Ok, just a heads before I continue the story. Austin is now spelled Austyn. Enjoy!

Chapter One- Phantoms

Claire snapped awake as something crashed downstairs. She bolted down the stairs to find her little brother in the kitchen with a broken bowl at his feet. "Devon!" she scolded.
He gave her a small smile. "Sorry," he murmured.

She rolled her eyes. He was just too cute to stay mad at. She ruffled his brown hair, "its ok kid." She picked the broken pieces and handed them to her brother. "Go and hide it before Cynthia sees it."

Devon grabbed the pieces and bolted out the door knowing that if his tutor saw it he was in big trouble. He was back in a couple of minutes still holding the broken pieces. Cynthia walked in before Claire could say anything. "Devon! What have you done?!"

Devon gave her a quick glance and a short response. "I broke a bowl." A scowl covered Cynthia's face. Then he turned to Claire. "Come, hurry," he ran over to her and grabbed her hand. Devon pulled her out of the house and down the hill to the river and pointed.

His body lay poised on the top of the river his arm got in some grass and weeds. Black hair swirled around his head which was tilted slightly to the left so it bumped gently on the kids left shoulder. Claire let out a cry of alarm and proceeded to bolt into the shallow water. She wrapped her arms around the small kid and pulled him to the side.

Gently, Claire put her hand to his mouth and was relieved to feel a small gust of air hit her hand. She hurriedly picked up the boy and headed back to her small house. Claire turned her head and looked to find Devon on her heals. "Go into town and get the medic. Hurry!" She burst into the kitchen of her cottage to find Cynthia waiting patiently in the kitchen a glare fixed on her features. The glare turned into a mixture of disgust and concern when Claire ran in the door.

Claire raced into the guest bedroom and gently put the boy on the bed. His body was shaking from the ice of river and loss of blood. He had shallow cuts across his whole body but there were three big ones: one on his temple, one on his arm, and one across his stomach. They were still trickling blood and the ones on his arm and temple were pussy with infection. His shirt consisted of two ripped pieces of fabric around his waist and his pants were ripped up to his knees.

The door banged open again and Devon ran in with the lady medic. "Everyone out," she barked. Then turning to Claire she said in a very calm voice, considering the circumstance, "Get me warm water and lots of towels."

Devon sat squirming on his horse annoyed at the slow pace. Claire was riding beside him and the kid behind him with Cynthia. They were surrounded by guards, which annoyed Devon; he hated that part about being a prince. The kid looked a lot better but it was rather unnerving that he couldn't remember anything from before he woke up in the cottage. He couldn't even remember his name.

The capitol came into view with castle behind it. Devon squirmed harder. He wasn't sure how his father was going to react to the kid. Claire reached over and put a hand on his leg. "Everything will be fine." She was wrong.

Devon's father looked down on the kid with utter disgust. The kid stood in front of the king with his head down. He hadn't moved or spoken since they had gotten there. Claire paused come to think of it he hadn't spoken since he woke up a couple days ago. The king shook his head. "Why didn't you just leave him to die in the river?" he roared.

Claire looked up in shock. "Dad, he's just a kid."

Her father glared down at her. "He's a nuisance. I don't have time for this. It's almost spring and our attack on Sandar must be perfect."

Cynthia stepped forward. "Your Highness, I have an idea." The king arched an eyebrow. "Why don't we make this boy Devon's servant? He refuses older servants but maybe someone around his age would be better."

The king frowned as if considering this option. He eyed the poor boy up and down. Even after all the medic had done the boy was still in bad shape. He was skinny, his hair hadn't been cut, and he was still covered in cuts and bruises. The king stood up and walked over to the boy towering over him. "Can you at least speak?"

Claire broke, "Dad I told you. He hasn't spoken since…"

"Yes, sir," the boy said quietly. Everybody in the room jumped. The voice was quiet but not meek like one would've expected. "I can talk."

Claire smiled; it was about time he spoke up. The king frown increased. "We shall try it. But if anything goes wrong I'm sending the kid to the guillotine! Understand?" Everyone in the room nodded including the kid.

As they walked out of the throne the kid leaned over towards Devon. "What's a guillotine?"

Austyn sat quietly in her seat drawing on a piece of paper as the teacher droned on about magic and its properties. She didn't even notice when Mrs. Miller walked over to her desk. "Miss LeMarr are you even listening?"

Austyn jumped and looked up in surprise. Mrs. Miller snatched up the paper and was about to wave it in her face and tell her that instead of drawing she should be paying attention, but then she saw what the drawing was off. She knelt down beside the small girl, "Everything will turn out all right in the end."

Mrs. Miller handed the paper back to Austyn and the girl looked down at what she had drawn. It was a memory. Mark stood in front of her facing the raptor with a wooden stick to protect them. Austyn shuddered, it was the first time they had ever met and he had saved her life that day.

4 years ago

Austyn ran down the street glad to finally be away from that stupid party her parents were hosting. Sometimes she really hated being the king's niece. She snuck down the alley and into the woods. Finally feeling safe she slowed to a walk knowing exactly where she was going even in the dark.

The moon had risen by the time Austyn had gotten to the shack. It had been built behind a couple of big rock and against a small cliff which made it hard to find. She ran up to the door and pushed it open then let out a small shriek.

Sitting in the middle of the shack was a small boy. His dark blue almost black eyes snapped up to meet hers echoing her surprise at finding someone here. Austyn let out another gasp as a black wolf came out of the shadows his teeth bared and his dark blue eyes starring calmly at her while a soft growl broke the dead silence.

