Midnight: Chapter 4

Imagine a time... a time where there was constant bloodshed, constant war, constant death... place yourself in this place of war and darkness, how would you react? What would you do? What COULD you do?

Part 1

“So… what you’re telling me is that both teams failed?”

“No Jackson, in fact, I think this will work out just as we planned it. Holly is being tracked down as we speak and the sword is lost. It won’t be long before we annihilate the final obstacle in our path to victory.” Jackson looked at Scarlet who was also looking at him. Both nodded to each other.

“We’ll track her down if need be.”

Shadow shook his head, “No need. She can’t stand up to them now, Basilisx did a number on her power and don’t forget the nightmares that have been constantly bugging her, courtesy of me of course.”

“Right… you’re positive that the master doesn’t want me to go after her?”

“Yes, Nightmare made it clear when I reported back. We keep to the current plan until further notice.”

“Alright, as our top spy I expect you to keep us well informed.”

“I know. With that, I’m gone. Ciao.” Shadow began to sink into the ground at a slow and steady rate until the ground swallowed him up completely.

Jackson turned to Scarlet again, “Has anyone reported anything about the shards?”

She shook her head, “No Jackson, so far the others haven’t found a thing. The Tribe made sure to leave no specific evidence that pointed to the locations of the shards but we’ll keep looking. Although... there that thing that might point us in the correct direction.”

“Do not fail me Scarlet, I want those shards.”

“I know.”

Holly continued to limp through the bushes of the forest, running every so often to stop from the pain that running caused. She had used more of her power than she would have liked against Basilisx. She ducked behind a tree and slid against it onto the ground. She was still trying to catch her breath.

She heard bushes rustling that sounded nearby. “Oh Ho-lly, come out come out where ever you are!” came the voice of Roman.

“Yeah, come out and play, we have a little something for ya,” came the voice of Jack.

Holly rose from the ground, still trying to catch her breath. “I can’t fight them; I’ve already spent too much light energy against Basilisx,” she thought, “Best to just keep running.”

Holly began to stagger away from the tree when she stepped on a twig which snapped. “You hear that?” Jack asked.

“Yeah, she’s nearby… keep your eyes open Jack.”

Holly took a few more steps forward and stepped on another twig that also snapped. “There, hear that?”

“Yeah, sounded like it came from over there.”

“Let’s go.”

Holly broke into a run, despite the pain it caused her. She heard Jack and Roman break into a run after her but they sounded like they weren’t going very fast. They sounded like they were getting further away to her surprise. This was good; it meant that even in her current state she was faster. “I can outrun them as long as I keep this pace,” she thought.

Sure enough, Holly no longer heard them. They were too far behind her. Just when she thought she could stop and hide, she tripped over a tree root. She landed on the ground with a loud thud. Almost immediately, her pursuers were coming within sound range.

Holly stumbled up and staggered through more bushes. She injured her knee with that fall. She came through a big clump of bushes to find a small wood cabin. She looked on at it for only a few seconds when she was shoved to the ground.

Jack and Roman were holding her down and snarling with laughter. “We enjoyed the hunt while it lasted Holly, but now it’s time to end this game.” Holly closed her eyes, ready for the two warriors to gut her. She was prepared for death when she felt lighter.

The sound of something hitting trees with thuds made her open her eyes. Jack and Roman were no longer on her but were now up against a tree rubbing their heads. “What the heck was that?” Jack muttered. A figure stepped in front of Holly defensively.

“You there, yeah you with the suit; who do you think you are interrupting our business with that girl?!”

“I think that I am William and that I am going to rip those fangs out of your mouths because I hate your kind.”

Jack hissed, “Oh boy oh boy, you don’t know who you’re dealing with.”

“Try it, I can’t guarantee you’ll like the results though,” William mocked.

“Grr… I’ve heard enough from you!”

Roman shot at William. Holly blinked. Right after she blinked she noticed William was now behind Roman, who was facing her at the moment, and that Roman himself had a slash wound going across his chest that was bleeding rather fast. Roman quickly shot around into a small kitchen knife that William was holding. “Just the thing I expected you to do.”

Roman let out a high pitched screech. The next thing Holly knew was that Roman was imploding. Jack took a step back, still glaring at William. Roman’s blood and guts then exploded into the air, flying everywhere.

