Entwined Fates (Editing)

Chapter Eleven

The man's flesh was rotting off his face. Large lesions covered his skin, scratch marks were running down his face. His eyes were surprisingly clear, though. I stood frozen in place, not wanting to get near the creature. Two more came to stand behind him. Their faces weren't as gruesome, but they were still horrifying. The man with the worst face loaded a bow and pointed it at me.

"Come," he said, in a ragged voice. It was as if he hadn't spoke for years. The other two slung my unconscious friends over their shoulders with ease, one each. I had no choice but to walk, unless I wanted them taken away and most likely killed. "Drop your weapons," the ugly man said. I took off my belt of throwing knives, and two daggers. But I left the large knife in my boot hidden. I wanted to take it out and fight, but I knew I would have an arrow through my heart before I could say "shoot". A fourth man appeared, picked up my weapons, and grabbed Eli's and De's weapons as well. The two carrying my friends walked in front. I followed, with the arrow still pointing at my back. The man with the weapons trudged behind us. It was dark, and I occasionally stumbled, causing the man guarding me to yell and swear under his breath. I don't know how long we walked, but my feet were sore and the sun had almost set when we finally stopped. I felt a thudding pain at the base of my head when I blacked out.

***

"Ari." I fluttered my eyes open, to come face to face with De. My eyes were burning, and I wanted to go back to sleep, but I knew I had to get up. I rubbed my hands over my face then my temples, hoping to get rid of my thudding headache.

"Where..." I trailed off as I took a look at my surroundings. We were in a dungeon of some sort. The walls were made from ugly grey stone. Moss and vines creeped up the cracks. The roof was made of stone bricks that looked like they could crumble at any minute. On one side of the walls, there was a large iron door, looking dirty and rusty. A bench adorned one wall, a pile of hay was sitting in the corner. On the pile of hay Eli was laying with his head on his hands, staring up at the ceiling deep in thought. His clothes were dirty, there were a few small blood stains. His hair looked almost grey with dirt and dust. De caught my attention when he started talking again.

"I'm sorry. I should've paid more attention, then we wouldn't be here-"I cut him off.

"Doesn't matter. They would've won anyways. One of those darts and you were asleep in seconds. They had more people and the element of surprise. Plus their faces were a shock too. After you two were knocked out, I think I stood there staring for almost a minute." I scolded myself internally for my stupidity.

"What happened anyways?"

"Well, you two were carried away like pigs." He shot me a fake glare before I continued. "The other man had a bow, so I had to go. He made me drop my weapons too. We walked for a while, but then he stopped and... um... he knocked me out," I said, embarrassed.

"At least you were knocked out by a blow and not a tiny little needle," De said, trying to bring my spirits up. I had no choice but to let out a small laugh.

Standing up and ignoring the throbbing in my head, I made my way over to Eli.

"Hey," I mumbled. He turned to look at me. Thankfully, it wasn't his usual glare, though it wasn't quite a look of pure adoration either.

"Hi."

"Are you feeling okay?"

"Sure, physically." He turned onto his side, facing away from me. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my anger. I had had enough of his stupid behaviour.

"What is wrong with you? You've been such a sour puss lately and whenever I try to fix whatever's between us, you throw a stupid little temper tantrum. What did I do?" I tried to keep my cool, I really did. But I couldn't help it when my voice rose in the end. I glared at him for a while, but he seemed unaffected by my speech, staring blankly at the ceiling. I decided not to wait for his answer, instead I strode over to the other side of the room where De was sitting. I sighed and leaned against him. He smoothed down my hair.

"How are we getting out of here?" I asked. The walls were too thick. It seemed as if we were underground because of the darkness. The door was too strong to break, and we had none of our weapons. The odds weren't exactly in our favor.

"I don't know. My powers don't do anything to the wall or door." As if he was proving his point, he threw a fireball at the door. It caused the metal to glow red, but nothing else happened. "Our best bet is to escape when they let us out to do... whatever they want to do with us. There's really no way out of here, I looked earlier." Roaming my eyes around the cell, I couldn't see any way out either.

"Your dragons! Can you call her?" De asked, suddenly excited.

"I can try..."

"Driana?" Silence greeted me. I tried again, not wanting to give up.

"Dri? Are you there?" Nothing. I shook my head at him.

"I guess we're back to waiting then." I picked up a piece of straw between my fingers and twiddled with it. The time passed slowly. I had a small pile of destroyed straw beside me. They were crumpled, torn up into tiny pieces, then tossed aside as I grabbed another piece. I was reaching out for another one when De's hand pulled mine back.

"Arithia, Killer of Straw," he teased. I rolled my eyes, and grabbed the next strand of doomed straw. Instead of breaking it, I decided to tie it into knots. My pile of straw dust was covered by knotted straw soon. I switched from destroying straw to throwing small pebbles into a pile on the floor, back to destroying straw, and making small piles of sand or dirt.

When I looked back at Declan, he was asleep.

"Ari." I turned at the sound of my name sounding from the other side of the small cell.

"Eli?" He motioned for me to come close. I did, hesitantly.

"Can we talk?" he whispered. I nodded, and he seemed relieved. "I... Well first of all, I'm sorry. I've just been in a bad mood after..." He rubbed his temples, as if trying to get rid of a persistent headache. "Why did you kiss him that day?" he asked, sounding pained. Who did I kiss?

"Kiss... who?"

"Declan. De... whatever you call him." The day in the alley flashed back to my mind. I thought about how I could explain it to Eli, who was looking at me expectantly.

"I... He kissed me, I guess. I didn't really..." My cheeks would have put any tomato to shame. He looked at me warily. "I don't... Well I don't like him that way, if you're wondering. I was just... He's just a friend to me." My words seemed to put him at ease. I laid back on the scratchy straw with him beside me.

"I'm sorry. I was being childish," he apologized again.

"It's okay." I ran my fingers through his hair, trying to get rid of some of the dust. My hands came away dirty, but his hair was not quite as messy and not quite as dirty.

"Hey Ari?" he asked tentatively after a few moments of peaceful silence.

"Hmm?"

"Am I just a friend to you?" My body involuntarily froze. You're so much more.

"Um..." I looked away from him, opting to stare at the grey stone wall instead. Thankfully, he didn't push me to answer anymore. He didn't fall asleep, his breathing hadn't slowed, but he was quiet as a mouse. I sucked up the last big of courage I had.

"No. You're not just a friend." I felt him shift, then his arms pulled me around to face him. He had a relieved and happy expression.

"Good." And he pressed another feather light kiss to my lips. I was stunned. He didn't move away though, we just laid there, foreheads touching, breathing the same air. In a move of bravery, I pressed my lips against his, and felt him smile. He used slightly more pressure this time, and wrapped his arms around my waist. He broke away, breathing slightly harder than he was before. Gently brushing a strand of hair away from my face, he kissed my forehead.

"I love you. You don't have to say it back, I just need you to know." I nodded, and kissed him one more time gently. He fell asleep quickly, leaving me alone to my thoughts of his declaration. I love him. Tell him! No... What if he changes his mind? He won't. But what if he does? A raspy voice startled me out of my thoughts.

"Well well well, isn't this cozy."

Sorry it's so short... I didn't get to edit very thoroughly either, so please excuse any mistakes.