Hey! Surprise, here's the next chapter one week early! :D *throws confetti*
This surprise chapter is dedicated to all of you who left me heartwarming and inspiring comments and reviews! (Even if you had some constructive criticism to make, because I appreciate that too!)
Even if I can't reply to every single one of them, I read (and appreciate) them all!

Also, thanks for keeping me so high on the What's Hot list all week!!!

Enjoy!
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Recap:
Enemies are about to attack Sol (hopefully you got that part). Hailey gets the idea of sending a message to be intercepted by the enemy, telling them that the king is not in Sol (so basically it would be a waste of man power and time to attack it). Said message is sent via bat-mail (not to be confused with Batman's batmail).
Are these recaps even helpful?
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Chapter 31

The letter to inform our enemies of the king's absence had been sent, and a majority of the citizens of Sol, flanked by armed soldiers, were currently heading in the dark to the nearest town, which was further in land and thus not directly threatened by the coastal attack. However, since flying would make people too noticeable and was unpractical if they wanted to stay in the cover of trees, they faced a long hour of walking before they could reach it.

Despite Chase's pleas, I had decided to stay into the Forest along with a few other citizens, castle workers, and five elders who were too old to walk so far yet refused to be carried on perytonback, wanting to leave them free for the younger children. Autumn also remained, saying she wouldn't leave me alone and wanted to keep an eye on her older brother anyway.

My main reason for not leaving for the safety of the other town was that I wanted to see first hand how my plan worked. Another was that I felt it my responsibility as a princess to support my people where they were in the most danger. The last reason, which I was shameful to acknowledge, was a case of pride.

Bree had commented, "You should get a move on, Princess. People are already starting to leave to head to the next town, and there are scarier things than bats coming." After that, there was no way I could have left.

Most of the Junior troops had stayed as well, 'just in case.' In case of what, I didn't know, but everyone hoped their presence would end up not being needed. While most were inside the forest, though, the Elite Archers, a group of twelve warriors, of whom I only knew Lance and Aiden, were apparently lying in wait at the top of the trees on the edge of the forest, arrows at the ready.

As for Anselm, he had been last seen reentering the castle, and a broad shouldered messenger had volunteered to go get him. The overall opinion was that he must not have been able to make himself abandon the castle.

I was currently standing with a few other people on a wooden platform, high in the trees, from which which we could just see the horizon above the treeline of the forest.

I stood on tiptoes, trying to see above a few overgrown branches. The sky was still calm, but the forest was tense.

A mass of dark shadow crept stealthily above the horizon, and the sharp cry of a bat broke the silence making me jump.

"There they are," Someone pointed.

What I had mistaken for a cluster of storm clouds was actually an advancing army, which seemed much more imposing now that I was really seeing them, rather than just hearing about them.

I swallowed nervously. Was my idea going to work?

Momentarily, the advancing black line paused.

For what seemed like an eternity, the black veil of enemy lines hung still, as if deciding whether to suffocate us or let itself be carried away by the wind.

Around me, the silence was deafening. Why were the enemies still here? Shouldn't they have left when they learned the king wasn't in Sol?

"Elites are ready," Someone whispered, but my eyes were glued to the horizon.

Chase stepped up behind me.

"They've received the message, though," he breathed.

It seemed like if any of us dared to pierce the stillness of the forest, the spell would be broken, and all hell would let loose.

"I don't get it," Chase repeated, more to himself than for my benefit, "Are they too stupid to understand backward script or something? Did I just completely misunderstand their goal? What else could they gain from attacking us?"

I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling the bitter prick of oncoming tears. There was a whole army at our doorstep, ready to crush us to bits, and we were just sitting there, like cows at a slaughterhouse. Why hadn't I left to go to that next town? Why hadn't everybody left? I should have ordered them all to do so. Yet, how could I have any idea of what was coming? The only wars I had ever seen were staged by movie producers, which I watched comfortably from my couch, munching on popcorn with Allison.

How could the king think it was a good idea to leave Sol alone, under the sole protection of a few teenagers, who were still training to be in the military and had never killed anyone? No, I shouldn't blame him. He didn't know, couldn't have known. After all, everybody thought that the enemy was far, far from here, attacking a Northern city I had never seen, never heard of until a few days ago.

A warm hand enveloped my own clenched fist. I knew it was Chase, silently comforting me.

I opened my eyes, and a soft glow caught my attention. Was it sunrise already? Relief swept through me. It looked like time had gone by faster than it seemed. Soon, the reinforcements would be here, and we would be saved.

I turned to Chase to share my relief, but found his face grim and his jaw taut.

"Carson." Behind him, his friend looked up questioningly. "Everyone must go deeper into the forest, past the river, as fast as possible. Prepare for containing the fire, in case it reaches the forest. The city can't be spared."

My head snapped up, eyes wide. "What?"

