Ellaway woke up on the shore, sputtering and coughing up lake water. Rejuvenating her lungs, she gulped down big gasps of air. She laid on her stomach on wet earth with her legs still dangling in water. She pulled them out and sat up, still sucking down oxygen. Looking back across the lake, the huge fish that swam so dangerously beneath her, now stuck his nose up close to the shore. Ellaway crawled cautiously forward, slowly she put her hand forward, but the big fish made no movement to attack. With tenderness Ellaway rubbed the dark blue skin between his eyes. The fish closed his eyes and hummed quietly in obvious pleasure.
Softly Ellaway smiled, “You saved my life. Thank you.” She stayed awhile rubbing him gently. He basked in the soft caress, humming louder. Soon the fish started backing into the water. With grace and grandeur, he did a flip under water and jumped up tipping his nose against the tunnel ceiling.
Ellaway watch him in awe. Then he sunk back into the dark murkiness, and Ellaway knew that it was time for her to go. She knew that an animal that intelligent surly lead her to the right shore. She flopped back down onto hands and knees. Still tired and drained she smiled, finally something good had happened to her. It reminded her that there were good people every where, be it man or beast.
The happiness from earlier had worn off and Ellaway laid on her side trying to calm her staggered breathing. Her shoulders and arms shook from the strain of pulling her body. Her wounded leg ached from being continuously rubbed against the rough floor. She closed her eyes, but fluttered back open as sleep threatened to overcome her.
Ellaway turned back on to her tender hands and knees and slowly made her way down the path. She slid down the angled ground and in a daze, continued her droning crawl. Ellaway felt very little and small as the trees towered above her on both sides, she felt like ant among human legs and feet, threatening to be crushed by her very size. Never before had she felt so vulnerable in the woods that surrounded her and for the first time on her journey away from her enslavement, she missed what she used to have. She laughed out loud to herself. To miss that old ugly inn! She must be going mad! But she could not rid herself of longing for the wide open spaces and large blue sky that used to encompass her, compared to the twigs and branches of tall trees and the tunnel that trapped her now.
After a while, the sun sank behind the horizon. Darkness overcame the light that played between the branches of the enchanted tunnel. As shadows dominated the light, sudden fear clenched at Ellaway’s heart. The twisted branches reminded her of the corpse’s hand. Pictures of his head rising and staring her in the face blared in her mind. As night ensnared around her, every sound around seemed to be intensified in Ellaway’s ears. She turned frantically this way and that to find the source of every tit and tat. Fear overwhelmed her every cell and her whole body tensed.
Listening to the night, she was unable to move and, loudly, her heart raced. She crouched there in fear.
Ellaway couldn’t take it any longer. Like a mad man, she pulled out her sword and started to hack at the tunnel, wanting out of her prison. Gritty her teeth she chopped at everything around her, trying to make an escape, but the branches over her head stayed sturdy. Items flew out of her pack in her rage. With determination she kept on smacking the cave, and finally broke off a single branch, but as soon as it broke off, a new branch quickly grew to cover the small hole she had made.
Screaming hysterically into the quiet night, Ellaway kept whacking at her surroundings, but to no avail and started sobbing in frustration. Dropping her sword, Ellaway curled her knees up to her chest and fell to the ground, wailing.
Eventually, sleep besieged her…
Ellaway woke to a surge of pain ripping through the back of her neck. It felt like two knifes were splitting into the sides of her throat! Tearing herself from the grasp Ellaway turned to find two glowing red eyes staring back at her. Ellaway screamed, “YOU!”
Ellaway might have been infuriated, but so was Bolbart, he snickered, “Yes, my Breakfast! ME!” With impressive speed, he scrambled atop the tunnel and reached through the holes, searching for Ellaway’s throat to choke. Ellaway dived down, but Bolbart caught the lobe of her ear.
Bolbart’s sharp claws pierced through her skin. He held on tight. With a strain, Bolbart started to pull her head towards him and reached his other claw through for her throat.
Ellaway screeched out as her neck stretched up ward toward Bolbart. Her ear stung as it was use to haul her closer to his pinching claws. Blood dripped from her pinched ear onto to her arms and shoulder. Ellaway reached down to her pack, looking for her dagger. With Bolbart inches away from her throat, she felt out for the handle of her knife. Skimming the ground, Ellaway finally felt its smooth finish under her fingers. She couldn’t get a grip of it! Struggling, she reached out her arm till she thought it might pull out of socket while her ear dripped more blood.
