Twisted Worlds

Chapter 23- Homeward Bound

***************Kailens POV*************

One moment I was holding Ella close to me as we span within the golden glow of a portal, the next I flew headlong into a trolls' chest and collapsed into a crumpled mass at his feet. I could hear them cackling, rows and rows of armed trolls and goblins waiting for us to arrive. I had lost Ella as we left the portal, the dust I had kicked up blocked her from sight but I could hear her screaming for me, hear her voice echoing around the dusty savanna. So I yelled back as best I could, "Ella! Ella!, don't worry; everything is going to be okay, I promise you everything will be okay!" I just managed to get the words out before two trolls picked me up from the floor so my feet only just skimmed the earths dusty surface. The sand and dust eventually began to clear, and I saw her, her feet completely off the ground, being held upright by the huge semi-scaled hands of King Diorten. The voices of the Goblins began to subside and I managed to catch some of what they were saying...

"Arabella...good to see you...I thought......may have been lucky enough to die from your wounds.." and then I saw him rip the fabric from her shoulder. I gasped so hard I almost smothered myself against the sticky, sweaty pale green hand of the troll. The wound was huge; how did I not see it before. A deep blue fairly thick line straight across her chest. What had happened that she didn't tell me?  But I didn't get a chance to ask questions, it was apparently not my turn...

But the next words came through loud and clear, and with every syllable I felt more and more fear and anger, "Either, you live free and happy on Earth; we tell everyone you died in a terribly unfortunate accident and you will live a long and full life as the Ella Baxter you pretend so hard to be. BUT KAILEN DIES or, you marry Chito, live here as a happy Princess; have children, and never try to escape. And your dear lover here will stay alive..." I was dumbfounded. The King had been spying on me the whole time. I was never completing the job alone I was always being watched, and he knew everything, even her answer. My head was screaming at me, No, No Ella don't do this, please, but when the words came out they were a muffled jumble of sounds. 

And then she said it....the words I never wanted to hear; I would rather have died that to watch her speak those words, "I-I will marry Chito...." I missed the last part. My head was pounding so hard I couldn't hear anything at all.

The troll released his hand just slightly and I rammed my sheathed sword backwards into his stomach; he doubled over and I managed to shout "ELLA NO!!! You can't do this, not after everything you have done to stop it!". She may have replied to me but I was too far away to pick it up. I was grabbed on both arms by a pair of goblins, dragging my feet as I went. They never turned me around just dragged me away so Ella became smaller and smaller until finally I was thrown headfirst through the barrier and landed flat on my back in the sticky floor of the Sap Forest.

"ELLA!! ELLA!!" I was screaming at the top of  my lungs, but she was too far away. I was slapped o the back of the head by the horrible reddy brown hand of a goblin and forced to move forwards and deeper into the forest. I know men aren't supposed to cry, especially not assassins but my mind was spinning with thoughts and problems but no answers. Ella was going to marry a Serentali; she would become a prisoner in her own palace and she would willingly sacrifice everything just to save the stupid assassin who agreed to kill her....

After an hour of walking in the sticky humidity of the forest we finally reached the clearing....and home. But somehow it didn't have the same appeal anymore as it used to. I would come home after finishing a job; wipe the blood of my blade, have a hot bath, help mamma in the tavern pulling beers and everything would be alright again; but now everything was darker, I hadn't finished a job in fact I had fallen for it, and now I was letting her give up everything to save me....I was so not going to let that happen. But for now, I just had to lay low and think of a plan. They forced me through the doorway and attempted to follow but slammed into the protective barrier across every doorway and window.