Chapter Ten: Strange
As the elves encircled us, the tall man with long black hair positioned himself protectively in front of Mandy and me, his stance alert and ready despite his earlier disappointment at the weapons shop. The air was thick with tension, a silent acknowledgment of the impending conflict. Mandy gripped my arm; her eyes betrayed her fear.
"What do we do?" she whispered.
The man glanced at us, a flicker of reassurance crossing his calm face.
"Stay behind me," he instructed, his voice low but firm. "I may not have found a desirable weapon, but I'm still going to wipe the floor with you."
The elves halted their advance, forming a tight semicircle around us. There were ten of them. Their leader, a tall elf with blue piercing eyes and an air of authority, stepped forward.
"I believe you have something we want," he said, his gaze fixated on the child in Mandy's arm.
"We have nothing you want or desire here," the tall man countered, his voice steady.
The Elf leader's eyes narrowed, and he signaled his followers. In an instant, the tension escalated into action as the elves drew their weapons.
Without hesitation, the tall man lunged forward, meeting the first of the elves with a swift and decisive blow that knocked out the Elf. Despite his earlier claim of not having a weapon, the lethality and efficiency of his attack made one wonder whether he even needed one. And in addition to that lethality, he had a small dagger.
While the tall man continued to dispose of elves, Mandy scrambled to hide behind me, dodging an elf who had broken through to target us. I found a dagger that had slid over to my side from the tall man's fight, gripping it tightly as I prepared to defend us. Mandy had a frightened expression, but when the eyes of the elf kept looking at the child in her hand, her expression immediately changed to that of a protective mother.
The elf attacked first, aiming for my right shoulder. I dodged it by stepping to the left and then stepped forward, plunging the dagger into the elf's throat, ending his life.
The battle was chaotic; the sound of breaking bones and tearing flesh filled the air. Yet, amidst the turmoil, the tall man remained calm and stoic, his every move calculated and effective. It was clear that he was no stranger to conflict. I watched all this from behind; for a minute, I was happy that this guy wasn't my enemy.
As the fight continued, it was becoming evident to the elves that they had underestimated us. One by one, they fell until only the leader remained, the rest either dead or incapacitated and were retreating. Originally, the elves that had come were eleven, including their leader. With a final look of defiance, he turned, disappearing into the long shadows cast by the setting sun.
The tall man was breathing heavily as we watched them go; the immediate danger had passed, but we all knew that this wasn't the end.
We had entered into the armory after the tall man had finished rummaging through the bodies of the fallen elves. I approached him and said, "Thank you for saving my life."
"Ah, it's no problem," he replied.
"I'm Nicholas, by the way," I stretched out my hand for a handshake. Taking my hand, he replied, "I'm Kevin."
I pointed over to Mandy, who was attending to the crying baby, and said, "That's Mandy." Kevin nodded then turned to me, "If you don't mind, could you please tell me how you ended up in that place?"
"Hmm? Where?"
"I mean, how did you end up in the garden?"
"Oh, that. Well, I was on Earth when I was suddenly affected by the slumber, and when I woke up, I was here."
"Oh, so that's what they call it now."
"Huh?"
"I'm from Earth, to be more precise, I was among the first people to be affected by what you call the slumber."
My eyes widened at this statement.
A few hours later, Kevin and I had finished our discussion, and I was left alone to think while he went to go and prepare weapons. I was walking around the building, deep in thought.
I had learned a lot about the garden and about how all the people who were affected by the slumber ended up here. That thought alone made me agitated; the reason being, maybe I could find my parents here. What Don had said about them being murdered was not entirely true.
Yes, there was a chance that they were murdered, but there was also the chance that they had been affected by the slumber and were transported here since no body was found.
Among the things I learned was the garden's power system; they had seven capital cities that were each ruled by one of the seven most powerful people in the garden.
The person I saw fighting that bird when I first entered the garden, according to Kevin, was the right hand of one of the seven.
That person could have wiped me from existence with a single fireball if Kevin hadn't saved me.
I suddenly paused; I was standing in front of a stack of three boxes, two at the base and the last one on top.
The two at the base had a small space separating them, and it was because I felt a presence similar to a beast in the gap between the boxes. I reached for the dagger that I had collected earlier, ready to kill whatever that was.
I approached the hole in slow steps, and for every step, a growl was heard. Something within me was compelled to bring this beast out, so I sat down there and waited. After a while, the beast poked its head out.
It was a wolf with a white line on its forehead. It looked really small. I watched as the beast staggered out of the hole; one of its hind legs was injured. It couldn't even walk straight; its body was swaying. I subconsciously touched my own leg as if I was the one in pain. I was feeling... compassion? Towards a beast. I hardly felt anything after Danny and Cassie died, so it was really strange.
At least a beast's life was simple; kill or be killed, there is no such thing as backstabbing in their life.
I looked at the beast that was baring its teeth at me; I continued going closer until the beast was cornered with nowhere else to go.
I stretched my hand to touch it; I expected the beast to attack me, but when I did, the beast just fell to the ground not moving, although it was breathing, it seemed very exhausted.
I touched its forehead, and in that moment, I saw a symbol form on its head on the same hand I used to touch it. I reflexively took back my hand. Looked at the symbol in shock, it looked so familiar. I closed my eyes as I tried to recall.
"Huh," I gasped, I knew where I had seen this symbol; in fact, I had seen it four times: first on the head of the rat that was licking my wounds. Second, it was on the rat king.
Third, although I wasn't sure since I only glanced at the beast.
And fourth was when I was fighting that being that possessed Don; it was the same symbol that protected me from the being's deadly attacks.
Then I looked at the symbol on my hand, the necklace around my neck, and finally, the now-sleeping beast.
When I looked at the beast, I felt like I could read its thoughts; it seemed like I had formed a connection with the beast.