Page 58 of Crown of Flame
“Me too. So what now?”
At all once, the three guards all rear their heads toward me. Looks like I won’t have time to formulate an idea after all.
They each rise from their chair, slowly approaching me. I clench my fists, my heart pumping faster with every step they take. The leader stops and runs the back of his hand down my cheek.
“Aldris won’t be back for a while. We ought to have some fun with this one.”
“No better way to kill the time,” says another.
“Me first though. You both wait your turn.”
The others shrug and step away as the first grunts in delight, eyeing me up as if I’m no more than a piece of meat.
He begins to loosen the armor around his pelvis, and that’s when I notice the dagger - my dagger that they took from me when they brought me in - hanging off his waistbelt. I know now what I must do.
He removes the pelvic armor. As soon as he is exposed, I lunge forward, hitting him where it hurts the most. He keels over, his eyes wide with agony before I duck and roll between his legs, grabbing his dagger.
He falls to the ground as I scramble to my feet behind him. I run for the door, turning briefly to throw a chair at the two others hot on my tail.
It grants me the brief seconds I need to escape. I spot a few stray long planks of wood right outside the shack, immediately obstructing the exit with them. The doors budge in an effort to open, with the guards behind them trying to kick them down.
It won't hold long at all, so I’m out of there in a few seconds, running so fast that I don’t quite register my surroundings.
I stop moments later, finding myself entrenched as I look around in horror. I hear other soldiers coming and I roll behind a barrel.
“Fuck!” I hiss.
Getting out of that damned shack turns out to be the easy part. I peer my head over my hiding spot, spotting tents, carts of weapons, and more shacks in all directions.
Sinking to the cold, icy ground, I bury my head in my hands, wondering how I’m going to get out of this treacherous elven compound.
“Cinis, where are you when I need you?” I groan.
Images of my parents, my brother, Nielsen, Aldor, and just about everyone I’ve lost to these sick conquerors flash in my mind.
I wonder how they’d react if they saw me like this. I can’t give up, not now, not even if the greatest challenge yet lies hidden ahead.
Drawing a deep breath, I look around, spotting one of many swords sheathed in a nearby cart. They must be weapons for assaulting the human settlements.
But I’m too hasty, I knock almost the entire batch of them down to the ground, a clanging ringing out in all directions. My heart falls with the weapons when I see a group of soldiers looking right at me, their eyes those of hungry predators.
I run, expecting more of them to burst out of each tent as I pass by. None seem to, but it won’t take an army of them to stop me. All it’ll take is one, so I don’t stop. I know this is a fight I cannot win.
A tent opens up ahead, a dreary dark elf crawling out on all fours as he omits a yawn.
“What in Protheka is going on-”
I step on his head, using his neck as a jumping platform to clear some distance. Glancing over my shoulder, he rears his head up, revealing a snow-covered expression of fury.
The others are gaining ground. They’re faster than me. If I run straight, they’ll capture me in no time. I need to throw them off my path.
A tall gate encloses the encampment. I turn to the side closest to me, running as fast as my feet will carry me.
I think I see an exit point up ahead. I sprint for my life, not wanting to think about what they’d do if they got their measly hands on me.
But the hole in the gate shuts with an echoing finality.
“No!” I shout, pounding my fist against it. I want to cry as I hear the group slowing to a jog behind me.