Kenrick was down this hall and four doors to the left.
I began stalking down the halls, blood dripping down my extremities from the two elves I had encountered. My shoulder throbbed from ripping out the arrow and the make-shift bandage I had made was not stopping the flow of blood very well.
That foolish female elf began to spill her guts once I held her life in my hands. I may have promised to not hurt her if she told me where he was…how naive.
She should have known to not trust the enemy.
The blade from the previous elf was still clutched in my hands as I made my way down the tunnel. I could hear screams dancing down the walls of this corridor, so I knew I must be getting close. My heart fluttered with anticipation that I will see my partner and get him out alive. To know I will finally do something right for a change.
Two doors down, two more to go.
The smooth, crisp sand beneath my feet made little noise as my pace quicken with excitement. Before I knew it, my body ran straight into another warm body from around the final corner. I lost my balance and fell to the ground with a soft thud. My excitement just cost me my stealth and I was now face-to-face with another obstacle. The elf before me looked familiar, my eyes scanned him up and down until my eyes landed on his bandage around his hands..this was the elf I had encountered when Kenrick and I first snuck into the mines. The one I had sunk my arrow into when I was on a killing rampage.
The blood drained from my face and my fingers went cold with the realization. He was slightly dazed from our run in, but quickly recovered. My hand shot to my sword that lay before me to finish the job from before, but he snatched my hair and pulled me straight up. The pain shot up my scalp and a slight yelp escaped my lips from the shock.
“Well what do I have here?!” he snarled. “Seems this little rat escaped her cage.” He was still holding me by my hair, as he withdrew a small dagger from his belt.
I was so close…
He held the dagger close to my throat and had the brisk steel caress my skin. “Hush now little, Elf.” He began to drag me along cool sand, the burning discomfort from my scalp escalated as he did. My toes dug into the earth to try and obtain some grip to wrench myself free from his grasp. “Let's have a little chat, hmm?” I tried to struggle from him, but he had a firm grip on me. He opened a door and flung me to the ground, my knees skidding along the stone and dirt. I landed on all fours as I heard the loud thud from the heavy door closing.
I spun around to face my foe, he flipped the dagger in his thin fingers and his smile was wicked. My heart rate accelerated as he knelt down before me, my fingers scratching the stone floor under me. “Such a pretty face for a killer.” He grazed the edge along my jawline, evil danced on his expression. I turned my face away from the steel and my breath quickened. “I see that pompous attitude is still instilled in you ‘high elves’. You know I watched as your people humiliated and banished my family.” He pulled the blade from my face and gripped my chin and forced me to look at him.
“Because we could not access the Tap, we were no longer deemed worthy to be in the same forest by you. Who are you to judge our kind huh?” Anger lingered in his tone as he gripped harder onto my face. “You see we have grown into a race that you should start to fear, sister. We may not have magical prowess, oh…but we have discovered a greater power! One you will soon feel the wrath too!” He jerked my head to the side and stood to his feet. “I guess you have been a helpful test subject, perhaps if you beg, I may make you my pet. Then you can watch the glory by my side as your fellow elves perish!”
“Do what you will..” My voice raspy and weak. “I will not beg to the likes of you.” My fingers grasped around the syringe I had hid in my pants, “My people will not be defeated by trinkets and false power! Seeing what I have here, we were right to send your race to banishment!” I spit at him and it landed at his feet. “I will watch as your laboratory burns to the ground with the sins you have committed in it. The Gods will not support such heinous acts and you will all melt under their fiery wrath!” I began to stand and face him, syringe tightly held behind my back.
“You speak so naively, elf. The era of magic is coming to a close, have you not seen the clues around you?” He spit out, ”Your race is dying while ours is flourishing! Magic will become nothing more than a myth soon. The best I can offer is death, or my pet, since you will never make it out of these mines alive on your own.” He walked up to me and grasped firmly around my throat, “Time to choose little elf.”
My fingers dug into the weapon as I looked into his eyes, “Never.”
I whipped the syringe from behind my back and penetrated the side of his neck, barely missing a vital vein. The needle effortless pierced the soft tissue, almost like a marshmallow. The dark elf let out a scream and released my throat from his grasp, he pulled the needle out from his neck as blood gushed from the wound. I lunged at him with his guard down and took him down to the ground, my fist balled and slamming into his face.
Bone breaking sounds echoed along the barren room as I continued to pound into his skull. My knuckles bloody and bruised from the repeated contact. His cries began to diminish as the bones in his face caved in and he no longer resembled anything human or elf.
Every hit was for the people he tortured and kill, all the lost dreams and hopes that vanished by his hand. The frenzy I found myself in…felt good. My hands began to throb from the altercation and I stopped to look down at my victory. I stood up from the ground and took one last look at the monster I slayed.
“ Seems I do not need magic to be stronger than you.” I spit down onto him, grabbed his dagger and dashed for the door. I still needed to get Kenrick and make our escape.
I shoved open the heavy door, peaked outside and saw no one running to the noise I just created. I sprinted from behind it and made my way down the final hallway. Elation still in my lungs from what just happened and the fact I was this much closer to rescue. I found the fourth door in this hall and jiggled the handle.
Unlocked?
I turned the handle and pushed the door open.
What I saw, stopped me from going any further.