The boy's attention turned to the wolf. "Fang," the boy whispered warningly. The wolf walked over to the frozen girl and sniffed her hand. Austyn couldn't bring herself to move then to her surprise the wolf licked her hand and stalked back over to the corner he had been lying in earlier.

Austyn turned back to the boy. "You have a wolf!"

The boy nodded, "He's actually really friendly." The boy saw her eyes light up. "Come here, I'll show you." Austyn walked carefully over to where the boy was sitting and sat down beside him. "Fang," he called. "Come here," he said as he held out his hand. The wolf stood back up and trotted over plopping down in front of the two children. The boy reached out a hand and began stroking the wolf's fur. The wolf let out a soft growl and rolled onto his back. The boy laughed and rubbed his stomach.

Austyn reached forward and gently ran her hand across the soft fur. "How did you find him?"

The boy leaned back. "I found him when he was a pup, I was four. So about three years ago. He was all alone and really skinny so I took him home."

Austyn looked at him in awe. "And your parents let you keep him."

The boy laughed. "Well at first I hid him in my room, but my mom found him. But eventually I talked them into it. It's not like I take him to the market. Oh by the way, I'm Mark."

"Austyn, nice to meet you Mark," Fang let out a soft growl and nudged her arm. Austyn laughed and scratched his stomach. "Nice to meet you too, Fang."

Mark laid back and put his hands behind his head. "As long as you scratch his stomach and give him food, Fang will love you forever."

Austyn laughed and lay down beside him. "Well he is a type of dog and that is definitely the way to a dog's heart, food and attention."

Mark opened his mouth to reply when Fang rolled to his feet and let out a loud growl towards the door. Mark frowned and motioned Austyn to stay where she was. She sat up and watched as he crept quietly to the door pulling out a knife from its sheath at his side. But just before he opened the door it flew completely of the wall and into the shack throwing Mark back several feet.

Austyn got to her feet and ran half of the way towards Mark before her body froze in complete terror. A phantom stood at the door. It was tall and covered in a black cloak that covered the entire being, everything but its face and hands. It hovered about half a foot off the ground and its hands were outstretched towards the kids. His face was that of a human except it was pale, gaunt, and deathly with large yellow eyes that could see better in the dark than during the day. The hands stretched out towards them were not human like. They had six incredibly long fingers with claws on the end of each that were atleast six inches long or even longer.

Austyn watched it approach her body shaking visibly and small whimpers cutting the silence. It wasn't until the fingers were almost touching her that something snapped her trance. Fang rushed her leaping into the air and bowling her over just before the claws of the phantom struck her throat. Austyn cowered in the corner with Fang in front of her while the phantom watched the two curiously before turning to head for Mark.

He had slowly climbed to his feet his right hand clutching his head. He looked up and let out a shout of surprise to find a phantom facing him. He had lost his knife when the door had hit him and had no other weapon on him. He reached behind him and found a sword length tree branch behind him. He waited patiently for the phantom to get close enough before striking down hard on the hand that had been reaching for him.

The phantom let out a cry and a single nail hit the floor of the shack. Then he reached out a hand once again towards Mark. Mark lifted up the piece of wood and tried to strike the hand again but this time the piece of wood snapped as it hit the magic shield guarding the phantom. Mark let out a gasped and back away until he hit the wall.

The phantom drew closer but let out a shriek as Fang bolted out of the corner and bit him on the hand. The phantom through Fang off and the wolf hit the side of the shack and fell to the floor. The phantom watched the wolf for a second to make sure it was going to attack again then turned towards Austyn instead of Mark and began to approach faster this time.

Mark bolted across the shack putting himself in between the girl and the phantom. He held the rest of the stick up ready to strike again as the phantom began to draw close again. Fang stirred from where he was lying and drug himself to his feet. His ears cocked up and he bolted out the door.

The phantom watched the wolf leave before turning back to his pray. He reached foreword and struck the stick to the ground. He lifted his hand again and struck down at Mark. Mark lifted his left arm to block the strike and ducked. The nail scraped down his arm from just below his shoulder to his wrist. He let out a cry of pain. Austyn ran foreword to help him but he pulled himself up off the ground and pulled her farther into the corner.

The phantom raised his hand to strike one last time when he suddenly flew backward and hit the back wall with a loud thud. It let out a screech and turned to his attacker. Three people stood in the doorway. The head of the royal guard drew his sword; Anna stood beside him her hand up white magic swirling around her hand, and Mark's dad who also drew his sword. The two men attacked the phantom slowly driving it out of the shack while Anna ran over to the children.

She grabbed their hands and hurried them out the door where Fang was waiting patiently. He barked loudly when Mark came out the door and ran to him. Mark smiled, "Good boy." The two men joined the group. The head of guard had a large cut across his chest but other than that and Mark's arm everyone was alive. The five ran down the path towards the city and through the magical shield that guarded the people from the very thing they were running from. Anna slowed down to a walk. She turned to Mark. "Come on, the medic can heal that," she murmured before leading them to her house.

Mark was lead into the medic and Anna drew her daughter to the side. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you are in?" she said calmly. Austyn only nodded.

Hey! Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please review and tell me! I won't be able to update for about a week cause I'm going to Texas to visit my grandparents tomorrow, but I promise to update as soon as I get back!

Shyin

tickle-me-pretty15- My First Reviewer!!! I'm glad you like it!! And I'm really happy you reacted the way you did!!! I hope this chapter was just as interesting as the first.