Chapter 3

Chapter 3 of the novel that I am writing.

Spencer crouched down in the bushes and readied his bow. The massive stag that stood at the other side of the Hunter’s Creek appeared to be completely oblivious to his presence. Spencer moved forward slightly, hoping to get a better aim. The stag looked towards him, but didn’t run off.

Thank goodness, Spencer thought when the stag went back to nibbling at the leaves on a birch tree. It had been a while since Spencer had been able to bring home a deer. For some reason, he hadn’t been seeing them around Hunter’s Creek as much as he used to. It didn’t seem to mean anything to anyone else, but the animals at Hunter’s Creek were Spencer’s main source of food and money. There were always lots of squirrels and rabbits, but he always made the most money off of deer skins.

 Spencer drew his arm back, waiting for the right moment to release the arrow. He was by no means the most experienced hunter. He had only started to learn to use a bow when last year after his mother passed away from an illness.  The death of his mother had hit him hard. He had just discovered his fire powers, and she was just teaching him how to control them. Spencer had more or less learned how to keep his powers under control. There had been a few incidents where he almost burned his house down, but luckily the only person to witness them was his sister, Eva, who also had powers.

The stag moved a few steps forward, into a clearing. Spencer had the perfect shot. He was about to release the arrow, and shoot the stag.

“Spencer!”

The stag ran off, and Spencer lowered his bow. And there goes our food for the next few days, he thought miserably.

“Spencer!” It was Eva.

“What?” He tried not to sound irritated. Hunter’s Creek was about a mile away from Farrowin, the town where Spencer and Eva lived. He knew that whatever it was, it must be important for Eva to have to leave the house and come all that way to find him. Spencer wanted it to be important, otherwise it was all for nothing.

Eva came running towards him, ducking under branches and jumping gracefully over rocks and logs. She came to a stop when she reached him. She was breathing heavily, and her auburn hair was plastered to her forehead with sweat. Had she really ran all that way to find him?
“What’s going on?” Spencer asked.

“The Patrol,” Eva said between heavy breaths, “They’re here, for us. And yes,” She added,  “I did run all that way just to find you.”

“What,” Spencer gasped in disbelief, “How? We’ve been so careful about hiding our powers.”

“That’s not important,” Eva said, “We need to go before they get us.”

Spencer just stared back at her in disbelief. Who could have tipped them off? He didn’t even know that the Patrol was real up untill now. There had been rumours, sure, but nothing had ever been confirmed.

“Now, Spencer,” Eva ordered.

Spencer stood up and he and Eva started to run alongside the creek.

“So,” Spencer said, “Where are we going?”

“Dunno,” Eva said, “Alderad, I guess. It’s closest. It’s a lot bigger than Farrowin, too. We should be able to hide easily once we get there. Enough questions now.”

“That was one question,” Spencer pointed out.

“So?”

“I have more,” Spencer said, “Who do you think sent the Patrol after us?”

“I don’t know, Spencer,” Eva said, “I wasn’t getting anything suspicious from anyone in town.”

“Do you think it was someone from a different town then,” Spencer asked.

“I guess,” Eva said, panting heavily, “It must be. But I can read minds, Spencer, and I didn’t hear anything suspicious from anyone.”

“So you literally have no idea,” Spencer said.

“Just keep running.”

They ran for what felt like ages. Spencer was beginning to sweat, and his feet were getting sore. He wondered how Eva must be feeling, having ran all the way from their home. It wouldn’t have been an easy run either. The path from Farrowin to Hunter’s Creek was full of hills. Most of them were pretty steep, too.

“Why don’t we catch our breath for a bit,” Spencer suggested, “I think we lost them.”

“Good idea,” Eva said, “Not for long though. We don’t want them to catch up.”

Spencer nodded in agreement. He leaned back against a huge oak tree and wiped the sweat off of his forehead. “So,” He said.

“I don’t know who ratted us out, ok,” Eva said.

“If you had to guess,” Spencer prompted. He just wanted some form of an answer. Even if it was nothing more than a guess at who might have done it. What if whoever it was worked for the Patrol? That could mean that someone from Farrowin could be a spy.

“Well if I had to guess,” Eva said, “I would probably say Gus.”

“Gus?” Spencer repeated the name, as if it were completely unknown to him, “Why Gus?” Gus was the man that bought most of the animal skins off of Spencer. He seemed like a nice enough man. It was difficult for Spencer to imagine him doing something so terrible.

“He’s been ripping you off, Spencer,” Eva said, “And I confronted him about it. I don’t think he’s working for the Patrol, though.”

Spencer didn’t know what to make of this news. He wanted to press Eva for more information. He opened his mouth to speak, but said nothing. In the distance, he heard some dogs barking and men shouting.

“That’s them,” Eva said. She took off running, and Spencer followed close behind.