Bolbart’s claw started to skim against her jugular. crawling to puncher her vain. With one last stretch Ellaway finally grabbed her knife and flung it above her head, cutting off Bolbart’s extended arm. The severed limb fell to the ground next to her as Bolbart let out a shrieking scream.
He pulled back out of the tunnel, to nurse his lopped off arm, cradling it against his thick stomach, he clambered off the tunnel. Dark red blood oozed from his stubbed extremity.
Enraged, Ellaway seized his elbow before he could scamper away. She pulled the knife through the tunnel and pressed it on Bolbart’s throat. She leaned her face against the branches looking like a fugitive hungrily squeezed against cell bars.
Ellaway warned, “If I ever see you again, I swear on Una’s name, I will kill you on the spot! Understand!”
Bolbart shook feebly.
Ellaway screamed, “Do you understand!? Say it Bolbart, I need to hear you say it!”
Bolbart sobbed, “We- we never see you again.”
She thrust him backward and he ran off into the shadow of the trees. Ellaway pulled her hands back in the tunnel and pulled them to her chest. Quivering, Ellaway sat trying to calm herself. Taking beep breaths she slowed her heart rate. Her stomached rumpled loudly, she hadn’t eaten the night before. With shaking hands she gathered up her pack and the things that flew out of it in her rage last night. Still taking beep cleansing breaths, Ellaway took out a small breakfast and nibbled gratefully.
Slightly rejuvenated, Ellaway put back her supply of food. Catching her breath, she slowly turned back to her position and crawled through the forest on hands and knees.
Her heart started to pace back to normal and her breath steadied. Her scattered mind began to calm.
Her thoughts slid back to Bolbart’s third attack on her, how did Bolbart see her? Was she not invisible like her cage? Did it appear that some random girl was merely crawling through the woods for no apparent reason? She laughed at herself, imagining what it would look like to see her scuttling on all fours through dead leaves and dirt. She played with that thought as she made her way down the tunnel.
Ripple yawned luxuriously. He just woke up from a refreshing nap on the hard stone floor. He had had a marvelous dream about a woman he had known in Treshiv. He smirked, she was quite a woman. Grunting he sat up, blinking sleep out of his eyes. With another yawn, he stretched as best he could with his hands still linked in metal claps. He rubbed at his hairy face. That was the only way he could tell how much time had passed, by how long his beard had grown. He was grieved to feel it still so short. Only a couple days could have passed, but it felt like a life time.
The food man, as Ripple liked to call him, came in with the same mush. Ripple had been trying to devise some plan to get out. He concluded that the food man was the only way. If he could just get buddy buddy with this chump, maybe he would help him out. However, every attempt at conversation so far had failed. This time Ripple had a new tactic. The man gently placed two bowls at Ripple’s feet and turned to leave.
Ripple muttered, “You know I have seen her since she left.”
Startled the man stopped. This was a good sign. He never had stopped to listen before. Ripple went on, “I know where she lives and she is happy, with a husband and two kids. It might even be three or four now. They were talking about having another one, when I last saw them.”
The man turned around and watched him, but remained silent, so Ripple went on, “They love kids you know, Ali and her husband. Nothing could make them happier then to have a wild two year-”
Quietly the man cut him off, “I wouldn’t talk of such things if I were you.” With out another word he stalked out. Ripple shrugged his shoulders, it was worth the effort. So many had loved Ali, surly they would like to hear about her whereabouts.
After another good run around the room and more jingling with his cuff links, Ripple had the privileged of an extra visit. Titus stood at the door way, his face scowled in anger.
A good humored Ripple greeted him graciously, “Oh, my good friend, welcome to my-”
But before Ripple could greet his guest, Titus plunged him in the stomach with his fist. Ripple gasped and keeled over. Winded, he muttered, “No niceties then, uh?”
While Ripple was doubled over, Titus kneed him in the gut. In a trembling voice, Titus yelled, “Don’t you ever, EVER talk about my daughter again!”
Ripple groaned, “Is that all?”
Enraged by his taunting, Titus forced Ripple to face him and spat him in his eye. With adrenalin pumping in his veins, Titus punched him repetitively in the face, splatter blood across the floor. With a thud, Ripple fell hard to the ground. Shaking, Titus kicked him in the face then a few more times in the gut, staining the dark stone floor a crimson red. Each blow forced a sharp grunt out of Ripple as he became more and more disfigured.
