The next time Hazel woke up she found herself tied to a pole in the middle of what looked like a stadium with people sitting all around the wide circular shape of the place. Her hair looked disheveled, scattered all over her face as she tried to see the creatures that had come to watch her die she could not make out what they were or what they looked like.
She saw a group of three people approaching her, amongst them, she could make out the centaur who had caught her in the forest of woods. She could not identify the other two but one was a man with long white hair and a tall frame and he was dressed like a warrior from a medieval era. The other was a woman, she had a green glow illuminating her body that made her almost look green herself even though her hair was green. The closer they got the clearer their features became.
She could not help but admire them as they approached her. She scolded herself for even looking at them with fascination when those creatures were there to sacrifice her to some god or something like that. She even forced herself to stop looking at them and imagined how she was going to be sacrificed, were they going to burn her alive? Or would they hang her to her death or they probably chop off her head like she had seen in many movies back home?
Hazel scrapped out the one of burning alive as she could not imagine such an excruciating way to die. If she were to die, then she would prefer a quick death. She thought of having her head chopped off and shivered at the thought too, how would the blade feel going through her soft and delicate neck?
A shiver ran down her spine as she imagined a knife going through her and making a clean cut, it would probably be a blunt knife, slow and painful. That thought was as scary as being burnt alive. She then thought of being hung and strangled to death and shook it off again. She could not decide which was worse. Why were ways to die so scary?
While she was busy thinking of how she would die, the three creatures that were walking towards her stopped right in front of her. The centaur was talking to them in a language that she did not understand and she frowned, didn't he speak English before when he was chasing her?
The centaur seemed to have said something that surprised the other two as she saw their eyes Widen and they sized her up with their eyes. The man with the centaur turned to her and spoke, "Do you understand me?" he asked and Hazel hastily nodded before muttering a "Yes" to him hoping they would change their minds after hearing her, unlike the centaur.
"This is the first time another creature understands one of our languages." the woman said and looked at Hazel as if she was a work of art that she had an interest in. "We will wait for his majesty's arrival before the ritual begins."
Hazel heard and her heart sank. They were talking like she was not there listening to what they were saying even after knowing she could understand them. The only one there who did not speak of her death was the man with white hair whom she recognized as an elf. He looked at her but there didn't seem to be any form of hostility coming from him but he said nothing to stop the others, it was as if there was nothing that he could do about which she understood as it was their custom.
"The king will be here soon, we should start the preparation." The centaur said and looked up at the sky. He and the woman turned around and left while the elf stayed back a bit longer.
"How did you get here?" He asked her in a low voice that only Hazel could hear.
"Through a portal that appeared in my house," Hazel answered. She wanted to be hopeful that he could get her out of the crazy situation that she found herself but she did not dare to raise her hopes and be expectant because coming here, she had only had bad luck.
As if he could read her thoughts, he said, "I can't get you out of here, but the king can if he wants to. You can only hope he finds you worthy of living." He turned around to leave.
"Why are you telling me this?" Hazel asked. He stopped his steps and looked at her but he did not say anything and left her there.
A group of creatures came to where she was tied after the elf-man left. She could recognize some of them when compared to those she had seen in movies and wondered if they were called the same in this world. Some looked like dwarfs, others were like goblins, some looked like sprites or pixies with their tiny wings that were almost transparent if not for the colors on them while some, she could not identify them.
They surrounded her and muttered some words in a strange language before one of them came forward and sprinkled a liquid substance on her.
The substance had a sweet and intoxicating fragrance that made her nervous nerves relax and her mind stopped running wild. What they were doing now seemed so natural and right and she did not have that fear to die anymore. It was like she had accepted it.
After the one who sprinkled the liquid substance on her. left, someone else came forward and drew a circle on the ground around her with a staff which was meant for that purpose before striding back and joining the others who made a circle around the one that was just drawn on the ground.
They chanted a few words together and then turned to face the crowd and spoke together in the same language as before and the crowd cheered and clapped at whatever they said. Hazel looked at all that and felt nothing but tranquillity, her expression looked serene probably due to what they did to her.
They turned and looked up and saw a carriage coming towards the coliseum. There was an energy that revolved around the carriage guiding it as it flew in the air. It looked beautiful and majestic. Hazel felt a sudden pull that forced her to look up. As soon as she looked up, whatever serenity she felt before vanished.
Hazel seemed to snap out of her daze as she remembered the words of the centaur and the elf. Was that the king coming? Will he save her or condemn her to death? She asked herself and wondered what made her so relaxed in a situation like this...