Captured by the Elves Ch. 09

"I don't know what to do. I feel for you. I truly do, but your father and his army could destroy us all."

The life drained from her face and she curled up on the ground. "I can't go back like this. He'll kill me."

"Collins said that he won't. He wants to change you back, but if he can't he'll find a place for you on his lands. He offered to take me in as well, strangely enough."

"He did?"

I nodded.

She mulled it over for a while. "Maybe that wouldn't be so bad. Would you...would you come with me?"

"Katania..."

"Please. His lands are vast. If we had to, maybe it would be all right. There's a forest on the outskirts. We could make a home there. You and I, Kiari."

It was a lot to take in. My new life had been so brief and become so complicated. At one time, I fretted over the idea that I could ever get someone to want and be with me. Now, I was losing track of how many people had propositioned me. Who did I actually want to be with? I loved Braith legitimately. That was without question. Yet Landa has expressed such affection for me, and Ericka...Ericka was mine. There was no denying that. Katania...well, she was nice, but to just walk away from everything?

"I'm flattered," I said. "Truly, I am, but I can't leave everyone behind."

"Even though they kept you as a prisoner?"

"That part is over," I said. "I have responsibilities now. So do you."

"My father has an army. Maybe we can win a battle, but not a war against him. He's one of the foremost field commanders in our country."

"He can't maintain this though. I was there when he read his letters. He's keeping soldiers away from the lines with this adventure of his. Before Dane became Danica, she told me that the war in the east was not going well. It is failing. The mundane elves even admitted it to me."

"Dane? The mundane elf?"

"She was. Why the mundane elves would involve themselves in that is strange. I need to ask Ericka for more information. She might know. I don't think that Danica even remembers."

"You really like her?"

"Danica?"

"No, Ericka."

I said, "Yes, I do. I converted her. The bond is real. I'm different now, Katania. I'm one of us. That's who I am, and I made Ericka. She's part of my life now."

"She's very lucky."

"People care about you," I told her. "You need to believe that."

"No, I don't. I'm the cause of our people's suffering. There's no escape from that. No escape ever."

I walked over to her and offered her my hand. She took it reluctantly, and I pulled her up to her feet. We had much to overcome and very little time to do that in.

"Come on," I said. "Ericka seems to know this area. We'll make it back home. I'll call a meeting. I know that Landa will listen to me. Teagan will believe you if you stand up for yourself. Besides, we don't know. Things may have improved while we were gone."

Katania smiled at that rather hopeful lie. Did either of us believe it? Probably not in truth, but in the grips of desperation there were all manner of things that you found yourself willing to believe. Some of those things were downright ridiculous, but what were you going to do? To not believe in anything would be giving up. I remembered some of those long days on the march with my old army. Most of those men were just bone and dust by then, but I still remembered. Sometimes, in my mind, we were all still out there together. Still starving and still putting one foot in front of the other until the day light was stolen from us. There are some things that you never really escape. No matter how much you might seem to change. The old you is always there.

We eventually found Ericka down by the river. Wreckage from the wagon had washed up down there along with a few dead men. She'd stripped everything off of the dead men, and now had a collection of water skins that she had filled. Ericka was now armed with a short sword she had in a scabbard secured to her waist by a piece of rope. She'd also caught a fish and was cooking it over a low fire.

"There you are," she said. "I was worried for a bit."

"We're fine. Do you know where we are or how to get home?"

Ericka threw a piece of wood on the fire. "We've gone south east from the human camp. Down river. Maybe half a day on foot from the front line. If we take it slow, we can wind our way south and turn north back up towards where you--we, elves have our lands. This is a bit of speculation, but I think that we'll make it. We're strong enough to survive hunger if we have to hide for a time."

I believed that Ericka was confident. She wasn't so sure.

Ericka said, "You believe me, don't you, Kiari?"

I could see the real doubt and pain in her eyes. I took her in my arms and kissed her tenderly. "I believe you," I told her. "You'll get us home."

She was visibly relieved. "Of course," she said. "I'm a trained scout and I'll prove it to you. I...I..."

I held her. "You're with me," I told her.

That seemed to please her. "I'll protect you. I know I can."

