Chapter 41

Ardiel Elrond

Loueras was furious. Never was he ever so full of rage as he was now. Whether it was at the kidnappers, or at himself, I don't know, but all of us were scared to even look him in the eye as we put on our clothes as fast as we could and rushed outside where he had already boarded the wagon.

"GET ON, NOW!" He yelled.

We hurriedly climbed aboard, and as soon as the last one of us were in, he took off.

The wagon was almost flying down the street which the kidnappers supposedly could've used. All of us were in shock, including me. How could this have happened? Why now? Right after everything was going so great, bam, Tariel gets kidnapped.

Moreover, we had no way of knowing what direction the kidnappers took her. We wasted too much time getting ready. By now, they could have already left town.

Loueras stopped our wagon by an old woman sitting out on her front porch.

"Ma'am, have you seen a wagon drive by here?" He asked frantically.

"Well yes, in that direction, some time ago." She pointed north. "They were all dressed in black cloaks and…"

"Yes, thank you very much." Loureas interrupted and slapped the reins. The horses took off north.

We followed the street until we reached the outside of town. In front of us, a dirt road through wheat fields, and a forest in the distance.

The wagon rattled and shook as we sped full speed ahead. I was holding on for dear life so as to not fall off, and prayed that the wheels wouldn't break off each time the wagon flew up on yet another bump.

Everything was so frantic. Time seemed to speed up as I barely noticed our surroundings. I was so preoccupied with worry for Tariel, that I was unaware of nothing else. Perhaps that is why when our wagon stopped, I didn't notice it either, and only snapped awake a few moments later.

"Huh? More elves? Yer searching for that girl?"

I looked at a strange man in a black cloak sitting on top of a wagon, which was surrounded by four men on horses, also in black cloaks. Then my eyes set on Loueras, who was boiling with fury.

"Are you the ones who took her?" He asked. His tone was cold and murderous.

The one to respond was the man holding the reins. "Yeah, what's it gotta do with…"

Slash.

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Lyra and Nariel screamed, Galen gasped and turned away. I froze in shock. Before the driver could even finish his sentence, his head was cleaved off in an instant. All I saw was a momentary flash of Loueras's blade, only a fraction of a second, and the man was decapitated.

"SHIT! WHAT THE…"

Slash.

The man next to him who talked to us earlier also lost his head.

"KILL HIM!"

The other four men hopped off their horses and unsheathed their blades.

"You have no chance against…" Slash.

"FUCKING SHIT, KILL HIM!"

Slash, slash.

It wasn't even a fight, not even close. Loueras's sword cleaved through their flesh like a hot knife through butter at such speeds that I couldn't even follow with my eyes. An unstoppable force, like death itself, he didn't even give them a chance, not like they stood one anyways. Their deaths were inevitable once Loueras laid their eyes on them.

I remembered king Elvedriel saying how even he would have trouble against Loueras in a fight. Seeing this slaughter, definitely encouraged me to believe his words. I learned that Loueras was a sword sovereign of the elven style, but I never got the chance to see how deadly someone with that rank can be, until now.

"You." He pointed at the only one remaining, his voice was low and raspy. "Where did you take her?"

He pointed to the forest. "J-just down this road. In there, the f-forest."

"Alright."

"Y-you're gonna spare me ri…"

Slash. The head of the last kidnapper also fell. Then, Loueras climbed aboard.

"I am sorry that I made you witness something like that."

But his tone wasn't apologetic, and his apology was only for the sake of an apology, nothing else. I understood him, there was too much to worry about than apologizing for murdering scum. Perhaps my mind was too full, and I was too shocked to even bat an eye to the massacre that unfolded before me.

Lyra and Nariel already puked over the sides of the wagon. Galen was barely holding it in. I too, probably when I come to my senses, will let it all out, but right now, I wasn't in my right mind.

Our wagon made a little detour around the pile of corpses, and resumed its journey down the bumpy countryside road, towards the forest up ahead.

Loueras stared dead ahead, with his glare to piercing it almost seemed as if the forest ahead of us will catch fire at any moment. My friends were still in shock, and now it began to dawn on me as well.

Holy shit, I just witnessed death. People literally died in front of me. My stomach churned and I felt dizzy and nauseous, and clasped my hands over my mouth to not vomit.

Brutally slain with no mercy or remorse, decapitated before any one of them could even react. I just witnessed murder, murder in front of my very own eyes. Be it in this world, or my previous world, murder stayed the same.

I shuddered as I still remembered the sounds of the blade cleaving through their necks, and images of their pale-faced heads lying on the ground in pools of blood. I couldn't control myself any longer, and vomited over the side of the wagon. The bouncy road didn't make things any easier, and I vomited a second time.

