"Do not struggle, human, if you value your life," she said, cutting off Marcius's protests. There was a brief noise of one fumbling for something, and then Marcius felt his left hand being wrapped by thin, but strong, rope. She even weaved it between his fingers, limiting their movement to barely being bendable. She then repeated the process with his right hand. "If I hear a spell from your lips, I will kill you, understand?" Marcius nodded emphatically.
And then she left him alone, with only the fading lantern to light the dark, vanishing so fast that she seemed merely the whisper of a dream. He thought about running, but where would he run, tied up in the middle of the night? Could he even run? He didn't trust his legs. As it was, between his head injury, the dip in the ocean, and the spell he just unleashed, the tree was the only thing keeping him upright.
Minutes ticked away with relentless obedience and Marcius started to fear that perhaps she really did leave him to die. Suddenly there was a subtle rustle of underbrush off to his left. From the forest came the elf, astride a pale white horse. The hide of the animal made it ethereal, aglow in the dim light that barely reached them from the fallen lantern. Marcius was amazed that such a large animal could move so quietly.
The elf dismounted lightly, noiselessly. To his relief, she untied the rope and she tossed him something which he grabbed at reflexively. Clothing. "Put those on," she said and it was only then that he remembered that he was naked.
The material was thin and soft, yet it kept the chill of night away. He wondered if she could see him in the dark. Marcius didn't know much about elves as it was, but eventually just shrugged. There wasn't anything he could do about it. Marcius still blushed as he changed (it was kind of hard, without the freedom of his hands), but the elf didn't seem to give any notice. She stared blankly into the dark with the quiet intensity he'd started to associate with her, though he didn't doubt she was observing him intently.
He no sooner had he pulled the shirt over his head when she grabbed him, half helping, half forcing him along to the animal. With a grunt, she helped him up, patiently waiting for his clumsy attempts to right himself on the beast before gracefully hoisting herself up to sit behind him.
Marcius's heart skipped a beat or two when he felt the arms go around him to grasp the reins. She was so close! He could feel every breath she took as the animal led them into the forest, the darkness enveloping them. How the animal navigated the pitch blackness he didn't know, but as time passed, he found himself relaxing against her. She was warm against his back, and her smell was an intoxicating blend that reminded him strongly of the forest itself. He had never been so aware of a person.
It was hard to imagine this beautiful being as the same fierce combatant that slew three men in front of him. Marcius felt his sense of self drift away, completely dominated with the unearthly nature of his captor. It seemed as if it was all a dream. She moved too unnaturally, the horse moved too surely through the darkness, and the whole situation was too unreal. One moment he was on a ship, the other he was watching a life and death struggle. Things like this just didn't happen to a merchant boy!
Where was she taking him? It was just starting to dawn on him that his captivity wasn't exactly voluntary, but he was powerless to resist her commands, it seemed. Did she have a spell of enchantment on him? No, he didn't believe she did, but what was he going to do if he wasn't able to return to his familiar soon? Without his blood, Faerill would die.
It was a sobering thought. Panic began to set in. Magic was all he had left! He had to get free. The relaxing warmth against him reminded Marcius that he had something else to worry about too. "Where are you taking me?" he said, his voice loud in the darkness. He was trying hard to remain calm, just like Jared always told him.
"Quiet, human. This place is dangerous," the elf whispered, her voice hard against his ear.
Marcius shivered pleasantly, but did his best to ignore it. "Where are we going?" he whispered this time.
There was an audible sigh, before the distracting lips again came to rest near his ear. "Human, you are my prisoner. Consider yourself fortunate because we do not make a habit of such things. We are being hunted, but thanks to the aleare they are unable to find us. It is a moonless night, so you cannot see the danger, but if any further words come from you, I will slay you and leave the body to distract the beasts that stalk us."
She had said it so calmly that it was unnerving. Marcius shivered again, this time not at all pleasantly. He didn't have a clue to what an aleare was, but nodded anyway. The body behind him shifted back, apparently content with his understanding. The only thing that kept him calm was the thought of his best friend. What would Jared have done? Marcius could hear the blonde swordsman's voice in his head, "Stay calm and wait. Do the best you can. That is all you can do right now. Going on and dying on us isn't going to get you to the Academy or your familiar back. Stop worrying so much!"
