Chapter 4

Being locked in a cart was one thing. Being locked in a cart that smelled as if it had been used to store livestock with four other people when you didn't know where you were going was an entire other thing. as Lio had remarked to the guards an hour ago,

"It's enough to give a person a *****, ***, *******, ulcer, you hear! And if this ****** cow-smelling cart wasn't **** enough, the guards are ****** idiots who don't have ****** for brains and..."

She kept going until the guards knocked her out. Anyway, the enviroment was getting to all of them. they had tried to formulate a plan, that is, Zafir had formulated plans and Alearing had shot the full of holes, but eventually, they had all gone off to opposing sides of the cart and moped. Exept for Katt, who tried to make up limericks until Liori told her that if her tounge kept wagging, she would rip it out and make Katt eat it in a sandwich. Then she had apologized, but still advised her to quiet down. At dusk, the wagon had stopped for the night. Some dried meat, bread and water canteens had been shoved into the cart, and, after eating, the Sagens had fallen asleep.

Saylor woke up with moonlight on her face and a hand poking her through the bars at the end of the cart. She turned around to see who was doing the poking, and decided the others had better wake up. "Uh, guys?" she whispered, "There's a girl at the back of the cage and I think she wants to talk. "I am obviously still dreaming." Alwearin groaned. "No you're not. Get up." Zafir shook her, then Lio. When they were all consious, the girl spoke. "Names Salixa. I've been following you with a group of other spirit-bonders. When you get where your going, we're busting you out." Then she was gone.

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Soryst decided she had enough new people in her life. First there were the others in her group, many of which she had never met before, then, there was that skinny Darrt kid. He was okay, but really shy. And now, after lots and lots of walking into the desert, there was a very showoffy, very tan, and very attractive girl with a big spider on her shoulder. Sor didn't like showoffs, didn't like spiders, and especially didn't like those looks that River had been giving Salixa, as the girl had said her name was. She had shown up from the middle of nowhere, after an important converation about the Sagies that Sor thought she had been spying on, and offered to guide them to a group that fit the Sagens description. There had been much disscusion, but finally, they had resolved to follow her. 

Havanna was sick of walking, so she was glad she was finally done for the day when they settled down on a sand dune overlooking the little camp of the armed soldiers and wagon. She was less glad about the whole "guards" thing. There seemed to be a lot of them. Currently Salixa was down at the camp, communicating with the other group. Havanna wasn't quite sure why they were waiting for the wagon to reach whatever intimadating stronghold it was inevetably bound for, she had a perfect plan, too. But after the others had punched big gaps in her plan and Salixa had explained about some very knowledgeable stuff related to wagons and deserts and Havanna had checked the omens and found they were good, she had thought fine, great, I'll go along with the plan. But still, Havanna could'nt shake the feeling that the Harnells had bitten off more than they could chew.

THE THREAD HAS NOT DIED!

Chapter 5

The Sagens were expecting to be stuck in some sort of damp, manky dungeon, and were almost not disappointed. In fact, after being taken through a set of imposing doors, through an imposing hallway, and down severel flights of imposing stairs, they were put in a clean grey room with woven sleeping mats and a barred door. I hope, readers, you will excuse me for not elaborating on the several petty arguments and disscusions that came to pass in the cell, and skip directly to the most important, (and final) segment of this section. 

After several hours in the clean grey room, a man appeared at the doorway. He was rather oddly, one of those people who are completely impossible to remember. He was neither tall nor short, fat nor thin, muscly or limp, and had absolutely no distinguishing features whatsoever. "Good afternoon." he said in a completely undistinguishable tone. "I am Caerberus Notull, leader of a group known as the Anemarls." "KNEW it!" gasped Saylor. Caerberus continued. "Regretfully, I have been forced to contain you sufficiently for the simple reason that you're not going to like what will be done to you." "OH YEAH!?" yelled someone, not Liori, but Kat. Apparently, even Kat had limits. "AND WHAT THE **** IS THAT GONNA BE!?" Both Caerberus and Kitten recoiled. "Hey!" Caerberus protested, "that's not fair! I had a whole villain speech planned out and I hid those musicians aroind the corner for melodramatic music and NOW I'll just have to tell you and...and..." He trailed off, noticing that no one in the cell felt the least bit of sympathy for his sentiments. "hmpf. Fine. I'm taking away your spirits."

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The plan was simple: There was no plan. This brilliancy had been suggested by Salixa and supported by all but Havanna, because she loved plans, and Soryst, because she opposed Salixa on principle. Mostly, this plan had been accepted because everyone was so darn tired. So that was why, after taking out two guards and stealing the gate key, no one had any idea what to do. "We play it by ear." Runa told them, unlocking the door. The Harnells entered a grand hall, covered in tapestries and ancestral weapons and planc sheets of paper. (for some reason) All in all, it was pretty wierd. 

Two hours into their exploration, they were completely lost. They had incapacitated guards, fallen off balconies, (that was river, Eagle was too drained to support him) and even stumbled into rooms full of men, women, and children. Havanna had bluffed their way out of that one. So they were all pretty glad when they came to a Big Official Iron Door. They could tell it was the right one because of the name printed on it: BOID, short for (guess!) Big Official Iron Door. "Finally, sighed Soryst, and ripped it off the wall. There was a moment of silence for BOID, and then several Elite Looking Guys with Big Weapons flooded out.

Hi everyone! This post is something that I don't enjoy putting up, but is necessary as I am considering stopping this thread. The only reason for this is that not many people seem to be actually reading this. if you would like this thread to keep going, please put a comment below.

Firebird 

I'm still reading this! If you feel it would be best to take it down, I understand, but I really like this story and I'm excited to see what happens next!

Whew, that was a close one. Almost stopped posting.

Chapter 6

Elite Looking Guys with Big Weapons were bad news. Although the group was certainly armed, the waning power of their spirits put them at a disadvantage. They managed to incapacitate most of the guards, but two got away. Soryst cursed creatively. Havanna was more practical. She was getting bad vibes from Noiren and didn't like that, but right now, she had to tend to the injured. Runa had taken an arrow through the calf before draining the last of Tiger's energy to turn invisible. For a while before she came back, it appeared as if an arrow were floating up, down and around in strange patterns. River had been caught by a mace in the stomach as he was executing an intricate aerial backflip, and Soryst had a knife cut on the forearm. Darrt had hung back from the fight and was currently descending the staircase. After the ribs, calf, and arm had been bandaged in an ingenious fasion with spider silk from Salixa, the party pulled themselves together and started down the stairs through the doorway where BOID had once rested. They had been walking downward for half a minute or so, when they came to a side hallway. "Turn, whispered Salixa. "But the stairs keep going," pointed out Havanna. "Just turn." They turned. The hall wound round on itself, and finally dead-ended in a small, gray, room. "Shoot," said Soryst, "Were dead-ended." "Hold it, I hear something." said Salixa. She ventured back into the hall before for no apparent reason yelled "PLAIN!" The Harnells were just getting over the surprise when bars slammed over the entrance. "Gotcha," said Salixa

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Guys, I will post on the Sagens soon.