Whipping sweat from his brow, Titus spat at Ripples crumbled form and snared in disgust. Recomposing himself, he stately walked out of the room. As he passed the guard, he grunted, “Clean him up.” Titus walked into the hallway of the gloomy dark dungeon. It was so dismal compared to the rest of the glimmering city. His people thought that here, they would never need use of a dungeon. But they were wrong. Even in a hidden city, scoundrels still found a way in.
He strode up the steps and into the brightly light hallway above. Stained blue steel walls reflected sunlight, brightly illuminating the rounded hall. Titus’s hands were still shaking slightly form adrenal and anger. He stretched out them out and bowled them into fists trying to stop them from trembling. Nausea played at his stomach as he thought of what he just did, so he tried not to think of it. Any way, Ripple deserved it. Titus breathed deeply calming himself back down. Distracted, he barley noticed the fairly busy hall. Doors nosily slammed shut and in corners people quietly whispered in groups. He nonchalantly passed under the row of duplicated fixtures that hung like chandeliers from the ceiling. Each fixture was a wide deep green spiraled cone that came to a sharp tip made to compliment the pale blue walls.
He acknowledged passer bys, nodding his head in a small greet. Upon seeing him, many replied in indignant, shocked stares. Perplexed, he kept walking, tracing the familiar steps to the exit. The hall opened into a large lobby where arched doors stretched the height of the tall walls and lead to the out side. As he walked passed the shadow of the terraced entrance, tall, cylinder shaped buildings rose high above his head. Pale reds and brilliant greens covered the amazing, tall buildings. Each giant tower was topped with a different colored doom. The building he just walked out of soared above him and the drowning sun cast long shadows to his back. But he didn’t look at the glorious city; he had had a long day and was ready to see only his wife and a hot meal. More people in the street stared at him as he went.
He figured it was because of his high standing, but this was different. Jaws gapped open at the sight of him and neighbors whispered behind hands. What was the matter with all these people!? Now, he was more then ready to get home. He hurried his pace.
A tall silver building loomed in front of him, with a bright yellow dome top. He walked in and ran up a tight spiral stair case, till he reached his floor. Anticipating Delilah to be in the front room cooking, he threw the door open and smiled widely at his wife, who, as expected, was working over the open fire pit. She looked up at him smiling, but it faded away and was replaced with wide eyes and a shocked stare. Frustrated, Titus blurted out, “What is wrong with everyone today!? They couldn’t stop staring at me in the street!”
Mesmerized by the sight, Delilah muttered, “Is that blood?”
Horrified, Titus looked down at his silk shirt and indeed blood was splattered across his chest and skirt. He looked down at his hands and blood was smeared across his knuckles where they made contact with the side of Ripple’s face. Titus stammered that he must have cut himself with out realizing. He stumbled to the wash water and scrubbed at his hands.
Delilah set aside her cooking and stood behind Titus with her arms folded, “What happened?”
Abruptly he answered, “I told you, must have cut myself.”
Irritated by his lie she replied, “A cut that splattered across your face, chest, and legs and you didn’t notice!”
At this he started to scrub his face, but didn’t answer her. Then he grunted, “Got to change for dinner.” He headed toward their room.
Delilah blurted coldly, “How is Ripple?”
Titus stopped dead in his tracks and turned, “I told you I wouldn’t visit him, but for that once!”
Anger boiled in Delilah, “Titus I have seen you at your worst, but this! I won’t have it Titus! I won’t have it! And if you don’t stop, I wont stay!”
Titus hollered, “He was talking about Ali! Talking about where she was!”
Delilah roared back, “Good! I would like to know where my daughter is. Maybe I will go and have a chat with him! That way, I can join her!”
Titus leapt toward her and grabbed both her shoulders, squeezing her skin, “Don’t you dare Delilah! Don’t you dare!”
She looked down at his hands still stained a bright red, “Are you going to beat me too?”
Appalled, he let go of her, stammering, “I would never. You know I would never even-”
Bitterly, she cut him short, “Do I know Titus? I am not so sure any more. How do I know your anger won’t turn on me?”
Titus desperately pleaded with her, “Delilah you are my every thing! I love you! I could never dream of hurting you.”
Tears swelled in Delilah’s eyes. She drew back away from him and muttered words that stung, “You already have Titus, you already have.”
No comments:
Post a Comment