Chapter 26 Miria: Nice to see you too--not really

Chapter 26 Miria: Nice to see you too---not really.

Compared to our other days of travel, today was the easiest. Chris and I rode through the forest with out any problems. Until our map get's stolen by a cardinal. 

We were already lost. Chris had been careful to make sure we were going west by observing the sun. But the thick canopy of the forest made it hard to tell. We couldn't go in a straight line either--we kept having to maneuver around sticks and trees. 

We were taking a break. Chris had put the map down to get a drink from his canteen. In that time frame--only about ten seconds--a cardinal had swooped down, picked up the map, and carried it away. 

Now, we are standing at the truck of a very tall black ash tree. Our necks are sore from looking up at the cardinal's nest--situated near the top of the tree. 

"Do you think we could throw a rock up there, or something?" I suggest. 

Chris shakes his head. A grim expression is painted on his face. "One of us are going to have to climb it. But the highest branch is out of both of our reaches." He turns his gaze on me. "You can't lift me up."

I realize what he's saying, and gulp. The tree looks even taller now. 

"There has to be another way. You can get up on Scotch's back and start climbing."

"The branches up their are too thin. They would probably brake under my weight. But you have the chance of getting up there."

I narrow my eyes. "A chance?"

He sighs. "Miria, please."

I am reminded of what he had said to me this morning. I feel like I have no choice but to do it; Chris needed me. 

I allow him to lift me up so I can grab the first branch. It's only about eight feet off the ground, but it's way too high for me. I cling to the bark tightly, and freeze. 

"Come on, Miria, we need to get that map!" Chris says. "It's our only way out of here!"

I take a deep breath. I am careful not to look up or down--only at the wood in front of my. It is the only way to keep me from freezing with fear. I reach out, blindly grabbing one branch after the next, and pulling myself up. 

Before I know it, I am just below the birds nest, and the map is in sight. At this height, the branches were barely strong enough to hold me. I don't dare climb up any higher. With one hand, I grip a branch so tightly, my knuckles turn white. I reach up towards the nest with the other. My finger's graze the edge of the paper. 

I squeeze my eyes shut, and very slowly, lift myself onto my toes. If I loose balance, it'll be a long and probably fatal fall to the bottom. 

I feel the branch I am standing on bend beneath me. It is now or never. With all the courage I can muster, I jump up to grab the map. The jump is only two or three inches. But when you're forty feet up in a tree, that jump is anything but little. 

My fist closes around the edge of the map, and I yank it from the nest. As I come back down, the branch creaks under my weight. I'm sure it is going to break. It bounces a little, and then goes still. 

"Alright, Mir!" Chris cheers for me. 

I sigh; the hard part is over. Going down was going to be a lot easier than going up. Before I start the decent, I look out through a gap in the leaves.

"Chris!" I call down, smiling. "I can see the mountains from here!"

"Are you serious?"

"Yes! They're straight ahead!" I point in the direction. 

Chris follows my hand carefully. I watch him take a mental note of the direction. 

"Okay, that's great.  Get down here, but go slowly."

I reach the bottom branch quickly. Chris offers his hands, and helps me down. I give Chris the map, and we mount our horses. 

I look over my shoulder at the tree. 

"It's kind of peculiar," I say, "we were lost, then that bird just happened to come along and bring us to the perfect vantage point."

Chris shrugs. He keeps his eyes on the map. "Some coincidence."

I stay silence. It was too perfect to be a coincidence.

 By midday, we reach the base of the mountains. Now, for the next phase of our search; finding McNeil. Problem is, we have no clue how to get started.

"What do we do now?" I say to Chris. "Just go around to all the caves and ask if any one's home?'

Chris studies the mountains, and sighs. Then, he stops, focusing on something.

I look where his gaze is focused, and see a shape melt from the rocks.

"A mountain lion?" Chris says.