Marcius smiled sadly. He'd do just that. Still, his mind pictured the dead soldiers, and he had to remember that his captor was dangerous, despite being so alluring. A part of him hated his obvious weakness to her feminine charms, and he silently resolved to put up a better wall between them. But that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy the ride to where ever it was they were going! With a grin that Simon would have been proud of, he leaned further into her, finding the elf to be soft and yielding. The elf didn't even seem to notice, so Marcius allowed himself to relax.
Time passed slowly, the gentle gait of the horse and the steady beat of the elf's heart lulling him into a sense of security. Idly he watched vague shadows pass them in the darkness, savoring the closeness between him and his attractive captor. He thought it odd to feel such a thing for someone who made him a prisoner, but the feeling of enchantment still hung about the air, washing away such insecurities.
Marcius wasn't sure how long they had been traveling, but gradually he began to notice that it wasn't as dark as before, a greenish hue began to surround them and the atmosphere took on a less menacing presence. He recognized the sense of relief in the body against him, and guessed that they were probably nearing whatever destination she had in mind.
The forest itself began to change, the typical oaks and other unnamed trees being replaced by giant, ancient behemoths that seemed to reach up to the sky itself, and Marcius believed that even a dozen able bodied men, stretched arm to arm, wouldn't have been able to go all the way around the trunk. Their massive roots broke free of the ground, creating a gnarled maze that twisted and turned every which way, creating the illusion that they traveled in a tunnel within a forest. Yet the horse walked steadily through it all.
"Are you not scared, human?" the elf's soft voice roused Marcius from his stupor. "Scared of me and where we are going?" Apparently it was okay to talk now.
"No." And Marcius found himself surprised at his answer, because it was true. He had just witnessed this woman kill three men, threaten his life, and take him prisoner, and all he felt was curiosity about where she was taking him. He supposed that, with everything that had happened in the past couple days to him, he had come to a point of grudging acceptance. Things felt as if it was all out of his control and all he could do was go along for the ride.
The elf didn't respond, and the silence stretched gracelessly until, abruptly, the horse stopped in the middle of a small clearing, surrounded on all sides by the massive inner forest of Selenthia. "We are here," she said briskly, dropping down from the horse and looking up expectantly. He still felt so drained that it was an embarrassment when the elf had to help him down. Marcius half fell, half dropped off the horse
"So, where is here, exactly?"
"Quiet, human," she responded, grabbing his hands roughly from behind, twisting his arm painfully behind his back. Marcius bit back his surprise and the realization that he was a prisoner hit him full force.
"Pregyliar'de en'reviliar!" a voice called out from the beyond the forest edge.
"D'liare e' Seleniale Destane Liarne!" she responded, louder than Marcius had ever heard her.
"Comiliar'ne et te reiliars!"
The elf motioned for Marcius to walk, and he did so, though his muscles protested every step. His breath was labored by the time they reached the edge of the forest. Marcius's eyes widened as two elves in full battle gear walked out to greet them.
"Tiarle, Seleniale," the tallest of the pair held a hand up in greeting.
"Tiarle, Dealiarn," his captor responded.
Then the taller elf, a grim looking fellow with sandy brown hair glanced over at Marcius. "Diam leiarna?"
"Da."
The tall elf nodded, and then with a gesture of his head, indicated a private session with Marcius's captor. Marcius was surprised that she left his side so easily, at least until the smaller elf, a younger looking lad with raven black hair and sharp blue eyes, took her spot, prodding Marcius forward with rough gestures of his spear.
This particular elf wasn't nearly as gentle as the previous, and Marcius found himself stumbling. Still, he couldn't take his eyes off his original captor. She was arguing with the taller elf, and the amount of animation in her face and body, so atypical to her normal detachment that Marcius knew, wasn't at all unpleasant to watch. Curiosity nibbled at the edges of his mind and he wished he knew more about her.