Chapter 5
We ran for what seemed like hours, my body bursting with pain the entire way. A few times I found myself stumbling, on the verge of collapse due to exhaustion. It was at these times that I pushed on, determined not to let the humans outdo me.
I caught glimpses of them through the forest. Looks of what I believed to be fake concern were etched on their faces. They were trying to trick me into believing them to be trustworthy; thankfully I knew better. I had studied the histories and ways of their kind. At best, they were treacherous. I wouldn’t fall for such a petty ruse as a look of worry.
Yet I also could not deny that they had saved my life, as revolting of a thought that was. Did they have something even more sinister in store for me? Is that why they had rescued me? Only to throw me into an even crueler fate?
I followed them, even in spite of my suspicions. The gnomes gave chase, spurring me onward. It wasn’t long before I knew that they had fallen far behind, but still I was driven. I figured the gnomes had allies throughout the forest, and probably had magical means of communicating with them. Thus, I had no choice but to follow my rescuers.
* * * * * * * * * * *
I knew that I was running out of energy, for most of the men had disappeared into the forest ahead as I lagged behind. For a moment, I thought they had deserted me, and I wondered what type of trap they had led me into. Those thoughts disappeared instantly, as one of the men seemed to appear at my side, seemingly out of the thin air.
“It is not much farther and then we can take a quick rest,” he said breathing normally. Surely he was in peak physical condition. “Can you make it?”
I nodded and focused ahead, determined not to let the human help me again. Once was a strike against me as it was. He merely kept pace with me for a few minutes. Then he burst into a run and disappeared into a large wall of brush ahead of me. Covering my face with my left arm I plunged through the trees, and found myself falling.
I reached to grab a branch as I fell, but it was too late. In a second I was engulfed in cool water, with the feeling of being swept away. I opened my good eye, to see the sun reflecting on the water that was pulling me downstream. A wavy figure blocked out the sun, and then I felt two massive hands on my shoulders, pulling me.
I realized someone was pulling me out of the water. Air hit my face and I took a long, deep breath before coughing until my throat hurt. Whoever had lifted me out of the water set me on a sandy shore as I continued to cough. I heard their waterlogged boots slosh as they stepped onto the shore, although I couldn’t see the figure as my good eye was closed due to the coughing.
Eventually my breathing returned to normally, and I opened my watery eye to find a group of men staring at me. None of them looked like they had just run for what seemed like hours. One man, the one with the child-like face that had first spoken to me, stepped forward, to kneel in front of me.
He pulled a pouch off his belt, and spilled the contents into his hand. A few dark red berries seemingly called out to me. Delicious as they looked, suspicion flooded my mind.
“You are safe now, friend elf,” he stated, rubbing his black beard with his free hand, “At least from the gnomes. You must eat these, though, for our journey is not yet over, and you will need your strength.”
At that moment, I tried to protest but found I couldn’t. I had no strength left at all, my entire body exploded in pain. I went to lift myself up, but realized that there was no way I could even move, every breath hurt. Somehow I found the energy to extend my hand. There was no way I could defend myself in this position, and I no longer cared what happened so long as I stayed alive.
The man placed the berries in my hand, and stood up replacing the sack onto his belt. He watched as I struggled to place the berries in my mouth, then as I slowly chewed them. Even before I swallowed the last one, a warm feeling began spreading over my body. As the last one went down my ragged throat, I felt like I was burning up. Slowly the feeling left.
Looking up I saw the man smile, and I feared I had been tricked into eating some poisonous berries. Yet, I felt like my strength was back, as I pushed myself off the ground. I stood up for a second and looked at him, then at the rest of his men. They were all laughing, just as I came to the conclusion that I was swaying. Instantly I felt tired, and my good eye began to close as the earth came rushing towards me.
The man stepped forward and caught me. Merriment flickered in his eyes, as he motioned for someone. That someone scooped me up like I was nothing more than a rag doll. My head hung awkwardly as I continued to struggle against the darkness.
“Don’t fight the berries, friend elf,” he said with a laugh. “You need your rest. By the time you wake up, you will be in a warm bed.”
I tried to say something, but the words came out gargled. His advice seemed intelligent, so I let the berries do their work, as the darkness overtook me.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Battle raged all around me. Men and dwarves threw themselves at half-formed creatures that were covered in black robes. The screams of the dying were louder than the clash of swords. Blood seemed to cover everything, even giving the sky a pale red color. Everywhere I looked my followers were falling by dozens. Fear raced through my body.
