"Eat."
Under the bars of the cage, a tray of monochrome stew was slid toward the elf girl. She sat in the corner of her small cell, wrapped in the darkness of the shadow.
"Listen, we'll both be in for it if you don't, so, please," the armored fae begged.
The armored fae wasn't cruel. He gave her food once a day, and was not unnecessarily mean compared to his compatriots. This was the 10th meal, maybe the 11th, the elf girl had lost count. She hadn't taken a bite yet and was starting to feel the effects of the hunger strike on her growing body. Her stomach growled.
"Starving yourself won't help anyone," the armored fae said as he walked away, leaving the girl alone.
The elf girl began to softly weep, trying to stifle tears, but choking on sobs.
"If you don't eat, they'll make you," a young girl's voice called out from somewhere down the hall; this was the first time one of the other prisoners said anything to the elf girl.
The chamber that contained her cage was small, a short hallway with 3 other cells beside her own. Only one of the other cages were occupied, as the guards only brought the elf girl and one other meals each day. She couldn't see the other captive, but she heard the guards take her somewhere each day.
"Don't be too loud or they'll separate us," the other girl warned the elf girl. "I'm Brie, what's your name?"
The elf girl stayed silent; she didn't have one. This other creature was probably not an elf, and the girl hadn't spoken to anyone from outside her village before.
"Or do you not have one?" Brie probed, then waited for a response that never came. "That's okay," she continued, "some of the others don't have names either."
The elf girl felt herself begin to speak, but the words got trapped in her throat. She bit her tongue.
"In a few days, they'll start bringing you to the tests too," Brie said. "Goodnight."
The elf girl wanted to ask about the tests, but instead, sat in silence, breathing in the dark.
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The armored fae unlocked the door to her cage, then stood to the side.
"Come on," he said. "We're going."
The elf girl got to her feet, though her legs felt weak. It had been a few days since Brie talked to her, and it seemed that she was telling the truth about the tests, too. The elf missed her family, and hoped that she would pass her mother while walking wherever the fae was taking her. The elf girl trudged out of the cage, and was surprised to see an orc girl next to the armored fae. The orc girl gave the elf a small smile, and the armored fae nudged the elf girl along.
Walking out of the chamber was overwhelming. The sunlight felt blinding to the elf, the first natural light she had seen in weeks. She followed Brie through the halls of what seemed to be a palace, and as her eyes adjusted, saw a sprawling city through the windows. Brie stopped in front of a set of tall double doors and the elf stared at the orc. Brie was a good bit taller than the elf and looked older, but the elf wasn't sure how orcs aged, so Brie could've easily been the younger one.
The fae opened the door and Brie stepped inside.
"Go on," he said to the elf, gently pushing her inside.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
The doors led into a grand hall. It was empty, save for the three other children besides Brie inside, standing around sullenly and a few fae watching over them. There were five fae adorned in black cloaks, and another one who seemed different wearing purple. The fae in purple walked over to the elf girl, and as he did, she instinctively backed away. There was a primal urge deep inside of her whispering in her ear: run, it told her, get as far away from him as you can. The elf girl fell back, and the man offered her his hand as a smile creased his face, not reaching his eyes.
The elf girl was trembling, but too scared to refuse so she accepted the man's hand. Something shifted in his eyes as he helped her up.
"Hello, child," he said warmly. "Worry not, we do not intend to harm you, as long as you do as we ask. Do you understand?"
The purple-cloaked fae stared into her soul as he waited for a response; the girl nodded, and his smile turned to that of a beast, warping his face.
"Good," he said. "Andoran?"
One of the other fae hustled over toward them. He bowed his head toward the purple-cloaked fae.
"You will be working with Andoran from now on," the purple-cloaked man said. "Please do as he asks."
Without another word, the purple-cloaked man walked off. The elf girl looked at Andoran and took in his presence. He wasn't as strong or scary as purple cloak, but there was something deeply unsettling in his gaze and the way he looked at her.
"From today on, will be training your mind," Andoran said. "All you have to do is as I say. Once you are ready, you will be freed."
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For the next few months, the elf girl settled into a routine: wake up, think in the darkness, eat, look for her mother on the walk through the halls, do the mental training and tests with Andoran, look for her mother again, and sleep. The mental training was mind numbing, just sitting on the ground and being told to clear her mind and open her soul to the world for hours on end. The only thing getting her through the monotony of each day was the prospect of her mother being somewhere in the palace, and Brie.
"Modonia is a nice city," Brie explained to the elf. "There are all kinds of fae, and otherkin are allowed to roam anywhere we want. We could only live in the outskirts, but it was still good."
Brie had been the light of the elf's life the past few months, telling her about the outside world each day. The elf told Brie the stories of her village, but Brie had lived a much more adventurous life than the elf and had stories of her own to tell.
"When my father retired from adventuring, he was able to set up his forge in the outskirts, and even fae from the inner circle came out for his wares."
The sound of the door unlocking silenced them. Brie had warned the elf that if the guards saw them talking too much, then they might separate them, so they were careful to not be too loud.
The walk over to the hall was the same as usual, Brie basking in the sunlight, the elf girl scanning the passersby's for her mother, and that day, she saw her. Her mother had a chain around her neck and looked like a ghost of the woman she once was. Their eyes locked for a moment, and the elf girl froze. Her mother's eyes widened, color seemed to fill her face for a moment, and then she shook her head and mouthed no before putting her head back down and walking away. She's alive... the elf girl thought.
The armored fae nudged her along, and she continued walking. When they reached the hall, the elf girl could tell something was different by the stiffness of their cloaked guardians.
"You all have done well in your training, and have passed the tests necessary to be freed," the purple-cloaked man said as Andoran and one of the other fae brought in a prison cart big enough to fit all the kids.
The others looked happy, and the elf girl was about to start cheering too, until she saw the terror on Brie's face. Andoran opened the door to the cart and motioned for them to hop inside. The other kids ran toward the cart while Brie turned around and began walking away, but was stopped by one of the other fae in black cloaks. They put a hand on her shoulder and dragged her to the cart, and the elf girl cautiously followed. Andoran pushed them both inside, looking away from the elf girl's face.
"I thought we had more time..." Brie muttered.
The orc looked lost; she had always seemed so strong, so positive, and now she looked broken.
"Brie?" The elf asked. "What's wrong?"
Brie looked at the elf, a fierce determination lighting up her eyes.
"Don't give up," she said. "You can't give up, no matter how bad it seems. No matter how much it hurts."
Brie wasn't making sense, but before she could press anymore, the cart was wheeled away.
They were brought down a few more halls, deep into the palace where there were no longer windows lining the walls, into a room that looked like a dungeon and smelled like death. At the center of the room, the elf girl saw a thing of nightmares: a tree, made out of corpses, and she suddenly understood Brie's terror.