The Forgotten Rogue

Chapter 41

Kedo sat in a hunched bundle. He counted the endless seconds that sluggishly passed to keep track of time. It was a involuntary habit of his. He had done this each time Emeric had been taken to the Domes. It helped keep him calm and also, after a while he got a good grasp of the estimated time Emeric would usually be gone. He was rarely gone for more than thirty minutes at a time. Kedo had counted twenty so far.

The silence was haunting and each small sound sent shivers up his spine. Kedo tried getting accustomed to the sounds of the forest so that he would recognise any foreign noise that broke through.

Kedo waited patiently as minute after minute slowly crept by. He was on high alert the whole time and that was what saved his life. He spotted a group of Elites from within the hollow as they made their way past his hiding spot. He stayed perfectly still and they didn't notice him in the shadows as they stalked by. When they were well out of hearing reach, Kedo let out a sigh of relief. He sat in empty silence...

The silence, however, was interrupted by a bone chilling cry that made all Kedo's hairs stand on end.

He knew Emeric well enough to know that the cry of pain was his...Emeric was extremely hurt or in immanente danger. Kedo sat frozen, wrestling with his conscious...However, as a second cry split the air, Kedo threw the branch aside and leapt out of the safety of his hollow.

He sprinted in the general direction that he thought the cries had come from. His heart thundered in his chest. More because of his fear for Emeric than the exertion of the sprint.

Kedo made it one hundred meters when he suddenly ran into something with a thunderous crash. He grunted as he fell back, reprimanding himself for not seeing the tree...But, as he raised his eyes, it wasn't a tree standing in front of him, but rather a hooded man. Kedo swallowed nervously as he sprang to his feet. He turned to run away, only to notice that he was completely surrounded by similarly hooded men.

Kedo stared at them with wide eyed fear. Their hoods hid their faces in a deep, shadowing mask. It was impossible to make out any of their features. They all stood still like statues. Kedo stepped back as one of the men stepped towards him, but as if noticing Kedo's fear, the man stopped. He observed the young Rogue for a few seconds before throwing back his hood.

Kedo's eyes grew even wider. The hood had hidden a thick tussle of pitch black hair and knowledgeable, blue eyes...The men surrounding Kedo were all Etreshian...

*****

Emeric dragged himself away from Cart, but the chain that tied the trap to the ground was lingering on the shorter side, and Emeric couldn't put more than two meters between him and the Elite leader. He did his best to hide the fear he felt, but in his pained state, the act seemed easier said than done.

"There's nowhere to go now, Rat." Cart spoke mockingly as he twirled his blade. However, instead of approaching Emeric, he stooped down and got a firm grip in the chain. Emeric paled as he realized what Cart was planning.

He barely had time to prepare himself for the pain before Cart slowly started dragging Emeric closer. Emeric couldn't hold back to cries of pain as agony worse than ever shot up his leg. He grasped at the ground to get away from Cart, but the feeble undergrowth easily gave way under his grip.

After what felt like hours, Cart finally dropped the chain and stood over Emeric. His face was dead serious, no signs of his deranged, humorous side was visible. "Calvert said I can take you to him dead or alive...How about we let the blade decide." He twirled his blade for effect...

Cart suddenly grabbed Emeric by his throat and lifted him off of the ground. Emeric choked in the vice grip, only managing to suck in dire amounts of air. He struggled against and clutched at Cart's arm, but nothing he did eased the pressure. His eyes were wide with shock and the realization that he wasn't going to get away this time. Cart was going to kill him, and he couldn't do anything to prevent the fateful act.