They dashed off into a small clearing in the forest. Spencer could hear the Patrol gaining on them. He could hear the dogs snarling, and the men shouting. Spencer glanced over his shoulder, hoping he wouldn’t see anything. He screamed when he saw a small crowd of men and about five dogs chasing them across the clearing. The Patrol was starting to catch up on them. Spencer was beginning to regret ever taking the break. It hadn’t even been long enough for him and Eva to regain any energy.

Spencer and followed Eva back into the forest. He was exhausted. He wanted to take another break, but he knew that every step he took was one step close to Alderad. Every step put distance between him and the Patrol. Hopefully they would be safe soon.

“Be careful up here,” Eva called from a few feet ahead of him. The ground was more uneven now. It was full of uphills and downhills, and rocks stuck out everywhere. Eva was able to maneuver around them quickly and carefully, but Spencer had more trouble. He had to constantly look down at the ground to make sure he was placing his steps right. He had never been as graceful as his sister, and he was definitely paying for it now. There were several times where he nearly fell because he had put his foot down in the wrong spot. Spencer looked back again. The Patrol was getting even closer now.

“Spencer,” Eva called out, “Watch where you’re going!”

No sooner than she had spoken, Spencer tripped on a rock protruding from the ground and fell face first into the dirt. A sharp pain shot up his right ankle. There was no way he would be able to escape the Patrol now.

Eva had stopped running now. She had turned to face Spencer. “Spencer, are you ok?” She asked, “Can you get up?” She was looking into the distance at the Patrol guards, who were getting closer and closer.

“No,” Spencer said, “I hurt my ankle when I fell. You have to go on without me.”

“I’m not doing that,” Eva said. She sounded almost offended that he had even suggested it.

“You have to,” Spencer said desperately, “Maybe I’ll be able to escape. Maybe we’ll meet up again.”

“I’m not taking that chance,” Eva said, “Mom wanted us to stick together when she died.”

Spencer said nothing in response. He couldn’t think of anything to counter his sister’s argument.

The dogs came first. They ran towards Spencer and jumped at him. He screamed in pain as they bit and scratched at him. He heard one of the men shout a command, and almost instantly the dogs backed off. It’s over, Spencer thought, It’s actually over. He was trembling in shock, and he could feel blood seeping through his skin in multiple places. Between his ankle, and the dog bites, he couldn’t recall ever being in so much pain.

“Well, well, well,” One of the Patrol guards asked, as he examined Spencer from a few feet away, “What do we have here?”

They’ve finally come for us, Spencer thought. The thought panicked him, and he started to feel his hands growing warm the way they always did right before he used his powers. He’d been trying to work on keeping them under control for a long time. He had been pretty good with them, but he always had a harder time controlling them when he was scared. Spencer looked over at Eva, who just shook her head nervously.

The Patrol guard stepped closer and that was when Spencer lost control. A fireball shot from his hand and hit the Patrol guard’s left shoulder. The Patrol guard screamed, then ran off. Spencer didn’t see where he went, but he assumed it was probably towards Hunter’s Creek.

As soon as the Patrol guard left, about six more arrived to replace him. They wasted no time in making sure that Spencer would be unable to hurt any more of them. Two of them walked up to him, and Spencer noticed that they both had wooden clubs in their hands. They raised the clubs, and before Spencer could cry out for help, the two guards swung their clubs and smashed them into the side of Spencer’s head.

***

Eva stared in horror at her brother’s limp body. Spencer was a fairly brave kid. It was difficult to see him give in so easily. It wasn’t like him at all. The Patrol guards were all looking at her now. Eva knew that she couldn’t run away anymore. She couldn’t just leave Spencer alone with the Patrol. Not after they had seen what he could do.

“Are you like him?” One of the Patrol Guards asked her, gesturing to Spencer.

“Probably,” One of the other Patrol Guards answered for her, “Given how much the two of them ran from us, I would say it’s a safe assumption.”

“As if she’d even tell the truth anyways,” a third one chimed in.

“Look,” The first one said, “The King has started to investigate some kidnappings. He’s on our case. If we want to get away with this--”

“I got this,” The second Patrol Guard said.

Eva sank to her knees. There was nothing that she could do. She couldn’t bring herself to leave Spencer. Even if she could, the Patrol would just keep chasing her. They’d get her eventually.

“Aww,” The Patrol Guard said, “Not gonna put up a fight.”

“Just do it,” Eva said bitterly.

“That takes the fun out of everything,” The Patrol Guard said.

One of the other Patrol Guards sighed impatiently. “Today would be nice, Daniel.”

“I was just hoping for at least a bit of a struggle,” Daniel said, “But fine.” He raised his club and swung it. Pain erupted in Eva’s skull as the club made contact with the side of her head. Then there was nothing but blackness.

Author's Note

I feel like the opening for this chapter is a bit weak, but openings really aren't my strong point. Anyways, as always, your feedback is appreciated. I'd love to hear your thoughts now that the first three chapters are done finally.