Her absolute dedication was still new to me. Was this what Raina had expected of me? I couldn't see that ever happening. I didn't want Raina to be hurt, but this level of dedication...no, that couldn't be.

I said, "Is it safe to have a fire?"

"I kept it low. There's still a lot of smoke from the forest. We'll take off soon though. I'm just worried about being hungry later. I was already starved before, but becoming an elf girl has made me ravenous."

"The same will be true for drink and sex," I said.

And blood. I hoped not.

At times Ericka could be so demure and almost meek with me, but there was a wildness in her. An anger. I saw it in the tent with Lloyd and Clive. She actually wanted to fight him. The big man...he terrified me. True, I wasn't exactly the best person to show off their bravery. I was stronger and healthier than I had been, but still...I remembered that moment right after I changed. I tried to attack Raina. Or at least I think that I tried to.

Ericka looked at me concerned. She said, "Are you well, Kiari?" she hugged me. "Are you sick? Maybe I can find medicine. Is it your knee?"

"I'm fine."

My knee did hurt, but I was managing. I tried to remember the herblore that Braith had been teaching me. I don't think that any of them would've been as good a poppy syrup, but when pain was around long enough you were willing to take anything for it.

"I know," said Ericka.

"Know what?"

Her eyes were downcast. "I actually spotted you last night. You made love to her. I saw. I turned away, but I saw."

I held her. "It was a mistake on my part," I said. "I won't do it again."

"It's fine. She's a little cute for a blonde."

"I don't want you to get jealous."

"Of her?"

I tickled her and she responded wonderfully. "I know that the others are going to want you," I said. "And I want you to enjoy yourself."

"Really?"

I nodded. "I've proven to be very popular in the community for some reason. That's part of working in the bathhouse, I suppose. You'll likely be a part of that too."

"Of course, you're popular," she said. "You're--"

"--Don't," I scoffed. "People have said that about me since I was human. I think that it's caused me nothing but problems."

Ericka squeezed me tight. She said, "Maybe I'll have some fun with the other girls, but you and I are forever, right?"

"You're mine. You'll always have a place in my life. I am going to be married though. Are you going to be all right with that?"

"Married?"

"To Braith. You'll meet her. I'm hers. I'm sure that she'll like you though."

"Did she make you this way?"

"No...that was Raina."

"And you don't love her?"

"I don't know."

What else could I say about that? "Life is complicated," I offered. "When we're home and safe, we'll work it all out."

That seemed to satisfy her even if it didn't comfort me. It wasn't long after that that Katania had gathered her thoughts enough to join us.

She pointed at the cooked fish. "You made food?"

"Ericka has some real skills," I said. "She wants to help."

Katania shrugged. "Whatever. Look, Teagan's orders told us where to meet up. We should follow the river back. Direct like."

"No," said Ericka. "We need to swing wide. They'll expect us to follow the river. They have dogs as well. The dogs can follow people anywhere. I'm not kidding you. Even if we cross the water. Once they have the scent it's theirs. We need to make it difficult for them to follow us, and that means making them separate from the larger host. They won't want to go too far."

Katania looked at me. "This is what I was told. I follow orders."

What was I to do? Both of them had good points. I wanted to believe each one. Katania said that her orders came from Teagan, and those orders had to be good. But Ericka...she wouldn't lie to me, and if that was what she believed...

"Maybe we could do as she says," said Ericka. "It's more dangerous, but faster."

"We'll go for faster," I said. "Hopefully, some of the others will find us that much sooner."

It was a decision that I would come to regret. How would I have known the consequences of it? Even looking back on it, I still don't know if I would have to courage to choose differently.

We followed the river back meandering towards the north. Ericka kept us out of the open as best as she could, and there were times when she made us take refuge in some thicket for a time. It wasn't even clear if she'd seen or heard anything, but I was comforted by the level of caution that she demonstrated. That had to account for something. Even Katania was satisfied by it, but I believed as long as we were letting her follow orders Katania would've been up for anything.