Feeling physically and mentally exhausted, I collapsed in my seat, and stared straight up at the sky. A few minutes later, we were already speeding through the forest, and arrived at a flat treeless area. There was no one here, with the only sounds being the rustling of the trees, and the heavy breaths of Loueras and the horses.

He jumped off the wagon and began to inspect the area. I did the same. The rest stayed inside.

I saw him crouch down, and went over to see what he found.

"Blood," he said coldly, "and this, the outline of someone lying on the ground. They were here."

I noticed Loueras's face being contorted with rage and desperation as he squeezed his right hand into a fist.

"Whoever it was, they also inflicted injury on her. And they went…" Loueras looked at the footprints, and traced them all over the place before looking to a certain direction, "further up north."

How he was able to get this information from so little evidence remained a mystery to me, and I had no time, nor a desire to ask.

"Up north is too vague." I commented.

"Grassente. The closest town up north from here. I assume it is where she was taken."

My face fell. "What will happen to her?"

Loueras let out a killer intent in response to my question. "What else do humans do with captives? The slave market."

He turned around and speed walked to the wagon. "I will not allow that filth to even lay a finger on her." He said out loud to no one in particular. "And if they do, I suggest they pray to whatever God they believe in because they surely will need it." 

"Hop on Ardiel, what are you standing there for?" He urged me, and I hurried back. Once I got on, we took off once again.

Tariel Saeltria

"I think we made it far enough for today."

For the entire day we galloped, and I was strapped to the back of his horse like some kind of cargo. I was hurt, tired, dirty, hungry, and miserable, while this vermin was snacking, and whistling some cheerful tune along the way.

He avoided the main roads, preferring to travel hidden, away from prying eyes. The poor horse was oozing foam from its mouth from running the whole day, but it looks like he cared about nothing else but himself.

Damien hopped off the horse, grabbed me by the collar of my nightgown, and roughly dragged me off the horse, causing me to tumble onto the ground.

"Oops, sorry, I hope that was painful." He said, and dragged me towards a tree, to which he tied me. My hands were still cuffed behind me, and he tied me to a tree with a makeshift collar made of rope, the other end of which he tied around my neck.

By the place we stopped, there was a small creek flowing by, where he refilled his bottle of water. As the sun was going down, he set up a tent for himself, lit a fire, and began roasting some meat he had packed for himself. Of course, the entire day I had nothing to drink and eat.

"If I have nothing to eat or drink I'll starve and die." I coldly announced to him.

He looked in my direction while chewing loudly. "Humans can survive a couple of days without water, and over a week without food. We will be in town in two days, so you'll be fine."

"Well, I am not a human."

"Yeah, yer an elf. And if you're a high and noble elf, you can survive even longer. So shut your mouth."

We sat in silence for a while after that. I sat down on the dirt, and watched the fire flicker and crackle, a dozen or so embers erupting from it every now and then, and swirling up into the sky. It was a beautiful, warm and cloud-free night, with stars shimmering in the sky. It would have been even more wonderful if I was watching it with my friends, instead of being tied to a tree, starved and beaten.

"Is all of this because of our fight?"

"Hmm, well partially. I also saw how much you could be worth, so there's that."

"So, you are just a regular slave trader?"

"Pretty much so. And I hate elves."

"Why?"

"Why, you ask? Acting all high and noble, like you're better than us, like we're some kind of wild animals compared to you."

It is true that when we entered Tralelin, it was a huge shock to us just how much cleaner, elegant, and proper Elvedreil was compared to it. The occasional foul smells, drunks on the streets, and the slave market. None of that existed back home. I did think that it was unpleasant, but I never thought of humans to be below me.

"And that is why you were so harsh to me? Because you hate us?"

"Uh huh. And you ruined me back in the arena."

"I regret I did not kill you back then." I answered through gritted teeth. "I saw through you, you were scum, but I did not realize you were one to such a degree."

"Well, tough shit princess. That's why you're tied up right now."

He shoved another piece of meat in his mouth, and chewed it slowly while side-eying me, trying to provoke anger. But I simply turned away, and looked back up at the starry night.

"I will be saved soon," I began, and he looked my way, "and when I will be, I will tear you apart."

Damien chewed his food, and loudly swallowed it. "Sheesh, so much for a noble elf to indulge in such human-like actions like tearing someone apart." He put more food in his mouth, and chewed for a while. "And I'd like to see how the hell I will get caught."

I lowered my gaze back onto him. "Even if you escape, I will track you down myself. I will turn this world inside out if I have to."

"Ok ok, listen here princess. You're talking like you're already free."

"I am." I smiled at Damien with pity, and chuckled a little bit. But inside, I was nowhere near confident.

"Because, your are simply stupid."

That is, if my plan even works, I thought to myself.