The mist was so thick that John could not see the boot on his chest or the blade against his throat. The pressure on both grew, making him hard for him to breathe.

“Speak!” the voice barked.

“We are escaping our enemies,” John gasped.

“Why are they your enemies?” the voice demanded.

John racked his brain. He wasn’t entirely sure himself and didn’t know how much the elves knew about human politics. Or if his assailant was an elf at all. “They seek to spread the worship of the Night Goddess and to invade your lands!” he gasped at length.

The voice fell silent, but the pressure against his neck was released slightly. “On your feet,” it ordered at length. The pressure on his chest and neck disappeared, and John gingerly got to his feet. The voice seemed to echo in his head, and he had no idea where his assailant was.

Before he could react, a metal collar was placed around his neck. Instinctively, his hands reached up to pull it off. As soon as his hands touched the collar, he felt a blade against his neck. “Touch it and you lose your arms.”

Reluctantly, he moved his hands away and heard something click. The voice sounded amused as it asked, “Does that bring memories back?”

John assumed the voice had made a jibe referencing humanity’s past as the elves’ slaves but found it difficult to get angry at something he had little knowledge of. Then, his blood turned cold. Perhaps the elves had decided to take slaves again? Seeing that he had failed to get a rise out of the young man, the voice’s tone turned angry. “Move.”

There was a sharp tug on the collar which caused John to stumble. His captor set a fast pace, and unable to even see the ground through the mist, John quickly tripped and would have fallen had the collar not held him up. He choked as his captor gave the collar an irritated tug to get him back on his feet.

“Wait,” he gasped.

“Hurry,” the voice was pitiless.

Soon, they began climbing. The ground felt earthy underfoot, so he assumed they were climbing a hill. Then, the ground gave way to a wood floor. It was hard, but any sound his footsteps made were swallowed up by the mist. He began stomping his feet just so that he could hear something. His footsteps sounded muffled, but at least he could hear something. There was a sharp tug on his collar.

“Stop that,” the voice barked.

John did as he was told and soon, they began climbing a steep spiral staircase. As they climbed, the mist began to lighten, and then disappear altogether. John saw that he was in a wooden building. Up ahead, holding a chain attached to his collar was a slim individual who wore a grey cloak and had long pale hair that fell to the waist. The staircase they were climbing was built around the trunk of a massive tree. They soon emerged in a large room with open sides that offered views of the forest. However, due to the mists, only the tops of the taller trees could be seen.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

They walked past a group of five elves wearing pale blue robes. They were sitting in a circle with their eyes closed, seemingly concentrating on something. More elves, some clad in armour while others in pale blue robes stopped what they were doing and eyed him with amusement as he was led across the room. John’s eyes lit up when he saw Grimald standing next to a ladder leading up to the next level. He did not have a collar around his neck. Instead, his hands were bound in front of him.

“Where’s Udoriol?” John asked. Without turning around, his captor gave his chain a sharp tug, sending him tumbling to the ground. The collar tightened around his neck and the elf stood over him and John saw that she was a woman. He might have found her pretty if he hadn’t been struggling to breathe.

“You will speak when spoken to,” she warned, “Do you understand?”

John nodded frantically as he clawed at the collar. The elf did something, and the collar loosened slightly, allowing him to breathe again, though with some difficulty. While most of the elves watched in amusement, one of them strode over and spoke to John’s captor sharply. She replied defiantly, but at length removed the collar from John’s neck.

The second elf looked down at John, who managed to wheeze, “Thank you.”

“She shouldn’t have used that collar,” the elf said brusquely, “But you are prisoners. You will behave yourself.”

John nodded weakly and took a moment before picking himself up off the ground.

“Wait here quietly,” the elf ordered, “You will be called for soon.”

John and Grimald exchanged looks. The young man desperately wanted to speak to the dwarf but held his tongue. At length, the elf who had rescued him from the collar came over and cocked his head up at the ladder. Grimald held up his bound hands and raised an eyebrow. The elf scowled and untied the dwarf, who winked at John before climbing up. John followed him and they found themselves in a smaller room where they found Udoriol seated at a table across from another elf.

“I am Ruvaen, captain of this outpost,” the elf said without standing up. He was stern faced and had a green glow in his eyes which John found fascinating. “Why are you in our lands, human?”

John looked at Udoriol who did not meet his gaze.

“We’re on the run…” Grimald began.

“I’m sorry, are you a human?” the elf asked rudely.

“No…” Grimald began, taken off guard.

“You will speak when instructed to,” the captain said curtly, “Do you understand?”

Grimald glowered at the elf, but at length replied, “Yes.”

“Good,” the elf set his glowing eyes on John, “Speak.”

“We are on the run from the followers of the Night Goddess,” John began, “Who we suspect…”

“I didn’t ask for your insights,” Ruvaen said sharply. “Why were they pursuing you?”

“Because we uncovered one of their plots…”

“That will do,” Ruvaen said dismissively. He turned to Udoriol and began speaking to him in Elvish and John struggled to hold his temper. As he seethed, he felt a poke in the ribs and turned to see Grimald giving him an exasperated smile.

Udoriol and Ruvaen continued chatting for a while longer until the elf captain abruptly got to his feet and left the room, leaving the three on their own.

“What’s going on?” John asked.

“I don’t know,” Udoriol replied, looking distracted, “just said we are to remain confined here until they decide what to do with us.”

“And how long will that take?” Grimald ventured.

Udoriol shrugged and spread his hands theatrically.

“What should we do?” John asked, “Attempt an escape?”

“You need to be very careful with your words now, always assume they are listening,” Udoriol warned sharply, “And no, we stay put. We haven’t a hope of losing them in those mists.”