Chapter eleven: treasury TALON Talon saw the arrow coming at him in slow motion. He got out of the way easily, but then did something stupid. But hey, it was Talon, stupid things are his specialty. Talon waited until the arrow (still moving in "slow motion") was right by him, then he thrust out his hand and grabbed it. "Talon, that was an incredibly stupid thing to do." Symphoney said in the silence that followed. "But you gotta admit, it was kinda awesome." Luke pointed out. Symphoney admitted that it was awesome, but told Talon not to do it again. "Wow." Shorlorn whispered. They all turned their heads in the direction of the treasury and gaped. Inside was piles upon piles of fold coins, cups, and even silverware! "Let's check it out!" Madeline took a step towards the treasury. "Wait!" Talon called, "There could be more traps like the first one!" "Fine." Madeline said dejectedly. Talon leaned inside glancing at the walls. There were holes, probably slots for arrows to fly out of. Talon glanced at the floor. There was one brick that looked loose, the switch. "Ok, there's a brick right..." Talon pointed, "There. We can't step on that, or we'll be pelted with arrows." "That one?" Asked Symphoney. "No, I think he means that one." Shorlorn points. "Are you sure it's not that one?" Luke asked. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's that one, not that one." Mark says. "Just shhh!" Talon exclaims. "Follow in my footsteps." So they followed him, directly in his footsteps. Luke wobbled, then grabbed his brother for balance, Mark grabbed Symphoney who shrieked causing Shorlorn to fall. Directly on the switch. "Everyone get down!" Talon shouts. Arrows fly above them, out of the holes then shattering against the wall. "Crawl!" Orders Talon. They crawled after Talon, scared for there lives. Thankfully no one was hurt, but it was close. The gold was beautiful, shimmering in the low light. Shorlorn picked up a coin and inspected it. "Hey Talon, look at this!" He calls. "What is it Shorlorn?" Shorlorn handed Talon the coin. Talon inspected it and laughed out loud. "It looks just like me!" "I know," Shorlorn said, "Self centered smile and all." "Talon," Symphoney called. "Yes?" "You HAVE to see this." Talon stepped over piles of gold toward Symphoney. His mouth dropped open. In front of him on a velvet cushion was a gold circlet, with small diamonds imbedded in it. He reached out and touched it. "Look at this one." In front of Symphoney was a tiara with similar diamonds, and a pale blue gem hanging in the middle. "You think these are for..." Talon trailed off. "Us." Symphoney finished. "They're for us." Talon reached out again and picked it up, but just as he was about to look at it closer, he heard: "Put the treasure down!" Talon spun around and stared at twenty guards. Somehow they had turned off the arrows. Talon placed his crown on the cushion again and put his hands in the air, the others did this as well. "Come with us, and keep your hands in the air!" The same soldier commanded. They followed the soldier through the winding hallways and to the room they had been in before, the one with the many maps of Yedasriam in it. "Someone has breached our walls and broken into our treasury." The soldier said with a low bow. Everyone else bowed, and when they did so Talon saw the shock on the kings face turn to dismay. "Leave us with them." Shadow said shaking his head and grinning. "Are you sure sir? They made it through the traps unscathed, they are clever." "I am sure, now leave us." When the soldiers left Talon casually sat in a chair and surveyed a map of Yedasriam. "You could have been killed." The king said quietly. "But we weren't." Talon reminded him. "But how did you pass the first arrow?" Shadow asked. "Skill." Talon answered, at the same time Madeline said: "Stupidity." The others just smiled and offered no further explanation. The king sighed. "How can we trust you on a mission to Yedasriam after this!" The king shouted. "You can't," Talon said, "But you're going to let us go anyways." "And why would we do that?" Asked the king. "Because if you don't I'll tell them father's real name." Madeline offered when Talon was silent. "You wouldn't!" Shadow said. "Oh yes she would." Talon smiled, they had him trapped. "Fine, but only because I'm a nice father." The king said. "Nice work." Talon said to Madeline, who just smile broadly. "Were those crowns in the treasury for us?" Symphoney asked. "They were very beautiful." "Must you find out every gift I had planned for you." The king muttered shaking his head. "Can we leave in the morning?" Talon asked, a desperate look on his face. "What's the rush?" asked Shadow. Talon flushed red. "Well... I, I mean we... I miss her." Talon sighed. Shadow smiled knowingly. "I know almost all that goes on in my school Talon." "Well that's encouraging." Luke muttered. "It's a school, a learning facility." Shorlorn said. "So that means they weren't trying to kill us, right?" Talon grinned. "Oh yeah, and I almost forgot with all the distractions - Talon -" Luke added, then skipped a bit, "I mean the way they talked about you, it was as if you were a god." Talon, Luke, and Shorlorn cracked up, but got ahold of themselves quite quickly. "How long has my son been insane, Shadow?" Asked the king. "Don't worry father, I'm still here for you." Symphoney said sympathetically. "Well we'd best get sone rest, we're leaving in the morning." Talon yawned. On there way into the long corridor, Talon whispered a prayer to the gods for Rora. Let her be alive, he pleaded silently. She must be alive.
It got better along the way. A teensy bit more detail would be appreciated too.... Am I allowed to be posting here?