The Price of Redemption

Chapter 2

Elizabeth gulped. She was terrified. Sometime during the stranger's turn to face her and him glaring at her with an angry and frustrated look on his face Elizabeth's breathing had sped up and now she was sucking in huge gulps of air, as if she couldn't get enough air into her lungs. When Elizabeth realized this she closed her eyes and tried to take deep breaths. When her breathing was under control she opened her eyes, and before she could stop herself, she again, met the eyes of the dangerously handsome man.

Anger and disappointment were no longer the main emotions swirling in his stormy dark blue eyes. Although, they seemed to be lurking in the background. Now it looked like he was thinking hard about something. He seemed to be conflicted before something new displayed in his eyes and on his face; determination. Without so much as a word or a glance at Elizabeth, he swiftly picked her up and placed her over his shoulder. paying no attention to her startled cry, he turned, walking deeper into the woods.

Elizabeth was shocked, embarrassed, and angry. She had no idea what to do. She could ask him what he was doing and if he could let her down, but then again, he had never answered her other questions. She contemplated ranting to him about how angry she was and yelling, but Elizabeth had no idea who this person was nor what he was capable of, so that was off the table. She was embarrassed. She should have thought about that first. She had always been a shy girl. She was simply embarrassed at her whole situation, and of how weak she was.

Since they had met she had showed nothing but the traits of a fool. Elizabeth would have let Tawnie beat her to the pulp if the stranger hadn't showed up. Then she kept stuttering like an idiot when he was dragging her through the woods, and now she was over his shoulder, laying limply like a sack of potatoes, doing absolutely nothing to stop him from taking her wherever he pleased. Her cheeks were red and she was grateful that he at least hadn't seen that.

Eventually they came to a lake in the middle of a clearing. The stranger put her on the ground swiftly. As soon as her feet were planted on the ground he grabbed her wrist and tugged her into the icy cold water. Elizabeth thought that perhaps he wanted to wash his feet or something and just didn't want her attempting to escape. However, she became increasingly worried when he wasn't stopping and just kept pulling her deeper into the murky, freezing water. They came to a point where she could barely even stand anymore, having to stretch her neck just so her nose would stay above water. He was doing just fine, the water only coming up to the middle of his shoulders. He hadn't looked back at her once. 

By this point Elizabeth was panicking. She finally decided that she was more afraid of drowning right now than speaking to him. She tugged on his arm hard with her other hand that wasn't held by his. She jumped up and half cried, half gurgled;

"I can't swim!"

At this he finally turned back and looked at her with irritation expressed on his face before he noticed her struggling to keep her head above water. Something close to amusement flashed in his magnificent emerald orbs before he masked it. 

"Out of all of them it had to be one with the height of a dwarf." The stranger muttered. Elizabeth had not heard that comment, still preoccupied with keeping her head above the surface. The stranger closed the distance between them.

"Step on my feet." He sighed.

"What?" She asked, shocked.

"Stop wasting time human, hurry up." The stranger replied with a dangerous edge to his voice. 

Elizabeth quickly stepped on his feet and put her hands awkwardly on his biceps. She quickly clung on to him so she wouldn't fall when he started moving at a rapid pace towards the middle of the lake again. A few steps before they were at the heart of the lake Elizabeth accidentally inhaled some water and started coughing violently. The stranger stopped and suddenly picked her up, placing her on his chest so she was higher up to wear the water wouldn't be near her face. Elizabeth awkwardly just let her legs dangle there. She hadn't a clue what to do. It would be weird of her to wrap her legs around him so she had a better grip. So she just clung tighter onto his biceps.