I knew the goal of the army I led, the men and dwarves that were being slaughtered like cattle. Farther down the forest trail upon which we now fought for our lives, stood an enormous temple, filled with vile atrocities that offended even some of the darkest gods. For some reason it was my job to destroy it, for some reason I had been cursed with the help of humans and dwarves.
Yet I rallied them. I went to draw my sword, only to find it already in my hand, covered in a yellowish green blood. I pointed and we charged. Thousands of men rushed forward, trampling over the robed figures. For every one we killed, we lost nearly two dozen. The creatures were of some other place, some other plane of existence.
As we charged I knew the temple was close, merely a few feet from view, when an explosion leveled the surrounding woods. Human and dwarf were thrown to the ground, myself included. Darkness fell upon me, and an inhumanly silence followed. My skin crawled as I sensed something evil advancing upon me. I was no longer sure if I was blind or if I was floating in an expanse of endless darkness.
A flash of red caught my eye, as I turned too late to find an immense figure lunging at me with a vile looking broadsword. It plunged into me, and I could feel it cut not just my body, but my soul. Tendrils of darkness spread through me, coming out of the sword. On some level, I screamed.
The figure of pure darkness made its head visible, and what was left of me, body and soul, seemingly exploded in pure terror at the sight of the demonic creature. A laugh escaped the cracked lips, and I realized that I wasn’t dying. My lower body was slowly changing, forming into the creature that stood in front of me.
I watched as the rest of me, seemingly became part of the beast, until my head was face to face with its. Even closing my eyes, I could still see it, the look of it seeped through my eyelids. As I screamed, it laughed. And the louder I screamed, the louder it laughed. Such a sound when they blended together must have been a symphony in hell.
The beast opened its enormous mouth, lined with gigantic teeth. I realized that I was shaking. A light showed up, and my entire world went white, taking with it the creature, as the shaking grew worse.
* * * * * * * * * * *
I awoke to find myself being shaken by an elderly woman. There was a look of worry in her eyes that relaxed as I came to. My body was covered in sweat, and most of my muscles were strained. Sitting up, the woman moved to a counter then brought over a glass filled with a clear liquid.
“It’s just water,” she explained, obviously noting my uneasy stare at the glass.
Grudgingly I took the glass, and sipped it. She hadn’t lied for refreshingly cool water soothed my throat. I drained the glass quickly, and she fetched another. Three glasses later, I stopped to take in my surroundings.
I was in a small cottage that contained minimal furniture, and very little in the way of decoration. The only thing that even caught my eye was a sheathed sword that lay on a small, oak table and a burning candle with a book lying next to it. Out the window I could see a pale moon on the horizon. Looking back at the woman, I found that she was staring at me intently.
“I didn’t mean to shake you, Sir Elf,” she quietly said. “But you were screaming and thrashing about with such a horrified look upon your face that I worried your heart would soon seize up and stop.”
“T-thank you,” I sincerely replied. My body still trembled from the dream, and though I could recall very little of it, the sound of my screaming and that fiendish laugh echoed in my mind. “I fear that you are right.”
“Dark are these days, Sir Elf, and darker still the nights,” her voice, though steady, held a touch of fear in it. “You are not the first to have a black dream, nor will you be the last. I must say though, that I have never heard of one affecting a person as much as I saw it affect you.”
I just shook my head. My entire world had been turned upside down once, and now it was happening again. I had no idea where I was, or to whom I was captive. In fact, I thought, I didn’t even know when it was.
“How long have I been asleep?” Something inside of me feared the answer.
“Why two weeks, Sir Elf,” she answered.
“Two weeks?” I was dumbfounded. I was worried I had lost a few days, but two weeks was truly horrible. What had happened in that time?
“Yes, you have been in my care for nearly two weeks. I’ve tended your wounds as best I could, although I must say my skills as a healer could use a bit of touching up.” She spoke politely and with sincerity. For some reason, I felt that I could trust her. “Your eye has healed nice, as well as the cut along your thigh, unfortunately that will undoubtedly leave a scar.”
I hadn’t even noticed that my eye was now open. I looked down at my leg to find a thin, red line running down my inner thigh. I hadn’t even noticed I had been cut when I was running from the gnomes.
“What of the men who saved me?”
