Slave To Savage

Chapter Six

"What?" the young girl asked, confused, needing her to repeat what she had said just to be sure. Khala scoffed, a smile on her lips. She pushed her spectacles back into position, almost as if she was signaling how serious she was. "I'm a druid, this is just me maintaining a human form, we aren't exactly welcome here." She shrugged her shoulders. "Why?"

Khala looked back at the commander. "Looks like I'll be giving her history lessons too."
"Then... What does your true form look like?" she asked curiously, a childlike inquisitive side of her came out, one that Silas knew all too well. "Druids come in many shapes and sizes, most have a natural human appearance while others... Aren't as blessed. I am one of those unlucky ones." There was a silence, a curiosity-filled one.

The woman straightened up and closed her eyes, a grey and red cloud started surrounding her. Alphea stepped back a bit as Khala's limbs started shifting, almost like a piece of clay being reformed. Her fingers melted together, and so did her toes, now where there once were five fingers on her hand, there was now only three, and her toes had merged into two. Her ears took a new form too, it was very close to being elf ears, but less pointed.

Alphea observed the woman's face and noticed a pained expression had formed. Now that she thought about it, the transformation must have hurt. She felt bad for the woman, that she had to hide like this and put herself through agony to blend in with a crowd she didn't even belong in in the first place.

"Well, this is me. Not that scary, right?" Khala asked as the black and red cloud faded away. The young elf smiled, "Not at all! This is incredible!" Alphea had an excited expression on her face as she gawked at the woman. "Alright, let's get right into it..."

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The two had worked on simple meditation, trying to focus Alphea's mind so she could find her deeply buried core. She felt embarrassed that she couldn't feel it, although Khala said that it takes time and practice, especially since she wasn't even aware of it until now. It was as if the girl's core had gone into hibernation, it would take a few more lessons for Alphea to find and strengthen it.

While the girls were training, Silas had gone back into town to sort out some business and when he returned, he took Alphea, calling it a day. He had taken her back into town, to another cottage on the edge of town. It was more secluded than the other residences, tucked away between some trees on a little hill. The place looked a bit run down and neglected. Alphea wondered why he brought her here, it didn't seem like anyone lived here.

As they approached the door, he took out the key from his pocket and unlocked the moldy and creaky door. They stepped inside, and to Alphea's surprise, the place was a lot cleaner than she expected, judging from how the outside looked.

"What do you think?" Silas asked, observing the girl's reaction. She looked to him and nodded. "It's nice, needs a bit of work, but nice nonetheless. Why did we come here?" With a smirk, Silas wrapped an arm around Alphea. "This is where we're going to live. I've been coming here to clean it up a bit before I showed it to you. I'll keep working on it, of course." he explained, sounding proud of his project.

"So, we're leaving the palace?" It was pretty obvious that they were, but she just had to be sure. She couldn't understand why they were leaving, but she trusted that he had his reasons for making this decision. "Yep! Maybe in a week or so, we need to get furniture and get rid of the mold and rats before we can move in. The king gave me this cottage a long time ago, but I never bothered to leave. This is perfect because it's away from that madman and it's close to Khala, for your lessons."

She nodded in agreement as she looked at the place. She was happy that they were leaving the palace, she didn't have much of a problem with the place or the people, but it would be nice to live somewhere else, away from the fancy halls and over-the-top rooms. This place was far more down to earth.

"I like it! It'll be fun to get this place back into shape, I love a fixer-upper." she said optimistically, smiling up at the commander. He looked pleased at her enthusiasm. After a while of walking through the place and talking about potential plans for it, they left and returned back to the palace.

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The time had passed by in a flash as they fixed up the house every day, little by little. A week and a half had gone by, now the day has come for the pair to leave the palace and move into their new little cottage. They cleaned up the inside and outside, Silas was in charge of the furniture and remodelling, Alphea cleaned up and worked on the outside. She tamed the long grass, created an area where they could plant vegetables and cleared up an area a bit further from the house where they could train.

"I'm so excited to move in! I can't believe so much time has passed by, but now we finally get to move in." Alphea said excitedly as they rode on their horses, headed for town. Silas had arranged a horse for Alphea so she could get around if she needed to. He contemplated if she should have that much freedom, but he has already given her a taste of it, so he couldn't possibly stop now. It didn't seem like she planned a grand escape, if she had then she wouldn't have helped him prepare the cottage.

"I know right, I was getting impatient there at the end." Alphea laughed at him. "Really? I hadn't noticed. You need to work on that impatience of yours, mister Silas." she said sarcastically, earning a chuckle from the commander. "Oh, by the way, how's the horse? Is her handling okay?"
The young girl leaned over and patted the creature's neck. "Of course, she's the best. She's such a good girl, she rides well and listens to me. Sometimes I wonder if she could actually understand me."

"It's possible. I heard elves could communicate with animals." He glanced at her, waiting for her reaction. She looked confused and surprised, which meant she probably didn't know.
"Really? I have no idea, I'll ask Khala, she might know."

The pair followed the path surrounded by trees, passed through the town and up the hill, through the dense forest to the clearing where their little cottage was. They hitched their horses and grabbed the bags they brought with them and went inside.

"Home sweet home."

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