Word count is now at 51,408

Katie stepped out from behind a tree, Jane, Cherise, and Sarah right behind her. They gasped when they saw a girl standing in a clearing, she was dressed in a light blue dress and her long golden locks fell to the middle of her back. She was playing a violin was and gently swaying with the music.
None of them moved as they watched her. She was a beautiful girl, her face was white, her cheeks were a light pink, and her lips, which were turned up into a smile, were a very light red. Her long, black eye lashes rested lightly against her cheeks. The music was filling the clearing like a soft, light mist. The girls felt enchanted by it.
Slowly, almost against their will, they all four moved forward, drawn by the music. The moved within ten feet of the girl and then stopped. She did not open her eyes or acknowledge them; she seemed unaware of them at all. The music was slow, but it was picking up pace.
Suddenly the girls found they had to dance, and without realizing it they began to dance about the clearing, almost as though they were being carried by the music. How long they danced they did not know, in fact they seemed to have forgotten all about everything else but dancing. For all they knew they had been dancing forever.
They may have continued dancing forever had not a sharp and harsh sound broken through the music. The girls froze as the girl with the violin screamed loudly. They looked over at her, feeling dazed and somewhat lost and saw in horror that the girl had dropped her violin and was screaming in pain.
Before any of the four girls could react a wild looking band of men ran out from the cover of the trees and grabbed them. The girl saw the men and howled in a violent rage, but there was nothing she could do. In fact it happened so fast the four girls could do nothing as the men yanked them back into the trees.
Katie, Jane, Cherise, and Sarah stumbled along beside the men, too dazed at first to realize what was happening. When it finally sank in that they were probably being kidnapped they began to fight and struggle. The men, who were hooded and cloaked, ignored their efforts at escape and continued running.
Finally they reached a waterfall, and the men pulled the four girls behind it into a cave before they finally released them. The girls huddled together, holding each other’s hands, as they looked at the band of seven men who were standing before them.
“Who are you?” Katie finally asked, she could not take her eyes off the men.
 “We are the Rangers who keep these lands,” one of the men said as he stepped forward.
“Keep it?” Sarah asked as she raised an eye brow.
“Protect it,” one of the other men stepped forward. “Guard it.”
“From what?” Jane asked softly.
“From beasts and robbers and highwaymen, and giants, and, well you name it we guard the people from it,” a third man said with a toss of his head that nearly caused his hood to fall off.
“Why do you hide your faces?” Cherise asked.
A pause and then the man who had first spoken said, “It adds to our mysteriousness.”

“Adds to their mysteriousness?” Reamann asked; he shook his head at the sentence.
Kallen snickered and Jake rolled his eyes. “Give me a break guys, I am new at this!”
Kallen laughed. “Really? I would not have guessed!”
Jake sat back in his chair and glared at the two characters. “If you don’t knock it off I will go no farther, or I will have the Rangers do away with them now!”
Reamann shook his head. “Someone is a little touchy today.”
Jake rolled his eyes. “I am not!”
Kallen grinned. “Are so.”
“I am not, I just hate being stuck with you two; you guys are so old fashioned!”
Kallen looked at Jake’s army uniform and then at his own clothing. “Of course we are different books!”
Reamann clamped a hand on Kallen’s shoulder. “Be quiet,” he muttered. Then turning to Jake said, “Please continue, we shall not utter another word.”
Jake turned back to write as Kallen grinned widely.

