ALICE KELTHYRA:
It's been two hours since Alex and I talked, long enough for Penelope to return from class and find me sulking in bed. She sat down and tried her best to cheer me up after hearing what happened, but as if the mood wasn’t bad enough, it also had to rain.
“God, why am I so stupid? Me and my big mouth.”
Penelope listened to my complaints while watching me bury my face into the pillow, unsure if I should be mad or depressed.
“Perhaps you’re just overthinking it. I’m sure Alex is just running around trying to figure out what went wrong,” Penelope said, though not that I needed a reminder. . .
All I wanted to do anyway was curl up like a ball under a blanket and sleep it off like I said I would.
“But he didn’t do anything. . .” I muttered into the pillow.
“You silly. . . you know I can’t understand a word you say when you talk like that, right?” She was smiling. I could tell by her tone of voice. “Come on, look at me.”
Taking a deep breath before lifting my head, I turned to look at her. She immediately reached out with her hand, pushing the few strands of hair covering my face behind the ear.
“Thanks. . .” I mumbled, dropping my gaze out of slight embarrassment that I was making a huge scene out of perhaps nothing.
“Don’t sweat it.” She smirked, pulling her knees in and wrapping her arms around them, her gaze refusing to part ways even for a second. “Seriously, though. Haven’t heard a word you said.”
Something about how she said it made me chuckle; her tone always so calm and soft-spoken, euphonious to listen to.
“It wasn’t his fault,” I repeated, staring back into her lulling blue eyes. “Maya and her stupid jokes. . .”
“Again?” Penelope furrowed her brows. “What’s up with you two anyway? Thought you got along.”
“So did I at first. . . but she’s been acting weird whenever we’re by ourselves. Like I wronged her or something.”
“Want me to talk to her?” Penelope offered, but the thought alone made my stomach turn.
“That’s just about the last thing I want. . .” I awkwardly chuckled, knowing that the last thing I needed was to risk the two somehow finding common ground.
“You sure?” she asked again.
“Yeah. . .” I sighed, tilting my head back. “Anyway, it wasn’t Alex’s fault. Maya kept making jokes, getting me all riled up. If only we hadn’t met in the hallway.”
“What did she say?” Penelope asked though I preferred she didn’t.
“You’re not going to make fun of me, are you?” Despite knowing I’d feel guilty for showing a lack of faith in her, I still had to ask, considering past experiences.
“Geez, Alice. . .” She just chuckled, shaking her head in disbelief before taking another good look at me. “No, I won’t. You’re just about the last person I’d do that to – besides Ellie. Though, I’ll admit I do enjoy teasing the two at times. Teasing, not bullying.”
Her answer made me chuckle, reminding me that perhaps I wasn’t wrong in trusting someone other than Alex and that she was someone with whom I could openly talk. Though it’s hard to ignore the anxious feeling I get whenever I remind myself that I thought so in the past about others.
Afterwards, we stayed quiet and just stared at each other until I finally took a deep breath and sighed.
“Yeah. . . I get it,” I said, watching as Penelope kept looking with curiosity practically gleaming in her eyes. It sure didn’t make saying it any easier, especially knowing how dumb the whole ordeal was. “She made fun of my ears. . .”
“Your ears?” Her head tilted to the side. “What about them?”
“She kept insisting they were weird, and when I asked her what she meant, she just played it off as nothing,” I explained, though I wasn’t sure she’d get it. After all, I was the only elf in the room, making her comments sting that much more. “They’re not weird, are they?”
“Truthfully?” Penelope asked, waiting for me to nod, so I did. “At first, I couldn’t stop throwing glances because, you know. . . it’s different. Things like that make me curious, so I can’t always help it. But that doesn’t mean they’re weird, no. Personally I think they look cute on you and make you stand out more.”
She smiled, giving me a wink.
“But what if I don’t want to stand out?”
“Right. . . same as Alex. That’s why neither hesitated when stuff went down with Dustin.” Penelope sighed.
“Not like he was going to stop,” I argued, shrugging my shoulders.
“No, and to think you tried so desperately to get him to do so,” Penelope smirked, knowing she was right.
