The War Begins

Chapter 16 - One Last Curiosity

Sorry for the late post, I was traveling all Friday but I am officially back to my regular life just in time for New Years! I promise to keep the updates as regular as possible in the coming weeks now that I'm settled it.

The tall trees watched curiously as a small human hurried through their dense undergrowth, for humans rarely ventured here. Breena shuffled her feet and kept her head down, tryin to ignore the small note was tucked in her fist. She only had a few moments to shove it in the roots of a tree without drawing attention to herself and she had to time it perfectly. The sun was almost to it's highest point and her rescuer would be coming, but the storm front moving in threatened to wash everything away. She couldn't leave yet; there were a few more things she needed to learn.

Not only did she want one more day, she simply couldn't leave yet. That day's excursion to the forest to use the necessities had been moved earlier in the day than usual. Her guard wouldn't leave her for more than a few moments and that was not enough time to wait for her rescuer. She slowly settled her pale hand into a dark hole and could feel the dirt clinging to her skin. Breena cringed at the sensation even after all this time in the camps.

Her fist slowly unclenched and deposited its precious burden, the note asking for one more day, informing whoever would read it that it was not yet safe for her to be leaving. At the bottom, she had scrawled a few pieces of information. She knew that whoever was sent for her would not be happy, but would understand. Not many people were willing to be captured and endure enslavement in a dark elf compound just for knowledge. Slowly withdrawing her hand and hoping the message was still readable, she made sure a small corner was visible. Breena hoped the note would survive the coming downpour and that her rescuer would notice the unnatural white corner poking through the dark dirt.

"Harpurna!" the dark elf's word for slave rang loud and clear in the mostly silent forest. The elves had silenced the birds and animals; even if one didn't know whose territory they had ventured into, they would know it was a dangerous place.

Her respite was over; she stood quickly and brushed the dirt from her hands onto her torn dress. The elf tasked with watching her on her daily morning walks was standing in a small clearing calling for her. The harsh word grated on her ears and she flinched.

The word led her to her guard and let her take her focus from the itching inside her skin and the pain in her bare feet. Breena wished for the thick treads of her old shoes even though they'd bothered her with their tight confines. Fyrnkanj waited impatiently for her, yelling louder and beginning to draw his sword. She let him worry he had lost her before stepping into the clearing; they had played this game before. She hoped it would give her a few more moments to escape when she finally ran.

Mumbling under his breath he rushed forward and gripped her arm. She didn't let him see her wince though she knew there would be another bruise in the shape of his fingers on her upper arm tomorrow, possibly sooner. Keeping her head down, she allowed him to yank her back to the camp but as she walked into the large clearing, the hair on the back of her neck rose.

Magic seeped into the air and she realized they had sent a magician to rescue her, and no green one either. Fyrnkanj kept moving and she didn't falter; she couldn't let him know that something was amiss. She held her breath that the magician would not notice her and was rewarded as she was shoved back into the slaves' tent.

Breena tried to remain calm and moved farther into the small tent she shared with twenty other women. Hay had been laid out for beds and crates tossed in for chairs; overall it was a very good spot for slaves to live. Only two of the women who were in the tent looked up as she was pushed in as the others' spirits had long ago been killed. Breena had only held onto her own by knowing that someone was coming for her, that somewhere out there someone knew where she was and wouldn't let her die here alone.