I had to talk to farmer Steve. Maybe he could knock some sense into Tom. Tucker and Sonja had no idea it seems. Hope and Andor were off, somewhere. The king wasn't even aware because he was locked up in his castle moping.

The news was just scrambling through the town that one of the merchants had been taken as I was sprinting off to the castle court yard. Let me tell you, outrunning news in a small town is hard.

A young copper haired girl grabbed my arm while I was running past the bakery. "Oh my, you're one of the heroes, have you seen the lost merchant."

I shook my head, prying her worried hand off my arm. I have places to be! "No ma'am I'm sorry."

I sprinted down the pale stone paths, my boots hitting the ground as the passing horse hooves. Usually I don't like being out on the busy time of the day, but this was my mistake.

I fucked up.

My body stopped, almost ramming into the castle metal gate. Of course with my luck the gate was closed. Shining like mocking laughter at me.

I growled and bolted to the other side of the castle courtyard. The gate by the chapel was a lot more run down because it wasn't put up and down as often.

The gate was also put down. I can only guess under kings orders.

But I was correct about my prediction. The gate was not as solid as the other one. On the bottom of the metal gate was a broken off bit, that was bout big enough for me to slip under.

So I wiggled my way under the rusted gate. Through the entrance from the chapel it was pretty easy to find the jail.

I hadn't been there since we woke up, and it might have looked even more run down after just four months.

"Psst," I tried not to grab the King's attention. He was about two windows up from the jail, and I was not about to get caught.

Sure maybe this method was childish, but if it worked with my eighth grade math teacher it will work with a ruthless power hungry king.

Steve's head looked through the tiny slot that was in the door, allowing only a sliver of light into the shabby jail.

"Oi!" he said a lot louder than I would of enjoyed. He then noticed my stressed expression and went to quiet. "Didn't expect you to be a one to visit-"

"Just call me Jordan. I hate my last name," I mumbled.

"Oh-" he took of his baseball cap and started to fan his farmers tan. It must have been really hot in there, even for how cold the town is, "- alright then. I'm guessing your not to keen on the king."

Damn, I did hate the king. He was horrible, but he had to have a reason for being horrible. Something that Hope wasn't even told.

"He might have been good," Steve let out in a whisper, "but you know he had loss."

"Loss," I echoed.

"Andor wasn't his only child. There was also a queen-"

"I get it," I decided to stop him there. It wasn't my or Steve's story to tell.

The thought of breaking Steve outright now popped into my head. It would be so easy, but other thoughts nagged at me and said no. I'm not sure of Tucker and Sonja are on our side. The king hates Hope for the same reasons he isn't to fond of Andor right now. For obvious reasons he isn't that much of a fan of Tom. I seem to be the only one he doesn't have a problem with.

I needed to keep the king in my good graces.

"Why are you here?" Steve questioned.

"Look about tom-"

Steve stood up from the ground of the jail cell to look out from the peep hole. "Ah yes and his plan. I wasn't part of that, mate. Though it's a plan."

Are you serious, he is okay with taking a hostage.

"The thing is," I started to explain, "He did that because I promised to give him a letter. Now he won't answer any messages on his watch," I sighed. "I don't want you in that cell."

I grabbed the piece of paper out of my pocket.

"Just sign this," I unfolded the paper and handed Steve the paper and a pen. "Then he will know I am just trying to help."

Steve scribbled his signature onto the paper and handed it through the slot.

"Why do I hear little voices, Steve?" The Kings voice crawled from the castle entrance.

I quicken dove into the heavy, uncut grass that was to my left. Sucks for me that the wall I could jump over was to the right.

The Kings eyes seemed duller and his complexion seemed older.

Though his boots were no longer muddy and recently shined, he walked with the same slow gate. Lethargy, like normal, was wafting off of him.

"You finally lost your marbles and chatting to yourself."

Steve's hand was hanging out from the slot of the jail cell door. "That's what your hoping for. Isn't it, mate?"

The sunlight shone on the Kings holster. He had another pistol. Not the Heralds, he must have gave that back. This one was gold, not a sterling gold but something more dirty. Like the shade of Hope's hair.