Cherise looked over at Katie who shrugged her shoulders. Sarah was grinning widely.
“Are you good guys then?” Jane asked.
The first man, who seemed to be the leader, nodded his head. “Of course we are; that is why we saved you from Alicia.”
“That was the girl’s name?” Katie asked the man.
He nodded his head.
“What was she doing? I mean, she did not seem dangerous,” Sarah said as she looked at the seven men.
“That is why she is, there is no point in being dangerous if you look it,” the third man said with a snicker.
The first man turned in his direction and said, “Be quiet Thomas!” Then turning back to the girls the man said, “She lures people into her clearing by playing her violin. Anyone who enters her clearing cannot help but start dancing, and once they start they do not stop, until they are dead.”
The girls shuddered at the thought.
“And you saved us,” Sarah said with a dreamy sigh.
“Of course we did, you did not think we would leave you there did you?” Thomas asked with a laugh.
Katie and Jane looked at each other but for a long time no one said anything. Finally Cherise asked, “Can we know your names?”
The leader pointed to Thomas and said, “You know him already.”
Thomas bowed as the man pointed to another man. “This is my second in commanded, Jeremiah.”
Jeremiah stepped forward, removing his hood as he did so. He smiled at the four girls.
Thomas seemed to remember his hood then and with a great flourish tossed it off as the man introduced two brothers, Paul and Peter. The brother’s removed their hoods and bowed to the girls. Next there was Gilbert and then Benjamin. The leader’s name was Isaac.
The girls then introduced themselves.
The men were all very handsome, there is no need to go into details, just imagine the most handsome man who have ever seen and then imagine him ten times handsomer and you have the Rangers. And on top of being handsome they were also gentlemen and were very thoughtful and kind.
They led the girls back into the cave were there was a table. There they sat the girls down and served them a tasty if not simple meal of smoked meat and cheese and bread. Once they were done eating they moved over to a fire Isaac had lit and Thomas pulled his fiddle from a bag.
Sitting on a rock he began to play for the girls as they sat about the fire. Sarah’s eyes lit up like rockets as Thomas played and sang, he could play wonderfully well and he had a great voice, it was deep and rich and filled them all with excitement.
In an attempt to make the other girls feel at ease the men moved over to talk to them while Sarah moved closer to Thomas so she could catch every strain of the music.
Gilbert sat on a rock by Katie and, staring into the fire, asked, “So Miss Katie, what do you enjoy doing?”
Katie smiled and tossed a stick into the fire. “I enjoy reading, and writing, and dancing in the rain.”
“You like reading?” Gilbert asked excitedly. “I enjoy reading myself!”
Peter was talking to Cherise and Benjamin was talking to Jane. The other Rangers were sitting about cleaning their swords and talking in low tones, if they talked at all. Everything was peaceful and relaxing, and after a while the gentlemen asked the three girls if they would like to dance. By then Sarah had started to sing with Thomas and so the night passed peacefully without the music enchanting them and leading them to their deaths.
The next morning they left the cave. Isaac explained that the forest was full of enchantments and dangers. But he said if they reached the other side they would be safe. He also explained that with the dangers this would be next to impossible, and he and the other Rangers offered to take them through.
The four girls agreed to this and so the little party set out.
Over head the sun shone down from a cloudless blue sky. Birds were singing in the trees, but they were not singing the songs from earth, no their songs were new and different and full of wonder. It was almost as though they were in an orchestra and each note sounded as though it was being played by ten different interments all beautifully blended together.
The wind was moving through the leaves stirring them until they too seemed to be singing with the birds. A brook was bubbling down a little hill and added its music with the rest.
Sarah sighed happily and Katie and Jane linked arms. Cherise smiled and let her poetic mind wander over it all. “How can such a lovely place be full of danger?” she whispered as the wind played with her lovely, long brown hair.
Peter smiled almost sadly. “The world is full of unseen dangers and sorrows that are often hid behind smiling faces and forced laughs.”
“Don’t be so gloomy!” Paul rolled his eyes at his brother. “Let them enjoy it for Pete’s sake!”

“Pete’s sake?” Kallen asked. “I doubt they would say that!”
Reamann looked ready to intervene but one glare from Jake hushed Kallen. Reamann sighed as Jake continued his typing.

Peter smiled at Cherise who knowingly returned his smile. Though they were both enjoying the lovely forest they found a certain delight in looking beyond it and seeing what it was hiding.
Jane stepped up on a fallen, moss covered log and balanced as she walked across it. “This looks like the land from my book,” she told Benjamin. “Except without the lovely music playing everywhere.”
Benjamin took her hand as she jumped off the log, helping her down. He said nothing as she ran over to a patch of flowers and pulling them began to weave a wreath. She turned back and smiled at him.
Stepping up to her side he said, “I should like to read your book sometime Jane, I am certain it is well written and exciting.”
Jane placed the wreath of white flowers on her head and said, “I do hope it is. Oh I would love for you to meet Reamann, he is one of the best characters that has ever lived, he is so very brave and kind.”

Reamann’s face reddened and he stopped reading for a bit.

