Another World of Dreams-The Escape

Chapter 4 - Ruthless

It was an hour before sunrise when a flock of birds landed on the ground next to Kaan and chirped in his ear. He got up on his knees and started scraping away the soil where he had slept. After a minute of digging, he found what he was searching for, a dagger hidden by Leon.

His sleep had been too light for him to transcend into the world of his dreams, as often was the case when anxiety struck him. The gray-haired scientist had entered the cage late the night before in the company of the two most violent officers. They woke the elves up and made them stand in a row, facing the fence. One by one, the officers turned them around for inspection and held their hot lanterns close to their faces, until they found Kaan. The professor explained in a couple of incoherent sentences that he knew that he was Leon's younger brother and that they would punish him because of it. He said that the only sensible thing was to neuter Kaan and the two officers showed their yellow teeth in sinister agreement. They threw him on the ground and gave him a round of kicks before the professor interrupted them. The scientist asked the officers not to be brutal, then the three men disappeared into the night. Kaan crawled away to hide amongst the trees where he reviewed his situation. The power of sacrifice or not, escape was his only option.

It was as quiet in the Elf Bosket as in a human grave. Kaan was careful not to make a sound as he sneaked towards the fence. Early morning was the best time to move around without being seen. Most Beings were still asleep and the officers on night duty returned to the Watch House for their replacement. He believed he still had a few hours to act before the professor woke up and came back to oversee his surgery. Kaan wondered why the man had warned him. The professor had smelled of spirits, that part was obvious, but he sensed that there was more to the man's actions than mere drunken confusion. He would never grasp the hassle of human behavior and their complex way of thinking. The world was better off without humans. Leon often said so and Kaan agreed.

He walked onwards, stopping every few steps to make sure no one was watching him. The horizon was bleeding red when he arrived at the fence. Were it not for the occasional wheezing sound of Volt's breaths, he would believe his brother to be dead already. His face was pale and his joints lifeless, and it seemed he was far beyond saving. Kaan held up the dagger and took a deep breath. He brought the blade close to his brother's chest, ready to push, but his body did not obey his mind. Volt and Leon meant everything to him and he was not as strong as he wished he were. Nothing in the world could make him kill his brother.

Volt opened his eyes and gasped for air. At first he looked horrified, but then he put his arm around Kaan and pressed him closer. The blade found its way between the ribs and slit the blood vessels that kept him alive. A peaceful smile spread across the wounded elf's face. He closed his eyes for the last time, ready to wander over the fields and meet those waiting for him there.

Kaan wanted to scream, but he managed to summon the last of his willpower and control himself. He had endured many beatings, seen friends die and suffered humiliation countless times. Once or twice, he had screamed for pain or sworn every obscenity there is to swear, but he had never shed a single tear. Now elven tears flowed down his cheek and landed on Volt's ravaged body. The border between grief and anger is a subtle thing, and soon his sorrow turned into rage. He pulled the dagger out from his brother's chest and stabbed the lifeless elf, again and again. The blood that splashed on his clothes would attract unnecessary attention, but he did not have heart enough to worry about it. His brother deserved a better ending than this.

Kaan disappeared into the forest unseen. Something grew inside him, and his mind sharpened. Weak links formed to the surrounding nature, but the power of sacrifice did not lift him to that higher state of mind Leon had described. To escape from the Dream Park, he needed to make the world tremble, yet there was little trace of such magic inside him. Perhaps his sacrifice was not big enough. Or maybe he was just too weak. As doubt rose inside him, the power faded.