On another note, I was dead if he found me, because I was weaponless.

The king squinted, his grey eyebrows furrowing. "Why do you have ink on your hands?-"

Dammit.

The king was noticing a pattern. He knew I was here. At least someone was here. I had to make him think it was something.

I had no other option. On impulse and from the stress of the situation, my mind only found one way though. I started clucking, like a chicken.

I know, sad.

I covered myself with the heavy grass. I could barely see sunlight, so I don't think the King could see me by just glance.

"Why is there a chicken visiting you?"

"I don't know, mate," Steve paused. I clucked again, "must be a farmer thing."

I heard the Kings footprints walk up to me. "Shoo chicken."

I couldn't move or he would see my face. He wouldn't like me or at least be able to stand me. He would suspect I'm a traitor.

Steve understood exactly what I was thinking.

"BLOODY HELL TOMMY," Steve shrieked louder than the frogs on a warm night, "I KNEW YOU WOULD COME FOR ME!"

I hopped out of the grass, while the king was running for the armory.

He went to grab a sword even though he already had a gun.

I hopped over the wall, rolling down a hill.

Grass and twigs got stuck in my mouth as I rolled down the hill that felt more like a mountain.

I landed on the dusty road, trying to spit all of the dirt and muck out of my mouth.

"DAMN DIANITES!" the king cried from up the hill in the castle walls.

At least I had the note.

"Tom-"

Jordan's voice made it through the static of the watch. The frequency wasn't to good in where ever we were. Not as good as in Mianite.

It might have been because they didn't have wriders, and I believed Jordan used wrider hearts to connect our watches.

"God dammit Tom pick up."

I took the watch from my wrist and turned the volume down. I held the watch to my ear, like you would have with a phone. Only I could hear what they were saying.

Sonja had hers mute, because she was sitting right next to me and I wasn't hearing anything out of hers.

We were just sitting together, like we never got to anymore. It was nice and peaceful to be with her. Just admire how beautiful she was and how lucky I was to have her.

Well it was peaceful until the two bachelors interrupted.

"Everyone turn your watch up and listen," Tom spoke up. His signal was worse than Jordan's.

I motioned Sonja to turn her watch on and up. I even saw Hopes name light up, meaning she was listening. She usually doesn't listen to Tom's bullshit.

"Look," Toms voice sounded as it went through a crack as Sonja turned her watch up louder. The static was horrendous, but I was listening intently, "I've been lied to."

"Tom just-"

"Nah, Nah, Nah," Tom interrupted Jordan from speaking, "I've given my demands. I've told what I want."

I heard an annoyed and muffle, "Jesus Christ," from Hopes end. It was to sarcastic not to be her.

Demands, I let out in my mind, why the fuck would you have demands.

"I have taken Tim Burr as hostage-"

My mind clicked together as Sonja gasped out of surprise.

That was the fucking merchant who wouldn't give him an axe.

"TOM WHAT ARE YOU DOING," I blurted out into the watch.

"He will be fine," Tom continued, completely ignoring my words. "I will not harm him. I just want my letter-"

Then Tom shut off his watch and everything went to static.

Jordan ran over the bridge to us, the king following behind.

"I have the note-" Jordan gasped out.

"It is quite alright Mr. Sparkles."

Jordan glared at the king and his fake last name.

"I have a plan."

The king had us on a rowboat to nowhere.

Well he told us that we were heading to an island, but it felt like we were heading no where.

Jordan was biting his nails, seeming on edge.

Tucker was rowing as the king told him which direction to head. We were just south of the kingdoms port.

I wasn't sure what to make out of the situation. Tucker and I had no god to take guidance from, at least not a good one.

This Mianite they spoke of was greedy, crazy, and power hungry beyond belief. Whoever this god was, he was not the god that my boyfriend put his trust in.

"Here it is," The King stood up in the rowboat.

"Stop, stop!" Jordan yelled. He was no longer biting his nails, but now he was completely spazzing out. "Sit back down, are you crazy!?"

The king slowly sat back down, around as surprised from Jordan's out brake as us. He didn't yell or say something snarky in return, which was surprising.

