Captured by the Elves Ch. 09

"And you're still out here?"

The lord eyed me. He said, "When you were still a man, did you not desperately want to be saved? I can't imagine that you so eagerly accepted your fate."

"No. I dreamed of escaping, but it wasn't to be. I found a new life."

"Was that your choice? Or was that you desperately trying to adapt to a bad situation?"

Each scenario he presented seemed true enough to what had happened. What did I really believe?

"I was supposed to die," I told him. "I was so certain of it. The possibility of living...what was I to do?"

The lord's expression softened. He said, "At times like this I think of Saint Albus. You know of him?"

"Yes," I said. "A little."

Saint Albus wasn't just a saint from the religious text of the dominant western religion, but he was most definitely a real person who had briefly controlled much of the west before his untimely death at the hands of an angry mob of poor people that proceeded to eat him afterward. Needless to say, the story of the man was very popular regardless of how religious the listeners of the story were.

The lord said, "That for us which appears to be so different is often much more similar than we would like to believe. At least that's an approximation of the philosophical principle. Suffice it to say: I don't blame you for adapting. It's a testament to your resilience. Help me with this and I'll give you what you want. Whatever it is."

"And what's that?"

"Agency. Control your own life again. Even if you can't go home, you can still have a life."

"And if your son is changed?"

The lord was silent a moment. "I must know no matter the case. If my son cannot be changed back then you and he could be made to live comfortably on my land. No one need question or threaten your existence again."

That wasn't the worst offer that he could've made.

I studied the lord for a moment. He had a great vitality in him yet age and stress had taken their toll. The hair on his head was a mix of gray and sandy brown. His beard a mix of colors. I studied his face. Racking my brain to wonder if I recognized any of those features. He may have had the type of nose that some women called an aquiline nose: a prominent bridge that lent it a slight bend. But, did I recognize that one anyone? It was difficult. I'd looked at my new face when I could. The elf girl that stared back at me had been a version of myself. Exaggerated. Maybe even with a little bit of Raina thrown in there. Did any of the she-elves look like Lord Collins?

"Unfortunately," said the lord, "Time is short. Word of you has reached my superiors. They want me to present the 'strange and terrifying' creature. My king will insist on having one brought to court."

I remembered what Lloyd had said. They only needed one elf in the camp.

"Think on my offer," said Lord Collins. "The next letter I receive may be from the king. Then I must obey with speed. Oh, by the way, on the morrow you will have visitors. Do not forget whose captive you are."             

I discovered what he meant the next day. The lord and several of his men entered the tent. Three of the men carried manacles and a harness with them. I didn't like the look of it in the slightest. Ericka placed herself in front of me. She was ready to defend me with everything that she had.

Lord Collins looked at me. He said, "We're going to take your little friend away from you for a time. Don't worry. She will not be harmed. Tell her to cooperate."

I hugged Ericka and told her that it would be all right. Did I believe that? No, but what else was I to do? They opened the cage, and Ericka stared at me in the saddest way while they bound her hands and feet and attached her to the harness and then it to two long poles. They were going to take no chances with her.

Lord Collins bowed and then he and his retinue left the tent with Ericka in tow. I looked at the closed flap. Futilely seeking out Ericka through the slight crack. I told myself that they wouldn't hurt her. It made sense for Collins to keep his prizes separate. He already admitted that he didn't trust the elves despite being allied with them. If they took or killed me then at least the lord would have another wild elf at his disposal.

I heard muffled voices from outside the tent. Some of the voices were raised, but they eventually subsided. Then a number of the mundane elves filed into the tent. Their movements graceful and almost in unison. I stood up straighter in my cage, and brushed at the simple rough-spun tunic that I was wearing. I even tried brushing my hair with my fingers like I was worried about how I looked suddenly. It was so foolish, but so ingrained in me.

