Orelie

*30*

*30*

"She's finally coming to."

"The poor dear... she's so young."

"I never thought he'd stoop so low to capture an innocent child."

"What a horrid monster."

Who are these people? Where am I? What's going on?

"Easy there, child." An elderly voice said softly as he gently held my shoulder down. "You're still trying to recover from the Sleeping Mist. Things might be disorienting for a little while."

"Where am I?" I asked aloud. I gently pushed his hand away and sat up. My eyes adjusted to the dim lights as I looked around.

My eyes widened as nearly three dozen people came into view. They were dusty, ratty, and varied in age. The main thing that stood out to me were the unique eye colors of every single one of them. The youngest had to be at least mid thirties, the oldest closer to ninety. Upon close inspection, I noticed the oldest one had long, droopy pointed ears. He's most likely older than I think.

The man before me sighed, drawing my attention back to him. "We are in an underground portion of the academy. This is where the Orelie have been hidden from the world."

"Are we safe here?"

"Safe?" A female voice scoffed. "We're anything but safe! We're all prisoners down here. Witches come by at night to take our blood and tears for their own gain! Been going on for decades. Centuries for a couple of us."

My stomach twisted and my face went cold as images from my time in the cave came rushing back. "No... no, that can't be true! You're lying!"

"We all wish she was," the man tried to calm me down. "It all started eons ago. The oldest one here can attest to that. He was one of the first. Back then, it was slow and hardly noticeable. But just within the last couple hundred years, more Orelie have been disappearing up there, and appearing down here."

"But how?" I demanded. "Who did this? Who would do such a thing?"

"You already know who." The woman from before said softly. "We all thought he cared. He's only the most recent one to start this, but it's the face most of us know."

The smiling face of Professor Rodnik entered my mind. "No... it's not him. Why would Professor Rodnik do this?!"

"That's not Professor Rodnik." A new voice spoke. "Hasn't been him for nearly eighty years. He's dead."

I felt myself pale even more. "Y-you mean..."

"A Witch killed him and took over his body." The man spoke. "Yes, I'm afraid so. It happened soon after graduating. Him and I were good friends. We figured that since we were 'all powerful' Druids, we could make our way to Obaz Forest and have an adventure in Glaze Peak."

"We were attacked about a mile into Glaze Peak." His voice softened. "Rodnik said he'd hold them off while I escaped. I came back with help, but he was no where to be seen. Three years later, he was back. He had a wife and a child on the way. I thought everything was okay."

"But then you only started to see his past." The woman from before cut in. "He put the two pieces together, Rodnik found out, and you've been here ever since."

"Wait, that doesn't make sense." I held up a hand. "I know we only see the future, but what do you mean he saw Rodnik's past and knew what was going on?"

The room was silent. "The poor girl... she doesn't even know her own magic." A voice near the back spoke.

The woman moved closer. "I'm sorry for being ignorant. Kriela." She held her hand out.