Decisions

Glad you could join us for the next mournful episode of Elliot’s Adventures. If you’re new here, you can catch up by returning to the beginning, and reading really fast…

“Oh no no no no!” Arturo moaned, sinking to his knees beside the young vole’s body.

Barry staggered between the Knights with his hands covering his mouth while Clifton stood, head bowed, tears dripping to the ground.

His gut turned to lead and his brain an electrical storm, Elliot faced terrifying madness. He shut his eyes, but the carnage wouldn’t vanish. This was your doing, his disconnected mind insisted. You’re the one he wanted to talk to. You said to lock him up. If you’d just done as he asked, maybe you’d be the only one dead.

All he could say was, “I’m sorry. I am so very sorry.”

Rising to place a hand on the Prince’s shoulder, Arturo spoke gently. “This isn’t your doing, your Worthiness. You killed no one. Our friends were victims of cold-blooded disdain. This happened because this is what the killer wanted to do.”

“But how did it happen?” Clifton whispered. “How could all of them have been taken by surprise?”

“Maybe dat Assassin showed up,” Barry’s eyes burned. “Maybe he came here wit’ da messenger, an’ just hid till he hadda chance ta strike.”

“Or maybe there were others, too,” Arturo suggested.

Turning to Elliot, Clifton asked, “What should we do, Prince Elliot?”

Clifton’s faith in his leader was the rope Elliot grasped to pull himself back from the frazzled edge of sanity. They need my strength, he admonished himself.

Aloud he said, “They want our fear of them to make us weak, so we need to be strong.”

Nodding, Ambassador Arturo called to Theo who crouched beneath the trees. “Theo and I will take the news of little Chester’s death to his family, then I’ll go back to the Meadow. We have much work to do.”

Prince Elliot agreed. “We’ll return to the Council and tell them what happened. It’s time to build and train an Alliance army so we can take this fight to the General’s door.”

To be continued. . .

Previously, on Elliot’s Adventures ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Next time . . .

Author: Sue Ranscht

Having survived valve repair surgery and an experimental cardiac bypass at age 5, three years before it was an accepted medical procedure, Susan grew into the size of her overworked and enlarged heart. Maybe she thought she had enough to give it away -- twice. Both times, she had to retrieve the shattered pieces and puzzle them back together. She thanks her Dad for the only advice of his she ever followed to the letter: "Never get married. Learn to take care of yourself." So of course she is a writer. Susan has co-written a YA SciFi novel, and has three more novels in various stages of evolution. She's had several short stories published in other people's anthologies, some of which were contest-related. Let her tell you a story... View all posts by Sue Ranscht