"Jordan we will be on land soon," Tucker tried to reassure him, circling his hands in the same beat, over and over and over.

"This is different," Jordan's voice was shaky, "We're in a small boat in the middle of the ocean. Do you know how deep an ocean normally is?"

"I can promise you the island is right in view point-" the king tried to fix the tense situation.

"36, 200 feet," Jordan hissed. "That's a lot of feet for a man to try to swim in!"

Tucker continued to row. An awkward silence loomed over the row boat. Even with the king there, it wasn't just scary, it was awkward. Jordan seemed to always have a way of giving horrifying facts that would shut the whole party up.

"When should I dock," Tucker quietly spoke up.

The king was staring at the ocean water, that was seeming to get closer and closer to land. The water was getting more shallow by the second.

"Sir?" Tucker spoke up.

The boat jerked to a stop.

Everyone landed back into the small rowboats floor. Except for one person who landed out of the boat, into the water, with a splash.

"Dammit!" Tucker yelled out and threw the ores on the boat.

"What happened?" I frantically got up from the floor of the rowboat.

Tucker jumped into the water to save the crewman who went over board.

Jordan.

Flashes from the car wreck kept on flooding in. Not that the wreck was to devastating, but my normal life was washed away under that bridge.

I had a mom.

I had a sister.

What eventually happened to them?

I'd like to think that I'm pretty calm during most situations, unless it comes to the ocean. Oh boy, and that day was definitely the day that I learned I hated the ocean.

I could be stranded in the middle of a lake, river, or pond, but if you get me anywhere close to an ocean I will loose it.

"It's just water!" Tucker yelled, trying his best to knock me out of my spasm attack.

He was dragging me up to the shore of the small island. I wasn't helping, flailing and squirming out of his grip, trying to cough up what water was left in my lungs.

I was a complete mess.

Tucker let go, backing up as I coughed more water onto the rocky shore.

"Not exactly navy seals," The king murmured as Sonja dragged the rowboat to the shore.

Sonja gave the king an icy glare, which was definitely deserved. When Sonja doesn't like you, you need to take a long hard look back on your decision and think "Am I a dick?"

I lent up, my lungs now in working condition. All my clothes were soaked and there was nothing I could do about it.

"What are we looking for," Tucker asked the king.

The king walked to the grassy part of the island. He was looking at a tree. A really tall tree, like Tom's old tree. Another really tall tree.

"Collateral," He said smoothly.

This seemed normal to him. This wasn't a bad thing. Kidnapping people wasn't a bad thing.

Son of a bitch, I found somewhere more fucked up than Mianite.

Or maybe it was just him.

On the island was a tall tree, that had been carved out in the middle just like Tom's had.

The inside of this tree, though, was sanded down in the inside and was in the middle of having the wall being painted an off white. The other color that was on the small farm house other than the orange stain.

So this was a two person job. So if this was Tom'd base, Steve had helped with it.

There was a few produce boxes filled with clothes and tools. Another box was filled with rations that would have lasted Tom awhile.

If this was his setup this was really smart.

I took the box of rations. I

Then hid the rations on the side of the island where our boat was. This way Tom would have to come back to get food, but if worse came to worse, I could tell him where the rations were.

Sonja and Tucker were crowded by a small patch of wildflowers.

The king didn't notice that they were no longer rummaging, because he was to busy off looking at the sea brooding.

"What are you guys whispering about?" I asked, joining there little chat circle.

Sonja was the only one to give me notice. I wasn't sure if Tucker was upset he had to save me, but I mean I appreciated it.

"Tucker isn't sure this is Tom's," she gave out with a tone that was bland, like she neither agreed or disagreed.

"You think the king is lying?" I raised an eyebrow at Tucker, but he was still staring at the patch of wildflowers, lost in thought.

At least I thought he was just lost in thought until he jumped back in his footsteps. He was still silent, but on an edge silent. He was trying not to scare something off.

A small creature, that looked like the mix of a man and an elf, showed himself from his hiding place in the tall grass. The little creatures face had a huge underbite showing sharp little teeth. He hid very perfectly, because his skin was a dark green color.