Frostbite stomps her hoof nervously. I pat her neck to comfort her. The cat is a good thirty yards away, just staring at us placidly. In one fluid motion, it turns and starts walking up a trail. Before going to far, it stops, and looks over it's shoulder at us.

"I think it want's us to follow it," I say.

I am in no hurry to get near a wild cougar, but we don't have anywhere to turn.

"Do you think it's connected to McNeil somehow?" Chris wonders.

"I'm pretty sure getting strangers to follow them is not the normal behavior of a cougar. McNeil must be behind this; theirs no other possibility."

I signal Frostbite to walk forwards, and we start following the cougar; a good couple of yards behind.

After a while of following the cougar up the trail, I am afraid the cat has been leading us nowhere. We turn a corner, and there she is.

The cougar goes right by her. She didn't bat an eye; she is focused on us. She looks exactly like she did the last time I saw her in the village; a white cotton shirt and black pants and boots, with her silver cloak around her shoulders. Her golden hair gleams slightly red in the midday sun. Her blue eyes are just as piercing as ever.

Chris and I dismount our horses, and step towards her. Ylvana runs at us, and surprisingly, pulls us into a hug. Ylvana never hugged anyone. I have a suspicion that this girl is not the same girl who got kidnapped five days ago.

"I can't believe it!" I say. "We hoped McNeil would help us find you, we didn't think you'd actually be here." 

"I just got here yesterday!" she says.

"Did you know we were coming?" Chris asks her. Between the cougar, and Ylvana sitting out here on the rocks, it certainly did seem like she was expecting us.

She nods. "McNeil and I both knew it." Then, her eyes turned sad. "I saw what happened . . . about Alex."

Chris hangs his head.

"How could you possibly know about that?' I ask.

Ylvana runs a hand through her hair. "Kind of complicated. I have these futuristic dreams, and then McNeil's fire showed you coming through the woods without Alex . . . "

"At least she didn't die in vain," I say, "she wanted to find you, and here you are! Now we can bring you back, and Alex can rest in peace."

Ylvana's face suddenly pales. I worry I may have said something wrong. She fidgets nervously.

"There is something I should tell you guys," Ylvana says, quietly. She seems to struggle to form words. "You know, uh, well . . . Chris, this may be a surprise, but . . . "

"You can shift," he cuts in.

Ylvana's eyes slightly widen.

"Mir told us," he says.

"Accidentally!" I add.

"Okay, well, it turns out I'm not just a shifter. You know the story about Skoll sending a guardian to protect the runestone?"

Chris and I nod anxiously. I remember talking to Gwen in the library about how Ylvana knows the story, but doesn't believe it.

"Well, my I have my powers because Skoll granted them to me. I am the Wolf Princess."

"Okay," I nod my head. This news didn't seem that far fetched to me; Ylvana was still the same person, hero or not. "So, what does this mean."

"It means I can't go back," she looks at me sadly, "I have to stay out here and learn to use my powers."

I blink in surprise. No way could I have guessed that after days in the wilderness, Ylvana would choose not to come back to the castle. I can't believe that after all this time, she still holds a grudge against my father.

"So, you're not going back?" My voice takes on an edgy tone.

"I can't. This is my responsibility. If I go back, your father won't let me leave the castle."

"Because who in there right minds would want to leave the castle?" I argue. "Ana, I don't doubt you're the Wolf Princess; that's actually not surprising. But you can't fight this war alone, especially from all the way out here."

"Well it's better than doing nothing," Ylvana matches my dark tone.

I immediately know where this is going.

"Unbelievable! After all this time, instead of appreciating the help my father has been trying to offer you, you criticize him!"

"When that plan to protect me turns out to not help me at all, and has actually made things worse, I think I have every right to criticize him?" Ana narrows her eyes at me.

"Oh, so keeping you alive has made things worse for you? May I remind you that you have been safe, and only got taken after you left the castle."

"I'm well aware of that," she growls.

"We just traveled halfway across the island for you, and--" I shrug my shoulder's, "it's all for nothing? You don't appreciate it?"

