As it turns out, we have no idea where we're going. Immediately after we left the palace, Chance knelt down and did some sort of spell that involved multicolored light, archaic muttering, and symbols drawn in the dirt. He said it would lead us to our destination, but it ended up leading us in circles instead. So now we're walking aimlessly in a random direction, chosen by Kitty closing her eyes, spinning, and pointing. And, of course, we're being hunted.

          "Something's following us," Chance says, stopping dead in his tracks and frowning. 

"Oh, perfect," I groan. "Do you think we can ask for directions?"

          A pang of regret for snapping at him shoots through me as he winces and runs a hand through his hair, looking dejected. "I really thought the tracking spell would work," he sighs. "I should have assumed there would be magical wards or something. Sorry."

        "It's okay," Kitty reassures him. "You're trying." Chance flashes her a grateful smile. I sigh again. "So we're being followed?"

     "I think so," Chance surveys our surroundings as though expecting something to leap out at us and yell 'surprise!' Nothing does. We wait. Still nothing. "Are you sure?" I ask. Chance nods. "Absolutely."

      "Alright then," I draw myself up to my full height and plant my hands on hips. "Hey!" I call out, daring whatever's hiding to show itself. "Come out and face us already, whoever you are! I've been wandering around for hours, I haven't had a decent meal all day, and if I don't return to Antimony with some magical artifact in seven days, my best friend is going to die, so I'm kinda pissed, and I would gladly kick the ass of any beastie just for a little fun. So what are you waiting for?" 

          "Spence," Kitty starts nervously. Chance is staring at me in horror and a tiny bit of admiration. "Spencer, what the f-"

        Thankfully, he doesn't have time to finish that thought, because suddenly we're surrounded. They seem to grow straight out of the ground, a dozen or so shadowy figures. They're tall and willowy, with ridiculously long arms that drag on the ground. The hands at the ends of those arms are thin, with extended fingers that taper into wicked talons, six on each hand. Their torsos are roughly triangle shaped, wide at the shoulders and narrow at the hips, ending in stubby little legs and dinosuar-like clawed feet. Their heads seemed to big for their bodies, thin and oval-shaped. Tiny, beady black eyes stare glassily at us from the sides of their faces. They have only slits for nostrils, and no mouth to be seen. Their skin is mottled gray and brown, lumpy and seeming to melt off of them in places, revealing pearly bones beneath. 

         "Hi," I gulp, no longer feeling quite so confident when being stared down by these creatures. "And who might you be?"

       "Spencer, don't move," Chance warns me slowly. "These things are bad. They're a lot faster than they look, and completely silent. It's best to stay still."

          "Can you magic them?" Kitty asks, always practical. "Unfortunately, they are immune to my spells," Chance admits. "They're made to be the perfect soldiers, guard dogs, assassins, whatever you need them to be. They don't really think for themselves, so they are extremely dependent on others and are inclined to follow orders. And since whoever is giving them orders gives them a purpose, they are incredibly loyal. At Wintergreen, we were trained to just stay as far away from them as possible."

         "Seriously?" I glare at him. "Wintergreen education sucks."

     "So what do we do?" Kitty is clearly putting on a brave face. "What can we do?"

              "Run?" I suggest. "What did I say about not moving?" Chance snaps.

"You got a better plan, Princess?"

           Chance falters. "No." I glance at him, then back at the creatures surrounding us. Tentatively, I take a step backwards. 

          They're on us before I can even take a breath. They move like lightning, there and gone in the blink of an eye. Suddenly I'm on the ground with a spindly monster on top of me, staring directly into my face with its cold dark eyes. 

          "Even more handsome up close," I mutter, which is probably a bad idea, because the next thing I know, the world goes dark.

                       *************************************************************************

       When I wake up, I'm in some sort of underground cavern. There are stalactites dripping from the ceiling, crawling with massive worms that I try hard not to stare at. The floor is packed dirt and is pretty damp, which makes it uncomfortable to sit on. There are no doors or windows. I have no idea how we got here.

         Chance and Kitty are also in the room with me. All three of us have our hands and feet bound. Kitty is curled up on the floor, unconscious. I crawl toward her and check her pulse, relieved to find that she is breathing. Chance is awake and watches me crawl across the room.

         "You alright?" he asks me. "You got hit on the head pretty hard."

     "I'm fine," I scoot over until I'm sitting with my back against the wall next to him. "Where are we?"

       "Don't know," he replies, obviously frustrated by this fact. "Somewhere underground. I was blindfolded for the trip, you and Kitty were knocked out. I tried to do a spell, but wherever we are, it's crawling with those things, and they're dampening my powers. I feel useless."

         "It's not your fault," I say, tilting my head back and resting it against the wall. "I'm the one who had the stupid running idea."

     "It wasn't stupid," Chance protests, and I shoot him a look. "Ok, it was ridiculously stupid. But also brave."

          "And  it got us captured," I point out. "What are we going to do about that?"

"We'll figure something out," Chance reassures me. "As long as we don't die first."

         As if on cue, a slim figure materializes through the wall and chirps "Hello, esteemed prisoners! Are you ready to die?"