Oceanum Collis

•Chapter 16• New Allies

Orlando followed Serena into the forest again. "She needs some time. We'll return tomorrow." Serena tells him. "Sounds like a plan," Orlando replied. The she-elf turned to look at the young man. "You did well. Saying all of that. It was almost too good to be true." She said. Orlando smiled at her. "I wasn't lying." He tells her, "All this seems very important to you. So I might as well help you. I mean, you're the only one here that hasn't tried to kill me multiple times. Aside from the arrows, you shot when you were hunting me down of course." He chuckled. Serena let out a sweet giggle. "My apologies for that," Serena said. Orlando holds up his hands. "Hey, apology excepted." he smiled at her. The two continued to walk. "We should look for my brother, then head out into the trees. The wolves cannot follow us there." Serena tells him. "So, are we going back to the wolves?" Orlando asked. Serena looks at him. "I have to make sure he's okay," Serena replied. Orlando smiled at her again. "I admire you caring so much about your brother." He tells her. "He came out here to protect me. So, I have to make sure he doesn't die doing so." Serena shrugged. Orlando couldn't help but smile at her. Even if they were both stubborn. They still cared very dearly about each other. Serena suddenly stopped her pace. She holds up her hand slightly for Orlando to bump into. He looked around to see if there was someone there with them. Serena reached behind her to pull out an arrow. "We should run." She whispered, "Take the dagger from my holster and then run as fast as you can. Don't look back." She added. Orlando did as he was told. He puts his hand on Serena's waist, pressing his front against her back, trying not to give away what he was doing to anyone watching them. "Might want to go a little faster," Serena whispered. As Orlando grasped the weapon with his hand, a wolf jumped at them, growling loudly. Orlando pulled the weapon from the holster and started to run off. Serena shot an arrow at the wolf before running after Orlando. 

The wolf kept chasing them. Orlando turned his head to look around, and make sure Serena was okay. "Keep running!" Serena yelled at him. Before she knew it, the she-elf was pinned to the ground. She was flipped over to lie on her back. She looked up to look into Misty's black eyes. The young werewolf was sitting on top of the elven princess, knees on either side of Serena's waist, keeping her in place. "No more running now, princess," Misty whispered to her. Serena tried to stab her with the arrow she had in her hand, but Misty stopped her. She took the arrow from Serena's hands and snapped it between her fingers. "Serena!" Orlando yelled in the distance. Serena tried to get up, but Misty pinned her hands above her head. "You won't escape again," Misty spoke up. "Get your flees off me!" Serena exclaimed. The elven princess forces her knee into Misty's ribs. The young werewolf groaned and lost the grip on Serena's hands. She pushed the young werewolf down by her shoulders. Now the tables were turned, Serena was now on top of Misty. Orlando appeared behind the two. "Serena, are you okay?" He asked her. "I'm fine," Serena assured him. Suddenly, Asher stepped from behind a tree and into the light. "Well, well, wow." He interrupted himself at the sight of the two girls in front of him. Misty rolls her eyes at her best friend. "Shut up." She whispered. "I told you not to come after her." Asher tells her, "Not alone." He added. Serena got off the young werewolf. She looked at the other werewolf who helped his friend up again. He turned to look at Serena, who had another arrow pointed at him. He let out a low chuckle. Orlando stepped next to Serena with an angry expression on his face. Asher holds up his hands. "We came in peace." He tells him. "I could see that when your bag of flees attacked me just a second ago," Serena replies. Asher turned his attention to the she-elf. 

"We have an offer for you." He tells her. Serena stepped closer to him with her arrow still pointed at Asher. "I'm not interested in anything you have to say," Serena replied sternly. "I'm beginning to like you, princess," Asher tells her with a smirk. He then took a step back. "Come on out." He said. A strongly beaten-up Hayes stepped out of the shadows. His hands were bound together by rusty chains, blood was spread all over his face, and he was limping slightly. The more Serena looked at him, the more wounds and blood she could see. Asher wrapped an arm around Hayes. "We're going with you on your little quest. Just to make sure nothing happens, like the elves gaining all power over this world. Just the simple things." Asher started to explain. "Or what?" Serena and Orlando said together. "Or we will kill him." Misty replies. The young werewolf had her arms folded over her chest. Serena looked at her brother. "You tried to kill us. Multiple times. Why would you think we-" Serena started. "You can come!" Orlando interrupted. Serena turned around to glare at the young man standing next to her. Hayes wanted to protest as well, but there was something in his mouth. "They can't come with us," Serena said sternly. "Because of your rivalry?" Orlando asked her, "They could be useful." He added. "They're useless," Serena replied. "Listen, I am not that good at defending myself, especially out here. And you can't protect me all day all by yourself. We're going to need some help." Orlando tells her. Serena turned back to the two werewolves. "What do you want? I thought you wanted to kill him." She said. Asher shrugged. "It's like I said, we just want to make sure the elves don't take over Oceanum Collis." He answered honestly. "That's not a reason." Serena replied, "You just want to kill humans. You want to get back at them, that's why you want to come with us." Serena points out. "You almost killed my father to get him out. There must be something very special about him if you wanted him to get out so badly." Asher said. "I just want him to get home safely. And I don't need you for that." Serena tells him. Asher looked at Misty. The young werewolf walked over to Hayes. She made him sit on his knees and put her claws into his neck. Small drops of blood trailed down his skin. "Do we have a deal or not?" Asher asked her. Hayes closed his eyes in pain. Serena had never seen her brother like this. She had never seen any elf like this before. Weak and in pain. She lets out a sigh. "I'm keeping my eyes on you two. Especially you." She said and pointed her finger at Misty.