Then it was like rubber band snapping in half. One moment it's fine, stretching on a bit longer, then it breaks and springs back, taking you by surprise and slapping you in the face.

A great flame, as if reaching from the pits of hell itself, leaped out from the inside of the city, spreading around to all that it could reach.

"They lit the city on fire!" I gasped.

Chase didn't even waste time confirming the obvious. He grabbed my arm roughly.

"Hailey, follow everyone. Once past the river, you'll be safe."

"What about you?"

"Hailey, go!"

A siren started howling, and I jumped down from the wooden platform, opening my wings just above the ground to slow my fall and land carefully.

Around me, everyone seemed strangely calm and controlled. Almost too much, in fact. It made me want to go shake them, ask why I was the only one who seemed to be sinking into panic.

Well-built warriors picked up the older people and followed the two-filed line of people who jogged rapidly deeper into the forest.

The Junior military might not have been very experienced, but they were organized, you had to give them that.

A woman grabbed my hand, pulling me with her.

"Come on, Sweetie. No time to lose."

I let myself be guided by her, and the pace increased so that we were soon full-out running through the trees.

"Low branch!" Someone yelled.

A few seconds later, the woman at my side tugged at my hand, and I ducked mindlessly, my breathing heavy, hoping my bow, which was still slung around my back, wouldn't catch on anything.

I heard a sound like one of a shaken soda bottle opening, just much louder, and someone said, "The automatic water jets are on."

Yet, we only seemed to go faster. I had a side stitch, and was slowing the woman next to me down, but she refused to let go of my hand. I coughed as the acrid smell of smoke filtered into the air, making it even harder to breathe.

"Almost there," She panted, dragging me along.

I barely heard her, too concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other, and I was too out of breath to answer anyway, but soon my feet touched stone rather than dirt and grass.

Lifting my gaze from my feet, I saw that we were running on a stone bridge, under which flowed a fast river, wide enough to keep the other side, in which there were fewer trees, safe from the threat of the flames.

When we reached the other side of the bridge, the woman finally let go of my hand, and we were both able to stop. Around us, everyone was breathing heavily, but it seemed as if our run had eased the tensions from earlier.

I let myself fall down on the grass, gulping down the smoke-free air heavily and unable to control the shivers running through me, either from fear or exhaustion, or maybe both.

"Here," Mark, the Head of Communication from earlier, handed me some water, which felt wonderful running down my burning throat. "You should walk around, you'll recuperate faster," he said, walking away to share the water with other people.

I ignored his advice, too winded to be able to convince myself to do so, and, putting my bow next to me on the grass, laid down on the ground, closing my eyes for a moment.

"Well, look at that," a scathing voice reached my ears, "We're all working to keep everyone alive, and she's taking a nap. Completely useless."

I looked up to glare at the redhead.

"You know what, Bree? I hate you."

Bree shrugged. "I feel indifferent towards you."

"Good for you," I muttered, gathering the courage to sit up and wincing as something in my jean pocket dug into my thigh.

A quick look around me informed me that Autumn was sitting quietly under a tree with her peryton Juno and her brother, that Aiden and a bunch of other people with bows were calming their breathing, their hands on their knees, and that Chase was currently walking towards us. I allowed myself to relax, relieved that my friends were all here, until I caught Chase's worried expression.

"Bree! Where the"- here he dropped a word which had an old lady glare at him- "is Anselm?"

"Seriously? Don't tell me the old geezer still isn't here! What happened to the guy who went to get him, Ian or something?" Bree looked irritated, even more than usual which was understandable considering the situation.

Chase threw his hands in the air in resignation. "I don't know."

Bree and Chase were attracting some attention, so he drew closer and lowered his voice. "I hope they weren't near the village, because then..." His sentence hung ominously in the air.

Bree shook her head, "No, they would have been either in the castle or trying to get into the forest. The castle didn't get touched, but..." She turned her gaze to the great cloud of grey smoke hanging above the city and stretching towards the beginning of the forrest through which rays from the rising sun filtered tentatively. "Well," she concluded, "At least we know that the water jets are very efficient, and that the fire containing system works well."

While Chase checked I was okay, Bree learned with relief that no one else was missing.

"Alright," She came back towards us with Carson behind her. "Here's what we're going to do. Chase, send scouts to check the enemy has really left, then send a message to Amaris to tell them what the situation is. Carson, you send a bat to make sure everything is fine in the other town, and that the people of Sol are safe and still on their way. They won't have reached the town yet. Hailey, yes, this might be hard to believe, but there's actually something you can do-"

"Bree," Chase interrupted warningly.

"What? So, as I was saying, Hailey, stop taking naps. You need to reassure people and try to make things be organized. Meanwhile, I'm going to go find our bloody useless Royal Advisor."

"Who are you taking with you?" Carson asked.

"No one."

"Bad idea," Chase protested, but Bree ignored him.

"I think I all gave you something to do, so what are you all waiting for? Move." And with that, she left us.

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