“You almost drowned and you need some proper warmth and clean water. When you’re well, we can help you find your way,” Red said.
Elias had little choice but to comply. Despite the warmth of the wolf below him and the blanket wrapped around his shoulders, he was shivering and cold down to his bones in a way that he knew was dangerous, especially without any way to warm himself now magic had left him for good.
“Okay,” he whispered, feeling vulnerable.
T
he next time Elias woke, he was sweating profusely. He peered around only to find himself in the middle of an entire pile of… of wolves!
His heartbeat sped up, beating so fiercely he feared it might escape his own chest, but the wolves were just curled up and sleeping. Elias was shocked to find he was outside, the cold air clearly weak competition to a heap of warm-blooded wolves. The clearing they were in was not dissimilar to where the hunting cabin was but there was an area for cooking and a large firepit, where the flames created a lingering smoky mist in the air.
Elias found Red sitting on a chair by the fire, and he appeared to be whittling some wood into arrows.
Struggling under the weight of heavy wolf limbs, Elias eventually managed to extricate himself from the pile and padded over to Red.
“Hi,” he said shyly.
“How do you feel?” Red asked.
“Much better, thank you. I don’t mean to be rude, but where is my rock?”
Red raised a curious eyebrow at Elias before pointing to the base of a nearby tree. Elias scuttled over and picked it up, cradling it in his hands.
“What is it?” Red asked, looking at the ugly rock judgmentally.
“It was the only way to keep my family safe. I need to return home with it,” Elias explained vaguely.
“I have never met a free elf before.” Red phrased it as though it were a question.
“Well, it turns out that you can escape captivity and still never truly be free.” Elias stroked his index finger across the rock thoughtfully.
“How did you escape?”
Elias turned to face Red. “Luck, I suspect. I’m not entirely sure. We were being transported to the castle, and we’d just entered the Dark Forest when someone shot two arrows. The first one killed the slaver who’d been driving the carriage and the second split the rope which trapped the cage shut. We all just ran. I don’t know if or who else survived aside from my friend.”
Red looked astonished. He sat there with his mouth hanging wide open and a level of shock in his expression which Elias felt disproportionate to the story he’d told. How had Red imagined they’d escaped?
“You… it was you?” Red said.
“What was me?”
“Actually, I suppose it was me. I shot those arrows.”
Now it was Elias’ turn to stand there looking like a codfish, mouth agape.
“You? You freed us?”
Red nodded, smiling. “I cannot take all the glory. It was Wim’s idea, and I thought the plan quite mad, but I did shoot the arrows and now you are here. Unbelievable.”
Elias could hardly believe it. What were the chances he’d be rescued from drowning by the same man who’d freed him? “I owe you my life. Twice over.”
“Let us make a deal since life in the forest can get rather boring. Wim and I will escort you back to your home and along the way, you can tell me everything you have done since you escaped. Tell me how you came to end up with a family that needs protection from a large rock. Entertain me, little elf, and we’ll call it even.” Red grinned and Elias decided right then that they would be great friends. He hadn’t had many, but Elias knew a kindred spirit when he found one.
Itching to get back to Henrik and Johan, Elias badgered Red and Wim for most of the morning until they eventually gave in and agreed to begin the journey to take Elias home. He packedhis few belongings into his bag but kept the rock safely in his hands.
Wim grumbled a little when he and Red climbed on his back, but Elias got the feeling that was mostly just his nature and didn’t worry about it too much. He couldn’t quite believe his luck at getting to travel home in such luxurious comfort as this. His already blistered and battered feet would thank him later.
Elias kept up his deal with Red. He talked the man and his wolf’s ear off, regaling him with tales of their escape, their time in the Dark Forest, and then how they’d been rescued by the sweetest man Elias had ever known. He got the impression that Red preferred his higher action stories. Despite it being Elias’ least favourite story to tell, Red wanted every last detail of the fire incident at the shoe shop.
