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Kayla was confused; she’d never seen the man before yet he recognized her. The king let out a chortle, “Yes, you were quite small then, only four or five, when Crawford visited. His visit came towards the end of his great adventures and I’ll never forget how agreeable he was.” While the king continued on with his reminiscing, Kayla casually took out two arrows and began to play with them idly, her other hand silently moving toward her bow. Derrin’s eyes lit up, and his right hand went slowly to his pack of stars.

Suddenly a small explosion billowed forth from the right wall, and Derrin and Kayla let their attacks fly a split second later. As the smoke cleared, the guards and king gasped. There, pinned to the wall, stood an assassin, Derrin’s four stars passing through the clothing on each of his four limbs. The two stars thrown by the assassin now spun uselessly in mid air with each of Kayla’s arrows passing through the ring in the center, the tips lodged in the back wall. Finally, they fell limp and hung motionlessly from the arrows. Orlando remained silent, his face revealing nothing, as the King clapped.

“I don’t know if my guards were aware of the intruder, but that sure was an impressive way to stop an assassination attempt,” the King said with an uncomfortable chuckle. As he said this, however, the assassin freed himself from the stars and charged forward, unsheathing a hidden dagger as he did so. Kayla sighed and pulled out another arrow, this one with a bright blue tip. She fired, and the arrow came to a thudding halt next to the assassin’s foot to his delight. As soon as impact occurred, she muttered a few words, and ice shot up the adjacent leg. The assassin struggled mightily, but this time there would be no escape. Derrin summoned his shadow, and soared over to the man in one bound. His arm pulled out a star from his pack and he held it dangerously close to the assassin’s neck. “You know, if you struggle to get free, you might accidentally bump into this star and slit your throat. There’d be nothing we could do, so please, stay still.” Fear shone in the assassin’s eyes and his body hung limply in defeat.

The guards who’d been looking on now advanced confidently; Derrin had never seen more false machismo. As they departed, the king said quietly, “Take him to the dungeon, I want to interrogate him later.”
As the guards emptied from the room, Derrin voiced a question, “Are such things commonplace here? You didn’t seem too surprised by the attack.”

“Oh no, no, not at all! If you’ve been through as many battles as me you’re not surprised by much. I certainly didn’t, err, expect it, but I’m not going to go into a panic because of it,” the king replied. The reply was relatively cool, but it was obvious that Derrin had hit upon something important that the king did not want outsiders to know with that question. Suddenly, he continued, “Oh, how rude of me. You are the first visitors of this city in a very long time; you must be toured through our great city! Also, for saving my life and for being related to my old friend Crawford, your guides will be none other than my son and daughter!”

As he said this, the king pressed a button on his throne and a portion of the wall lowered and a servant appeared. “Fetch my daughter, if you would,” he requested. The servant nodded, and disappeared into the secret area in the back wall. “I should have introduced her earlier, my daughter Shalia, but with all the commotion I forgot,” the king told them as they waited.

A few moments later, the wall opened again, and a figure appeared. The figure stepped into the light of the room and Derrin’s jaw dropped; he was dumbfounded. Shalia outdid pretty boy Orlando ten times over. He attempted to drag his eyes away, but found it impossible. Kayla noticed Derrin,** and raised an arm. “You know,” she said quietly to him, “if you stare any harder your eyes will get stuck!” Her fist slammed down on his head, knocking him straight to the floor. He rose slowly as the King chuckled and Shalia hid a small smile. “Ouch,” was all he managed before the other fist connected solidly with his head.

After another chortle, the king interrupted the beating, “I’m sorry if I’m interrupting something, but I’m sure your guides would love to begin the tour.” Kayla looked up and smiled sweetly, “Of course.” With that, they were off: Orlando in a gloomy silence, Shalia in confusion as to what had happened, and Kayla dragging Derrin along the ground by the ear.

I felt like showing y’all that Kayla’s not as incapable as she’s been portrayed lately, and that she totaly owns Derrin. Oh and when you think of Shalia think of the kind of girl that when she walks into a room attracts the attention of all the guys without trying, guys who are then slapped by any girl they might have been talking to. Yeah, you could call her hot; I guess that would work. Oh, and I got my PSAT scores: 2200. I lost to the kid I was trying to beat (He got a 2300 last year when he was a sophmore) but whatever, it’s still good. Hope you enjoyed it.

Forgot to add this, but if any #4>< (hax) artist wants to draw any of the characters, feel free to PM me.