Jack shot back into the bushes but as he did he muttered something that Holly caught. William sighed and dropped the knife. “Alright, now that that’s taken care of, mind telling me who you are and why they were after you?”

Fire swept through the tunnels. The blaze was bright enough for anyone who was at least a mile away to see. Katherine sat under a tree with the sword that her father had fought so hard for. “…Sword of Light… Holly… Hive… fate of the planet…” she murmured to herself.

Katherine still couldn’t piece together what had happened or what was going on. Her head shot up, light had just flickered behind a tree that was only a few feet in front of her.

“S-Shadow,” someone nearby stammered. Katherine got on her hands and knees. She slowly began to approach the tree and looked around it, remaining hidden.

She saw someone with short black hair and someone with long white hair who wore the exact same robe as the one Hive warrior she saw during the attack. The one with the white hair looked like the guy she had seen a few weeks ago on the night of the attack on the Lycan’s territory.

“You failed to eliminate Holly... Jack, now what I want to know is why?”

Katherine quivered. “Whoever this Holly person is, these guys are after her…” she thought.

“You see, Shadow… this is what happened. Roman and I had her down on the ground and were seconds away from carving her throat out when some guy knocked us into trees. He taunted Roman a little too much and then the next thing I knew was that Roman was imploding and that this other guy was holding a bloody kitchen knife.”

“So why didn’t you do something about him?”

“He looked tough, I didn’t think I could-.”

“Exactly, you didn’t think.”

“No, I thought that I couldn’t beat him so I ran off.”

“Yet you couldn’t finish the job before running off?”

“I couldn’t get near her without getting my butt handed to me Shadow!”

The one named Shadow grabbed Jack’s throat with his right hand and held him in the air, “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t kill you. Because of your lack of courage, the only person who can stop our goals is still out there!”

“Because I-I saw …s-s-something!”

“Such as?”

“A… a… a piece of the…. Mirror, the… star piece!” Shadow instantly released Jack, who fell to the ground gasping for air.

“Where was it?”

Jack looked up at Shadow with fear in his eyes, “It was… on a necklace around her neck.”

“Yet you didn’t take it… how disappointing…” Shadow held his palm out towards Jack’s face.

“Oh god! Wait! Please no!” A bright ball of light shot from his palm in ignited Jack.

Jack screamed for only a second before he was reduced to ashes. “Weakling… he deserved to perish if he couldn’t complete a simple task, perhaps I should have had Basilisx finish it for them… oh well, what’s done is done. Now we have two plans that failed... Nightmare won’t be pleased about this…” Shadow exploded into small fragments of light, which spread out and dimmed until they were gone.

Something flared up in Katherine. She started to piece what she had heard together. The Hive clearly wanted world domination, this Holly person is the only one who can stop them, and they want the sword as well as the shards that Shadow mentioned.

Part 2

“I’ll ask you again, who are you?” Holly looked at the back of his head; he hadn’t moved. She stood up questioning her savior for his actions. “My name is Holly… and you are?”

“The name’s William.”

“Ok William, might I ask why you saved me?”

“I had my reasons.”

“What rea …” Holly started. Before she could finish her question, she fell flat on the ground, unconscious. The lack of enough sleep and the absence of her light energy had drained her.

Light lit up the sky and rained down on the land below. Holly began to stir. Her eyes slowly began to open. “Awake at last…” Holly’s eyes glanced over at William.

“You had your chance to ask questions, now I want my chance to ask. What are you, why were those two clowns after you; and why are your wounds healing so fast right now?”

Holly’s eyes drifted to a cut that was caused by a thorn patch. The cut was drying up and healing. She sighed. “Alright… I’ll answer your questions. I’m originally from…” and thus she began to tell her tale, a tale of war, hatred, and a lot of pain.

“… and so that is my guess as to why they came after me. They want this shard here that hangs around my neck and they also want me dead.” Holly’s story had taken several minutes to tell. She held up a piece of glass like crystal that was hanging on a metal chain that was around her neck.

“So these mirror shards… they contain this light energy that disrupted the field and these dark… energy guys want them to do what?”

She let out a loud sigh, “They want the shards to reopen the portals between the dimensions so that they can take over this world.”

“Right… sorry for asking… by any chance might these clowns wear black cloaks with blood red stars?”

“Yeah, the actual Hive warriors wear them but not hired earth dwellers like those two Vampire guys… how did you know?”

