The Flats

The Flats

As the men in the group set up camp with the supplies that the villagers supplied them with at Kronfeld, Kindle and Kiera with little Nick took the horses toward the little watering hole so they could drink at last.  Kindle never thought that the Flats would be this baren and dusty.  So she and Kiera took this chance to climb in the cool water and wash themselves and Nick off.

                That is exactly where Bytor and Peter found them.  They watched them as the girls played with Nick in the water and splashed each other.  Bytor was thankful that Kindle had found a friend in Kiera and was about to walk away when Kindle caught sight of both Bytor and Peter.  Both Kindle and Kiera asked the men to join in with them and get washed off.

                So the men decided to join the women and Nick in the watering The Flats

hole.  Bytor swam toward Kindle and put his arms around her until she playfully dunked him.  He laughed and returned the favor.  They were having such a good time together for once since the whole incident with Carum and Ryanne.  Peter swam to Kiera who was holding Nick and gently took him from Kiera’s arms and washed him ever so gently.  Bytor and Kindle watched the love between Kiera and Peter with longing toward each other.

                After their baths they went to see if the rest of the party needed help setting anything else up.  To their surprise the whole camp was already set up.

                “Wow that was quick.”  Bytor said to Ty who responded with “Yoduf did most of the work” This made Bytor very happy that they added Yoduf to their party.

                “What do you think the people from Kronfeld are going to do to Anthony?  Caden asked his father.  Bytor looked forlorn and down.

                “I don’t know son.  It is out of our hands now.” He responded.  Deep down inside he knew that the townspeople were probably going to put Anthony to death.  It was something he did not want to think about.

                Yoduf mentioned that they should not stay there in the flats over one night.  The Flats can be a very dangerous place to be, especially after dark.  Rogues roamed the Flats at night looking to steal what they could and probably could not be trusted.  Yet Bytor had faith that Kindle’s magic could protect them from whatever they would come up against.  Besides, they had Yoduf, Chris, Ty, Peter, Kinley and Bryan there to protect them also.

                As Yoduf gathered wood for a fire, Kiera and Kindle went through the supplies the townspeople from Kronfeld had given them.  Was not much but it was enough to get them through the night.  Yoduf started the fire going as Kiera and Kindle started a stew of lamb, potatoes and carrots. 

                The men were so hungry from the smell and kept asking when dinner will be done.

                Kindle smiled her sweet smile at Bytor and told him “soon”.

                Finally, dinner was to be served and not a minute too soon.  Kiera and Kindle thought there might be a riot if they did not get it done soon enough.  Everyone ate as if they were starving to death.  When Kindle checked the pot, there was nothing left.  It didn’t matter.  Everyone was full anyway so Kindle and Kiera under the ever watchful eyes of Bytor and Peter washed the pot out in the watering hole.

                The sun was setting and the three moons were rising fast.  It was time to get some sleep but before that could happen, Bytor noticed movement on the horizon. Kindle came to his side fast.

                “Rogues?” Bytor asked Kindle.

                “Yes” was all she could say.

                Bytor quickly rounded up the men in their group while Peter hid Kiera and Nick as best as he could.

                “Can you use your powers to find out what they want Kindle?” Ty asked.

                “They want our supplies and us women.”  She answered with a sigh.  She never thought she would have to use her powers to fight off someone intent on doing harm but if it came down to it…she would do it.

                She could tell there were six of them on horseback.  There were seven men on their side, along with Kindle’s powers.  All men excluding Yoduf drew their swords and braced themselves.  Yoduf did not have a sword.  He never needed one.  He always used his strength and size to do his battles for them.

                As the rogues approached fast, Kindle used her power of wind to whip around them.  Stirring up such a sandstorm they had never seen before.  Their horses went wild knocking the riders off of them.  When the group ran toward Kindle’s group with swords drawn, Kindle knocked those out of their hands with a wave of her hand.

                The rogues knew their battle was already lost, so they decided on a diplomatic approach at this point.  Not realizing that Kindle could read their thoughts.

