“You are sure?”
Elias felt more than saw Henrik’s nod in response. “They would often circle our village in the night when they ran out offood in the winter. I will recognise that sound on my deathbed.” Henrik gulped.
The horses began going wild, and the men were shouting things Elias couldn’t quite decipher, as fear made his brain feel like it had been stuffed with cotton.
There was a commotion outside, and Elias watched on as the slaver who’d been in charge suddenly collapsed to the ground when an arrow struck through his neck. Blood poured from his mouth until he choked on it. His body twitched a few times, and more blood pooled around his head before a stillness that only descended with death overcame him. Elias stared in numb shock at what he’d just witnessed, although he was certain that a man as cruel as this one surely deserved a more prolonged death.
More yelling from the other slavers stole his attention, but then Elias spotted an arrow coming right for them and grabbed Henrik to duck down in the cage. Despite the misery that surrounded Elias’ existence for the last few years, his impending death only seemed to spark a stubborn flame within him.
He was not prepared to die yet. He refused to allow for his life so far to be the grand total of his existence. Much to Elias’ surprise, though, the arrow struck the rope that bound the cage shut, severing it in two.
“Rik, Henrik! Now is our chance; we need to move quickly!” Elias yelled through the pandemonium. All of them within the cage threw themselves at the bars until they gave way, and collapsed off the carriage, freeing the contained elves.
Elias grabbed Henrik’s wrist and tried to drag him off the track towards the trees, but Henrik resisted.
“The wolf, Eli. There is a wolf out there. We can’t… we—”
“I’m taking the risk, Henrik. I… I will not survive our next owners, I know it. We need to run. Now!”
Elias sprinted for the trees, and he could only trust that Henrik would follow him. From what he could see in his periphery, thefreed elves had all scattered in different directions. Their arms and legs remained chained in heavy irons that clanked noisily as they ran.
Elias knew that the adrenaline fuelling him would expire quickly; he needed to find somewhere to hide. When a familiar hand slid into his, it gave him the boost he required to keep running. Henrik had followed him.
Henrik tugged Elias in a change of direction, as one of the slavers who’d sprinted after them had almost caught up.
“Rik,” Elias panted. “I don’t know how much farther I can run. I’m so weak.” Tears ran down Elias’ cheeks as they raced for their lives. He knew Henrik could keep going and escape, but he wasn’t sure that he could.
Henrik must have heard the exhaustion and panic in Elias’ tone because the next thing he knew, he was being dragged into a large overgrowth of shrubs. Once inside, they crawled farther in, as far and as quietly as they could. Thorns and twigs scratched and tore at their skin, but it was a small price to pay for their freedom, and adrenaline pushed Elias far beyond his body’s limits.
When they reached a point deep within that was large enough for the two of them to curl up, they held onto each other and tried to catch their breath, all the while praying that the slaver had lost track of them.
It had been near silent for a while, except for their breaths; they hadn’t even dared to whisper to one another. And then they heard, “You can either come out now, or we’ll be back with the dogs, and they’ll drag you out.” It was the man who’d urinated on Elias just minutes earlier. “It won’t take them long to track your stench, elves!”
No thanks to you,Elias thought dryly.
Elias’ own heartbeat was a loud pulse in his ears as they held their breaths, clinging to one another in complete darkness. Thesound of twigs snapping underfoot eventually became fainter, and they had to strain to hear the slaver’s voice in the distance.
Elias wasn’t sure exactly how long they remained there. But several hours at least passed before either of them dared to utter a word. They would have to move deeper into the Dark Forest soon because Elias did not doubt that the slavers would follow through on their threat and be back with the dogs.
“Is this real, Eli? Did that really happen?” Henrik whispered eventually.
“We’re… we’re really free, Rik.” Elias choked on a sob at the thought.
One
Johan
A
shoemaker, through no fault of his own, had become so poor that, at last, he had nothing left but enough leather for one pair of shoes.
The Great Famine had taken its toll on the entire kingdom of Falchovari, but while many had resorted to horrifying solutions like kidnapping and enslaving elves, Johan knew he would sooner die than thrive at the expense of others. His parents may no longer be alive, but they had raised him to be a kind and good man. They hadn’t been able to leave him with much beyond a shoe shop that was a struggle to keep afloat, but their legacy was Johan himself, and he wouldn’t let them down.
The sound of the door to his shop opening made his skin prickle. It was a never-ending cycle for Johan; he needed customers to keep the shop running and to maintain a roof over his head, and yet, the presence of strangers stole his voice from his throat.
The woman who entered was a short, thin woman with fine, straw-coloured hair and sharp features. Her cotton dress wasfrayed along the bottom, and he spotted several previously patched-up holes, exposing her frugality.
Johan swallowed the pool of saliva gathered in his mouth and tried to clear his throat. No words came, unfortunately, so he offered her a warm smile instead.