“I’ve been around, seen things; in fact about a month ago I saw a group of guys wearing them cloaks and a few without. I didn’t pay much attention to them but I did hear something about some Sword of Light but from what I heard out of you, you can just make more swords so what’s the deal, why is it so important?”

“If a person keeps it in their possession for a certain amount of time, they won’t know it but the sword will infuse the person with light energy, changing them into a light energy user. It is a threat to the Hive, if I were to fail that sword could create a new hero to defeat them, which is why they want it.”

William nodded signaling that he understood what she was saying. “So where is this sword now?”

“Well, my father entrusted it to a hybrid family that leads some Vampire clan not too far away.” William’s expression went from calm to freaking out blue. Holly noticed this and with a gulp said, “What’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry to say Holly, but the only clan I knew of that had such a set up was attacked last night and eradicated by a Lycan clan.”

Holly looked mortified, “What!?” was all she could say.

“Yeah, I saw this huge group of Lycan following four guys, one of them was muscular looking and he had sharp looking teeth and nails. Had dirty blonde hair and referred to them as his warriors.”

“Dustin… he’s the leader of that clan.”

“Sounds about right, and with him was this other guy who seemed to be second in command, David if I heard ‘em right. Then the other two, one of ‘em was a Vampire that walked right behind the guy that led the pack. The guy that led them was Cortez or something.”

Holly turned blue. William noticed this and decided to ask, “Hey Holly, why are you so blue all of a sudden?”

She turned back to him with a flare in her eyes and opened her mouth to speak, “Cortez was one of the top captains of the Hive during the war. My father challenged him long ago but the fight was a stalemate, neither was winning the fight. In the end, Cortez escaped.”

“So he was that strong? I’m impressed.”

She laughed for a second before she continued with the story, “Yeah, he isn’t a push over, I’ll say that.”

“Holly, if these Hive guys are as strong as you say they are, then why do they use hired help like Lycan and Vampires?”

“Well, as strong as they are they aren’t invincible. They use hired help to do the dirty work that way they don’t have to lift a finger and risk being killed. They’ll require hired help until they collect at least two shards.”

“Why is that?”

“With just two shards together, they can open small portals that’ll allow actual Darkling to pass to this dimension, but it will be limited. Big power sources like Nightmare or Cortez will only be able to pass through when all thirteen are together but they will be able to have several of their warriors pass through. There is a catch though. The shards, when separate, will have a limit to what can pass through the portals before the power must recharge. With two I’d say less than a dozen can pass through a portal. It would take a day perhaps to regain enough light power to redo this process. But of course the more they have, the more things can pass through. With twelve for example, if ten could come with just two and it doubles or something like that every time, the shards could maintain a portal that could allow millions of warriors to pass through. No matter how many you have though the time it takes them to recharge enough power to do it again stays the same. With all thirteen as I said, the portals will remain open permanently and allow the bigger powers like Nightmare to pass through.”

“I see… Holly, I’ve listened well and I was wondering if I might be able to aid you with your job?” Holly’s eyes lit up with surprise.

“I promise you that I will put my life on the line if it means stopping these Hive freaks from taking over the planet.”

“Are you sure? I can’t guarantee that you’ll live to see the end of-”

William interrupted her, “Listen, Holly, I want to help you protect the earth; you can’t do it alone. Besides, it’s not like I have anything better to do with my time,” he joked.

“Alright William, thanks.”

“Aw, isn’t this sweet?” an unfamiliar voice said.

Holly and William glanced to their rights to see David, Milly, and some other guy who wore the Hive robe, along with several other Lycan warriors. Holly glared at David and Milly but soon exploded with rage.

They had their hands and legs tied together. The warrior who wore the robe was Dustin. “Here I come walking just after being reanimated by Shadow to find this sloppy rag tag group.”

“You… you’re a Hive warrior now?” Dustin chuckled. His dirty blonde hair blew to his right with the wind and dropped in his face covering his right eye.

“Yes, during the attack William was just telling you about I had my jaw shattered by one of them hybrid slobs of the Vampire clan. I appeared dead and almost was but Shadow appeared and made me all cuddly again, as a Hive warrior. Then I got this slick robe to match my new developing power and style. I was supposed to go look for the girl that nearly killed me cause of some sword but I think killing you will be just as good. Then I’ll go look for this sword I was told to go get.”

