Escape (11 page)

            “Are you well, my lady?” he asked, kneeling down so their eyes were level with each other’s.

            Amelia thought it very strange that he would ask that. Here, he nearly handicapped her and had her bound to a chair and he had the nerve to ask if she was well?

            “I guess so. Who are you?”

            “My name is Theoduin. I am the chief of my village.” His voice was airy, soothing, but deep with authority.

            “You’re elves, right?”

            He nodded and gave her a kind smile. “Yes, we are.”

            “What do you want with me?”

            “I apologize for the rude way we captured you and brought you to our village. However, we knew that the demon you travel with would not have let you come with us easily.”

            Amelia was in no mood to play polite games with these elves. “Please let me go? I need to get home.”

            Theoduin shook his head. “I’m sorry, but we can’t allow you to do that.”

            Panic rose up in Amelia and she tugged at the ropes that bound her. “Why not? I haven’t done anything to you.”

            “It was nothing you did. It is something we must do.” Theoduin stood up and approached her box. Amelia wrestled in vain to free herself. “This box is an abomination and I cannot, in good conscience, allow it to exist any longer. We must destroy it.”

            “It’s my only way home!” she cried.

            “It may be a way home for you, but it is a portal into another world and if it fell into Baal’s hands, the fate of your world would be in great danger.”

            Amelia remembered Connor talking about Baal as a demon lord. He was the one that made the deal with Connor, turning him into a demon. “What does Baal have to do with this?”

            Theoduin flashed her an apologetic smile and began to meander around the room as her spoke. “I shall start from the beginning. In olden times, Baal possessed an amulet that allowed him passage to and from the human world. With this, he was also able to give power to his demon henchmen to carry out his biddings in the other world. Since the great fall of angels and the exile of Lucifer from heaven, Baal has tormented the human race.

            “But, that changed just a couple of centuries ago. The amulet was stolen from him by one of his servants. It was given to a powerful wizard with the task to destroy the amulet and put an end to Baal’s travels.” Theoduin sighed somberly. “Alas, the wizard did not destroy it.

            “He drained the power of the amulet until it was nearly useless, but kept it for safe keeping. It only possessed enough magic to make one more trip to the human world, and then it would become nothing but a mere trinket.”

            “Baal never knew where it was?”

            “The wizard is the most powerful being in this world and he had placed a protection spell over his country. Baal and his henchmen are not permitted to cross its boundaries. Baal has known the wizard possessed the amulet, but he was unable to do anything about it until now.”

            Theoduin came back to the box and eyed it with such malicious loathing that Amelia felt the air chill. “I didn’t want to believe that the rumors were true. It’s impossible for a human to enter our world, but you did. You went to the wizard and he has given you this charmed box to take you home.”

            “But, that’s a box, not an amulet,” Amelia corrected him.

            “The wizard took the last bit of magic from the amulet and infused it into this box. If this box falls into Baal’s hands, he will once again have the key to the human world and nothing but disaster and misery will follow in his wake.”

            “But if I use the box to get home, all the magic would be gone and it’d be fine, right?”

            Theoduin turned to Amelia, his expression sorrowful once more. “I’m afraid it is not that easy. Baal surely knows of the box by now and he will be searching for it. It’s only a matter of time before he finds it and uses it.”

            Amelia shook her head. “But, I have Connor to help me get there. He’ll protect me and the box.”

            Theoduin sighed and shook his head. “Dear child, the demon is fooling you. He is a pawn of Baal’s. He probably wants the box for himself or to deliver to Baal.”

            Amelia refused to hear his words. Connor wasn’t like that. She may have not known him for long, but she knew he wouldn’t betray her. They had a connection, a bond that she couldn’t explain and she could see into his character. And she knew that he wouldn’t deceive her like that. “If you want, your warriors can take me there instead.”

            “Baal is more powerful than any of us. It is a hopeless effort and that’s why we must destroy it now before he finds it.”

            “Sir Jedalf told me that anyone who looks into the box and goes back to my world would be turned human though. If Baal uses it, he’ll become human and he can’t hurt anyone then.”

            “Baal is the original owner of the charmed amulet and its power comes from him. If he uses the box to go to the human world, he will remain as he is: a demon lord.”

            Amelia knew she was getting nowhere with this argument. In a rash decision, she just shrugged. “Fine. Destroy the box, but let me go and find Connor.” She had made up her mind long ago that she didn’t want to go home. She was fine with losing the box and its magic. She’d be doing her world a favor by sacrificing it to the elves.

            Theoduin strode closer to Amelia and pursed his lips. “I’m afraid we can not let you leave either, child.”

            “And why not?” Amelia was growing increasingly frustrated with Theoduin and hoped there would not be a long story with this explanation. Every moment wasted here was a moment away from Connor and she couldn’t stand it any longer.

            “You are a human, and therefore in much more danger than you realize. Baal needs servants and more henchmen. He may not be able to cause trouble in the human world, but he causes more than enough trouble here too. Vampires, dwarves, elves, pixies, they are all unable to turn into demons like your guide. Baal needs untainted humans to turn. Just like the box, if Baal got a hold of you, your own fate would be sealed. He could turn you into a demon.”

            Amelia had never thought of that before. “Then let me and Connor go back to Augustine where Baal can’t go and we’ll be safe. Please, just let me go?”

            “The journey back is too risky.”

            Amelia lost her patience. “Risky, risky, too risky! Everything has risk to it, but you have to have the courage to do what’s got to be done so you can accomplish something. It was a risk just to get this far but we made it without any problems.”

            She knew that wasn’t the complete truth, but how was the elf to know that?

            “And you were very fortunate in that, but I can’t let you go knowing that I could have saved you from a life of despair and slavery.”

