"Soldiers! Do not break ranks!"

The sound of explosions and falling debris echoed around the group. The morning was fresh and the sun was rising into the air, filling the sky with blood. The cart Madeline was on jumped violently as the horses strained against their reigns. Madeline screamed and toppled to the edge of the cart, her hands grabbing for anything to hold onto. Wood splintered and pierced her skin but panic enveloped Madeline completely and could not feel anything else. Her fingers grappled and found a ledge to hold onto. With a yell, Madeline's legs and torso was flung off the side of the cart and slammed into the side of the wood. An arrow flew past her, missing Madeline's head by inches and embedded itself into the flank of a horse with a sickening thud. Madeline cried out, her hair flew all around her and into her mouth. The horse let out a terrible noise and fell to the ground, the second horse panicking. It ripped free from the reigns and sped away. The cart skidded to a violent halt, turning onto its side and sliding to a stop. Before she could be crushed underneath it, Madeline closed her eyes and let go of the ledge, launching into the air. 

She went crashing into a body and both went down heavily. Groaning and holding her aching limbs, Madeline tried to push herself up but found her arms screamed in protest- they were bent on unnatural angles. Madeline took one look then vomited onto the ground, missing herself and the soldier by precious inches. 

The man carefully but quickly got out from underneath Madeline and swore. Madeline saw she had landed on Tivious. Panic and relief coursed through her mind, unsure of what she should be feeling.   

"Madeline!" Tivious gasped and looked around. When certain no one would be firing any more arrows at them, he scooped her arm, careful of her arms and began running- Madeline didn't know where. 

"Tivious!" 

Tivious ran to a stop. Fable was coming towards them, slicing through soldiers in golden armor like butter. His blue skin glinted dangerously in the morning sun, his leathers protecting him from many of the enemies hits. Fable glanced down at Madeline and swore. "They ambushed us from behind! I don't know how they found us, I made every effort to keep our party hidden." 

"This is not the time to talk about this!" Tivious grunted and immediately ducked. Fable swung his sword and a soldier with golden armor staggered back, his hands trying to stem the blood from a cut in his neck. 

"The only explanation for this is there is someone in my camp who is giving information to the enemy!" 

Tivious took a deep breath then shook his head. "No one here would betray you Fable. No one." 

"Then how in the stars did they find us?" Fable yelled and plunged his sword into the gut of a soldier. The man fell to the ground, screaming. 

The two men worked as an efficient machine. Tivious held Madeline tight as she faded in and out of consciousness while Fable protected both of them from the enemy soldiers who were hitting them hard. 

The pain of her broken arms and other hidden ailments kept Madeline out cold. Tivious wouldn't put her down. 

"Take her far from here," Fable said, "make sure she survives this or it will have all been for nothing." 

"Yes, sir." 

Tivious unsheathed his curved blade and tightened the straps on his leathers with a free hand, then, he tightened his grip on Madeline's limp body and made for safety. As soon as he was out of the firing range of arrows, Tivious' eyes burned a bright orange and a dark smoke billowed up from the ground. Golden, hot cracks in the earth appeared as he seemed to harness a dangerous power beneath the ground. 

As the smoke thickened, Tivious continued to hasten forward, or sideways, or backward- the direction was all but lost in the black. Somehow, due to Tivious' powers, both him and Madeline could breathe freely. Time passed and the pair emerged in the trees of a wood that was in the distance last Madeline checked. Tivious had carried her and avoided detection or someone following them, they were safe. For now. 

Now, the sounds of battle had faded into the distance and Madeline felt the last of her adrenaline rush seep from her body and exhaustion take root. The searing pain from her arms became unbearable and she didn't glance at the mangled limbs in fear of losing her stomach again. Anguished screams clawed their way up her throat and burst from her bloodied lips. Tivious tried to console her, but was wary of her arms and couldn't do anything to ease her pain. 

"May the stars forgive me," Tivious said, his voice breaking. His eyes became luminescent and orange light swirled, his powers awakened. The ground cracked again and Madeline was covered in the golden light that burst through the ground. Smoke, like earlier, grew and Tivious made furious movements with his arms. In the painful haze, Madeline couldn't fight as the smoke became more condensed and heavy around her face, controlled by Tivious. His face red with effort, he pushed forward with his arms and Tivious pushed the smoke onto Madeline and it covered her complete, sinking her into darkness. 

She did not choke under the smoke, she didn't struggle, but somehow, the cloud of darkness flew in through her nose and her mouth and Madeline fell into unconsciousness. 

Meanwhile, Fable's party had been severely cut down. The younger women and children who had not fought back had been herded into metal cages on carriages that had been pulled into the battle as the golden soldiers began winning. Bodies littered the ground, both Fable's men and the mysterious assailants alike. But Fable had managed to fight his way through the soldiers and escaped into the woods once more with surviving carts and people. He swore under his breath as he led what was left of his party deeper into the woods and towards their original destination- the road there would now be more complicated and take longer. 

"Fable!" Jon Alche caught up with his leader and narrowed his eyes. "I don't know why I didn't foresee this. I-" 

Fable waved his arm, the blue of his skin crawling. "You cannot control what you see. I do not blame you." Fable turned his head to glance at his people, his eyes casting suspicious glances at the people that trailed behind. "I blame the traitor who told the Court of the path we were taking. There were only ten men who knew of the plan in enough time to get word to the court." 

Jon nodded. "The war generals." 

Fable grasped the hilt of his sword, his knuckles turning a deeper shade of blue with strain. "One of my most trusted," he said, shaking his head. "Now we just have to figure out which one did it." 

There was a moment of silence as Jon and Fable thought on the words spoken between them. A traitor. Fable had never thought someone would betray the cause and join the Court. Their fight was noble, it was just and he believed every man, woman, and child in his camp knew it was so. The idea of a traitor in his camp and possibly trailing behind with the rest of his people made his chest hurt and his blood boil. Now he could trust no one. Trust only himself, it was the only way he would win this war. 

Then, near the back of the party, there was a crash and a crate of supplies crashed to the ground when a cart groaned and heaved under strain. Fable stopped the procession of his people, they had lost any that might have been following them and wandered to where the cart and crate lay. 

"Fable!" Someone yelled. "Help him!" 

Fable leaped over the wood and his eyes widened when he saw a man lying under the broken cart, wood piercing his leg and weighing him down. The man struggled and screamed. Birds took off overhead. Narrowing his eyes, Fable bent down and quickly and without warning, plunged his sword into the man's gut, cutting off his screams sharply. He stood up, wiping his sword and glanced around. "Move these supplies to other carts. We keep moving, we do not stop." 

He began walking back to the front but a flash of white caught his eye. Among the fallen fruits, hidden in the mess of the cart was a small scroll. Fable bent down slowly and picked it up. He unfurled it and read it over. Fable's breath hitched and his heart began to race. Fear, for the first time today raced through his body. He swore and glanced around, trying to figure it out. Whoever had received his scroll from the court was the traitor. The scroll must have fallen from the crate of fruits where it was hidden when the crate fell and broke, spilling its contents. Fable picked one of the fruits up. It was a sunfruit. Red was speckled across the orange skin like a sunset, hence the name. This crate could have belonged to anyone. Most people of the North ate the food, it grew like a weed throughout the Kingdom. 

Fable squeezed his hand and the sunfruit exploded in his grasp. He threw the remains onto the ground and stormed to the front. He could only hope now that Tivious would bring the Queen safely back to him, otherwise, everything was ruined.