Chapter 2
Emeric stayed in a crouched position for a few more minutes. His head was whirling. He was contemplating his options. The men were heading in a direction that would bring them very close to his home, to his father.
His father...he suddenly realized that his father was waiting for him and had no idea if the approaching danger.
Emeric hastily sprang to his feet and ran full pelt in the direction of their cabin. Although he was sprinting he made sure to avoid areas with dry leaves or twigs that might give him away. He kept an eye on his surroundings, searching for the men while he ran.
What if he was too late? What would they do to his father? The questions rang painfully through his head. He pushed them back and forced his legs to move faster.
The trees were left behind in a blur as he expertly weaved his way through the dense woods that was looking more like a barrier separating him from his father.
Emeric slowed down when his nose caught a stench that made his blood run cold.
Smoke.
He broke into a run again, "Please, no..." He muttered as he ran on.
Emeric crouched behind a thick bush as their cabin came into view, or what was left if it.
The cabin was alight with giant flames consuming it. A huge dark cloud of smoke suffocated the surrounding trees. The cabin walls, usually a light brown color of the wood it was built out of, were pitch black. Emeric watched in horror as his home burnt down. The roof collapsed, causing the remaining structure to creak and groan. The sight brought back a horrific memory of Emeric's first encounter with the Elite.
- - - -
He'd been five years old at the time. Emeric and his mother had been in the cabin preparing a meal for when his father returned from a short hunting trip. Emeric's mother had been singing a soft, cheerful song...it had been his favorite song and he always begged her to sing it to him before he fell asleep.
Her singing was disrupted however as she caught sight of something outside the window, or someone. Emeric's mother had grabbed him and hid him in a secret compartment in the roof. "Don't make a sound...no matter what." She'd instructed and then closed the trapdoor.
Just as she stepped away the front door had burst open and men had flooded in. Emeric had been terrified as he watched through a gap between the boards in the roof.
The men grabbed his screaming mother. He wanted to yell out, he wanted to demand them to leave her alone, to let her go...but no words could come past the lump of fear in his throat.
He watched wide eyed in terror as one of the men had drawn a dagger from a scabbard...there had been blood...lots of blood...Emeric had screamed, but his cry of despair was drowned in the men's laughter as Emeric's mother dropped limply to the floor, a gaping gash in her neck.
The men had cheered as they left the little cabin. Emeric's eyes were drowned in tears as he watched his mother...dead...He'd yelled at her to get up, to be alright, to just be fine...but she wasn't...she would never be...she would never sing Emeric's song again. And after that day he'd never heard his song again.
Emeric had been trapped in the roof for hours before his father had finally returned. He had come through the door which had been left standing ajar...the first sight that had met Rayhan was his wife...slaughtered...laying in a pool of her own blood. Emeric had called out for his father, who had opened the trapdoor the instant he heard his son's pleading. They had wept together. Soaking each other with salty tears.
- - - -
Emeric forced his gaze off of the burning cabin and for the first time he noticed the men standing around it. There were nearly a dozen of them. They all wore the uniforms that marked them as Elites. Emeric felt anger grown inside him and it took all his will power to keep himself from charging the men who had destroyed everything.
He shut his eyes and took a deep breath. When his heart stopped racing he opened his eyes again. He had to find his father...He thought that perhaps his father might have escaped into the thicker trees on the Elites' arrival, but Emeric was wrong.
His eyes fell on a kneeling figure between the men. His wrists were bound behind his back. A trickle if blood ran down the side of the man's face where he had been struck over the head. Emeric immediatly recognised him. He was tempted to yell out, but that would lead the men right towards him...and if he was caught, no one would be able to save him or his father.
Emeric mimicked a bird call. It was a signal he and his father both knew well. The call belonged to a bird foreign to this area of the forest, which made the call reliable to Emeric and his father. The men wouldn't be familiar with the bird calls in the forest and would dismiss this one just as they had all the others. But Emeric's father recognised it immediately. He slowly raised his head and searched the surrounding forest. Emeric made the call once more helping his father find him.
Rayhan turned pale when he saw Emeric...'Run' he mouthed to his son. Emeric shook his head making it clear that he had no intention of leaving his father. 'GO!' His father mouthed more urgently. Emeric couldn't...He couldn't bring himself to leave his father behind to save his own skin.
