Dryad

Captivity

All my rage and biting didn't help. I was carried away like a freshly caught corpse and had no right to vote. Or any voice no matter how hard I tried. Or rights in general. A human loses most of it's rights when it enters elven territory. The way through the forest was not at all pleasant and my lack of sound certainly helped him to avoid the ears of other elves who should be watching the borders, and we left the familiar areas.

The forest seemed darker and taller even though the trees remained the same, like when you go into deeper waters, water is still water, but it gets darker and more uncertain the deeper it goes. For a long time I had the feeling that we were descending, maybe we even reached some high open cave. When we arrived at his territory, I could hear other people's voices in the distance and shouts as if we had come to the settlement in the middle of an ordinary working day. He made sure we avoided unnecessary looks and took me with him to his house where he finally dropped me:

-Such a small, yet such a wild creature.-he complained:

-But I don't see a human in elvish clothes every day.-a detail that must have interested him so much that he got over the fact that he doesn't like primitive savages and had to figure out how I got the elf artifacts. His accent only made it harder for me to understand, but I could see enough from his facial expressions.

It was clear that he was young, younger than Vadim and smaller than him, probably not yet fully grown. Either that or he's retarded. I hope so, because this kind of kidnapping and deprivation of my freedom is unacceptable. His skin is pale and porcelain-like like in all elves, although it has those distinctive gray tones, and his long hair is black. But one feature that is identical in the entire breed is his piercing eyes:

-Do you produce any kind of sound?-he asked me in confusion, expecting yelling and cursing. He bent down and pulled my collar, but he only had time to read the name before I bit him again:

-Savage!-he said, surprised, as if I had bitten him for the first time today.

I couldn't go through the exit door because the elf appeared to block it, but that didn't stop me from trying to jump out of the window. Note, I tried. I ran through a room, knocked over a few things and broke a window in a panic because it was stuck when I tried to open it, but I was caught and chased down to the basement where I was left to think about my actions.

I cannot say that I am particularly satisfied with the accommodation I received. Vadim tried more than this. It's cold, dark and the only bed I found were sacks of wet potatoes. If I were one of those potatoes, these would be good conditions for sprouting, but I'm more like an apple, I'm better out in the air hanging from a branch. I really had nowhere to go, the windows are non-existent, and the elf has checked on me maybe twice since he put me down there. He says it's impossible to talk to me. I could only play with rats and count potatoes.

On a couple of occasions, I heard female voices and footsteps belonging to other residents of the house, but I assume that most of them are unaware of my presence. When I heard someone approaching again, I got excited, even though I was still angry, and an elf woman appeared at the door, who seemed somewhat more reasonable and clear-headed than the young elf, but with no less bad intentions. She blocked the only way out with her appearance and stared at me as if she expected me to explain myself to her:

-Small and damaged. Is it worth keeping?

-I brought her. That will be my decision.

-You couldn't grab an elf?

-We haven't gotten that far, but this too is female...

-Of course, you would take anything that breathes. In your case, genetics did it's job, if not too well.-she sounds so frustrated. Is that his mother? I'd bet the biggest potato here that it's his mother.

I walked closer to her even though I probably shouldn't have (but she's blocking the only way out of here), and she picked me up off the ground like a doll. Why did I think these elves were any weaker? They are all on steroids:

-Klarissa.-she said reading the letters from my necklace:

-You were someone's pet, weren't you? It would be awkward if they came looking for you. You were obviously dear to them.-I am a wonderful creature, how could I not be their favorite?

I leaned towards her and tried to hug her as much as I could. How could a creature like me be violent and dangerous? I'm as dangerous as an old stump growing mushrooms on itself.