The mundane elves were a rather impressive group to me. Their traveling clothes were in greens and browns and supplemented with finely worked leather and mail. The stories said that elven chainmail was magical armor. I honestly doubted that, but I could tell that it was very well made. Old instincts took over, and I thought about how much my parents would want me to acquire a set of it for them. Its rarity spoke highly of its value. The elves themselves were wiry bunch. It was impossible for me to tell how old they were. I was still new to the whole concept of how elves aged. Clearly the chieftain appeared to be the oldest though. His elaborate pleated hair looked to have been freshly oiled. One of his subordinates grabbed a chair, and set it down in front of the cage. The chieftain sat and looked at me. The other elves stared as well. I was surrounded and left waiting.

Finally, he said, "Lord Collins tells me that you speak the common human tongue. Is this so?"

His accent was a little more refined than Dane's had been. Dane had spent more time among humans and must have picked up some of the human tone and inflections. The chieftain's words held me captive.

I answered: "Yes."

"And that you were a human from the western kingdoms?"

I nodded. Still not wanting to admit some things out loud.

"Very well," said the older elf. "Perhaps that makes this easier. My name is Khaliman. I am the Keeper of our war party. How many are there in the settlement?"

I didn't answer.

The elves spoke among themselves. It was a beautiful language that I'd only heard once in Peltest before. The sounds of the words were so familiar to me, but the order was just confusing. It had a flowing and almost musical quality to it. The chieftain noticed my interest.

The Chieftain said, "You like the sound of our tongue? Do you know it?"

I shook my head.

"Would you like to learn? Many outcomes are possible for you here."

One of the other elves poured his chieftain some of the wine that Lord Collins had left behind. The chieftain winced at first taste, but drank it anyway. "Human wine," he lamented. "No maturity or character. Tell me, Kiari, is it? It does feel wonderful, doesn't it? The transformation...It's haunted our people for generations. Angelahala...a goddess from the old times when the world was young and far less complicated. I feel for you humans or former humans as it were. You had no idea what you stumbled into. Our own people have been resisting for so long that it's part of our heritage. Do you truly still know who you were?"

"I never forgot."

"Rare," he said. "Our own people have come to see the wild elves as a decadent sort. Immoral to their core."

"They're just people. Leave them be."

"Interesting word choice there. 'Them' and not 'us."

"Leave us be. You can end this, Khaliman. Please, stop this pointless violence."

"Are you saying that they won't?"

"You're encroaching on their home. Of course, they're violent in defending it."

He sighed. "You're right. I'm glad that we had this talk. You're much cleverer than I thought you'd be. A merchant, or so Collins tells me. How fortunate for us."

Yes, I thought. How fortunate.

One of the younger elves pointed at me. He made some comment and the others laughed. Khaliman shrugged and translated for me. "My young friend here says that it's too bad that you are one of the wild elves because you might be the comeliest woman that he's ever seen. Even with the short hair." All of the other elves seemed to agree. No matter where I went some things remained the same.

"I heard that the war goes poorly in the east," I said. "How long can that last?"

He scoffed and drank more wine. Then he surprised me. "In truth," he said. "It has gone poorly. Our alliance with the humans was supposed to be strengthening us, but so far...it has been a detriment. The easterners are relentless though. Even for us. What are you getting at?"

"Leave," I said. "Can the humans truly blame you if you did?"

"Humans can blame anyone for anything. That's nothing new. Your notion is interesting. You seem to be a pleasant negotiator, Kiari. Just think of the progress we could make if we worked together. How does it feel being an elf?"

"I am myself. Circumstances be damned."

He smiled. "We saw your new creation as Collins took her away. I warned that arrogant human against his experiment. Did you do that because he wanted you to or because you wanted to?"

"I don't know. But she's my responsibility now. She doesn't belong to anyone else."

The elf chieftain nodded. "I respect that. Some of my superiors would be angry that I didn't stop it from happening, but what could be done? I won't comment on your chances, but I hope that you survive. Perhaps, sometime in the future, if you are there to speak for the wild elves, I will be more willing to defend your position. As a boy I was taught what to expect from your kind, but you...you're not that. Not at all."

"I want peace. It shouldn't be too much to ask. With that everyone gets to live."

Khaliman laughed. "Yes," he said. "That should be the appeal of peace. If only more people considered it."

The rest of our encounter was fairly innocuous. I never did tell him how many elves were in the settlement. He didn't probe further. I was as polite as I could be, and so was he.

