Chapter 6 of the yet unnamed book: (Unnamed Chapter, too. Suggestions are appreciated!)

Hi, y'all! (yes, I just typed in a southern accent. I can't help it; I'm a southerner) This is the first of the scheduled posts, but don't let that stop you from making comments!

Chapter 6

As soon as Ben, Kaela, and Lisa (she was still trailing slightly behind) began walking further up the trail, Lerin called back to them in a voice quavering with fear, "Wait, where are you going? That's where the outlaws are!"

Lisa stopped. "Are we just going to leave him there?" she asked Ben and Kaela. "What are his chances of finding his way back in the dark? He's not exactly young."

Kaela looked at Ben. "She's right--we can't just walk off without making sure that he'll make it back to his village safe."

Ben stopped walking. "Well, what are we going to do? We can't just bring Leran to the outlaws! What if he's a spy or something, just faking that he's an old man. He could be working for Daran, for all we know! And we really do need to reach the followers before it get's completely dark."

"Who says we can't bring him to the outlaw hide-out with us?" Kaela demanded, still speaking in low tones.

"I just said why, he could be a spy!" Ben glared at Kaela, and she glared back.

Thinking quickly to break the tension between the two siblings, Lisa joked, "Hey, you're a poet and you didn't even know it!"

A small smile spread across Ben's face. "Thanks, Lisa. Sorry I snapped at you, Kaela, but I really don't think it's a good idea."

"Because he could be a spy? Ben, don't worry so much. First, I think he's a genuinely afraid, and I think we shouldn't leave him alone in the woods. Second, even if he is a spy, he still is an old man. We can show compassion and respect to him, and Adonai will take care of the rest. We do serve a powerful king, don't we?"

Ben nodded. "I guess you're right." He turned and walked back to Lerin. "Ahem. We're going up the mountain; would you care to come with us?"

He blanched. "Up...the mountain? Don't you understand?! It's where the outlaws are!"

Ben nodded pleasantly. "So I've heard."

Lerin gaped. "Are you an outlaw?"

"Well, I am a follower of Adonai, so I suppose I am an outlaw."

Lerin slowly backed away until he bumped into a tree. "Don't hurt me! Don't hurt me!"

Kaela now stepped forward. The presence of a twelve year old girl was slightly more assuring than that of a teenage boy, and Lerin paused mid-plea.

"Would you like to come with us?" Kaela repeated. "We followers aren't as bad as we're made out to be. And it might be better than walking all alone down a mountain at night."

The old man warily stepped toward Kaela. "Well...alright, I'll come, but I think it'll be the death of me!"

He joined step with the other three as they continued up the mountain.

Presently, to satisfy her curiosity and start up conversation, Kaela asked, "So, what'd the followers do to get outlawed?"

"Following Adonai, or whoever, naturally," Lerin nodded. "It all started back in the capitol, Nirshodeth..."

"Nirshodeth?" Ben asked. "What about Mahal?"

"Mahal?" Lerin snorted. "That small city? Some don't even call it a city, only a village."

Kaela nodded. "I see. Has Mahal ever been the capitol?"

Lerin looked at her in a weird way. "If you've ever lived here, you would know right away that Mahal has never been, is not, and probably will never be the capitol of Elandai."

Lisa quietly took notes in her notebook.

So, I guess that means we must be in an earlier era than last time, Ben thought. We might even run into Klii when he was a boy. Klii was one of Ben and Kaela's friends from their first adventure, who had been rather elderly at the time.

'And so Daran is the king?"

"King Daran (may he live forever) is king, yes. But let us hurry, being in the mountains at dark is not the best place to be. I'd prefer shelter, even if it's in the den of outlaws."
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Ah...there was something else I was going to say, but I don't remember...so never mind.

Izori