Moongrace

Part 28

Anyone would have needed ages to find her sitting behind some tree in the dark and making no noise at all. But Lenrio was gifted as a huntsman for treasures. Quite a powerful gift if money, gold or any other valuables were concerned. Eleeza presented the possibility of an uncountable amount of treasure. That's why his gift worked to some extend but not completely. Still he found Eleeza rather quick.

Eleeza was frightened to death when they came closer. She thought of running but that wouldn't have made any difference.

Lenrio's voice rang out as he approached the last few metres.
"Eleeza'renria, did you really think we would let you simply walk away? I am a gifted treasure-huntsman, you could never escape me! Never! I would always find you. Do you understand?"

She tried to defend herself with all her might. But the other two men quickly took her arms. Against human men she might have stood a chance, but those were from the Otherworld and even stronger than her. They bound her hands and arms with a cold, silky rope. It must be some magical rope for the more she struggled to free herself, the tighter it got.

"What do you want from me? Let me go!" She screamed.

"I think I liked it better when she was mute." The moment Lenrio's word left his mouth, the rope reacted and wound itself across Eleeza's mouth.

"You will make us rich, Milady. You will turn hay to gold, make gems out of simple stones and spin silver from the moonlight."

Eleeza wanted to protest that she wasn't able to do all that and wouldn't even if she could. But the rope was too tight over her mouth.

"Now, turn to your normal self!" Lenrio ordered. When she didn't one of the other men pulled hard on the rope. She fell and hit her head on a stump. Someone kicked at her:

"Do as he says!", Nioru called.

And what else could she do. She obeyed and changed in a whirl of light. Her wings pressed against her dress. Someone cut the cloth on her back so that the wings could spread. Then they pulled her onto a clearing. At least Meino looked to it, that she didn't fall again and guided her. On the clearing Lenrio made the rope wind around her legs and torso. If Meino didn't still grip her shoulders, she would have fallen straight away. She swayed.

Tears were filling her eyes. What had she done? The moon had warned her. There had been so many chances to run away. How could she do this to Evan? Oh, Evan! She already missed him.

Lenrio pulled her from her thoughts.
"You will fly with us! Nioru and Meino will hold you with the rope. If you try to escape, they will hold you back and the rope will cut deep in your flesh. Do you understand?"

She nodded and the four of them leapt into the air. It was very uncomfortable to fly bound up like a worm. She couldn't keep her balance very well without her arms and kept on tilting over to one side or the other. The flight seemed endless and not only her wings started hurting from strain, but the rope had cut deep red streams into her flesh.

After hours they started to descend. The landing was awful. She did try to land on her feet but couldn't estimate the distance to the floor. So she hit the floor hard and turned over several times. Then she lay quietly, trying to control the pain, eyes closed.

"Lenrio, be more careful with her!" Meino expelled and walked to her.

"She is one of us, Meino, and not a weak human! She can endure that."

Meino bent down to her.
"Are you okay?" He asked and shook her. She groaned as an answer.

"You see, she is alive. Now, pick her up and take her to a room which can be locked. But don't remove the bonds!" Lenrio walked away and somewhere inside. Meino suddenly picked her up like a doll, threw her over his shoulder and carried her away.

Meino walked around corners and across stairs. It seemed an endless march through a maze of corridors, stairs and doors. With every step the ropes cut deeper into her flesh. Finally, Meino stopped and opened a door. The room they now entered was dusty and smelled of mice. Meino stepped inside and closed the door behind him. Then he dropped her on some very dusty pillows. Her cough was baffled by the rope over her mouth.

"Welcome to your new home!" Meino laughed and then he sat down next to her. "I will loosen the cord a bit, but do not tell anybody. I cannot see your beautiful body blemished like that."

Somehow he made the rope loosen its grip. Eleeza sighed relieved when the pain lessened. Meino started to pet her hair, but Eleeza tried to move away from him. So he left and locked the door behind him. As if Eleeza would ever get so far. She tried to move to a more comfortable position but she was so bound up that it didn't quite work.

How could she have gotten herself in such a situation? And just why couldn't she protect herself? Tears dropped from her eyes, silver like the moonlight. She didn't cry for herself, but for what she had done to Evan and his family.

After a while she decided that crying wasn't going to help her in no way, but she had to find something that would make it possible to escape. She didn't even know where she was, just that they had flown in north-west direction.

She tried to listen to all the sounds that her ears could register. Within her room were some mice, dribbling and smacking. The window of her room seemed broken, because she heard the wind blow through a gap. Outside she heard the forest with all its trees and nocturnal animals. Then she concentrated on the inside of the building. The wind behind her door blew slightly as if through a large corridor. Further she heard voices. Loudest of all was the groaning of a woman:

"Oh... oh... please..." she cried out. There was the rustling of fine gown, the clangour of chains and the rubbing of skin over skin. Eleeza didn't wish to listen to it, but she needed to find out what she could about her kidnappers. The groaning of the woman got louder, she begged for more and at the peak she could finally make out a man's voice. It was Meino, she was quite sure. He had spoken enough with her for her to recognize his voice. The chains rattled and then the woman said: "Stay with me, Meino."

"No, my darling. But I come back soon."

"You promise?", she asked sickly sweet.

It got quiet and Eleeza supposed they kissed. Then Meino's steps sounded, a door opened and closed again. Meino even locked the door. Eleeza's heart raced. They didn't only keep her prisoner but another woman which the maybe raped. But then the woman seemed to have liked it. Very strange...

Since she couldn't make any sense out of it, she concentrated on the other voices. It was Lenrio and Nioru. Meino opened another door and joined them. When the door was open Eleeza could snatch some meaningless words, then it closed. The walls were too thick for her to hear more than a murmur of the men.

There seemed to be one more person. There was a clanking of dishes and maybe a soup or water boiling. She listened a while to the familiar sounds of a kitchen. Though the heavy the steps of that person irritated her. It must be a huge man with heavy shoes.

She kept on listening to everything in that house for what seemed like hours. The wind once sent something in a higher floor crashing, the men had the dinner the cook had prepared and the woman in chains moved only sometimes. The cook brought the chained woman food, but they didn't talk.

Nobody cared for her, nobody released her from the rope or helped her find a comfortable position. Oh, how she wished to be in her own bed. And free to move! Her long hair had entangled with the rope while she had moved. No matter the way she moved, she couldn't find any comfortable position.

She couldn't find sleep that night, thinking too much and being too uncomfortable anyway. There was no way of fleeing being unable to move. The hopelessness of the situation made it hard to have positive thoughts. All the night she wished to be next to Evan, to curl up in his strong arms and feel his breath against her skin. It was her foolishness that brought her in this situation, so she should not feel sorry for herself! At least that was, what she told herself.