AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Darkness surrounds me as I open my eyes. I start awake. “Sierra?” I say, my heart in my mouth. I am not surprised she does not answer. I instinctively know she is not close.
“Sierra!” I bellow. “Sierra, where are you?”
Fear grips my heart as the inky dark silence fills my senses. Where could she be?
There is not even the slightest glow of embers from the fire. My nose tells me it has been out for some time.
How long did I sleep?
Groping around in the dark, I realize that her bag is gone. For a moment, I am filled with anguish. She has left me.
A vision of her loving eyes fills my head and my heart. No, she would not do that.
But the cave remains empty and dark, devoid of any sign of her.
“Sierra, where are you?” I moan.
My body still feels raw, and my limbs scream in protest at me as I attempt to use them. My fingers probe the wound at my shoulder. It is tender, but I can no longer feel even the lingering sign of infection. Sierra’s ministrations have healed me of the foul taint of the dark elves.
Feeling along the wall, I make my way back through the tunnels to the entrance. The fresh air revives me.
My nose tells me she has passed this way. Shit, Sierra, why didn’t you listen to me? Where are you? Why did you leave my side?
The bright sunlight makes me blink after the total darkness within. When my eyes adjust, I look around desperately. There is no sign of her at the cave mouth.
I don’t dare call her and risk bringing any lingering elf down upon us, so I follow her scent.
She was obviously collecting healing herbs to tend my wounds. I am wracked with guilt and anguish at the thought that she put herself in danger on my account.
Following her trail further into the woods, I come across a tree, laden with ripe fruit. There is evidence of her collecting berries to eat. So, it must have been hunger that drove her from safety. My own stomach echoes the dire need for food. I feel so weak. My body is screaming for nourishment.
Her trail winds precariously close to the track. She has wandered too far, my senses say. And then it hits me. The unmistakable scent of elf.
Focusing on the pain, I use it to drive me on. The scent of them becomes stronger. There are several of them now.
I smell her, too. At some point, she must have realized they were following her because her scent changes. Her fear and anxiety are palpable. And I can still smell the scent of our lovemaking on her. I will hurt them so badly if they defile our precious moment.
Moving inexorably into the forest, I come to a ravine where all the smells collide. The scent of dark elves is everywhere. There are so many of them! They close in around her from all directions. She didn’t stand a chance.
There are signs of a struggle. My valiant lady fought them hard before she was taken. I can smell her blood where they hurt her. I can almost taste her tears of rage and fear as they took her captive.
There is a shred of torn green dress hanging from the branch of a tree. I take it numbly between my fingers and raise it to my nose. Sierra, my love. I will find you and destroy them all.
Anger and frustration pour out of me, and I scream at the sky. “Sierra!”
My roar fills the air, scaring birds into flight. The scent is old, but without pausing, I break into a run. I have to get to her. I feel pain lancing through my body at the exertion. But that is not important. All that matters is her.
A hard, cold darkness fills my soul. How dare they take her? How dare they take what is mine? I will kill them all.
The trail is interminably long. I feel the wound in my shoulder pull open, and blood pours down my chest as I stagger onward. I do not care. The pain in my body is a mere shadow compared to the pain in my heart.
Her scent has led me perilously close to an elven town, and I start to move with more caution. The stench of dark elves is everywhere.
Despair fills my heart as I realize they have taken her inside. I pace up and down as images of what they could be doing to her fill my mind. But it would be suicide to follow her into an elven town in broad daylight.
Sierra, oh, Sierra, where are you? Have they hurt you? Are you okay?
Moving around the town, I try to find a weakness. There must be a way in. Every second I am away from her, it feels like my heart is being ripped open and lashed with a thousand knives. I find myself foolishly taking risks in my haste as I skirt the town. There are a couple of plausible ways I could try to get in, but every one of them is fraught with danger.