"The tragedy," he said finally, "Is that you're not the one in charge, are you? More is the pity."

Our meeting wrapped up. I wanted to learn so much more about the mundane elves, but my opportunity was so brief. They eventually left me in my wooden cage. Still at the mercy of the humans.

It was a very lonely place to be.

True to his word: Lord Collins returned Ericka to me. I examined her thoroughly and asked repeatedly if she's been molested. She claimed that she had not and was much more concerned with whether something had befallen me. We were stuck waiting again.

Time passed.

It was difficult to say how much. Meals came and went. Ericka and I slept more than I would've liked, but it felt better to do so. My knee began to improve and soon I didn't need as much of the poppy milk as I had been taking. Ericka wanted to make love again, but I held off. It was also profoundly more difficult. Something had changed within the camp. We were not left alone as much as we had been before.

Then something happened that I should have foreseen. I'd feared it, and yet it still surprised me. It began when we heard a commotion outside. I heard the sound of hundreds of men moving in armor. Of sergeants barking orders. Horses whinnying. Finally, the lord himself entered the tent. He seemed to be troubled. The lord looked resplendent in his armor. A masterwork of steel decorated with blue enamel and bearing the crest of his house. Despite how fancy it looked I could see that there was some real wear on the armor. Lord Collins wasn't just a man who wore his armor for show.

The lord said, "I had hoped to avoid this. Direct orders have come down. And now your elf friends are pushing forward on us. I must send you on ahead before some disaster occurs."

"You can stop this," I said. "Offer a truce."

"That would've been productive, but at this time it's mute. I'm not giving you up completely though. You will not go all the way to the capital. A friend of mine will secure you at the border and await my arrival. My men will make a proper transport that should keep you safe. Don't worry."

In less than a day, Lord Collins' men had prepared a modified wagon to transport our cage. They'd constructed rather quickly, and I was impressed by their efforts and craftsmanship. As we were waiting to be loaded into the wagon Ericka looked at me. "Are you sure?" she asked. You want us to go in here? Say the word. I can create a distraction and we can go from there. I'll kill for you."

I believed her. I said, "I don't want you to die for me. I want the awkward situation of introducing you to Braith. I think that she'll be surprised."

"If you think that I'll be welcome in her home."

"It's our home and yes you will be."

I stepped into the cage with help from Ericka. My knee had improved, but still struggled to bear weight or make any large movements. Every time Ericka mentioned our escape I yearned for the possibility, but was convinced that my physical limitation had rendered it an impossibility. I offered Ericka my hand to help her in. She didn't need it, but took it anyway. She didn't need me at all, but followed out of a sense of loyalty--love or maybe it just the mysterious bond. As Ericka hopped in and sat down next to me, I was left to consider all of it. There was no way that I could run. Even in the best of circumstances I would only manage to slow her down. The best thing that I could do would be to encourage her to escape if the chance revealed itself. She knew the general direction of the settlement and had been a scout after all. She could make it, and then...well, she would be safe. I would likely be on my way east to some exhibit at court. Probably not mistreated but never to be free again. A pet. Some curiosity for people with money to observe. Was that a life worth living?

Probably not.

But Ericka would live. That had to be worth it.

Our journey would not be made alone. The wagon was large enough to seat two drovers and three guards. Following the wagon was an escort of men on horses. More than I thought there would be. While were waiting, the big man sauntered up. Lloyd once again donned his large suit of armor.

He said, "I did tell you that things were going to happen. Guess they want both of you though. You must be excited, eh? Don't be worried. My men and I will be leaving a while after you do."

"I thought you liked the fighting."

"Oh, I do. Don't worry. My lord ain't leaving yet. Not till it's done. He's smarter than you elves think he is. You won't be gone long."

Finally, the time had arrived for us to be moved. The drover at the head of the wagon cracked his whip and the four large draft horses began to pull our new prison off toward the unknown.

The wagon rocked side to side as we made our way east. I'd not been in a wagon for ages, and I often gripped the bars of the wooden cage to steady myself from being thrown around. Ericka noticed this. She said, "You don't like wagons then."

