerina, she justâŚ..it's ok. Scarlett, can you get us out of here?"
"Give me Austin to carry and you get Jade. We'll never make it back to the city before nightfall and you don't want to be out here after dark; so follow me. I know a place where we can go."
"Is this place far? The sun is starting to set so I was just wondering."
"It's not far. I reckon it's only a hop, skip, and a slide over the rainbow then we'll be there."
"Scarlett, I meant how far away from the city is it? Austins parents I'm sure want her back and we promised them such since we've always kept our promises."
"Is that so? Let me guess; those other promises were less detailed so even if you broke the promise it was only you that took the fall? Can I let you in on a little secret? Come closer."
"Is this close enough? What is it?"
"Never make a promise you can't keep. Yes, when it's only your tail on the line then it's easier to protect yourself since you know your limits, but once you get someone else involvedâŚ.that's where things get tricky. You may have survival skills and the proper training, but the same cannot always be true of who you are rescuing."
"Why are you helping us? We tried to kill you!"
"True! I tried to kill you as well, but that doesn't matter right now. Finding Austin's true parents is my top priority right now. Josh never said anything about Jade having a daughter. Just take our squabble as nothing more than water under a bridge. Speaking of water under the bridgeâŚ"
"You can't be serious. I can't swim. I'll drown!!"
"Then let's drown together. Hold your breath and jump in!"
"Nevaheh, wait. We don't know what's down there."
"I may not know what's down there, but I've heard myths about what's up here and I'm not ready to see if they are true or not."
"Wait, dad left me responsible for you so I'm coming."