25. Yvonne

25

YVONNE

“Oarus!” I call out.

But I doubt he can hear me. I can barely hear myself. As the ceiling of the tunnel above me caves in, the sound is all I can focus on.

I’m knocked back. A wave of dirt and debris slams into me as the last bit of light in the tunnel is snuffed out.

All my senses are overwhelmed at once. All I can hear is the ringing in my ears. All I see is the darkness. Every inch of me hurts from being knocked onto the ground. Even my tongue is coated in the cold, stale dirt.

The only bright side is that the earthquake seems to have stopped. And I mean the only bright side. Nothing else is very good at the moment.

“Oarus!” I call out into the darkness.

I feel around in the pitch black and feel something that increases my fear. Huge rocks and boulders are packed tight into the tunnel. No one is getting through this. I can’t see the full extent of it, but I doubt even Oarus could dig through it.

If he’s even still alive.

The thought punches me in the gut. Oarus could be crushed underneath all of this. Which would mean no one is coming to save me. I’m all alone in the dark.

I’m going to die here, aren’t I?

“No,” I say to myself.

But simply saying the word doesn’t help me believe it. Where am I? Did more of the tunnels collapse? Am I trapped? I don’t know the answers to any of this.

Even if I wasn’t in total darkness, what would I do? I don’t know these tunnels. I’m more likely to get lost than find my way out. Then Oarus might never find me.

But I can’t just stand here and wait, can I? That won’t help me out of this. Especially if the worst has happened to Oarus.

My mind can’t help but imagine him trapped under all the rocks behind me. Already dead, or slowly dying as I just stand here helplessly.

He could also be hurt and in need of my help. If that was the case and I just waited here for him to rescue me, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.

The fear continues to build within me. But I ignore it, I don’t give it any power. I will be reunited with Oarus, either through his efforts or my own. The first step is not sticking around here.

I take a deep breath. My heart is racing in my chest, but I need to be calm now. Panic will only cause more problems for me.

Hesitantly, I take my first step. A single foot forward, away from the cave-in, into the unknown darkness of the tunnel. Then I take another step and another. If I just keep going, the fear won’t have time to set in.

I start moving with no time to waste. I’ll find my way to… somewhere. I can’t imagine it’ll be worse than waiting here to die.

In the darkness, I find the wall. I keep a hand on it at all times as I slowly march through the tunnels. This way, even when I can’t see, I’ll have some idea of the geography here and can find side passages that might take me back to Oarus or the lair.

Then, another idea crosses my mind. If Oarus manages to find a way around or through the cave-in, he’ll be here, where I’m not. I need to signal him in some way. Increase the chances that we find each other.

As I walk, I start tearing at the hem of my dress. It was already ruined by the chaos of the cave-in. Shame, it was a beautiful dress.

Little by little, I tear shreds off. I keep going from the bottom up, like a spiral, leaving those bits behind. It’s a trail for Oarus to follow, or for me to retrace if I reach a dead end. I might actually stand a chance of surviving.

With each step, I’m propelled deeper into the dark, but I ignore that. I ignore the unknown and focus on what I’m walking to. What I’m trying to get back to.

Each step is fueled by a different memory of Oarus. A reason to return to him. Something I can’t wait to do again with him.

Oarus teaching me to swim. Taking me below the water to explore the depths. Shopping in the market. His lingering touch on my skin. His hot breath on my neck. The care towards me in his eyes.

All of these memories swell in my heart. In no time, it’s overpowering the fear in me. Each step is more confident, more assured. Bits of my dress tear more easily. The path seems easier to tread. Hell, I even swear I’m able to see better in the dark.

“Wait,” I mumble to myself. “I can see…”

There is a light in the distance. The area around me is weakly illuminated. It couldn’t be outside, could it? Or maybe more of those luminous rocks Oarus showed me?

I start moving towards the light. Whatever it is, it’s better than the darkness.

As I get closer, the source of the light is clearly fire, which is hiding behind an outcropping of stone. It must be Oarus! He’s come down with a torch to find me! Who else would be down here?

“Oarus!” I start running now.