“Well. . .” I mumbled, but we both knew I’d be crazy to argue further, so I simply pointed my tongue at her, making her burst into contagious laughter. It made me forget all about my worries for at least a moment.
“Did you just point your tongue at me?” she kept giggling, covering her mouth all lady-like.
“Maybe. . .” I shrugged, chuckling along.
We took our time settling down and afterwards just sat in silence. It was pure bliss just being able to enjoy being next to someone without worrying about having something to say, allowing my eyes to wander the room.
Strange how one’s life could suddenly change so much overnight. Not long ago, I was ‘locked up’ in a room with more space than any sane person ever needed, and now I enjoyed sharing a small one with not one but three roomies. If only one wasn’t such a bitch for no reason–
“I get it though,” Penelope broke the silence, pulling me away from my thoughts.
“Huh?” I muttered, having no idea what she was on about.
“You and Alex,” she said, leaning back. “One a princess starved for adventure – your words, not mine – and the other a man who always wanted to prove himself and was now given a chance, so I doubt laying low was even possible. But I do get it.”
“Meh, we still talking about that?” I asked jokingly, letting out a sigh knowing she was probably right.
That’s when we heard a knock on the door.
“Who is it?” Penelope raised her voice.
“It’s me, Ron. . . Got a minute?”
It definitely sounded like him.
“Ron?” I whispered, exchanging glances with Penelope, who looked just as confused but went to get the door.
“Hey. . .” Penelope said, taking a step back and getting a good look at him. “What are you doing out of bed?”
He was still wrapped up in bandages, forced to use a walking stick for balance as his ankle hadn’t fully healed. Magic sure took its time fixing him up.
“Hey,” he said, waving at Penelope before freezing up the second he laid eyes on me. “Oh. . . Alice. You’re here.”
“Umm. . . yeah?” I furrowed my brows, feeling my stomach turn at the thought of what he could’ve been thinking that made him tense up the moment we saw each other. “Guessing Alex told you everything, huh. . .”
“Hm? Ah. . . No, well – yeah.” He hesitated, stumbling over words while figuring out what to say. “–But he just looked for advice. Nothing more, I swear. Don’t be too mad, okay?”
Hearing someone apologise for Alex opening up about the mess I made felt like a stab in the gut. Did Ron really believe I’d have an issue with Alex talking about us? Or worse, had Alex thought the same?
Penelope must’ve noticed my reaction since she just sighed and shook her head.
“She’s not, and don’t give her any ideas. . .” Penelope cut in, gesturing for him to enter before closing the door. “Seriously, let’s just drop the topic of Alex and discuss something else. You had something to tell me?”
“But it’s about Alex. . .” Ron awkwardly said, looking a bit lost all of a sudden. “Eh. I guess it doesn’t matter since Alice is here.”
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“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, feeling a bit annoyed knowing he was in our room.
“Huh? Oh! Nothing, nothing. It’s just that when Alex went looking for you, I wasn’t sure if he found you,” he explained, though it made it all the more confusing.
“Why wouldn’t he be able to find me? I told him already I’d be in my room, resting – sort of.”
Penelope had apparent doubts about the story, considering how she looked at him.
“But Alex saw you walking into the Faedark Forest–”
“But I–” I paused, my eyes widening with realisation.
“He might need help,” Penelope said, beating me to the punch as she jumped out of bed. “Alice, come with me. Eliot’s in the common room, so we’ll have help looking.”
“What about me?” Ron asked, clearly unable to follow.
Standing up, I grabbed his shoulder, saying, “If we’re not back in half an hour, tell the teachers.”
“But–” Ron protested, although in vain.
“There’s no time,” I said, storming out of the room while overtaking Penelope.
Perhaps it was a bad feeling or just my urge to see him as soon as possible so we could clear the air, but I couldn’t stop myself. Thankfully, Penelope seemed to have a plan since I was just moving one foot in front of the other.
She was right. My overthinking drove me nuts, and not knowing what Alex thought made it even worse, yet none of that mattered now as we had to find him quickly before something happened to him.
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ALEXANDER KALLIS:
It was cold as they dragged me through the mud. Their gnarled fingers held my ankles firmly while their grotesque and unkempt yellowish nails pressed against my skin. Though between the rain and the pounding headache plaguing me, I couldn’t even begin to imagine who the hooded creatures were.