I hadn't told Ericka of the revelation that I'd uncovered about our blonde companion. Truthfully, I didn't know what to do with the information. Prior to her confession my concern had been about destroying the life that she thought she had, but now I knew it could destroy much more than that. Katania lent me her shoulder to make the journey easier for me. The pain in my knee came and went. The healing I'd done was not match for the required exertion. How long could I go without the poppy syrup? The blonde elf girl was sympathetic to me in that regard. She even apologized for not having any of Braith's special leaves that the elves chewed to relieve pain. I told her that I would manage, and I wondered how long it would be before I had to tell the others about her? Katania wasn't Henry Collins anymore. She had the body to prove that, but could any of us escape the legacy of Henry?

The river grew increasingly loud. I had no idea how Ericka managed to pick individual sounds out of the roar. As we moved, I noticed that we'd gone up an incline. It was impossible for me not to notice because my knee. There was a sound up ahead that barked like distant thunder.

"What is that?" I asked.

Katania pointed ahead. "The falls. The river drops over the cliff up ahead. Teagan brought me there before she converted me."

"Why?"

"She wanted to make a point to me about choice. Not that I really had one, but...that's how Teagan is."

Thinking on it I could imagine Braith doing something similar with the old me. While she ultimately proved to be affectionate to me, early on she could be somewhat unforgiving.

"Can we cross at the top?" asked Ericka.

Katania nodded. "The water calms just before the fall. There's a shallows up there."

"That's our goal," said Ericka. "We can cross up there and keep on eye out on the surrounding area."

It all sounded like such a good idea at the time.

When we arrived at the top of the falls the truth was revealed to us. Like Katania said, the water of the river had slowed somewhat but was far from placid. It was clearer at the top than it had been when Katania had first pulled me from the churning water. It was such a grand of view of the horizon. I could not remember having seen so much of the sky or the countryside since I had first come to the deepness of the forest.

No one said anything at first when we saw the humans waiting for us. My blood had been pumping furiously as we had been moving up hill, and my knee had been screaming internally to me. Yet, I felt so much of that hot blood drain from myself when I saw Lloyd and his men. It did not seem possible that the big man would've been able to get up there so fast compared to us, but there he was in his beastly armor.

"This is a very pretty place," said Lloyd. "Is that why you wanted to come here, darlin'?

I just stared at him. Not sure what to do.

Lloyd looked at Katania. "Well now," he said, "Now we gots a blondie elf. Ain't she pretty? Not sure about that look though. Like she smells something bad. Don't worry, sweet heart. We'll take a bath when we get back."

Ericka drew the short sword she had from the scavenged belt she'd put on. The men readied their weapons, remembering what they'd learned about the ferocity of the she-elves even if Ericka was newly converted. Katania shrugged me off her shoulder, and I managed to stand on my own. The adrenaline and the fear helping me overcome to hesitancy of my knee's support.

Katania unwound and put something together from the confines of her clothing. When it was fully assembled, I saw that it was a weapon of some kind made from thin cords and topped with hooks and blades made from animal bones. I'd never seen such a weapon in the settlement and imagined it to be some ancient piece of she-elf technology. She held like lasso, and spun it in the air. The sharpened points making a frightening sound as they whirled through the air.

I moved off to the side. Not sure what the hell I was supposed to do. I reached into the water and pulled out a large oblong rock, and felt like an idiot for thinking it was a good idea. The two sides squared off.

Lloyd laughed. "I see you don't want to come along nicely. That's going to be a big mistake for you." He looked at me. "It don't have to be this way, darlin'."

"It doesn't. You can let us go."

"That's not gonna happen. Drop your toys and you won't get hurt."

"That's not going to happen."

Lloyd drew his large mace from his belt. "We'll try to make this quick. That way we can get you back home and clean you." He pointed me out to his men. "If any of you fools hurt that elf, I'll rip your head off and fuck your throat hole. Grab her and keep her safe."

While I watched, the two sides went at each other. Lloyd let his companions wade in first. The big man was not the sort to put himself at the mouth of danger. Two of his men moved in on Ericka. They were nervous, and she used that to her advantage. Moving on one, and as he dodged back, the other tried to flank her, but she had planning on that and spun around to wound that man. He stumbled back with a slash across hid middle. His chainmail kept him from being killed immediately, but Ericka hit him with such force that the mail had barely held up.