Holly burst into laughter. Realizing that the sword was safe made her explode with happiness. William glanced at Milly and David then to Dustin. “So why did you tie them up cowboy?”

Dustin chuckled, “Well if you must know, these two cowards are going to be slaughtered for abandoning me and the battle.”

Milly looked hopingly at Holly, “Holly, save us please, we’re sorry.”

David chirped in with her, “Don’t let them kill us please!”

Holly nodded to William who nodded back. His arm shot in the air and swung down. The ropes that were used to tie Milly and David up fell apart. Next to them were four small knives.

David and Milly instantly shot away from the pack and dashed towards William and Holly. Both stopped and turned to face the pack when they were to either side of their saviors.

Dustin growled. “Thanks guys, tell you what, we’ll repay our debt by helping you fight these dirty traitors.”

Milly quickly nodded. “Alright,” Holly murmured. She counted at least twenty Lycan, not counting Dustin.

Dustin stood in front of his warriors who were all chuckling at their opponents. “Men, I want you to rip these fools to shreds. No mercy, no acting like cowards, fight to the death, and make sure you don’t shatter that sparkly thing hangin ‘round Holly’s neck, do I make myself clear?” Dustin questioned.

“Sir yes sir!” they all yowled.

Dustin pointed at his opponents, “Charge!”

Part 3

Katherine slashed away at the bushes that were in her way. The moon was now setting. Thoughts exploded in her head. She thought of her family, the clan, the Hive, the sword, the mysterious shards, and of the world. She felt confused and lost.

Questions were eating away at her. She glanced at the sword and wondered why they were after it. She glanced up at the moon unaware that she was about to walk into someone. She bumped into a figure and landed on the ground, dropping the sword in a bush.

She rubbed her head and looked to see what she walked into. “Watch where you’re walking!” someone muttered annoyed. Her eyes fell upon a white haired teen, his eyes were sapphire blue.

Though he appeared to resemble the Shadow person she had seen earlier, this guy appeared to be weaker and more timid, not to mention a few years younger. “Sorry,” she muttered.

The stranger looked at her with curiosity, “You look familiar… oh well. So what’s a kid like you doing out here alone?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” she joked. The stranger smirked at her comment.

“Well, I guess I should answer you first even though I asked first. I’m out here gathering some herbs.”

“Maybe I can help?”

“Nah, it doesn’t matter, it's around here so I will find it eventually. So why are you out here?”

She sighed, “Well, if you must know, my uhh… town was attacked and destroyed not too long ago, I’m just wandering around right now,” she said. Katherine didn't want to let on that she was a hybrid warrior for one of the clans.

“Sorry to hear that; a lot of attacks have been happening lately. No one really knows what’s going on.”

“I know… I was the only survivor, I think I was anyway, I haven’t seen anyone else though.”

“I see… I’m sorry to hear that miss…”

“Oh, my name is Katherine. What’s your name?” He hesitated a little before answering, “My name… it's... it's not important...”

“Well, sorry about bumping into you, I have to go now.”

“Ok, later, maybe we’ll run into each other again someday.”

“That would be nice.” The stranger turned away and walked into a darker area of the forest leaving Holly. She walked over to where she dropped the sword and picked it up. She then continued walking onward to where ever the forest would take her.

Part 4

Holly glared at Dustin. The Lycan warriors charged at Holly and her gang. Dustin and Milly charged ahead and slammed into two of the Lycan instantly yelling out that they were traitors. William drew out a sword and charged into battle followed by Holly who was forming two rods out of light energy. She slammed one of them into a Lycan warrior and kicked at another one other warrior.

Her eyes locked with Dustin’s but their eye contact was interrupted as three more Lycan blocked their gazes. Holly ducked under one and kicked upward. The warrior put his hands together and fell over as the other two that were charging Holly punched her away. Their claws swung at her as she was in the air but she spun in just the right way to avoid being hit by them.

She landed on her hands and knees ready for the next attack. She didn’t have to wait for long, in only a matter of seconds, another Lycan was going for Holly. She reacted by throwing one of the rods at the forehead of one of the Lycan.

Nearby, William was swinging away at Lycan after Lycan. They went down but they didn’t stay down for long. Soon it was one of them against five Lycan. David swung at a Lycan’s nose but the Lycan rolled left and swung. David jumped out of the way just as the claws were about to slice him.