“Most are out on patrol at the moment,” her voice was soft. “However a few are still in the village and that includes Derrin. He left a message for you. I am to tell you that once you awake and feel well enough, he would like it if you would join him at his house for dinner and a talk, Sir Elf.”
“Then I am not a prisoner?”
“Heaven’s no. Derrin left you a sword, because he said you were very suspicious,” her tone became soft, almost sorrowful. “He thought that might show you his good intentions, and pave the way for a friendship. I believe you are the first elf he has ever met.”
“He was the first human I ever came into contact with,” I replied, wondering why I felt so at ease in the old woman’s presence. “I must say though, after all I have studied, I do not think I can ever have a friendship with one of your kind.”
“Don’t be so quick to judge my race; we are not all the same. Sure we have had a brutal history, filled with many wars for many petty reasons, but have the elves not had pointless wars? Have there not been elves who are just as evil as some of my kind?” Her blue eyes seemed to hold sorrow, although why I couldn’t tell. “What, Sir Elf, makes your kind so much better than mine?”
I’m not sure if I could have answered had I wanted too. Everything she said made sense, and not only that, it made me feel ashamed inside for my thoughts. What was wrong with me? Surely either the humans had done something to me while I slept or there was some other quality in those berries that I had eaten that was still affecting my judgment.
“I would be off to meet this Derrin, before I waste more time,” I stood slowly, getting my legs underneath me. “I thank you-“
“Helan,” she finished. “Helan Galstron, last of the Galstron family although I know that means nothing to you. I would ask your name Sir Elf, but I understand you are not allowed to speak it.”
“How di-“
“A long time ago another elf came through here, with the same look in his eyes that you have,” a thin smile touched her cheeks at the memory, the quickly disappeared. “He told me of the rules of exile from the Silvan Isles, and of what one must endure in order to have the exile lifted. He stayed for a while and lived in this very village, but eventually he moved on.”
“Did he ever return to the Isles?” I was curious, for very few elves were exiled, and the chances that I knew him, or at least of him, were great.
“No,” she answered. “He passed through one time, about two years ago during autumn. He came to tell me that he was content not to return to his homeland, that he found a haven for the elves in a hidden forest upon a mountain to the west. He came back to thank me, though I never will know what for. I can’t believe that the short time we spent together ever had that profound an effect upon him, but he came to me anyway. Do you know the last thing he did before he left the last time, Sir Elf?”
I shook my head.
“He told me his name,” she whispered, a tear in her eye. Surely there was something more to their relationship that she was letting on, but I wasn’t about to press the issue. “Then he left for the Haven. Ah. Sorry.” She wiped away another tear as it streamed down her cheek. “It’s been a while since I’ve even thought about him. Anyway, you should be going. Derrin’s been waiting for two weeks, and will be thrilled to find you up and about, Sir Elf.”
“Ok,” I said moving towards the table. I picked up the sword and buckled it onto my belt, which was the same time I realized I was wearing human clothing. “Thank you for your hospitality, and for taking care of me.”
“You are more than welcome Sir Elf,” she smiled. Derrin’s house near the center of town, you can tell which one it is simply by the large oak that grows in his yard.”
I moved to the door and opened it. A cool night breeze blew in, yet it felt nothing like the ice cold terror I felt in my dream. This cold was refreshing, invigorating. “I will try to stop and say goodbye before I leave in the morning.”
“Leave?” She seemed genuinely surprised,
“I have business with a certain group of gnomes, and although you are an exceptional human, I don’t believe I will ever meet another that I will want to talk too, although I do owe this Derrin a thank you at the least.” The thought of thanking a human for saving my life wasn’t as horrible as it had been before I had met Helan, but there was still something repulsive about it. And the thought of staying with the humans was even worse.
“If this is goodbye, I wish you good luck, Sir Elf.” I could see that the sorrow had returned to her eyes. “There are many roads to travel out there, make sure you look down all of them before you pick your path.”
“I picked my path many months ago,” I answered.
With a small smile, I turned and began walking down the path, into the village. I didn’t have to turn around to know she was still in the doorway, with the same sad look upon her face. Neither could I shake the feeling that I was disappointing this old woman, and for some reason that thought terrified me. What was causing me to worry what an old woman like that was thinking about me? Why should I care? For whatever reason, my last thought brought with it a revelation. I finally knew what Helan was sorrowful for.
The sorrow was for me.