Okay here is chapter 4, I forgot to post it when we were on a little bit ago so I’m just gonna drop it here…and as always any feedback about how I should do something or anything would be great, just let me know and I'll try my best!

This chapter is about 600 words shorter than the last one as you requested it be a little shorter @Rhys (Mr. Blackstar). But don’t worry @Mercy I packed in all the detail I could think of. I hope you guys like this chapter and have a great week!

There was mumblings as the miners talked among themselves and Forsythe clung to his father’s neck. He felt like a baby being held and all, but inside he was so shook up and so worried about Kyter that he didn’t have much room to care. A few of the miners volunteered to go in and search and the group was about to enter the mine when there was a loud booming from inside. The booming and rumbling grew and all the miners fell silent.

Lord Blackstar looked up from where he had been kneeling not faraway then called out, “Back from the entrance, she’s gonna blow.”

Miner’s scrambled back and away in a mad confusing rush. In the rush Forsythe was knocked from his father’s arms. He hit the ground hard and rolled, it hurt but nothing too bad. He heard his father calling for him and then a miner picked him up and pulled him away behind some rocks. He knew the miner, Brephen, he served under his father, Brephen then called back to his father to let him know he was safe. The rocks were to the side of the entrance and as the last miners ducked behind them a cloud of dust and debris shot from the gaping mouth of the mine.

The dust was so thick in the air that you could hardly see. The boom was so loud that it was all you could hear as it filled your ears and pounded in your head. The debris flew like arrows through the soiled air striking rocks with resounding cracks and making everyone duck lower behind the barrier of rocks they hid behind. Forsythe sank down, huddling into a ball, tears coursing down his cheeks, how could Kay Jack, let alone Kyter ever survive that?

As the sounds subsided Forsythe looked over the rock and gasped. Lord Blackstar was running towards the mine entrance, heedless of the danger that lay within. Lord Blackstar stumbled and fell, then got up and started running again. Brephen looked up and said, “Captain Gavin.” With an evident edge of concern in his voice.

Forsythe saw his father’s head come up from somewhere down the line. He watched as his father’s eyes went wide and he jumped over the rocks racing towards Lord Blackstar with a cry of, “Fleck no!”

Forsythe watched as his father tackled Lord Blackstar. The two of them rolled on the ground in the muddy slush and Lord Blackstar struggled to get loose as he yelled. “Get off me Gavin, my son is in there! I have to find him! My little Kyter is in there somewhere, he’s afraid of being alone, afraid of being left behind and abandoned, afraid of the dark. He’s so little! Too young to die! Let me go!”

Forsythe knew Kyter was afraid of being alone, Kyter had been afraid of being alone ever since he was little and Forsythe knew why. When Kyter was younger he had wandered off and got lost in the woods around Kingston, it had taken them three hours to find him and by that time Kyter was terrified of being alone, left behind, or abandoned. Forsythe knew his father struggled with the same fear, and his heart went out to his father who knew more than anyone what Kyter, if he was alive, was going through in there. He himself was terrified of birds and the fear that welled in him at the sight of one was almost too much for him to bear and he couldn’t imagine facing that fear alone. He had always had someone to help him, but Kyter had no one in there.

Forsythe then heard his father start talking, “I know Fleck, I know, it’s gonna be okay. Kyter has Kay Jack, he’s not alone.”

“It’s okay for you Gavin, your son is out here my son is in there, please let me go in and get him.” Fleck sobbed and Forsythe felt his stomach twist, he had never felt so sorry for an adult. It broke his heart to see an adult crying, but it wasn’t only that it was the thought of Kyter, his friend in there somewhere. He looked toward the mine and blocked from his mind all the terrible images that came to mind, he would not acknowledge any of them. Kyter would be fine, he had to be fine.

“It’s not safe Fleck and you know it, give it a little time to settle, you will be no help to Kyter if you get stuck in another cave in.” This seemed to calm Lord Blackstar some and Gavin got off him and helped him to his feet. The watching miners didn’t seem to know what to do, but soon they began cleaning up the debris that had been blown from the mine.

Forsythe watched as his father waved over a few miners and they were dispatched, hurrying off towards the warren. He knew where they were going and he didn’t envy them, they had been dispatched to tell everyone what had happened, primarily Lady Blackstar. Forsythe stayed where he was staring into the gaping mouth of the mine. It’s wide dark, dust billowing opening gawked back at him. It seemed as if it was mocking his pain, almost as if it was laughing at them, laughing at the torture it had caused. He turned away. What if Kyter was hurt in there somewhere, unable to get out? What if he was…well…Forsythe could not stand to think it, it couldn’t be true.

Forsythe looked up as he heard shuffling steps coming out of the mine. There was a thump and groan from somewhere just inside the entrance and then moaning and more shuffling steps. He stood and walked closer, many of the miners stopped what they were doing. A weary form trudged out of the mine and collapsed into a miner’s arms. The buck was almost unrecognizable under the layers of dust and blood, but Forsythe knew who it was. It was Lieutenant Kay Jack. An open wound bloomed on his head, and one arm hung limp beside him something sharp and white poking through the thin fabric of his tattered tunic, one foot was crushed and bleeding. His clothes were ripped and torn covered in dirt, soot, and blood. In one of his dirty hands Kay Jack held a piece of Kyter’s tunic.