The Test, For Power Or For Trust

Chapter 25

CJ rode off, and soon heard the galloping coming behind her. "Oh god oh god oh god" she said to herself. Not only was she crying from the pain in her leg, but she was scared. Scared of what happened to friends and to Crystal. Scared of what may happen to her mom. And for the first time in her life, scared of getting caught. As the galloping behind her got closer, she lost hope. She didnt know what to do. On Marshmallow, she could've gotten away easily, but she trained her brothers horse to be slower on purpose. She was screwed. Gun shots came from behind her and ducked her head down, but not fast enough. The bullet hit the side of her ear, making a semi-circle in the side of her ear along with a stinging pain. She hissed and closed her eyes tight, waiting for the shot that would end her. The next shot hit the horse and she came tumbling to the ground when it fell. She couldn't get up. She looked around and saw the outskirts of town that they came in on. Her eyes widened and she breathed out relieved. "Dont be so happy. You didnt really think you could get away, did you?" Liam said towering over her. His tail wagged the slightest bit, showing his pride. CJ laughed evilly. "Who says I didnt? You dont seem to know where we are" CJ said with a smile. Liam looked confused and then a gun shot went off. He fell back and clutched his waist, while yelling in pain. A horse slowly trotted up to CJ and she smiled softly seeing the black boots hanging down from it. "Thank you Leon" she whispered. She was losing her voice and her eyes were getting droopy from the loss of blood. "You stay awake now. Cant have you dying on my territory" Leon said getting down. He picked CJ up and put her on his horse. "Ill bring you home. You still with your Ma?" He asked. "Yeah" CJ breathed out. "You know I dont mind helping you, but next time, could you keep the cops on your own territory?" He asked. CJ laughed a little. "Ill try" she said.

Crystal got back to the house and the girls were all freaking out. Crystal explained what happened to CJs mother. She was also very worried. Soon though, Leon arrived and carried CJ in. "Listen to me CJ. When you get healed here, dont have them fix your ear. Battle scars like that make for good stories" he said. "Thank you Leon. I owe you" CJ said. Silver took CJ from Leon. "Send my greetings to your Ma" he said tipping his hat before he left. Silver healed CJ as fast as she could, removing the bullet before proceeding. Crystal stayed by her the whole time. "Stay awake CJ. Please" she whispered to her. CJ lightly squeezed Crystals hand. Silver stopped. "I stopped the sting in your ear, but left the chip" she said. "Thanks. Can you help me up?" CJ asked. They helped her up and got her to the couch to sit down. Lex hugged her. "You said you wouldn't get caught" she said. "Im sorry mama" CJ cried into her shoulder. "Why are you crying?" Lex asked. "Because Im sorry. Im sorry for everything" CJ said. "I already told you thats not your fault. Everythings ok Charlie. Just dont do that again." Lex said. "Yes mama. Leon says hi. He saved me today" CJ said. "Thank heavens for that snake" Lex said. CJ pulled herself together and then looked at Crystal. "Are you ok?" She asked. "Yeah. How did you know Marshmallow would bring me here?" Crystal asked. "I trained her too" CJ said. "Im greatful" Crystal said. Crystal sat next to her and took her hands in hers.

"So you guys didnt get it?" CJ asked. "No. It wasnt there" Leah said. "What are we gonna do now?" Crystal asked. "We need to regroup. Find a new way to get it" Silver said. "Speaking of group-" Lex started. "Charlie, you said there were nine of you. So whos the new one?" Lex asked. "What new one?" CJ asked. "I recognize footsteps honey. Whos the new girl" Lex said. They all looked around confused. "That would be me" they heard. The looked over and Jax, in her human form, suddenly became visible. "Jax!" They all said. Nova hugged her and she hugged back. Then everyone else joined for a group hug and Jax squeaked from being squished so hard. "Im so glad you're back for good" Nova said. Jax smiled and chuckled. "No need for apologies guys, its fine. I get it. I dont care. Also, no need to regroup. I have what you're looking for" Jax said holding up the vile. "That was you?!" Blade asked. "Yeah. Sorry about the alarm" Jax said. "Mama, thats Jax. Shes part of the group" CJ said. "I got your daughter out of a jail cell" Jax said. "Thank you, and welcome" Lex said. "With the Mutanix down, that means we only need one more artifact" Crystal said. They all looked at Silver. "Wait theres one for me?" She asked. Crystal opened the map. "Yes" she said. Silver was shocked. "But I dont... theres no way. Theres no artifact for a god" she said. "Well the map keeps going." Crystal said. "Weird" Silver said. "Maybe youve just never heard of it" Ashley said. "I stopped being surprised after I turned a hundred. I would have known about it by now" Silver said. "Wait... how old are you?" Blade asked. "Not important" Silver said raising a finger in her face. "Well we can think about it in the morning. Its getting late and I cant stand by myself so we're gonna stay here again" CJ said.

Ashley woke up in the middle of the night to a flashlight. She turned over slowly and saw Silver staring at a notebook. Pencil in one hand, light in the other. All the artifacts they had gotten so far were written on the paper. "Sil" Ashley said tiredly. Silver looked over and cut out her light. "Sorry. I didnt mean to wake you up" She said. "What are you doing?" Ashley asked. "Somethings off. All these artifacts. Theyre for a spell, and I think I know the spell... but I cant place it. The spell that theyre for.... I dont think its good" Silver said. "Babe, its to late for this. Go to bed. You can think about it in the morning" Ashley said plopping back onto her pillow. Silver hesitated but made the notebook and pencil dissapear. "Ok. Sorry baby" she said. She laid down with Ashley and they went to bed. The thought still bothered her though. Something is wrong, and if she cant figure it out, she knows something bad will happen.