Hazel woke up not knowing how long she had been unconscious with a splitting headache and back pain. She massaged her temple and looked around her with a frown wondering where she was. Just then the memories of what happened came to her and she nearly passed out once again.
She stood to her feet with much difficulty grabbing hold of a tree for support. What she saw around her were tall trees that served as a canopy and went as far as the eyes could see. Beneath her were flowers of various colors and they emit a glow from them that brightened the forest floor. She could not tell if it was dark out there or not as the trees covered the sky blocking her view.
Hazel looked around trying to find a path to follow but she found nothing. She walked a bit forward thinking there was a path ahead but she still found nothing that could be of help to her. She started regretting her last-minute decision to come to an unknown place. What if there was no life in this world where she found herself? Would she die here and just like that?
She heard the sound of running water after walking a few more steps and realized just how thirsty she was and quickly ran over to get a drink.
After having a drink, she felt refreshed and full of vigor and she lay on the ground that was carpeted by white, pink, and purple glowing flowers. She closed her eyes deep in thought when she heard the sound of hoofs hitting the ground at a fast pace getting near. She sat up abruptly with hope and prayed that whoever it was approaching would be kind enough to help her. Her life wouldn't end so easily just like that after all. She thought to herself and stood up with newfound hope.
"Search everywhere, find whatever came through the portal." Hazel heard an angry voice speaking and suddenly had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. What was she going to do?
She looked around to find someplace to hide but all she could see were trees and rows of trees which were being illuminated by the glow of the flowers on the ground. Why would fate be so mean to her? No matter where she went she was not happy. She chuckled self-deprecatingly and decided to run for it.
She ran without knowing where she was going and did not care how many times she had tripped on a protruding root and just kept on running. She could hear the hoofs catching up to her but she prayed that they should not see her.
"It's over here!" Someone reported to the others making her heart sink. Did fate have a grudge against her? Hazel did not stop running even after she heard that. She ran until the sound of the hoofs was right behind and she was lifted from the ground by her neck. She didn't realize it until she was face-to-face with the creature that had lifted.
Hazel felt like she was being lifted by a giant when she felt the ground disappear from under her feet. The distance between her and the ground was so much that she thought she would die if he let go of her. She swallowed and looked at the creature that had picked her up like a weightless object. Her eyes widened when she saw what they were.
Centaurs... They were a group of centaurs with huge and muscular upper bodies, long hair that framed their faces, falling over their shoulders and chests, and well-defined facial features. Their lower half looked like battle horses, strong and beautiful to look at. If she was not in a situation where her life was on the line, she would be more than happy to just stand and stare at the creatures in awe and amazement.
The leader of the centaurs looked at her, scrutinizing her as if trying to find out what she was. She felt weird and scared under his gaze.
"Please don't kill me," Hazel begged. She could hear them so they should also be able to hear her, right? She had to give it a try.
The centaur's eyes widened not expecting her to be able to speak but then he frowned. Hazel looked hopeful after knowing that they too could understand her yet they ignored her.
"Take it to the coliseum." the leader said to his subordinates who nodded and roughly took her away from their leader and turned in another direction leaving the forest.
Hazel cried out at the game fate was playing with her. She knew she never had luck in her life if not her life would have never been so bleak but she did not expect herself to die at the age of eighteen and that too in a world she knew nothing of.
"Let me go please, or just send me back to where I came from." she pleaded. They knew she came through the portal, so they should also know that she was from another world and have a way to send her back, right? "I promise I won't ever come back here again."
"Do you know what this is?" The centaur that was holding her asked in companions as he poked her stomach with his free hand completely ignoring her pleas. Hazel winced in pain from his touch. It may seem gentle to them but to her, it was rough hard, and painful.
"No, I have never seen anything like it before, I wonder which world it came from." One of the other centaurs said in scrutiny.
"It looks like an elf, just smaller than most of them." Another one said and they all agreed with him.
"It can talk, that is unexpected." the one who held her said and shook her lightly. She glared at him. She was tired of them referring to her as 'It' She had a name okay? For creatures like them, they were quite the chatterboxes.
Soon they stopped walking and stood before a huge fence and Hazel could guess that it was the coliseum that they were instructed to take her. She was so distracted with her thoughts that she did not pay attention to the places that they passed by. How was she going to escape if she did not even know the way in and out of this pit of hell they had brought her?
"What are you going to do to me?" She asked, raising her head to look at the one who carried her. He held both her hands over her head and she just hung in the air all the way here.
"All the creatures that come through the portal must be sacrificed the gods as they are not a part of our world." The centaur said and Hazel passed out right after she heard that.