Captured by the Elves Ch. 07

The very large man seized me with his meaty hands. He said, "Don't worry, pretty. I won't let the others hurt you."

While this happened to me the other men began closing in on Raina. The older man grunted. "Well now," he said. "Looks like you broke your sharp stick. That's very unfortunate for you, isn't it?"

Raina spun her broken spear—flinging blood all around. She wasn't fazed in the slightest. The tall elf merely altered her stance and waited for her next opponent to come forward.

"Geralt was a decent lad," he said. "The way I see it: we already have a living elf secured. A dead one wouldn't be a bad addition. One hundred and fifty ducats then."

In that critical moment, I watched as they all moved in on Raina. Even injured she was fast. She darted between men-making it difficult for them to swing at her without hitting their comrades. My newly improved elf eyes caught all the details. She struck two of them in their faces—shattering them, but another man managed to strike her broken spear and she lost it. I knew what was going to happen next, and I wanted to turn away, but forced myself to watch the last moments of my friend's life.

Yet that didn't happen.

Before they could kill Raina, a hail of arrows descended on them. Two were killed outright and several others wounded. There were terrifying shrieks of rage, and then the she-elves came out of the trees like a wave. Dria and her sisters from the south led the charge. It did not go well for the humans involved. Dria and her sisters were fully armed and had the drop on them from the start. The preceding volley of arrows didn't hurt either. A pitched battle erupted. The humans on the outermost area decided that it was best to withdraw rather than face the wrath of the she-elves. No one could blame them.

"Might be time for us to leave," said the big brute holding me. His meaty hand grabbed my throat. "I know that you're not like the rest of them. You'll be nice to me and I'll be nice to you."

He forced me to move away with him and the others as the battle continued. Instead of dying down the battle only seemed to grow as more humans arrived to aid in the withdrawal of the first men. The formed a line of pikes to discourage the elves from advancing on them.

"What an exciting day," said the big man as he moved me away. "The war out east has been for shit, but out here...a man can have some fun, eh? What do you think, darlin'?"

We'd almost made it to the edge of their line. Even more men arrived from their camp. However, even more elves came as well. What had begun as a minor incident had evolved into something else. The sort of conflict that gets blown out of proportion when recalled in song.

As the elves began firing volleys of arrows towards the men in the rear, the humans formed a wall of shields. The big man had his own shield up to cover himself. Though his armor looked for formidable I didn't that the elf arrows could pierce it. Several tried though as they could see that I was being held prisoner by him. I knew from my training that this wasn't the sort of conflict that was easily winnable by either side. I really should've known better. Landa and Braith both talked about my being wiser beyond my years. Even a supposed "wise" person has a moment when they are taught lessons.

The big man took his hand off my throat for a moment to signal some other men. I seized the opportunity and struck at him. It hurt me for more than it hurt him in his armor, but he was surprised. I broke away and made a run for it. I saw the elves in the distance. They were holding their own. Most of the humans from the initial group had been slain, and the elves had formed their own line. While Dria and her sisters held the front, I saw that Landa and several of the others had arrived. Even Braith was there. I saw her in the distance clear as day.

And oh, how I ran. My legs burned. My heart pumped. I knew...I knew that I was going to make it. My eyes moved down to the ground because I was worried that I was going to trip over a root of all things. Then I saw it: a blur coming from behind me. It wouldn't be until later I knew what it was: the handle of an axe. It cracked against my knee. Suddenly my leg was facing a direction that it wasn't supposed to, and I was sent tumbling over the forest floor and ended up colliding with one of the felled trees. Everything went black. When my vision returned, I was staring at my throttled leg. I didn't feel the pain at first. I saw the unnatural position of my leg and I knew that it was coming. The pain didn't stay away for long. I cried out and clutched at my leg futilely.

There was a race then. Not one that I was running of course. It was between the humans and the elves. It led to even more fighting as the two sides tried pushing into the warzone between them. The humans won. I was scooped up and carried away amidst all the carnage. In the distance I could hear Braith screaming my name. Over, and over, and over. Yet all her pleas, all her screams, and all her desperation were not enough to keep me from being taken

My perception nearly shut down due to the pain in my knee. Much of the rest passed in a blur. I was taken away. Carried off by the humans back to their lines and beyond. And so, I left the captivity of the elves for a less certain future. The pain and the shock prevented me from imagining just what I was in for.

Note: A long time coming. I wanted this published before the close of 2020, but life loves to stick it in and break it off. I will say that I love you all. When I need inspiration, I will read some of your past comments and feel a lot better about this thing that I do. Thank you so much for your continued interest. As I said in my profile update: I'm not giving up on this story. Please rate it and post a comment. I love to hear from you. This new year has already been a beast to us. I wish all of you well. I write this sitting in a bar on a Sunday afternoon. My sister and nice people are here. I'm drinking a nice dank double IPA. Cheer!