Milly was transforming into her wolf state. William was temporarily covering her while she did so with his sword. A second one emerged from his sleeve and cut off a part of a Lycan’s ear. Once she was completely transformed, William let her do her thing and got out of the way, followed by five Lycan.

Holly breathed in deeply and then breathed out a bright mist. Three of her opponents evaded while the other two were caught in it. The mist had blinded them temporarily. As they stumbled about she concentrated on the other three.

Dustin looked on at the fight with a grin. It was a stalemate; neither side was letting their enemy deliver a death blow. At least it appeared that way. To him, his warriors weren’t having a hard time but in reality, they were working themselves to the max. Fear of what Dustin would do to them if they failed was controlling them at this point.

It didn’t take long until at last, William dropped one with an insertion to the lower jaw and upper jaw with a sword. He pulled it out and splattered another Lycan’s blood across the ground. As he did this, Holly, Milly, and David were beginning to kill.

Holly finished off two with the rods while David caused serious head trauma to another, just as Milly clawed two others’ faces off. David made another one drop dead with another hard slam to the head. William finished two more off just as Milly killed two more.

David killed two more, one of which he had a Lycan do to the other by mistake as he slammed another Lycan’s head. Holly literally stuck it to two other Lycan with the rods.

William was the first one to finish off his Lycan by cutting off the last one’s head. Milly bit into the head of her last one just as David slammed his last one’s head. As Milly spat out what she had bitten off Holly was rushing at her last one and with a stab to the head, Dustin’s forces were no more.

Dustin looked enraged at the sight of his warriors being slaughtered. Holly left the rod in the Lycan’s head and walked towards her allies who were standing next to each other and staring at Dustin. Holly walked in front of the group and stood ready for Dustin to attack.

“Our move Dustin,” she announced.

“No I don’t think so fools. Holly, it’s time that you met your end, now allow me to demonstrate that delicious power that you have more than likely forgotten in these times of piece!”

A black light emitted from Dustin and exploded outward. As the black glow surrounded him he let out a growl. The wind picked up, blowing away from him. His skin turned completely black and his hair turned black.

The skin looked like it was crawling around in a liquid state. His eyes turned purple. Dustin was using the full power of his dark energy.

He glared at his opponents and grinned. “I’ll crush you!” Dustin’s pupils widened and from them, a wave of dark electricity shot at Holly. She rolled left and held out her palm.

From her palm she shot white lightning at Dustin just as the black lightning shot into the ground, which sent dust flying Dustin jumped to the left to avoid it but as he came to a halt, William was in the air in front of him with a sword coming down. Dustin sent a wave of dark energy flying at William.

William landed as Dustin shot away with an arm that was being encased by a shell-like black casing. Holly turned and pointed a finger at it; from her finger, a white light shot forth. The light hit the casing and made it shatter. William glanced at her and nodded.

Dustin broke into a laugh. Holly glared at the warrior as he did so, feeling his mocking gesture. “Come now, is that all that the mighty Tribe warrior can do to stop me?”

Holly’s green eyes lit up sky blue; Dustin’s mocking was making her feel like lighting up the whole area with one of her special light explosions but she knew she couldn’t control it yet or generate enough light energy to maintain it long enough at this point. “Alright wise guy… you’re asking for it.”

Dustin held his hands above the ground with an evil grin on his face. “What is he up to now…?” Holly thought.

“Let’s see if you can handle this one ladies, trust me, this one will bring back memories Holly. You referred to this one as the dark art of creation right?”

Holly spat at the ground, “Great, he’s learned that in such a short amount of time? The Hive has gotten a lot stronger since the war if they’ve taught him this already.”

Dustin chuckled, “You have no idea do you?” Dustin motioned his hands towards the ground. When they made contact with the ground, it instantly began to blacken, crackle, and break.

Everyone stared at the ground for a small amount of time and then at Dustin. He hadn’t moved an inch but now the ground around him was beginning to yet again.

Holly hissed. “Get ready guys, here comes trouble!”

David turned his head to Holly, “What kind of trouble?” The ground in front of Dustin broke apart and flew up into the air, landing everywhere. Several figures shot out of the new hole in the ground and landed in front of it.

