Seven Realms

Chapter 4

"Jeb" I quietly called to him. When I turned it was all I could do not to throw myself into his arms. I had been alone for so long I finally felt safe seeing Jeb before me. If I hadn't been so consumed by emotion I would have seen it, I would have known the Jeb I once knew no longer existed and this Jeb had been consumed by the evil taking over the land.

"There you are Elise." He called to me hugging me tight. I didn't catch it at first, I was tired and hungry and seeing a man from my past brought out my weakness that I had been bottling away for so long. Jeb never called me Elise, he always called me his little firestorm because of my temper when I was small, "Elise?" I asked looking into his eyes. They were no longer the golden brown I once remembered but they were a cold black instead. He struck my face violently causing blood to pool in my mouth. "Where is it? Give it to me!" Without thinking I pulled my dagger and stabbed him in his side before turning and running as quickly as I could. Jeb acted as if nothing happened and was on top of me before I could make it to the door, he grabbed my hair and bit my shoulder. It was like he had turned into a savage beast. "Give it to me!" Before he had time to cause more damage Rali stabbed him in the eye with his own needle sized sword. I wasted no time and threw the door open I ran into the street remembering the beast was still there and with Jeb quickly gaining on me I made the decision to lead him to the monstrosity in the center circle.

The beast had picked up our scent and quickly ascended upon us. After years of hunting I knew when an animal was getting ready to strike and this one was no different. I saw his hind legs curl back and as he sprung forward I slid down on my knees under him. The beast landed on top of Jeb, but not before Jeb snatched Rali from the air and squeezed the life out of him. I couldn't even stay to give him a proper burial I had to leave while the creature was distracted. I ran back to the woods back to the safe haven Rali and I had made for ourselves but I knew I could stay there no longer.

"Rali!" I screamed frighting myself awake. "Shhh you're ok. It was just a side effect of the healing." A voice in the dark soothed me. I couldn't see anything but a strip of light shining from a window near the ceiling. I heard rustling in the corner of the room and then a candle had been lit illuminating the last shreds of darkness not only from the room but from my mind as well. "You!" I shuddered seeing Caelan standing before me. "You filthy beast! Let me go at once!" Caelan's upper lip twitched a little at my remark but other than that his face remained stoic. I looked down realizing I was only wearing a very revealing night gown and everything from the tavern came rushing back to me. "You vile scum!" I screamed at him. "You couldn't even wait for me to wake up? You had your way with me while I was unconscious? You are worse than scum you are a piece of, gobshit!" At that Caelan scoffed and pierced me again with his blue eyes. "I don't ever have to take a woman while she's unconscious." He slowly stepped towards me like I was his prey and he was going to have fun before he devoured me. "In fact I don't even have to ask a woman if she wants me to claim her for the night, they find me." He leaned down and took a piece of my hair between his fingers as he ran his gaze up and down my scantily clad body. "But you, I wouldn't take you if you paid me, you disgust me and you are a pathetic excuse for a human being. I should have just let you die." He jerked away from me suddenly like the sight of me hurt his eyes and turned and left the room.

I sat in the bed and pulled the sheets over my exposed body trying to wrap my mind around what took place. He was a perfect stranger his words should not have effected me so much but they stung deep. It was like salt had been poured into an open wound, the way Tarek had dismissed our entire history hurt.  I loved Tarek and I had never wanted to give into the notion he was gone. Seeing him again was like a flame to my heart, but he led me to a pack of wolves and wanted to kill me. He swore all those years ago he would die saving me. Now it seems they were all just empty words that were said to bring future torture. Then to hear Caelan dismiss me because I'm not one of high beauty maybe that's why Tarek didn't want me anymore. Maybe I had grown into a beastly looking woman and the sight of me made him sick. I hadn't really seen what I looked like in the recent days. I know I'm not as full as I used to be my bones protrude a little too much, but I didn't always look like this. I have hair the color of the setting sun and Tarek always told me my eyes could rival that of the deepest blue waters. He always told me he wanted our children to have my eyes. My skin is pale more so now that the sun doesn't shine through the dark skies, but it was always pale to begin with.

Lost in thoughts of the two men that are nothing but strangers, a woman stepped in the room. It all made sense now if this is who I was compared to, not a single woman in all of Panesh or possibly any of the Seven Realms stood a chance.