Chapter 15 - Chapter 13

As the threesome traveled on, Penny and Morgan talked together quietly. Jhekel brought up the rear, alert and ready for anything. Suddenly, Penny noticed that they had left the thick foliage of Mossflower wood and were now traveling through a less densely forested area, dotted with ferns, spruce and pine trees. It was a beautiful place, but eerily quiet. Penny looked behind her. “Where's Jhekel gotten to?”

Morgan looked behind her, taking a few steps back. She called out into the woodlands. “Jhekel? Jhe-”

Jhekel came down the tree in front of them like lightning, clapping a paw over Morgan's mouth. “Don't say another word.” he whispered harshly. Morgan pulled his hand from her mouth and whispered to him.

“What's going on? What's wrong?”

“Black smoke rises to the North. I could see a camp, about two score of soldiers.” He shook his head, looking behind him as if he expected them to come after them any moment. “They bore the flag of the Army of Almiruin. And they're coming this way…”

Morgan's eyes widened, grasping her walking stick with both hands. “Lord Kreinach's army? They never patrolled this far south before!”

Pennybrite looked worriedly to Jhekel. “Should we turn back?”

“No. We move forward. Chances are they're already on our trail.” He notched an arrow to the bow and took off at a run, Penny and Morgan following after them.



……………………………….



Penny's keen ears heard the sound of footfalls behind them. She and her friends had been running for a while now, and she could feel the vermin getting closer. She heard their pursuers give a yell, and turned around just in time to see them coming into view. An evil flag flew above them; it was black, with a red and orange flame centered in the middle and a black bird, wings outstretched, seemingly engulfed in the flame.

Morgan saw them too. She yelled to Jhekel. “They'll be on us in a minute!”

Jhekel yelled back to her. “Keep running! As long as we stay ahead, we'll be ok!” He grunted painfully as an arrow buried itself deep in his shoulder. “Or not…” Penny caught him as he stumbled back. He yelled above the roar of the army. “Keep going!”

They took off again. Jhekel's ears perked up. “I could have sworn I heard rushing water ahead.”

Morgan looked in front of them. “That's the river Moss, and it's not as far away as you think. Look!” She pulled her friends back, preventing them from falling over the cliff they had come to. Penny looked down. The river churned and foamed, rushing forward 50 feet below the cliffs. She looked to Morgan.

“Now what?”

“We jump!”

“Are you crazy? We'll be killed!”

Jhekel looked back to the vermin who coming closer by the second, gripping his shoulder. “Something tells me that we'll be killed if we don't!”

Penny nodded. “Fine, we jump on three. Ready? One…two…”

Morgan locked arms with Jhekel and Penny. “Three!” she yelled, and jumped over the edge, pulling her friends with her. A shower of arrows hit the ground where they had been standing a moment earlier.

As Penny hit the water, she thought of Birch. Would she ever see him again? Her world became an underwater nightmare; dark swirling water overwhelmed her…

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