Another man circled Katania cautiously, but was nervous about the weapon she spun around herself at unbelievable speed. When he edged closer, she titled one shoulder or the other, and the bone-tips of her weapon buzzed ever closer to him. Eventually, the soldier grew frustrated, and charged her. For his efforts he was rewarded with having a massive chunk torn out of his face.

While this was happening, another man had quickly advanced on me. He had his short sword drawn, but moved to grab me with his open hand. Before he managed to do so, I slammed my dubious rock into his face, but only managed a glancing blow. He recoiled--spitting out teeth and blood. The man viciously backhanded me and sent me into the shallow water. When I sat up, I saw the man was being yelled at by Lloyd.

"What exactly am I supposed to do?" the man demanded.

"Give me that bloody sword," said Lloyd.

The man reluctantly handed it over. Once Lloyd had the short sword, he spun around faster than I thought he could and took half the man's head off. The bloody top plunging into the water like a stone.

"I warned you."

I tried to get up and move away, but Lloyd was already after me.

"Now, now," he said. "There's not point in doing that."

He dropped the sword that had belonged to his dead henchman. It came to rest beside the man's body in the shallow water. I saw Lloyd trying to pull something out of a sack on his belt. It looked to be a long leather cord, that I wanted no part of. He didn't get close enough before Ericka was suddenly on him. The vicious she-elf was battering Lloyd with her short sword. The clash of steel on steel was so loud that it somehow hurt my ears over the sound of the waterfall.

I managed to get farther away, and took stock of the situation. The men that Ericka had been fighting were both dead and sunk in the shallows. The clear water starting to turn red. Meanwhile, Katania had somehow gotten her cord around her opponent's neck, and the two were locked in a desperate struggle with the elf girl looking to have the advantage.

Lloyd and Ericka continued on in their brutal exchange. The big man taunting her the whole time, and Ericka crying out in a pure rage as she tried to bring the big man down. I looked around in the water that was growing murky from the blood. Maybe I would find a better rock. Then I looked back to the man that Lloyd had killed. I saw the sword was still there next to his corpse.

I moved for it. Wresting it out of the cold of the water. I struggled through to water towards Lloyd--far from the ideal person to attack him, but there was no other choice.

He finally landed a blow with his mace against Ericka's sword that destroyed it, and sent her reeling away into the water. I attempted a swing with the sword, but Lloyd easily deflected. However, instead of hitting me with the mace he punched me in the middle of my chest with his gauntleted fist. The wind was knocked out of me as well as any ability to fight. I dropped the sword back into the water.

Ericka was on Lloyd again. Unarmed, but with a ferocity I couldn't believe. However, despite her best efforts the big man's armor proved to be too much. First, he managed to land enough blows with his fist, and then glanced her with his mace. Finally, the big man let go of his deadly weapon and used his bare hands against the she-elf. Ericka fought and fought but eventually it was too much. When she lost her balance. The big man seized her with both hands and raised her up. He walked to the edge of the waterfall and tossed her.

I watched in horror as a battered Ericka went over the falls. I tried to get over to the edge to look for her, but Lloyd was already on me before I got there.

"No, no, no," he said. "Can't be doin' that. It's dangerous. Now, as I was saying you'll be coming back with me."

Suddenly, Katania was on him. She'd scooped up the short sword that I'd dropped, and hammered away at his armor, but it was having little effect. Lloyd had to actually protect me from the ferocity of Katania's attack or she would have killed me. However, after a few resounding parries and a fierce backhand with his gauntleted fist Katania was disarmed. The next hit to her head sent her into a stumbling stupor.

Lloyd said, "I don't remember inviting you along, blondie. You were one of them that attacked the wagon. Bold move for you lot. My lord will surely be impressed."

"Please, let her go," I said. "You can have me. Call that a victory. Just let her go."

He leered at me. "I already have you, sweetheart. Some much for Eric, the slut though." He laughed. "I kind of wanted to fuck her before the end. Oh well. Anyway, now I can get another elf to make up for it."

He moved to grab her, but Katania, perhaps summoning some strength from her hero and sire Teagan, attacked him again with all that she had. Fists and feet smacked against the cold steel of his armor. This culminated in a powerful kick right into his crotch. The collision with Lloyd's steel-plated crotch piece only served to injure Katania's leg. She screamed in anger and frustration as Lloyd laughed.