Chapter 21

It was unbelievable; she finally had Boren back, and yet he pushed her away. Arlena couldn’t fathom why he had to be so cold with her. As their group gradually made their way through the woods, her frustration evolved into something she had barely felt before—anger.

The path to the camp wasn't intricate. There was no specific map, but the elves left signs that were clear only to others of their kind: mushrooms, flowers seeded in unusual places, stones moved from their natural positions, and branches pointing in the right direction.

Deep in the mountains, where horses couldn’t pass and no other creatures ventured, lay the camp. Elves sometimes had to scale rocks, and in total, it took about two days to reach the spot by the river, marked with carefully stacked stones signifying it as a waiting place.

“This reminds me of my childhood,” Arlena smiled at the sight of the stones. The signs the elves left were derived from an ancient children's game that taught elves to navigate the woods and communicate without disturbing nature's balance. She swallowed a lump in her throat. Who knew they would one day use this game for war?

They didn't need to camp for the night; the elves from the resistance group already knew they were close, so they emerged from the greenery to greet their comrades with warmth and love.

“Arden!” Arlena embraced her old friend as their eyes met upon entering the camp.

“I’m glad you’ve decided to join us,” his voice sounded more aloof than ever. Arden looked different, his skin seemed dull, dark circles heavy around his eyes, and he had cut his hair short.

“Boren insisted,” she replied gloomily.

“Boren?” Arden tensed. “Are you still with that dragon?”

“Well, not anymore,” Arlena fought back tears.

“Come with me,” his voice firm, he led her to one of the tents on the outskirts of the camp.

Despite the warm weather, the interior felt chilling and empty. Arlena looked at Arden, not understanding why they were there. “What is this place?” She barely finished her question as he leaned uncomfortably close.

“You smell like him,” he concluded, his hands on her waist, fingers slowly caressing her warm skin under the thin fabric of her shirt. “I honestly can’t understand what you could possibly find in him.”

She couldn’t understand it either; it was just something inherently right about her attraction to Boren. Arlena remained silent. There was no way she could explain to Arden something she could barely comprehend herself.

His thumbs slid slowly up and down her waist as he pressed her against the tree in the centre of the tent.

“Arden?” A strange feeling pinched her stomach.

“I’m sorry,” he looked her in the eye, his breath heavily enveloping the skin on her neck. “But you’ll have to stay here for some time.” In the blink of an eye, he clasped heavy metal handcuffs on her wrists.

“What are you doing?” Arlena’s voice shook as she tried to free herself.

He stepped aside into the sunlight, breaking through the tent, and said, “It’s just precaution. I’ll let you go when I know you’re not a spy.”

“Spy?” she whispered.

Arlena already knew the meaning of the word, and it made her heart ache. Yet, she didn’t get offended; he had every right not to trust her anymore.

Slowly, she slid down the tree trunk. It didn’t feel right to feel guilty for her love, but there was nothing she could do about it. She felt what she felt.

He didn’t say anything more; Arden just left her alone with an acidic pain gnawing somewhere inside her chest.

He visited her again only after the sun went down. Silently, Arden placed a bowl of water next to her and squatted beside her. “So, he left you?” Arden said barely audible, almost whispering.

She shook her head, silently communicating that Arden was wrong, and took a sip of refreshing water. The chill liquid washed over her insides, bringing along physical and emotional relief. She leaned against the wood behind her, exposing her thin neck, and exhaled deeply.

“It’s temporary,” she finally replied. Her voice was also quiet as if she didn’t want to disturb the silence in its calming beauty.

“He left you,” Arden repeated more insistently. “Why can’t you see it? He used you while you were convenient to him, and now he left you.” He sounded calm, maybe a bit sad, with a hint of pity in his voice, but calm.

Arlena placed the bowl next to him and turned away, clutching her knees in her arms until she became a small ball. “Why would anyone do something like that?” she concluded, fighting the thick lump in her throat. “You just don’t understand. He’ll come for me, you’ll see.”

A shiver ran down Arden's spine. “It’s just ridiculous!” he growled at her and stood up abruptly. “I don’t understand?” The shades of his voice changed, chilling. Roughly, he grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her to her feet. “It’s you who don’t understand, Arlena! Do you want to see what your dragons are capable of?” Without waiting for her response, he hastily unchained her hands and dragged her out of the tent into the chilling night. Everyone in the camp was already resting. All elves lived by nature’s law, so it was rare to see any of them up after sunset. The camp looked surprisingly empty, illuminated only by the moon and stars, who became unwilling witnesses of Arden’s cruelty, so unlike elves.

“Here!” he pushed her into another tent, not far from her own. “Look at what your dragons did!”

It took her a moment to comprehend her new surroundings, but clarity came faster than she could expect. The tent he brought her into was allocated for the sick and wounded elves. But she had never seen such wounds in her life. There were two, maybe three tens of elves, most covered in blood, burns, and bruises of all colours of the rainbow. Some were lacking limbs, eyes, or even just pieces of skin as if a wild animal had tried to tear them apart.

She couldn’t believe her eyes. Unwillingly, Arlena took a step back, until she stumbled over Arden’s firm body.

“This is what your dragons brought into our world,” he whispered to her. “Now, tell me, Arlena, can you feel their pain?”

She shivered. Despite elves being incredibly strong empaths, to the point that they could feel the pain of the smallest creatures, this was beyond her level of comprehension. She wanted to leave that place, to run away back in time when everything was still simple and peaceful. But Arden didn’t let her take a single step away. He took her by the shoulder again and pushed her onto one of the beds.

“You’ll stay here for the night,” he said as restrained as he could. His hands roughly chained her to another tree. “Feel their pain, Arlena. Think. And in the morning, you can tell me how much the dragons are the same as we are.” Without waiting for her response, he left her alone in the tent full of suffering, moans, and cries.