"It's been a while. We were not allowed in the wagons in our army unless you were injured. Then we lost the wagons and it didn't matter anyway. Part of me still looks at wagons just a place to store goods."

She giggled and then cuddle up to me. "I'm with you," she said. "Good or bad."

I loved her for that, and I needed to tell her.

"Ericka," I said, "We may come upon an opportunity. When it happens, if it does, I want you to take it. Run."

"I can't leave you."

"You can and you should. I can't make the run, but you can. Do it for me."

She stared sullenly at me. Big brown eyes filling with tears and the corners of her mouth showed anger. I was hurting her. I told myself that it was the better choice. I was being responsible. It made sense.

As we moved along a freshly cleared trail the air was thick with the smell of cut greenery. The clearings looked like open wounds in those ancient lands. The humans had destroyed so much of the forest in their wake. The wet smell of the innards of trees and brush was coating my nostrils and throat. I wondered if my new elf girl senses had made me more sensitive or if I was just a nervous wreck and the uncertainty of our journey was driving me to near madness. All the while Ericka and I sat in our wooden cage in the most painful of silences. From time to time, she would look at me, and I couldn't tell if she loved or hated me. Eventually I fell asleep believing that I was a failure.

Someone was shaking me. It was Ericka.

"Kiari!" She screamed. "Wake up!"

My eyes peeled open and at once I was aware of some much commotion all around us. Arrows were flying from everywhere, striking the wagon. The wooden housing of the wagon had so many arrow shafts sticking out of it that it resembled a large porcupine. One of the guards was hanging over the side dead--feathered with arrows until he knew no more. The drover and his second were somehow still alive. Armors and shields keeping them in this world. The poor draft horses had also been hit numerous times, and even if drover had not been whipping them forward, I cannot imagine that those poor beasts had anything on their mind but the desperate need to escape. Needless to say: the wagon was barreling forward at ridiculous speed. Our armed escort struggled to keep up on their own armored horses. Arrows striking their armor and shields alike. The wild elves were dedicated to not letting this wagon leave the forest. Ericka flung herself on top of me, and pinned my body to the floor of the cage.

"Stay down," she said. "Your elf girls are crazy apparently."

"You're one of us now," I told her.

"I know. It's wild."

The arrows gradually slowed down, however, in their place the she elves began to assault the wagon convoy directly. I watched as Dria and some of her companions jumped either onto the wagon or its horses. When Dria landed she drove her spear through the chest of the drover who then went over the side. Unfortunately, the reins guiding the horses did as well. The blonde-haired Katania was suddenly there and trying to reach down to grab at them.

Ericka had ceased covering me by then and had moved to the front of the cage near the horses like she wanted to offer help of some kind. It was then that she reacted to seeing something in the distance, and then came back to cover me.

"What is it?"

Ericka said, "They built a barricade or something. We..."

There was an enormous crash with the impact. Wood crunched and shattered--the horses screamed and were suddenly gone along with the she-elves. The wagon broke apart, but our cell remained intact. It flew, skipped across the ground, and finally came to a stop in the churning water of the river.

The water took me over in a shock to my system. Not only the sudden chill of the cold water, but the impact of suddenly being thrust underwater. My ears filled with the sudden liquid surge. I tried holding my breath--only to realize that most of it was gone to my screaming during the impact. I went numb--struck dumb by the experience. I would've died. However, there in the cold of the water I felt a warm body latch onto me. Her large breasts squashing against my large breasts. A sexy thing to consider it on its own, but alas there was no time to appreciate it in that moment.

I may have been content to die there with her in the cold embrace of the water, but Ericka was having none of that. While holding me, she turned about and kicked savagely at the wooden bars of the cage. Again, and again. Until finally...in her desperate fury the crafts of man gave way to the might of an elf, and suddenly we were free from the cage and drifting into the open water.

Then just as suddenly as we were free: Ericka and I were torn apart from each other. Separated in the great maelstrom that was the river. I didn't even know its name. My thoughts drifted back to those pre-elf girl memories when I had spied the map that belonged to Landa and Teagan. I couldn't recall a name written on the old piece of vellum. Maybe it didn't even have one.