Chapter 3

Something hard poked him on the side. He shifted. When his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he saw that he was in a broom closet. The other occupant was also huddled in the corner. He turned to the person to thank him, when he realized with a start that it was her. The hooded girl. He wondered if she was also an outsider who sneaked inside like him. He opened his mouth to speak. Suddenly she clamped his mouth shut with her hand. A second later, he understood why. The soldiers were searching for him in that corridor.

The noises of the soldiers were coming nearer. It seemed that the soldiers knew that he was somewhere in the room. The girl still had her hand on his mouth. In doing so she had come very near him that he could smell her scent. It was the smell of the spring breeze. His heart began racing again. It beat so loudly that he was afraid that she would hear it. But she gave no indication of doing so. She had her eyes slowly closed, her breathing was soft and even and it tickled his neck. It was as if she was concentrating on something. She was trying to hear the sounds outside , he understood with a start.

Suddenly she jerked against him and whispered something, as soon as the closet door opened. A soldier stood in front of it. Sar bunched muscles to run when suddenly the girl held him back with an iron grip. Sar looked up at the soldier. But the soldier did not seem to see them. His eyes slid over them completely. He couldn't see them.

"He is not here either," the soldier said to his companions. " Where had He gone to? Let's not waste time here. Well go to the western wing of the house. ",another replied. The soldier closed the door with a bang. Inside Sar looked at the girl with amazement. She was again concentrating on the sounds outside. She was still holding him, he noticed. After some minutes, she relaxed. She left him and got up to go.

" Wait",he said. "Who are you?" She just looked at him walked to a set of rooms and pointed out one of the window and said "if you want get out. Just jump out and run. Don't get caught. You won't like what happens next" She then turned and walked towards another set of rooms.

"What about you?" ,he ran and grasped her hand. The touch felt electric. She looked at him strangely. She pulled her hand out of his grasp and said, " Worry about yourself. Run out and save yourself. You don't belong here. " "Thank you for whatever you did", he said hesitantly. He wanted to say something more to her. But suddenly he heard sounds of guards coming again this way. He looked at the beautiful girl one last time and then jumped out the window.

As usual he landed lightly on his feet. It was pitch dark. He then picked his way using his other senses and ran to a direction which he felt right. He ran towards a small light in the distance. It had been raining. But as he was inside, he had not known that it was raining. He walked carefully on the slippery roads. He did not have any sense of direction. It was good that it was raining he thought. No one chasing him would be out on a rain such as this. He slowly walked his way on the road

Suddenly something hit him on the back of his head. He turned around to see a hazy figure holding a pole in his hand. He had been hit by somebody. He had forgotten the basic thing. When your enemies suddenly fear to chase you, it means that there are something worse than your enemies out there. "Only fools walk where the angels fear to tread",he thought as he blacked out.

...