Escape Through Fire

Rock elves are beautiful creatures, despite their cruel nature. Their height falls a little short of the average human, standing at around four, to four and a half feet. My head swiveled as far as it would go to follow their movements. They moved in a sort of crouch, I'd noticed, when they were too near a threat. But the elves I caught glimpses of, who craned their heads while passing the entrance to get a look at us, walked just as a human would, without the awkward gait that we used. But in looks and design, they were little like us. There was the nose, and the torso, legs and arms connected in all the same places, but that was where the similarities ended. Their skin appeared rough, and was deep blue. Of course, that was quite misleading information. What I mean to say, is that right /now/, their skin was entirely blue. I'd noticed small gem-like growths that dotted their arms and legs, and then decorating their forehead in a single spot between their eyes, almost like a Bindhi. Occasionally, they would shift colors, from blue to orange to occasionally pink. Of course, I'd seen what I thought were flashes of other colors, but it was sometimes hard to tell in the dim light from the torches.

Odd skin aside, there was no end to the strangeness in their persons. They all wore garments woven out of vines and grasses, and their hair was nearly normal, however, streaming down their backs in a uniformly black waterfall. Sometimes, when they spun around quickly, I could see gleamings of more gems tied into their hair, glittering when they caught the light. And their eyes... The eyes were inherently alien, and pale. They had the entire color spectrum represented of course. Some eyes were brown, some yellow, and some green, but it was muted, and covered in a gray film. And of course, there was the ears, pointed as I'd always expected an elf's to be.

The room was large, though there wasn't a breeze to be found anywhere. The air was hot, heavy, and dry, and it left me wishing desperately for water. Covering the stalactites, stalagmites, and walls, were thousands, perhaps millions of sparkling gemstones. They, at first glance, seemed to be white, and then another glance proved it wrong, and that they were indeed red. Then I looked closer, and yes. They were pink! Wait, purple. No, blue.

It was only after several minutes that I realized their colors were shifting, mixing, and changing.

My head fell back for a look at the ceiling, and as I shifted, the rope bit viciously into my wrists. Reflexively, I cried out in pain, and struggled restlessly. An elf near me growled and prodded me with his spear, muttering something I couldn't understand. Jamie was warm and reassuring against my back, though the rope that bound us continued to chafe my wrists and ankles. I felt quite sure that they would be rubbed raw if I didn't get them free soon.

Subtly as I could, casting nervous glances at our guards, I began to fiddle and pick at our ropes, trying to get them to fall off. But the knots were tied so expertly that I did nothing but splinter my nails. When unraveling it further proved to be impossible, I gave up with a dejected sigh. It seemed that we would never escape. How could we? Rock elves were obviously stronger, faster, and more graceful than any human. The only way we were getting out involved secrecy and midnight tiptoes through a sleeping kingdom. And with our guards standing so closely, and so alertly, there was little chance of that.

A conversation broke out, diverting me from my thoughts. The warriors rarely spoke. A new elf stood there, speaking in commanding tones. and behind him, another, who appeared tired and hungry. The guard who stood before him responded in the same reptilian tongue, a sort of combination between hissing and croaking that was entirely inhuman. The new elf seemed to be of higher rank, since he quickly won the argument.

He approached us quickly, causing me to wonder if this is how it felt to be watching an oncoming train, standing on the tracks. The other elf lingered behind him, and when the larger noticed this, he barked a harsh order over his shoulder, which had the other hurrying towards them.

My eyes followed them, watching as the bulky one gave another order to the guards, who untied us with swift accuracy. I tried to determine how, but it seemed impossible.

After we were free, nursing our raw skin, he pointed at the younger elf. He nodded with a cringe, and stepped forward.

"I am Sol'on, and this is Lord Mali'an. You are?" His pronunciation was garbled by his strange accent, and I leaned forward, captivated. Finally, to be the first human to speak with a rock elf, and live to tell the tale! What an adventure!

'You might not live to tell the tale' I reminded myself.

"Jamie, and Katterina." Jamie introduced us, and I felt him nod to me as easily as he could, in our awkward position.

The elf, Sol'on changed tongues again, and murmured something, probably translating, to Mali'an, and then promptly turned back to us.

"Malian wishes to know your purpose here."

"That's easy!" I say. "I'm a scientist, I collect information on plants and animals. Jamie is escorting me."  A brief flash of excitement skipped through Sol'on's face, but only for a moment before he wiped it away, and turned back to Malian, who stamped his foot as he replied.

Sol'on turned back to us with a regretful expression. "Then my lord has decreed that you be properly punished for trespassing without good reason." His tone was empathetic, and his face sorrowful as he spoke.

Immediately, I became wary, and slowly, afraid of the answer, I asked, "And what punishment is that?"

The elf paused, the apology in his eyes. "Enslavement."

I forgot to breathe. My heart stopped beating. I swear that the world began to spin. "What?" I asked faintly, wishing desperately that I was somewhere else. Perhaps an expedition through the mountains was precisely something that I didn't need.

"Enslavement. The consequence of trespassing is enslavement."

Desperately, I shook my head. "There must be another way! We have money, we can pay you.." We didn't, not really. The odd bit of change and enough money to get by, but likely nothing that would satisfy this king.

Sol'on hesitated, his forehead furrowed in debate with himself. After a moment of staring at me, he stepped back to say something to the lord.

Malian's expression brightened, and he replied in satisfied tones, waving his arms for effect. A short conversation ensued, neither side of which I could distinguish. It was extremely hard to tell who was on our side, and who wasn't.

Finally, after a long while, Sol'on turned back to us, clasping his hands in front of him. "There is one way." He paused. "How do you feel about dragons?"