The Silver Orb

Chapter 3 ~The Two Escapes

Nicodème was what you could call a mayor of Tenoren. it was the elfin city hidden in the Italian mountains just outside Vernante, Italy.
Clare’s werewolf attack was extra-ordinary, and by the next day everyone seemed to be talking about it. Nicodème had tried to keep much of it a secret, but no one could seem to keep their mouths shut. As well as keeping it a seacret he tried to keep the news from Clare. Somehow the news reached her ears.
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“How could this happen!”
The elf assigned to look after her jumped and made a hesitant, but hurried response. “Clare it wasn’t seen. You must understand. This is no small thing, but you can not leave.”
She looked at him furiously and continued to pack. “If the elves haven’t found it then Trae has.”
“But my lady what if …” There was a pause, Clare turned to look at him.
“If what?”
“Well,” he looked rather nervous at the thought of telling her his thoughts, “What if a human found it?”
She stopped, “Lets hope not.” She turned and continued packing. She rushed over to the opposite wall and grabbed her cloak. There was a knock on the door and the elf, whose name is Torrin, looked at Clare for a moment, and then opened the door. Clare was at her bag again when Nicodème entered the room.
“Clare, you can not possibly think of leaving now. You are not fit to go. You are not fully healed.” He looked at her with earnest worry, but the look on her face said she would not listen.
“No, Nicodème I need to find the Melken before Trae does.”
She looked over at Nicodème and made to move past him to the door.
“No.” he said and moved closer to the door.
“Move.” Clare gave him a look that said ‘move or I kill you.’
“Clare you can’t.”
“Move. I am going to find Trae and I am going to kill him.” She pushed him to the side and walked out the door. Nicodème rushed out the door after her but she was gone.
“Torrin, follow her. If you can, bring her back. In the mean time I will gather a group. We are going after Trae before she gets to him.”
“Why not let her find him sir?”
Nicodème had started walking down the hall and turned at the question.
“We want to be able to question him. We want to find out whom he is working for. If she finds him we won’t have the chance.”
He turned back around and rushed around the corner. Torrin turned the other direction and disappeared.
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Clare hadn’t really gone anywhere. What Nicodème didn’t realize is that she hadn’t left the city, only the building. She had appeared in the gardens, and quickly made her way towards the gate. she’d leave through there. She turned a corner and almost ran into Nicodème. Fortunately he was talking to another elf and didn’t see her. She immediately turned around and went back around the corner. Him and the other elf, which she recognized as Javin, rushed past her. She carefully turned and went back around the corner again.
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Yavonne had once again taken the trip to Inis Pic. This time she had taken the strange ball with her. She was looking out at the sea watching Jack sail away. She waited until he had sailed around the end of the island and was out of sight. Then she turned and walked onto the island. She was standing in the clearing on the other side of the castle and looking at the ball. She was softly touching each and every ruby. Before she had touched the biggest of the rubies she shivered. Ever since she had arrived on the island she felt as if someone was watching her. Even now the feeling was still there, but somehow it seemed to have increased. She reached out and softly touched the biggest ruby. It popped open with a click.
“I’ve never seen it do that before.” The voice made Yavonne jump and she whipped around. Standing behind her was a tall hooded figure. The face was covered in shadow, but she could see the eyes. Long black hair protruded from beneath the hood. The figure was slight and tall. Yavonne could feel something deep down inside that told her to be afraid of this person, but she couldn’t help but to be curious.
“Who are you?” Yavonne felt the ball close and heard it make a little click.
“It doesn’t matter who I am. What matters is how you got hold of that.”
“I found it.” The figure stepped toward her.
“Leave her alone Trae.” Yavonne jumped at the new voice and looked around to find it. The figure also looked around, but the owner could not be found. Yavonne could feel her stomach doing back flips and her heart was in her throat.
“There is no need to hide Clare.” Trae said as he looked around. Yavonne by now was very worried about what she had gotten herself into.
“I’m not hiding Trae.” Yavonne watched as another figure appeared behind Trae. The new one, which she assumed to be Clare, reached quickly around Trae and pined his arms to his side.
He struggled for a moment and got loose. Yavonne stepped back, and watched as the two fought.
“Clare, back so soon?”
She smiled, “Just you wait Trae I’m not the only one that’s coming here.”
Trae stepped back and looked as if he was going to run away, when bunches of elves appeared around him. They seized him by the shoulders, and hauled him to the castle. Clare smiled to herself, and they both could just barley hear Trae as he cursed Clare.
She turned to Yavonne. The smile on her face faded as she realized that Yavonne was human. “This is going to take a while to explain.” Clare walked forward, but Yavonne walked back words away from her. Clare made a face of regret, “Please don’t make me do this.”
Yavonne took another step back. “All right you asked for it.” Yavonne felt a sharp pain in her back and before she could do anything her world turned black.
Clare rushed forward and caught her before she hit the ground. Javen had come just in time to inject a tranquilizer. “What did you give her?”
Clare looked up a Javen as she laid Yavonne on the ground. “It was only a Traink Clare, nothing harmfull. You have to admit it was good timing.”
“Yes it was good timing, but unnesissary.”
There was a pop and Nicodème appeared before them. He reached down and grabbed Clare by the arm.
“Clare I want to talk to you.” He pulled her over to an open spot to talk and turned to her.
“What you did was a good thing, but that doesn’t mean you’re not in trouble.”
She nodded, but in her head she was thinking a hundred things that she could use as a retort.
“Come back with us to Tenoren, we will take the girl with us there. I will explain every thing to her when she awakens.”
Clare looked up at Nicodème, he had those deep blue eyes you could get lost in. “I don’t have a choice do I?”
He couldn’t help but smile. “No you don’t.”
Then there was a resounding crack, and a scream. Clare and Nicodème rushed over to the staircase below where Trae had been held and ran up them pushing through the group of people. The door had been reduced to splinters, and the guard elf was slumped against the other wall. Elves were running up the steppes to see what had happened including Clare and Nicodème. She stared at the door and only one thought ran through her head, Trae was loose.
Trae was furious at Clare. She had gotten him caught, and now he was to be put into jail for a couple hundred years. Most likely at Snow Head, the most secure prison in magical history. He paced the small room that he was in. He thought up plan after plan, but each involved being escorted out side. That couldn’t happen. His best plan was to burst through the door, and hope beyond hope that there wasn’t more than one guard. He stepped over to the slit of a window that over looked the clearing. He saw Clare; she was talking to an elf. Then he realized who it was, Nicodème. He glared out the window. If he wanted out of here he had to do it now. If Nicodème were here then he would soon be leaving to the Tenoren jail.
Trae turned to the door, braced himself and ran. He hit the door in a burst of splinters. The force flung the guard to the other wall. There was a crack and Trae knew he had broken something. Unfortunately she had screamed when the door had burst apart. He could already hear people running up the steppes. He glanced at the elf and grimaced. She had been one of his favorites. Then he turned and ran down the other set of steppes. As soon as he had made it outside the castle he changed and bounded into the forest.
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Clare ran down the other set of steppes taking them three at a time. When she reached the bottom she was looking into an empty courtyard.