Hell, I couldn’t even move a finger.
My eyelids felt heavy, so I could barely keep them open for more than a few seconds, only catching glimpses of the clouds above and the haunting visage of the Faedark Forest.
No living soul seemed like it would’ve chosen to live in such a place, a forest with dying pale trees whose leaves had been replaced by cobwebs, making my predicament all the more terrifying.
Despite my struggle to stay awake, my consciousness eventually faded.
. . .
“Think he’s alive?” I heard someone whisper.
“Maybe it’d be better he wasn’t. . .” said another.
“Jarred, don’t talk that way!” the feminine voice whisperingly yelled, letting out a sigh. “We’ll find a way out.”
“Yeah, right. . .” Jarred mumbled.
“Don’t start you two,” another girl warned. “It’s already bad enough as is. . .”
“Look, there’s six of us–” some guy other than Jarred started talking, his voice somewhat trembling. “–Five if he doesn’t wake up. I’m sure we’ll think of something.”
They weren’t exactly doing a great job staying quiet, going as far as waking me up; however, I refrained from speaking up or even opening my eyes as I wanted time to analyse the situation.
Through Mana Sense, I quickly discovered we were held in a cage with our hands bound with rope, and just as they said, there were six of us.
“Does anyone know him?” the second girl asked.
Nobody paying close attention to me had the answer, so they just awkwardly stared at each other until the quiet guy in the back finally spoke up. “Wasn’t he the one that got suspended? Alexander or somethin’.”
“Uhmm. . .” I muttered, taking a deep breath before opening my eyes and forcing myself to sit up straight. Low grunts escaped me as my back hurt like hell from being dragged. “So loud,” I complained, my ears slightly ringing. “Where are we?”
“You’re awake!” the first girl raised her voice, greeting me with a gleeful smile.
“Quiet, Sarah. . .” Jarred hushed angrily.
“Sorry.” Sarah dropped her gaze.
“Stop apologising and just keep your mouth shut. Or do you want them coming back for us,” Jarred rebuked.
The place we were in was dark, light barely peering from the corridor connecting to wherever the hell we were. Everything resembled an ancient ruin, and the lack of windows had me convinced we were underground. Crumbled statues now served as nothing more than debris.
“Who’s they?” I asked, turning to Jarred.
“Goblins,” Sarah cut in, pushing back her curly ginger hair while averting her blue-eyed gaze toward the passage.
“Goblins?” I was surprised to find they existed on the island, vile creatures.
“Unlucky, right?” she scoffed, extending her hand. “Anyway, name’s Sarah and the grumpy kid behind me ‘s Jarred.”
“I ain’t grumpy,” he cut her off. “Just a realist.”
“Right. . .” Sarah mumbled, turning to the others. “And that’s Daniel–”
“Hi,” said a scrawny-looking guy with light brown hair and a freckled face, the one who recognised me.
“–Chloe,” Sarah pointed toward the girl before switching to the only elf in the group. “And Dex. He’s a bit of a quiet type.”
“Nice to meet you. . .” Chloe whispered, looking a bit scared, and Dex simply nodded.
“Have any of you seen Alice by chance? Blonde, elf. . . you know–” I stopped talking, figured they’d recognise her had they seen her already, but I had a feeling I already knew she wasn’t the one I followed.
“Nah, we think we all saw some illusion and all decided to follow,” Sarah explained. “Either that or all of us have the same story and just so happen not to be in the same cell as the person we chased after.”
“Figured as much. . .” I said, closing my eyes in response to a slight headache.
“You okay?” Jarred asked.
“Yeah, just regaining full consciousness,” I explained, looking back at them. “So, how are we getting out of here?”
“No clue. They sealed our cores, so we can’t use any magic.” Sarah sighed, her arms cupping her breasts.
“They did?” I furrowed my brows, still feeling mana passing through my body, but when I closed my eyes and focused, I recognised it to be true. Mana no longer flowed through my upper mana core. “Huh. . .”
