"Lukas what the hell?!" George stumbled forward alittle and leaned in to look at his hand closer.
"George I can't leave.." The Alchemist said with a sad laugh.
"And how do you know that?" The Jester stood up and crossed his arms, the bells on his hat tinkled.
"Because there were others here....." He said under his breath, just loud enough so the Prince could hear him. The lab felt even more empty.
***
Sara flung through the woods. She could hear the sound of hoof beats not too far behind her. Brandon was right there next to her; his breathing ragged. They both vaulted over a fallen log, covered with purple studded moss.
"OY! BRING UP THE FLANK!" A voice called out from behind them.
The Executioner glanced back briefly.
There were six pursuers on horseback. Three of them had broken off from the main group and arched around in an attempt to cut her off.
Branches and twigs whacked her face as she forced her legs to go even faster. Three arrows whizzed by her and buried themselves in the side of a tree trunk. Another sliced through a bush and shattered against a boulder.
A clearing was up ahead. She could hear the sound of water flowing. Adrenaline pulsed through her system; her beating heart echoed in her ears.
"Just Get to the river." Sara thought to herself. The water nymphs there would help. Of course they would. The nymphs had raised her.
***
Alison notched another arrow. She steered the horse hands free; a result of training in the knights academy from the day she could walk. Her horse crashed through a dense patch of foliage. The girl was making a break fo the river. She's a queer one.
The knight released the shaft and it flew toward its target but the Executioner swiftly dodged it with a quick spin to the right.
"Dammit..." Alison muttered and reached for a second arrow.
"Fast little bugger ain't she?" Tomus, her younger brother, said as he rode next to her, both of them in hot pursuit. The third rider was right behind them; he had his saber drawn and ready.
"And bloody unnatural..." Alison replied under her breath, her northern accent a little lighter than Tomus's. "She's out running the damn horses!"
As the broke into the clearing the horses staggered to a stop. The Executioner and the Rebel were standing there. Their backs to the rushing river. A second later the latter half of the riders appeared from the trees a few feet away.
Alison circled the Executioner. Her bow held limp but ready to fire if needed.
"Hallo..your grace. I'm afraid the shenanigans stop here..." Alison performed an overly showily nod, obviously poking fun at the Executioner's presumed royal status. Some of the men snickered.
"Now, if ye kindly dropped the axe. That would be much appreciated." The riders encircled the two fugitives, being careful to stay out of range of the axe the girl wielded.
There was short silence. The air was thick with tension.
"Not much of a talker eh?" Alison said as she glanced over at Tomus.
She turned and shot the girl through the chest.
***
Lukas nodded at the shelves behind him. There was a stack of leather bound books near a jar labeled "Aldritch Formaldehyde".
"They left journals here, they wrote about the things in this world...." Lukas said miserably. "George I Can't take it anymore! This place....It's so lonely... so... evil.." He looked the Horse Prince dead in the eyes.
George shuddered.
"But I won't let their fates happen to you, old friend." The Alchemist's brow furrowed and he quickly stood up and walked to the stack of books.
"Here." Lukas rummaged around a little and pulled a small red book out of the stack. He flipped through it briefly and nodded.
"This is all you need."The chemist tossed it to the Jester. "It has a map, It has everything... Descriptions, places, dangers..." Lukas sat down heavily on a metal stool. "Memories..."
"Lukas.. I don't know what your saying? Are....you-"
"WHAT I'm saying is you have to leave!" The Alchemist didn't meet the Prince's eyes this time. He just stared straight ahead. "You have to leave before it's too late."
The Horse Jester Prince stood there.
"You IDIOT! NOW!" The chemist screamed. He tore off his other glove to reveal another gray hand. Lukas stood up and shoved the Jester out the door. George tripped on the threshold and fell on his back, clutching the notebook to his chest.
"You have a one hundred and one days.." Lukas said solemnly as he stood over him. "I know that sounds like alot of time. That's what I thought too. It's one hundred plus one right? The journey is a long one George."
He chuckled, and shook his head. "Its already starting you fool."
George looked down at his hands. The tip of his index finger was turing pale. He scrambled up, and his eyes widened with fear.
"Good luck, Horse Jester Prince."
Lukas gave one final glance at the exasperated boy in front of him.
"You'll need it."
***
The door slammed in the Jester's face.
"LUKAS!" The Prince screamed. "LUKAS COME WITH ME!"
He flung open the wooden door and burst inside.
It was empty. Surprise surprise.
The shelves, the work tables, even the windows were gone.
It was a barren, dark, and hollow room the Jester stood in.
He sniffled and exited the shop. The young man realized he was till holding the red notebook the Alchemist had given him. A small brass buckle was latched to the front.
The Jester unbuckled the strap and carefully opened the notebook. On the first page was a carefully hand drawn map. Lehportsa was written on the heading, but one word caught his eye.
Libertas was written in bold on the upper right hand corner of the map in a bold. The calligraphy of it was beautiful. The thing was, Lukas had been right. The way out was on the other side of this world according to the map.
The Jester was in an unnamed place, only an arrow marked his location on the parchment. George took out a writing feather, and with a dab of ink he drew a straight line from his position to the exit. The quickest way path to the way out.
His next destination would be Angel's Cup.
"Uncanny.." He muttered to himself as he shoved the notebook into his tunic pocket. Maybe it would look like the Angel in Astrophel.
***
A torrent of wind arose when the dragon landed. Most of the fires near Emily's arrival site where extinguished immediately from the gusts created by the dragon. A squad of rabbits were already there waiting for her.
"M'lady." A rabbit who wore a blue beret said with a nod.
"Tully? Rolly's brother?" Emily replied as she jumped down from the winged beast.
"Yes M'am. How's he doing living the palace life?" Tully said with a grin.
"Rather fine." The Keeper smiled. "But, probably not as busy as you're gonna be today."
Em and the group of rabbits set to work counting to bodies, and helping the injured. A medical tent had been set up in the square of the village, and most of the uninjured survivors were recalling what had happened.
"Em, I think you should see this.." Tully called from outside the tent.
"Jesus Christ Tully. If its another stupid trinket you found then fuck off!" Emily called back as she wiped a streak of sweat from her forehead.
"No M'lady, this does not concern trinkets." Tully poked his head through the tent flap.
"Than what, please tell me, is so important that I have to stop helping these people?" Emily said as she turned around and placed her hands on her hips.
"We found this near the rift.." Tully said slowly and stepped in.
He brought a colorful staff into view. A twin pair of happy and frowning miniature masks were on one end, and the midsection contained a leather grip.
It was the Jester's staff.
Signing out, Gin