                “You have a Mage in your presence.”  The one who apparently was the leader stated.  “You know she is worth her weight in gold in these parts.  Hand her over and no one will be hurt”

                Bytor stepped forward with his sword in hand pointing it at this man’s chest.  Before Kindle could stop him, he plunged the sword into the man’s chest saying “That is enough chatter about handing anyone over.  Anyone else want to try the same thing?”  Kindle had never seen this side of Bytor before but then again understood that he was doing all he could do to protect her.

                The rest of the rogues picked up their fallen leader and walked in the other direction.  One of the men shot a warning to Bytor “You will pay for this.  Just you wait.  There are many more of us than of the few of you.  We will come back for what we came…”his words were cut off by an arrow through his heart, shot by Peter who simply said “No one will know if all of you are dead”.

                Two down.  Four to go.  Thought Kindle.

Yoduf was next in the fight quickly taking down the third by breaking his neck.  Then came Ty, Chris and Brian into the fray taking the rest of the rogues down quickly.  Live by the sword the rest of the rogues died by the sword.  Their bodies scattered the camp they had so carefully set up.  It was a grotesque sight to behold so Kindle used her Wind powers again to cover up the bodies.

Peter went quickly to check on his wife and son and found them safe and sound under some covers, the only place they had to hide.

Bytor went to Kindle’s side and apologized for what he had to do. Kindle knew that this was something Bytor had to do.  There was no choice.  She knew right then how much he loved her.  He was never going to let anyone or anything take her away from him.  She stood on her tip toes and kissed him gently on the lips.

That’s when they heard a painful cry.  Apparently in the mess of the battle Ty received a wound in his side.  Kindle ran to him, lifted his vest and saw how bad it was.

“Can you help him, Kindle?”  Bytor asked.

“It’s pretty bad.  I will do my best but we cannot move him from this site tonight” Then closed her eyes and ran her hands over his wounds.  Bytor was amazed when he saw the wounds starting to disappear before his very eyes.  Ty’s cries subsided as Kindle cast a spell to take the pain away.

“I never knew how powerful you really were until now.” Bytor told Kindle who just smiled at him.  Her love and respect for him was growing by the minute.

“We have to move him someplace comfortable for the time being.  I will make some medicinal tea to help him heal faster.”  She told Bytor

                So with Yoduf’s help they moved him to one of the blankets near the fire while Kindle found her medicinal sack and made the tea for Ty to drink.  It tasted so bad that he almost spit it out but held on and drank the whole cup.

                “Rest now.”  Kindle told him.  She knew they needed to be up at out of the flats by early morning.

                Yoduf took the first watch just to make sure there were no more rogues on the way.  He was tired from the fighting but impressed with how their group handled the situation.  He also knew that his mission was to protect Bytor and Kindle with his life.  So he forced himself to stay awake until Chris could take the second watch.

                Bytor crawled under the covers with Caden and Kindle who were growing closer by the day.  He was happy about this because he was planning on making Kindle his wife.  He caught her smiling and knew that she read his thoughts and the answer would be a yes.  It was just a matter of when.

                When the three moons were high in the night sky, Chris took over for Yoduf so he could catch a little sleep.  He was thankful that Yoduf was there with them.  They needed him and he was becoming a fast friend to Chris.

                Yoduf stated he did not need a blanket but Chris insisted that he take his and get a well deserved rest.  They all needed to be out of the flats early in the morning because the rest of the rogues may well come looking for their fallen comrades which Kindle had hidden deep within the sands by producing one of her windstorms.

               

                Once morning came, they all pitched in and picked up camp as fast as they could.  Ty was a lot better and could actually move just like the rest of them.  You would never have known that he was stabbed last night.  Kindle’s magic had worked like a charm.

                They grabbed their horses and were off as fast as the horses would go.  They kept heading East which would take them through the Crystal Caves which you had to pass through to get to the Jasmine Coast.

                It was said that these caves can be treacherous and deadly.  No one that they knew of had ever made it through these caves and came back alive.  This made Chris nervous, especially with Ty hurt as he was yet he had faith in both Bytor’s skills and Kindle’s magic.  So he was willing to follow them to the ends of the worlds.