“Apparently, a few seemed capable of using magic,” Jarred said, leaning back against the wooden cage. “I guess Professor Geron needs to check his facts.”
“It’s not he who does, but you. . .” Sarah scoffed. “He said that goblins can’t form mana cores, not that they can’t use magic. Warlocks make pacts with other beings in exchange for magical capabilities.”
“Talk about cheating. . .” Daniel chuckled.
“Alright, smartass. . . How do we get out of this then, huh?” Jarred began staring at Sarah, the two at each other's throat.
“You two must be close friends,” I said, interrupting their little squabble.
“Us?” Sarah pointed at herself. “No way.”
“Like I’d be friends with this bitch–”
“What did you say?!”
“Quiet, you two.” Dex sighed, but the two didn’t listen, arguing back and forth.
“Alrighty. . .” I mumbled, noticing Daniel whispering something to me.
“Pst. . . they broke up. . .” he covered his mouth on one side.
“Oh.”
I went quiet while waiting for them to stop bickering, but they didn’t, and it quickly became awkward. So I did the best thing I could think of and closed my eyes, ignoring what they were saying, instead focusing on my mana flow.
My theory was that the seal they put on me while I was unconscious had similar properties to the one that plagued me since birth, so I figured I’d try the same method to break through – using my lower core to pump mana into it.
It took about three minutes before I felt the seal shatter, and I couldn’t help but smirk. Perhaps it was so because I had gotten stronger, or it could’ve been a weaker seal; regardless, my ego needed to be kept in check. Gaining back the full use of my magic was only the first step in getting out.
“Guys, I–” but just as I was about to say something, we heard footsteps approaching from around the corner.
Everyone instinctively moved to the back of the cage as if it made a difference, but when I laid eyes on them, I immediately understood why. Their amber eyes gleamed, and their pupils were that of a snake. The bloodied sclera did little to help the horrifying visage as their gazes hungered for prey.
Despite them only being about waist high, their speed and agility made every book I’ve read about them repeatedly warn that it’s best to avoid them. Step one failed.
Luckily, there were only two.
They approached the cage and unlocked the door before the girls started to panic. Even the guys kept squirming back, kicking with their feet. But the goblins didn’t take kindly to their actions, pulling out their daggers and swinging wildly in the air.
Their rotten breath while baring sharklike teeth at us made me want to throw up, and their grey-tattered skin had started peeling off. The books simply didn’t do them justice.
Soon they growled, entering the cage and pulling on the students’ wrist bindings, including mine, forcing us to get up and follow.
I played along, wishing to get a better read of the situation. By the looks of it, they were armed, albeit poorly. And while one of them had a handaxe, I was sure I could take them, but what worried me were the warlocks.
We were led out of the room and into the corridor connecting to the main hall. It was probably too dark for anyone else to see, but the adjacent rooms were filled with piles of bones.
Sadly, I was hoping to jump the two goblins so we could escape quickly, but no path seemed to lead to an exit, meaning we had to face whatever was ahead. For now I figured it’d be best to bide our time until help arrived, if anyone had even noticed some of the students had gone missing.
That’s when we heard murmuring in the distance just as the two escorted us through large open stone doors. The hall was no lesser than I imagined, circular in shape with a dozen statues, some of which still stood proudly.
Stone platforms were laid throughout, covered with rubble behind which the goblins lurked. Their evil eyes glowed in the dark, like predators that enjoyed hunting for sport and torture.
Centred in the room was an altar, one covered with blood. Beside it stood three goblins, bone masks covering their faces, and one even held a hard-covered book. It was too far for me to see any details, but it looked like no fantasy novel to me.
“Zaba’ka veshti!” the masked goblin holding the book yelled, and soon all the goblins began to chant.
“Make it stop!” Chloe yelled, dropping to her knees, much to the goblin’s dissatisfaction, the one standing next to her.
Everyone started freaking out as morale shattered, getting the goblins to pull out their weapons, and this time one looked like he was going to take a swing at Chloe. Sarah heroically jumped in front to save her by giving away her own life, but luckily she didn’t have to.
It was a split-second decision, but with a simple tug the rope broke, and I grabbed the goblin’s throat.
It was due or die.
“Draining touch.”
Chapter End.
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