Wandering Wolves

16. The Plan

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Well so far so good on your plan Kate. Up ahead there were six guards that I could see, guarding huge double doors that made up the entrance to the pyramid. Julian was struggling to get up the ramp but he persisted onward. I know Kate told me not to but I couldn't help but glance around to see if I could see her. She stated that her and Alex would be watching us from a distance. If anything went wrong at the entrance they both would rush in and help. They'll also be there the entire time Julian would be in the pyramid, awaiting his exit. We crept our way closer and two of the guards pointed spears at us as we approached.

"State your business"

I let out a deep breath "My friend here needs medical attention, I would like for him to see a doctor as soon as possible."

"The total is 100 gold for him to pass through"

I reached around to my side, the guards watching my every move, and threw a small sack of gold at one of the guards. He caught it, looked through it then nodded to the rest of them.

"You both may pass"

Shit. I wasn't supposed to go in the pyramid as well. I was hoping they would take Julian with them. I know if Kate were here she would have gone right in. An extra pair of eyes couldn't hurt either. Dammit. I walked forward with Julian using me as a support to walk. As we almost walked in a guard yelled for us to halt.

"Reveal your face sir, it's mandatory for everyone inside"

With another deep breath I removed the cover from around my face. The guard looked down at some papers, shuffled through them then allowed us to continue on.

Holy shit. 

This place was huge. Julian and I were taken a back by just how amazing the entire place was. A golden fountain in the center surrounded by a walkway with trees and flowers. It looked like the pharaoh took every single plant life from the city and placed it inside this pyramid. The guard led us right away from the fountain. One, two...no five doors till we turned left down another hallway. The guard halted and motioned for us to stand against the wall. It looked more like a boxed in corner but I'd stood there none the less. The guard stood next to me and looked up, whistling. The ground under neath my feet moved and it was then that I noticed that Julian and I were going up. Not straight up as well, in a diagonal. We were being lifted up to the different levels of the pyramid. I counted 9 levels we passed when the lift came to a stop on the tenth. We were led down more hallways till finally ending on a small medical room. A doctor was already waiting there and told me to help place Julian on the table. Once Julian was situated I took the opportunity to look around the room. The guard was still in the room however making it very difficult to search. A knock on the door turned the guard around, whispers were heard then the guard turned back around facing me.

"Come this way sir"

I glanced at Julian who was just as confused as I was. With a nod to Julian I followed the guard out the room. Again making sure I remembered as much as possible even if I had no clue where they were taking me.

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"Keeping yourself busy so you don't worry about your friends?" Knightly walked into the room where Stella was busily sewing something. Upon his entrance she hid most of what she was working on under a blanket.

"Yes, shouldn't you be working on your sled with Beda?"

"Sorry I didn't mean to disturb you" Knightly backed off a little bit.

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude. Just lost in thought."

"Worried about your friends?"

Stella nodded "Two of them are missing and the other three are on a mission. Beda right now is the only one I'm not worried about."

"Whoa now, working down on that sled and with Fleckals is a dangerous job as well."

Stella looked away.

"I have bad timing with jokes or perhaps the jokes are bad timing themselves."

She smiled at that one.

"May I?"

She moved over slightly to allow Knightly to sit next to her.

"May I ask you something?"

"Sure"

"How in the world did you ever come across Kate Oliver? She seems courage's and very adventures."

"That's how she always is" Stella played with a bit of fabric in her hands "Out of everyone I've technically known Kate the longest. We were friends when we were little. She used to sneak over to play with me because my father didn't really like people in our home."

"Life time friends, I understand why you follow her then."

"Not just the fact that we're friends it's because...well growing up I lived under strict circumstances. Stricter then not being able to leave city walls. Kate always took chances, I marveled at that. She would tell me stories all about what her mother and father accomplished that day. Went on about how her and her little brother would get into fights."

"Sounds like she only talked about herself?"

"I knew why she did that, it was for me" Stella smiled at his confused face "Living a strict life she would tell me all about the outside world and even bring me little things such as acorns, flowers. They didn't seem like much but they were wonderful to me. Kate has always thought about other people over herself. Someone so kind even though life as thrown her a tremendous hardship is someone I would follow anywhere. I want to see the world with her and help other people like she does."

Knightly overwhelmed by Stella's statement that he couldn't help himself as he kissed her cheek "I think that is wonderful. I had my doubts about her but from what you said I have a greater appreciation for her."

Stella, now slightly red, cleared her throat and played with the fabric in her hands "Thank you, Knightly"

He nodded and stood up "I should probably go see if Beda needs some help. Please don't worry, I'm sure miss Oliver and all your friends will return soon."