Hostage

'Fuck...' I gasped for air while clutching my stomach. 

'Who the hell is this moron?' I thought in my mind not daring to say the words aloud or might get another kick.

But even after few minutes nothing hit me, so I tried to sit straight again 

Bam... bam 

"FUCK!!!" But soon more kicks followed. 

"What the hell is your problem?" I screamed at the top of my lungs while getting thrashed. 

The man stopped and bent town. His hand moved toward my head and his grabbed my air pulling them hard and slamming my face to the ground. 

"What are you doing in the forest?" A hoarse voice soon reached my ears. 

'What the.... ' I mind blanked. It should not be a problem there are many fools who will wonder in such places to find death or treasures. 

So it was weird for the man to show interest. 

"Why?" I asked with a weak voice. Hoping to get more clarity on his intention but the alas reality is not that kind. 

So few more kicks and punches followed. 

By now I had blue bruises all over my skin and my eye had swollen. 

'It hurt' I wanted to cry.

"Kill me, please" The pain was unbearable. I don't want to leave. I don't want to suffer. 

Such thoughts surfaced in my mind. And soon a something wet flowed in my mouth. 

A strange warmth enveloped my entire being and pain gradually lessened. I head became clear again.

So I lifted my head from the ground and gazed at the man leaning against the ball. A glass bottle lay on the ground beside his feat. 

'A potion?' It seemed that the man has healed me by feeding a potion. 

I looked at the man again who seemed like he did not care anymore about torturing me.

So I lowered my gaze and started staring at the fire luminating the dark cave in a orange hue. 

Few minutes and man still did not say anything or moved from his location. 

So I waited, and soon a voice echoed in the cave.

"What business do you have in the Veilwood forest?" 

I heard the question, loud and clear. But I did not open my mouth. And few minutes passed like that. 

Soon the steps echoed again in the cave and now the man stood in front of me. 

"If you do want to go through around round you better speak" The man said again, without any emotions in his voice whatsoever. 

I took a deep breath and looked up to the tall man. 

"A Trial" I spoke and a unfamiliar groggy voice left my mouth. 

The man's expression did not betray him and emotionless eyes silently stared at me. 

"Do you know the location of this Trial?" A question soon followed. 

I silently nodded my head and kept looking down at the ground. 

"How?" A another question landed in my head. 

"Someone in the Rolis told me" I answer the question. 

Man simply nodded his head and walked toward the entrance of the cave, once he reached he threw me a bag. 

"We will leave when sun rises" were the last words before man again started sleeping while leaning against the cave walls. 

'How did it turned out to be like this?' I thought in my mind, while opening my luggage. 

'Everything seems to be here' My luggage was untouched, so I simply took out a loaf bread with jerky and started munching on these. 

It's not that bad. At the least he seems somewhat strong, 

But that doesn't change my situation, I am hostage now. I don't know what kind of a man he is. 

But judging by the treatment I received he is definitely not on the good side. 

"Hah___ it doesn't matter I will think of something' were the last thoughts of mine before I went back to sleep.

...

Bam___

A kick to the stomach woke me up in the morning. I groaned and opened my blurry eyes to look at the man who again stood above me.

"We have to go" He spoke and I simply nodded and stood up.

After packing our things and erasing the traces of our stay we existed the cave. 

We made our way through the grassland where I lost my consciousness.

The terrain here was more easy compared to the forest where I was being chased by the beasts. So it didn't take us much to cover a great distance. 

"What's your name" halfway through the man asked me. 

'Should I tell him my real name?' I thought in my mind. 

"Kai thorne, what's your name?" I decided to give him my real name. 

"Fuck..." I gasped for air while clutching my stomach.

"Who the hell is this moron?" I thought to myself, not daring to say the words aloud for fear of getting another kick.

But even after a few minutes, nothing came. So, I tried to sit up again.

Bam... bam.

"FUCK!!!" But soon, more kicks followed.

"What the hell is your problem?" I screamed at the top of my lungs while being thrashed.

The man stopped and bent down. His hand moved toward my head, grabbed my hair, and yanked it hard, slamming my face into the ground.

"What are you doing in the forest?" A hoarse voice soon reached my ears.

'What the...?' My mind went blank. It shouldn't be a problem. There are plenty of fools who wander into places like this, seeking either death or treasure.

So, it was strange for the man to show any interest.

"Why?" I asked in a weak voice, hoping to get more clarity on his intentions. But alas, reality is not that kind.

A few more kicks and punches followed.

By now, I had bruises all over my skin, and my eye had swollen.

'It hurts,' I wanted to cry.

"Kill me, please." The pain was unbearable. I didn't want to die, but I didn't want to suffer anymore, either.

Such thoughts filled my mind. Soon, something wet flowed into my mouth.

A strange warmth enveloped my entire body, and the pain gradually lessened. My head became clear again.

I lifted my head from the ground and looked at the man, who was leaning against the wall. A glass bottle lay on the ground beside his feet.

'A potion?' It seemed the man had healed me by feeding me a potion.

I looked at the man again, who now seemed indifferent to torturing me.

I lowered my gaze and stared at the fire, which illuminated the dark cave with an orange hue.

Minutes passed, and the man still didn't speak or move from his position.

I waited, and soon, a voice echoed in the cave.

"What business do you have in the Veilwood Forest?"

I heard the question loud and clear but didn't open my mouth. A few more minutes passed like that.

Finally, the steps echoed again in the cave, and the man stood in front of me.

"If you want to get through, you'd better speak." The man said, his voice devoid of any emotion.

I took a deep breath and looked up at the tall man.

"A trial," I spoke, my voice unfamiliar and groggy.

The man's expression didn't change, and his emotionless eyes silently stared at me.

"Do you know the location of this trial?" Another question followed.

I silently nodded my head and kept my gaze lowered to the ground.

"How?" Another question came.

"Someone in Rolis told me," I answered.

The man simply nodded and walked toward the entrance of the cave. Once there, he threw me a bag.

"We'll leave when the sun rises," were his last words before he leaned against the cave wall and went back to sleeping.

'How did it turn out like this?' I thought to myself as I opened my bag.

'Everything seems to be here.' My belongings were untouched, so I took out a loaf of bread and some jerky and began to eat.

It wasn't so bad. At least he seemed somewhat strong.

But that didn't change my situation. I was his hostage now. I didn't know what kind of man he was.

But judging by the treatment I received, he was definitely not on the good side.

"Hah... it doesn't matter. I'll think of something," I thought as I fell asleep again.

Bam!

A kick to the stomach woke me up in the morning. I groaned and opened my blurry eyes to see the man standing above me.

"We have to go." He spoke, and I simply nodded before getting up.

After packing our things and erasing the traces of our stay, we exited the cave.

We made our way through the grasslands, where I had lost consciousness.

The terrain here was much easier compared to the forest, where I had been chased by beasts. It didn't take long to cover a great distance.

"What's your name?" The man asked halfway through.

'Should I tell him my real name?' I thought.

"Kai Thorne, what's your name?" I decided to tell him my real name.

And to my own question, no reply came. The man simply kept walking in front of me, his bow strapped to his back.

I thought he wouldn't say anything, but soon a harsh voice entered my ears.

"Rudius." The man decided to give me his name, to which I simply nodded.

But after walking for some more time, the man suddenly stopped and turned to face me.

"How are you navigating?" A simple question came from his mouth.

I found myself unable to answer. It was true that I was still heading in the right direction, but that was because I was following the cardinal directions based on the sun.

I didn't have an exact location for where I needed to go.

'I am stupid,' I realized this soon enough. The man seemed to judge my expression and then pulled out a map.