Nothing very exciting happened until the group reached a small river. It was shallow and clear and could have been easily crossed on foot. However, there was a small white bridge that stretched over it and it seemed a waste to not use the bridge seeing as it was there.
Isaac led the way over the marble bridge, the others slowly following. Everyone seemed lost in their own thoughts and where quite taken off guard when a short, fat, and ugly man, stepped onto the other end of the bridge and said with an ugly laugh, “You shall go no father!”
Isaac and the Rangers drew their swords while turning to go back the other way. Everyone knows it is death to cross a troll’s bridge. They did not make it far back before another man appeared and laughed at them. “No one escapes!” he said.
Thomas rolled his eyes at them. “You don’t think we can take on two little men?” he asked the trolls.
“Hear that brother?” one of the trolls said. “He called us little!”
“That is an insult!” the other troll snapped. “Now you shall pay!”
“Pay, pay, you shall pay!” the other chanted.
As he chanted the river began to rise and bubble furiously. The bridge rose with the river until it was towering twenty, and then thirty feet in the air. It changed from white marble to black steal. The river had also changed to black and was now roaring right below them, slashes of water wet them to the bone.
The Rangers moved so that they were on either side of the girls, being that the girls were now in the middle. Isaac was facing the troll who appeared to be the leader.
“Lower this bridge and I shall let you live!” Isaac yelled over the roar of the river.
The troll laughed. “You are a funny little man! As though I would listen to you! No, I think I shall push you all off and then lower the bridge!”
His brother laughed with him and clapped his fat hats. “Lovely idea my brother!” he cried gleefully.
Paul, who was closest to the non leader troll, looked over at Peter who in turn looked at Isaac. Isaac nodded his head at Jeremiah and then at the two brothers. Both brothers grinned and without a word ran at the one troll while Isaac and Jeremiah ran at the other.
Benjamin, Thomas, and Gilbert ran to join the other Rangers but did not make it far before five big bats swept down from the gray sky and right at the girls.
Katie yelped and Sarah looked for something to throw at them all the while thinking of Ted DeKker. Cherise and Jane ran to either side of the bridge in an attempt to get away from the bats knowing full well there was nothing about they could use to fight them off. Katie removed her shoe and threw it.
Benjamin, Thomas, and Gilbert raced back, swinging their swords at the bats as the girls wished they had daggers or anything to fight with. Gilbert stabbed one of the bats and it crashed into the roaring river.
Another of the bats swooped in and grabbed Sarah by the shoulders lifting her five feet off the ground before Thomas saw and tossed his dagger into the bat. It dropped Sarah and Thomas caught her as Benjamin killed another one.
The last two bats looked at their fallen buddies and with a roar of anger swept in to finish their attack. Meanwhile Isaac and Jeremiah had reached the leader troll and were engaging him in combat. Trolls fight with short heavy swords that can remove a man’s head from his shoulder’s with one blow; that is if the troll can reach the head.
This troll was one of those rare ones that are very wily and can jump very high and balance on things very well. Isaac was finding it hard to keep his head, literally, and Jeremiah was finding it next to impossible to fight, being every time he swung at the troll it would move and he would almost remove one of his captain’s body parts.
The troll was enjoying this a great deal as was his brother who was moving about so fast the brother’s were nearly tired in knots. Also the last two bats were stronger then their three companions had been and the three fighters received a good numbed of scratches from the little, rather big, beasts.
One of the bats pounced on Gilbert, pinning him the bridge. Thomas ran to his friend’s aid only to be tripped by the other bat. Sarah and Katie, who were nearest, leaped on this bat and were tossed about until they lost their grip. They flew a few feet and were squashed against the bridge railing.
Katie and Cherise ran to Gilbert’s aid and were kicked, they fell back and where grabbed by Thomas as Benjamin ran his sword into the back of the bat on Gilbert. The other bat tried to grab at Thomas while his arms were full, he was not expecting Thomas to pushed the girls into Benjamin’s arms, and turn and ram his sword into the bats chest. Not that it matter, there was not much he could do, seeing as by the time he realized what was happening he was dropping to the ground dead.
Meanwhile Isaac had tripped the troll while he was in mid air, and he found himself impelled on Jeremiah’s sword point. His last words were, “Now you know why I dislike humans!”
Peter and Paul were not doing so well. They had both gone for the troll at the same time, only to wind up bashing heads. They both fell to the bridge with a crash and sat for a moment, too stunned to stand up.
The troll rushed them, waving his sword over his head and was inches away from removing Peter’s head when a Paul lifted his sword and tossed it like a javelin. The blade hit the troll and the force knocked him back and pinned him neatly to the bridge.
The moment he breathed his last the river went down and the bridge lowered and turned white again. For a moment everyone sat or stood, too stunned to move as once more music filled the air and everything returned to its deceiving loveliness.
Isaac leaned back against the railing and was the first to break the silence. “Is everyone alright?” he asked.
“All but us,” Peter said as he ruefully rubbed his head.
Isaac rolled his eyes at the brothers and then looked over at the girls as though to assure himself they were unharmed. They were standing up and looking into the water as though looking for the bats. They saw nothing but small bubbles and pure white rocks. And they had a feeling these dangers were only the beginning.

• Post A Comment!