But the truth hits me too late. A pack of four dark elves step out, armed with torches and swords. I stop running and try to turn around. But it’s all too late. I’ve been seen.

The dark elves pounce. In the blink of an eye, two of them have grabbed me by the arm and are dragging me before the other two. They slam me down on my knees and then hold the back of my head to keep me looking up at them.

“See,” hisses one of the two before me. “I told you the earthquake would shake loose some delicious surprises.”

This particularly ugly elf looks my body up and down. He uses his blade to slowly lift up the bottom of my torn dress. The two elves hold my look and gawk as my upper leg gets exposed.

The other elf before me continues to look me up and down as well but in a more clinical manner. Then a light enters his eyes.

“You’ve returned to us.”

“What was that, Gleez?”

“This is the one that escaped us all those moons ago.”

He crouches down to my level. His hand clutches my jaw as he moves my head to inspect me. I keep my face as still as stone. I won’t give them the satisfaction of any hint of fear.

“I thought she jumped in the water,” the elf still trying to peek up my skirt says.

“She did. I guess this pretty bird can swim.” He grins a big smile with ugly teeth. “Let’s get her back to the mines. It’s high time she’s made up for all the hassle she’s caused our operation.”

All of them burst into a horrible chorus of cackling laughs. They lift me to my feet and start marching me away.

It’s not too long before we’re back at the mines. A place I wished I’d never return to. I hear the clinking of pickaxes long before I see anything, like an ominous siren call of my dark fate.

We reach a fork in the tunnel, one path clearly leading towards the mines, where I’ll spend the rest of my life.

Fuck.

I had something good. I had Oarus. I had a life I finally felt was worth living. Now, I’ve crashed back into this hell.

I start to walk down the tunnel to the mines but am yanked back.

“No, no,” gloats Gleez.

“You said –?”

“I said I was bringing you back here to make up for the hassle you caused. I never said you’d do that working in the mines. At least not yet. Not until we’ve had some fun.”

All the elves emit another chorus of ugly laughs.

They start bringing me down the other way. I tear off one last bit of my dress and secretly drop it on the ground.

Gleez and the other elves bring me to some quarters, a dingy hovel carved into the side of the tunnel. The only things in the room are a dirty cot and a metal chain hooked to the ground.

“This is where you’ll be staying, my pet,” Gleez says. “Until a point in which I feel you’ve earned the right to a slow death working in the mines. I don’t know when that’ll be. But you humans lose your beauty so fast so…”

One of the other elves walks over the chain. I finally notice that on the end not hooked to the ground, there is a collar. Without hesitation, the collar is slapped around my neck.

I’m trapped in a worse spot than I ever expected. No chance of escape. No, I’m back into a life of servitude for the worst monsters this world has to offer.

“What should we have her do first?” one of the elves asks.

“Make her feed us,” another says.

“Make her take off that lovely dress,” the ugly one says with a snarl. “Have her show us all that now belongs to us.”

“All in due time,” Gleez responds, his eyes never drifting from me. “We’ll all get to have our fun, but first, she is mine to break. Before she tried to run, she thought she was owed a better life. Now is the time to destroy that thought. Turn her into the pet that she is.”

All the elves nod in disgusting approval.

“Fuck you,” I say. “Fuck all of you.”

“Hmm,” Gleez smirks. “I think she has too much energy. Dance for us.”

“I will not!”

The ugly elf leaps towards me, his blade drawn. He jabs it into my arm. Not deep, but enough to send immense pain through my body as blood starts to leak down my arm.

The surprise of it sends me crashing to the ground.

“You can resist,” Gleez explains. “But we won’t kill you for it. We won’t end your suffering. We’ll just make it a whole lot worse. Best to play along, my pretty little pet. On your feet. Dance. After that, I’ll need a footrest. Or maybe I’ll have you hold my things as I fuck something else. I’ll figure it out.”

I get up to my feet and slowly start to dance to the nonexistent music. The elves all watch with evil grins, enjoying every moment of it.

They think they can break me with this. But they won’t. Because no matter what, I’ll have hope.

Oarus is out there right now, hunting me down. He’ll break me free of these chains. And he’ll make these elves wish they were never born.

I will get out of this. And Oarus and I will be together.