He was only up to my knee. One of Tom's only grey shirts were draped over his tiny frail structure.

Sonja's eyes glistened happy green colors of nature. Seeing the little creature brought excitement back to her face. I forgot how much she loved animals.

"Hi there little guy," Sonja kneeled down to be somewhat close to the size of it. I wish I wouldn't have hidden those rations so soon, so Sonja could have something to feed it.

"I see you found a goblin," The king walked up. The goblin became more uncomfortable. "Disgusting little creatures aren't they."

"I think it's kinda cute." Sonja soothed the goblin, "in an ugly sorta way."

"Why is it here?" I asked.

The king cleared hi throat after he moved his eyes from Sonja. "There native to small islands around the port, since it's quieter around here." The king answered very quickly, like he had this scripted, or etched into his brain some way. "Your friend must of taken it in as a pet."

The goblin turned around to stare deeply at the wildflowers. On the back of the shirt that he was wearing was the name 'Jeffry' painted in white paint.

Tuckers eyes went solemn. "Yep this is definitely Tom's. He spelled Jeffrey like an idiot."

"Well let's take it than."

The king took us all off guard with his words.

"Steal the goblin," I let out slowly.

"Yes," the king answered.

Tucker gave out a 'hm' that sound to agreeing to be comfortable. "Well Tom is easily attached-"

"Tucker!" Sonja yelled in.

"Okay," Tucker waved his hands around. "That's to extreme were not doing that."

The Kings face didn't move from the normal emotionless stern. "Well do you have any ideas?" The Kings voice was grey.

"Okay fine," Sonja huffed out, "I will allow it, as long as I take care of Jeffry to make sure he's okay."

"Just grab him," the king walked off to our boat.

Sonja grabbed for the little goblin as the king stumbled away.

"C'mon," Sonja bit her lip, reaching for Jeffry. "I just need to borrow you."

Jeffry became more tense, backing up into the flowers, disappearing in the green petals.

Sonja than grabbed a very blunted down knife from her holster and shone in it the setting sunlight. A laser like beam rolled around the grass. To no avail Jeffry didn't come. We had to be reminded he wasn't a cat.

Sonja than placed the knife down in exasperation.

She then sat back patiently.

Jeffry started to pull away from his camouflage in the wild flowers. Sonja was smiling, very gratified that the plan was working. Except her plan wasn't. Jeffry didn't want to say hello to Sonja, he wanted the shiny object in front of her.

Jeffry peeked out of the camouflage long enough just to grab the knife.

"Okay good," Sonja whispered before Jeffry went back to hiding, "Now if you take that knife you have to promise to come with us."

Jeffry room the knife and slipped back into the wildflowers.

"Hey!" Sonja yelled out, but Jeffry was gone along with her knife.

Sonja's eyebrows arched. "Okay then."

Sonja stood up, looming in front of Jeffry. Jeffry looked horrified, very obvious now from his camouflage.

Jeffry started to cry, at least I think it was crying.

It was hard to tell really what the noise was, but what happened next was more interested.

There was a poof of ash and a smell of rotting leaves. All that was left in Jeffry's place was the shirt with his name on it.

Sonja covered her mouth, her eyes starting to swell up with tears.

Jeffry literally got so scared that he exploded.

It was really hard not to laugh.

"Hope!"

I almost got knocked over by Andor, since he didn't hit the brakes on time. There was a sudden jolt of pain in my side where he had accidentally hit me with his elbow.

I let out a sudden, "Ow."

"Sorry," he regained his footing from the collision. "I was just trying to catch up with you."

His hair was in a mess. From our place on the dock, the setting sun hitting it perfectly making the brunette look like an auburn.

"Did you just wake up?" I asked.

"Um yes," he let out, still in a rush. "But no," his words were colliding as bad as him and me another moment ago. Whatever it was, he wanted to tell me now. "I guess I just sleep better when your by me."

I started smiling and blushing. Not only was what he said really sweet, but I just kept on thinking about him beside me. How much better it really made me feel.

"Sorry," he stammered, "that- I." His cheeks were now redder as well. "That was awkward. I'm sorry."