"Who you talkin' to?" A skruffy, thick accented voice asked. Emeric watched as one of the Elites loomed over his father, who had immediately diverted his gaze to the ground when he heard footsteps behind him.
When the Elite got no reply from Emeric's father he looked up searching the surrounding forest. Emeric was well hidden from the searching gaze, but the gruff looking man did not seemed satisfied.
He gave a signal to the other men who spread out and started searching the surrounding woods. Emeric felt a lump forming in his throat. It would only be a matter of time before he was spotted. Two men were already making their way in a direction that would bring him into clear view.
As Emeric's attention was on the two men moving towards him, he had neglected to check behind him.
His instinct warned him, but Emeric was just a second to late at ducking behind the bush...he heard the Elite laugh...It was a cruel chuckle that sent shivers up Emeric's spine. "We've got another one boys." The men didn't reply, but Emeric heard hasty footsteps moving in his direction. Knowing that he had been spotted he jumped up to see how many he was going to have to face. Eight of them were striding towards him from different directions...they all had ruthless smiles on their faces.
"Run Emeric!!" Emeric's father yelled. Knowing he didn't have a choice, Emeric swore. He took a few steps backwards and then spun on his heals and sprinted off into the trees. He heard the men yell behind him and then the distinctive sound of persuit...
As the men charged after Emeric they started wooping with excitement as if they were chasing down an animal. As if this was simply just a normal hunt to them.
Emeric ran as fast as his legs would carry him, which, compared to the men chasing him down was rather fast. He was much faster than them because he was accustomed to running in the forest and it's uneven floor.
Emeric knew he had one major advantage over the men. He'd grown up in the forest. It was his home. He knew how easily it was to lose a sense of direction in the dense trees. If he could loose the men in the woods he could double back to rescue his father. Emeric could only hope that he was still alive.
Breathing steadily, Emeric weaved his way through the thick brush. He leapt over bushes and ducked underneath low hanging branches that tried to snag him. As he sped through the forest, his mind was racing. How had the men known where to find them? What was going to happen if he was caught? Would he suffer the same fate as his mother?
He kept telling himself that he had been trained for a situation like this his whole life, but he didn't feel prepared. He had no idea what to do. He could simply just run for his life...
Emeric shot a glance backwards. He was relieved to find that the men were trailing behind, almost out of view. Just as Emeric felt hope rising in him his foot caught on something and he fell forward.
He wasn't able to check his stride and hit the ground with a hard thud. His momentum painfully threw him across that forest floor, successfully knocking the air from his lungs. He groaned as he came to a halt and pushed himself up again.
He gave a hesitant glance back and felt the color drain from his face as he saw the trip wire gleaming in a ray of sunshine that broke through the thick canopy above. At that moment the ground beneath Emeric lurched away from him. His stomach leapt into his throat as a net engulphed him, hurling him into the air. It forced him into a crumpled ball as he swung from a branch three meters off the ground.
Emeric swallowed his fears that were trying to drown him and started searching for a way to escape. He still had his quiver full of arrows on his back. Grabbing one, he hastily he set to work cutting the entwined ropes, but it was no use. The ropes were too thick and the arrow head wasn't made for cutting through the thick fibres.
Emeric froze with dread as he heard laughter emerging from the trees surrounding him. He struggled against the net, trying to see his tormentors. The Elite had caught up with him.
"Well, well, well...Look what luck has brought us today boys. Two Rogues in less than half an hour." One the Elite chimed. The others grunted with amused agreement.
Emeric ignored them. He scanned the branches above him to try and find a way out of the net, but it was as it the whole tangled rope had swallowed him in one giant gulp. However, as Emeric's last hope was draining from his body, an idea was starting to from.
He twisted in the net, turning his back to the men below him. It took him a few tries to get into position. His struggles seemed to amuse men as they laughed at him. Emeric, not paying much mind to the men's cruel jokes, pushed his arm through the net and reached out to the nearest branch above him. His fingers brushed against the rough bark, but the branch was just a few centimeters too far to take a hold of. Emeric grit his teeth and doubled his efforts, but it was in vain.
"We don't want him getting into the trees now, do we? Muncher, cut him down." Emeric glanced down as the man, Muncher, moved out of sight. Too late, Emeric realised what was happening.
The rope keeping him suspended in the air was severed and he fell. There was no way he would be able to catch himself...so he braced himself for the painful impact...