Holly continued to stare at what Dustin had made. “Dark energy infused rock creatures… how nice.” Indeed, the things that had popped out of the ground were rock-like and chimp-like.

They had no real eyes; instead it was only dark energy that was circulating through the rock, allowing Dustin to control it. “This should be interesting, insects like you against rock. But of course, we all know what happens when a rock falls on a bug, the bug gets squished.”

The rock entities began to walk towards the four. Holly glanced around; everyone was short of breath it seemed. They can’t win this battle, she thought.

Holly held her palm out. The rock creatures stopped waiting to see what she was up to. A bright light shot from Holly’s palm and temporarily blinded Dustin. “Run!” Holly yelled.

There was running and then silence as Dustin rubbed his eyes. When he opened them, the four were gone. “Find them,” he barked.

Part 5

Katherine stumbled through more bushes. The sun was up but she still felt lost in the forest. Though she was still alive she was feeling weak. It had now been three days and nights since the Lycan attack on her clan and she was feeling hungry, thirsty, and tired.

She backed up against a tree and slid against it downward. “I should be far enough away now… a quick nap won’t hurt.” Her eyes closed and she drifted off, for about five seconds that is. She shot up just as someone landed on the ground a few feet ahead of her.

“Hey there sweetie, what’s a girl like you doing in a forest like this, it be dangerous in here don’t ya know?”

Katherine noticed that this person had a knife in his hand. “I’m lost,” she replied.

“Well ain’t that just the saddest tale but I’ll help ya out.”

Katherine sat up with hope in her eyes, “Really?”

“Oh yeah, I’ll help ya out alright.” The man jumped and landed on top of Katherine. She struggled and screamed.

The man held the knife up to her face with a grin, “I told ya I’d get ya out, just not like you wanted. A man has gotta eat ya know?” He held the knife up in the air while being careful to not let her get loose. Katherine closed her eyes and screamed as the knife came down.

A gunshot sounded in the air. Blood dripped on Katherine’s face. She slowly opened her left eye, and then the other. The man moved his left hand over a bleeding gunshot wound.

He slowly began to turn around when another shot went off. The man fell off of Katherine with a hole in his head. Katherine backed against the tree and looked into the distance.

Standing about the length of two buses away was another person. Katherine looked onward confused. Whoever it was was now walking towards her. “You ok ma’am?” the person said.

The guy wore blue torn jeans, a dirty white shirt, and a bandana. “Ye-yeah, thanks.”

“Them thugs is all over this here part of the woods, it helps to carry a little something for pertection,” he spoke, pointing to his gun as he said a little something for protection.

“The name is Spencer, call me Spence or Spenca ma’am, ok.” This Spencer guy looked to be older than sixteen but also not a day over twenty. “Who might you be missy?”

“I’m Katherine,” she replied feeling a tad annoyed by how he talked.

“Katherine eh? So what is ya doing out here miss, like that foo said, it be dangerous out here.”

“Let’s just say I’m a wanderer.”

“Ah, one of them peoples is ya? You happen to know bout them there clan folks up ‘head? I hears that they is actual Lycan and Vampires.”

“Well, I can tell that you’re a Lycan if you’re wondering.”

Spencer looked surprised at Katherine’s accusation. “Now how’d you know that ma’am?”

“It’s because I’m a hybrid, I can tell these things.”

“Well I’ll be hogtied and thrown in a skillet, a hybrid you says? Haven’t seen many of ya ‘round this here forest, thought they was extinct or somethin.”

“Oh no, we’re still around; in fact one of the clans up that way is a hybrid clan. Well, I guess I’ll tell you why I’m a wanderer currently.” And so Katherine told her tale of the Hive and the attack on her clan.

“… yes and these Hive guys want to rule the world. I’m supposed to go find this Holly person but I heard this Shadow guy say that they ran her out of the Hybrid clan.”

“Ah, I sees… well that is a sad story right there, I’d feel betta if ya let me go with ya; them there Hive people sound out of their minds if they think they can pick a fight with us earth goers.”

Katherine glanced at Spencer, “Like I said earlier, this won’t be an easy task. They want this sword and Holly no matter what from what I’ve gathered.”

“Well, I know that she wouldn’t be round here, probly back by them clan folks ya know. I bettin my butt she’d be round there yet but I thinking she won’t stay fer long.”

“You think so? Well what’re we waiting around here for Spence, let’s get going!”