Excerpt: The Lion's Roar

Chapter 1

Gorstan noticed two things as he came to. The first thing was that the back of his head hurt. The second was that he was moving.

He tried to open his eyes, but the pain made it difficult to do so quickly. He shut his eyes again and waited for the pain in his eyes to go away. The pain in the back of his head was still there.

“We shouldn't be doing this,” a growling voice said.

Gorstan did not know where the voice was coming from. Slowly, he started to open his eyes. He looked around and saw that he was in a cart. When he saw the cover on the cart, he guessed that the owner traveled a lot.

He reached up to touch the back of his head. As he did so, felt is other arm go up as well. Confused, he looked to see that his hands were tied together.

“It was the only way we could get him,” came another growling voice.

Gorstan craned his neck to look in the direction of the voices. A couple of crates seemed to be blocking his view, but he could see the heads of two hooded figures.

“How long do you think it will be until he wakes up?” said the first voice.

“How should I know. Look and see.”

Gorstan closed his eyes quickly so that whoever it was that had him would not see that he was awake. He tried to keep his eyes open a slit in case the person came in to view so that he could see them.

“Doesn't look like it.”

Gorstan wished he could take in his surroundings by osmosis. Unfortunately, that would not happen.

“Better not take any chances,” the other voice said, and though the two continued to talk, Gorstan could not understand what it was that they were saying. All he could hear was the clopping of the horses pulling and the creaking of the cart.

Trying to be as quiet as he could, Gorstan moved his legs. Whoever had him did not want him to get away because they had tied him up pretty good. If only there was some way for me to get loose, Gorstan thought to himself, imagining the cords off of his hands. Suddenly ,the cords that tied his hands together loosened. He did not know how they came loose, but used it to his advantage. He pulled the cords off of his hands and began trying to figure out how to untie the cords that bound his legs.

He looked to see of the two figures at the front of the cart were looking in his direction. They seemed to be arguing in hushed tones. He slowly pulled the chords that bound his legs off, trying not to hit anything that would cause some noise.

How will I get out of here? Gorstan asked himself. He had the chords off, but the crates and other things piled in the cart made it difficult to move. He pictured in his mind the crates at his feet weren't there, wishing he had a way to get out. As he lay still looking around, a loud crash sounded. He looked to see the crates falling off the back end fo the cart and crashing on the ground.

“What was that?” the second voice growled from the front. The cart suddenly lurched to a stop. Gorstan did not hesitate. He quickly crawled to the back of the cart. He saw pieces of wood at his feet where the back end of the cart had fallen apart. He pushed himself up into a crouch and jumped off the cart.

“He's getting away!” the first voice yelled.

Gorstan looked for something he could use as a weapon. He could not see anything. His best chance would be to run. The tree line seemed like it was a long way away. He sprinted for the trees as fast as he could.

“Get him!”