            “So then what can you do? Turn me into an elf?”

            He chuckled and shook his head. “No, child. You must have been born an elf.”

            “Then go grab a vampire and have them bite me if that will make my life a little better compared to being turned into a demon, but for God’s sake, let me go!”

            Theoduin walked towards the door. “That is not within our power either. But what we can do is send you to another world beyond this and the human one.”

            Another world? Amelia couldn’t handle more worlds. Maybe the next one will end up being populated by little blue smirfs or an ocean planet with no land. She would much rather have stayed in this one that she was just getting used to. “Where would you send me?”

            Theoduin turned back to look at her from the open doorway. “The world of the dead, child.” And with that, he stepped out and closed the door behind him.

            Amelia’s eyes went wide with understanding. They were going to kill her. She jumped up from her stool, but found that she was tied to it as well with a rope strapped across her lap. She fell to the floor with a crash, unable to steady herself on her conjoined feet.

            She whimpered at the pain that shot down her side when she was unable to break her fall. She cried out for help, but knew it was pointless. The elves probably all believed they should kill her and none could be convinced otherwise. She liked the other elves that made cookies all day better than these.

            Amelia didn’t spend too much longer on the ground before the door opened again. Theoduin marched in, followed by three other elves that looked very similar to him, but with different armor regalia. One grabbed her box and the two others carried Amelia out of the hut after untieing her from the stool.

            She kicked, screamed and thrashed against the elves as they toted her across rope bridges that led from one tree house to another, winding through a complex community in the canopy of the forest. Taking a glimpse down, she realized they were dozens of feet off the ground. If one of them dropped her, she would fall and surely die. Even though she was being carried to her death anyway, she wanted to postpone it as much as possible.

            She stopped fighting her captors, but she hollered as loud as her voice would allow, calling for Connor or anyone to help her. This didn’t last long before Theoduin gagged her, tying a wide strip of leather across her mouth.

            Many elves peeked out of their homes to see what the commotion was. Little elf children stared as they saw the human being carted past their doorways before their mothers ushered them inside. A few more warriors joined the band, creating something of a parade towards this sacrificial ceremony.

            They finally were approaching the end of the treetop city. They carefully transferred her down a ladder that was carved into the trunk of a tree and onto the forest floor. There, she was met by more elven men who were building a large bonfire. Its embers cast a forbidding glow upon their faces and the surrounding trees. Even from yards away, Amelia could feel the hot blaze upon her cheeks.

            In a last effort to escape, she struck the elf holding her by the arms and managed to fall to the ground. She rolled onto her stomach and crawled away from the flames, using her elbows to propel herself forward. But it wasn’t enough. Without her legs, she could never get away fast enough.

            The elves dove upon her and grabbed her again to carry her towards the pyre. She saw the elf carrying the box standing there, waiting for his chief’s approval to toss it into the flames. Amelia could not have cared less about the box, but she wanted to live. She didn’t care if she was turned into a demon like Connor. She wanted to live a full life, not be killed by a bunch of pious mythical beings.

            Amelia resisted her captors with every step as they drew closer to the fire. The heat was overpowering and she could feel sweat trickle from every pore in her body. All she could hear were the crackling and hissing sounds of the wood being reduced to ashes. The flames flickered in her eyes and as she was faced with her mortality once more, she had final thoughts. But they weren’t of her parents or the regrets of not having any friends like before.

            Her last thoughts were of Connor. She wanted to see him one last time to tell him something she only discovered just now. It was an explanation to everything she felt, everything he made her feel. She wanted to kiss him just one more time.

            Amelia squeezed her eyes shut as she felt the elves’ muscles tense in preparation to throw her into the fire. But then she heard something. It was even louder than her fiery grave. It was beastly roar like she had never heard before.

            The elves dropped her next to the edge of the fire and began shouting in a foreign tongue to one another. Blades were unsheathed as Amelia rolled herself over once more and made every effort to put as much distance between her and the bonfire.

            Sandaled feet stomped all around her, running and shuffling every which way. Some even tripped over her in the midst of the chaos. When Amelia was just out of reach of the fire’s glow, she turned back to look at what was happening.

            What she saw appalled her. All she could see was the silhouette of a man with long claws ripping through the elves like they were nothing. Cries of anguish filled the air and blood ran in winding rivers through the grass. Amelia shuddered as she saw limbs being ripped from bodies and heads roll away without bodies attached.  

            It was only when the creature moved to the other side of the fire did she realize it wasn’t just any creature. It was a demon. Her demon. He roared, baring his razor-like teeth as they bit and shredded through the throats of the elves.

            Connor’s face was contorted to exhibit his true form. His black leather skin was hard to distinguish against his dark shirt and the night forest behind him, but she could track his ruby eyes glowing in the night as they hungrily sought after a new opponent.

            More elves assembled from the bridges above and began shooting arrows down upon Connor. Many of them missed. When Connor realized that he was being shot at, he dodged around the fire and corpses, grabbed the box and ran straight for Amelia.

            He swooped her up over his shoulder and ran through the woods, ducking and weaving through the clusters of trees at a speed that Amelia couldn’t comprehend. Bark and branches whizzed past her in indistinguishable blurs. She shielded her face with her arms, guarding it against anything that might hit her unexpectedly.

            She could hear Connor’s heavy breathing, a snarl discharging with every breath. His hold on her was tight, but not uncomfortable. Her ribs took a beating with ever leap over logs and the occasional tight turn that jostled her.

            Within mere moments, he began to slow down. She had no idea where they were when he crumbled to a stop. Connor set her down with little ceremony and collapsed onto his hands and knees. His breathing was still very labored, panting for more oxygen as his head was bowed. She couldn’t see his eyes at all.