"Mir." Chris whispers, but I ignore him.

"Alex died so that you could get back home. But, what? Is that not special enough for you? Her sacrifice was touching , but it wasn't centered enough around you, is that it?"

Ylvana's fists were clenched, and her eyes were glowing fiercely, but I didn't back down. I wanted to get her upset--I was sick and tired of her selfishness.

"You'd know all about selfishness, wouldn't you? No, better yet, you don't know much about anything. You just sit around the castle, pretending to know everything and being the perfect princess. You don't know what I've been through out here! I've been facing wild animals and escaping Crows, meanwhile wondering how much my mother and friends much be worry over me. I"ve had to face things you couldn't even imagine! I realize in the past I may have been selfish. I'm ready to change that now. Choosing to stay out here and start training was not easy, and certainly isn't selfish. I might be giving up everything I've ever care about? How is that selfish?"

"Yes it is selfish, because you can't stop thinking about what you want. If you didn't want to be out here and train, you wouldn't. Meanwhile, your mother is back home, with no idea where you are, if your even alive. But, what does that matter to you? You don't take her thoughts into account."

Ylvana's eyes flicker, and I know I've hit a nerve.

"Sacrifice is never easy," she says, turning away, "maybe once you wake up from your perfect fantasy world, you'll understand that."

"You think my life is perfect!" I'm nearly hysterical. "I'm going to be queen in two years and I have no idea what I'm doing! I'm trying to look up to my parents for support, but everyone is criticizing their way of ruling. I don't know where to look, I have no where to turn! That is anything but perfect!"

Ylvana looks at me quietly.

"I'm sorry, Mir. I'm sorry you came all the way out here for nothing. But I've made my choice. I'm going to fight the Crows."

I stare at her. There is nothing I can say; I can't even think straight. All I know is I have to get out of here. I jump onto Frostbite's back, and direct her to go back down the trail. I hear Chris calling after me, but I ignore him. I am tired of this journey; I want to go home.

I am so upset, I pay no attention to where Frostbite goes. I don't realize the sky has clouded over until I feel the first raindrop on my head. I look up at the dark grey storm clouds, then around at the trail. We should be back down to the prairie by now, after walking all this time. I can't tell if the rocks around us look familiar-- they all have the same color and shape.

"Frostbite," I say, wiping a tear from my cheek, "I think we took a wrong turn."

Frostbite nickers at my as if to say: Well, you're the one whose driving!

The trail is starting to get narrow along an embankment. It leads into a open space, surrounded by rocky mounds. I can't see over them, so I have no idea where I am.  I don't want to risk having to see Ylvana again, but I know we have to turn back around before we get too lost.

"Let's turn around, girl." I tug on Frostbites reins, and she carefully turns around on the trail.

That's when she slips.

The rocks may already be loose, or the rain is making the dirt slippery. Either way, a whole bunch of rocks fall away from Frostbite's hoof, and she tumbles down the slope, taking me with her.

I am lucky I am thrown from the saddle, because Frostbite tumbles head over hoof. The tiny rocks cut me as I slide all the way to the bottom of the slope. For a moment, I lay still, terrified of what I might see.

I hear Frostbite huff, and finally look up. She is standing over me, a little dirty, but other than that, perfectly fine.

I try to move, and hot pain shoots up my leg. I cry, and fall back against the rocks. Frostbite watches me with concern. I grab my skirt, and pull it aside to see my foot. It doesn't look too bad, but my foot is off kilter--slightly leaning to the right a little more than it should. Whenever I try to move it, the pain hits me again, and I whimper. Now I am really screwed.

Reviews

[DRAGO]

this chapter was kinda confusing. otherwise i liked it

[A.L.Exley]

You mean Jays story was confusing? When i get back to this chapter lll make it a lot more detailed, and clear it up a bit.

[DRAGO]

thanks_________________________________________________________

[A.L.Exley]

Åsa's name is pronounced O-sa