A Stronger Force

Chapter 1-Patton

Patton mashed some more herbs into the bowl, hoping the combination would make a decent salad. There were plenty of delicious berries and leaves in his new Forest, but Patton was nervous to explore too deep into the trees.

While on the outskirts the vegetation was a light, fluffy blue, with adorable animals prancing around, as Patton looked further into the Forest he saw the creatures turn to more magical beings and the logs thicken, the branches stretching out farther with less leaves.

So Patton stayed along the edges, still separated from the red of Dragon Breath Forest, but not so far in he had another encounter with the prouder animals that had worked for their territory, unlike Patton had.

"Great salad, Pat." Patton whispered, clinging for any last sense of validation he had left. It had been three weeks since his public banishment, meaning he hadn't interacted with another Elf for just as long. "Why, thank you, Patton!"

The salad was rather good. Or, at least, that is what Patton had come to believe. He forgot the taste of his old meals. The taste of the Delectamenti Bread his best friend, Joan, used to bake had long since faded from his tongue, leaving the sour feeling of isolation.

Patton slept with that mindset each night. He was alone, and while he tried to stay positive, the thought crept through his skull and wrapped around his brain until he had no escape.

He let himself sink into a deep sleep, the sounds of owls ringing in his ears. As Patton slept, his door creaked open very silently. A man behind the tied-together sticks grimaced as the door continued to squeak. He gestured to the other small people behind him and they shuffled into the shack.

It was comprised completely from bushes and sticks, held together by thinly-made wire and vines. The ground was the natural grass where everything was left. Patton slept in the corner, trying to suck as much heat as possible out of the walls.

The Dwarf, Barba, ushered in the rest of the retrieving party forward. Their beady eyes locked on Patton sleeping soundly. Barba crouched, glancing behind him to make sure this was the plan. His second, Parvus, nodded to him.

Barba pounced on Patton, slapping his hands over Patton's now-open eyes. Parvus tied a rope around Patton's head and through his mouth, preventing him from waking the whole forest. The other seven walked forward and hoisted Patton onto their shoulders, grunting with the effort. Barba removed his hands to tie a cloth around Patton's head, but in doing so made eye contact with him.

They shuffled through the door and started down into the forest, carrying their target with them.

Patton hadn't even thought to struggle against the rough hands carrying him through the air. He was still in a slightly drowsy state and he was never that good with physical combat, anyway. Slowly, the low coos of owls faded out and they were replaced with a rustling in the grass and the clicking of hooves on gravel.

"Hrmm. Ghrummph!" Patton tried to speak around the rope. He winced as the painful material rubbed against the weak skin on the corners of his mouth. One Dwarf punched Patton in the ribs, shutting him up.

They walked for only a few minutes more before Patton started to hear low voices. Voices that were loud but difficult to hear, gravelly sounds that didn't make sense to Patton but definitely was understood by his captors. The Dwarves.

"Mani, drop the bridge." A nearby Dwarf ordered. Patton heard a loud creaking sound and then a heavy thump, then the sound of many feet walking along wood.

"Anything strange?" Patton heard from his left ear.

"No. Just shack." The same one who told Mani to drop the bridge spoke from across Patton. Patton tried to speak again, but stopped when he remembered the rope burn he would have on the side of his mouth. Patton took note of their broken English.

"And what is plan?" Left Dwarf asked. Patton made an assumption that this one was Mani.

"Show him to King Brevi Prin, he will decide what to do with Elf." Patton started to distinguish the two by their voices. Mani had a gravelly voice while Left Dwarf just had a gruff one. Patton decided to call Left Dwarf 'Gruffy'.

The wood turned to stone over time with the sound of gravel in motion still behind him. Patton tried to set his mind straight. Joan would eat through the ropes and kick off the Dwarves, they would run and be free. Patton couldn't do that. He would just make an even bigger fool of himself than he already has.

"Highness, the target." Gruffy introduced. Patton heard a grunt from somewhere by his feet. Patton felt the hands move and for a split second he was suspended midair, then he was on the ground, the air knocked out of him.

Small fingers removed his blindfold and the rope around his mouth before yanking Patton up onto his knees. He could finally look around.

Patton was in a tall building about the height of the castle in his old Kingdom. It was comprised mostly of medieval-looking stone with blue and gray banners draped around its circular shape. In front of him was a stone stairwell leading up to a high platform with a throne on it. The throne was stunning, made of melted glass, gold, and the medieval stone. Upon it sat the tallest Dwarf Patton had ever seen, only about four feet tall but it was still tall for a Dwarf.

"You are Elf one?" The Dwarf King, Brevi Pin, asked. His voice was much higher than the others', but Patton still felt intimidated.

"Uhh... Yeah? I think so." Patton glanced around. Gruffy was covered in mud and grass. His beard was dark brown and short, just an inch or so off his chin. Mani stood to Patton's left, hands behind his back and posture straight. His beard was long and black, with skin darker than Gruffy's pale complexion. He was not at all dirty and held a strange wisdom in his eyes.

"Then you help." King Brevi Pin dismissed, waving Patton off.

"Hold on, hold on! Help with what?" Patton inched forward and out of Gruffy's arm length. King Brevi Pin looked down at Patton like he was an insect crawling across his lunch.

"You get know-how from Dragon Breath. You bring back here. That is all I say." King Brevi Pin growled. He waved his hand again, more forcefully this time, and stared Patton straight in the eye.Patton tried to grasp for any remaining piece of his dignity and stood up himself. Mani and Gruffy walked beside him with some other Dwarves flanking them.

Patton heard the large castle door slam behind them as he shuffled across the bridge, a prisoner tasked with returning to the one place he couldn't return.