Chapter 15: Prisoners

Chapter 15: Prisoners

Rayne sat in the corner of her cage staring up at the cloudless night. It was as close to her sister as she could get. Their cages were next to each other and if they reached, they could touch each other’s hands. They were the only elves in this camp of creatures they had come to learn were called the Wenduags.

She and her sister Sylvian were acting as scouts for their group when they first stumbled upon the Wenduags. It was supposed to be a routine exploration assignment. There were indications that a new Foundation Crystal may have formed in this jungle, and they were supposed to confirm its existence and recover it before another kingdom could do the same. They had just made it into this jungle and were doing some preliminary scouting when they were ambushed by these creatures. Outnumbered and caught by surprise, they were both quickly subdued. They had thought they would be killed, and probably would have been, except for the intervention of another strange creature.

It was one that they recognized, if only by description from others. Newly integrated species were rare but not unheard of and this one had started to appear in the last few years. Looking like a stretched-out dwarf but not as hairy, they called themselves humans from what Rayne remembered hearing. It intervened and spoke with the Wenduags. And to her surprise, they listened to it.

It was a strange scene to witness, watching this small human stand in the middle of beasts and have them not just listen but obey its words. One by one, the Wenduags began to show a relaxed expression. Was it a Skill the human use? Rayne still didn’t know for sure. Instead of being killed, she and her sister were bound, thrown in cages, and brought to their camp.

It had been weeks since they had been captured, and they were unsure what had happened to the rest of their party. Every few days, more captured people would be brought back to the camp. They kept watch to see if anyone from their group was among the captured but still no other elves appeared.

She did see members of the other races among the captured. A couple of Tyrians, a bi-pedal animal-like race, were captured a few days back. It made sense. Foundation Crystals had many uses and even a nomadic species like the Tyrians could find a use for them. The two Tyrians were alone, much like them. She wanted to speak with them, but they were too far away for a private conversation.

The most common species captured that Rayne saw were those of the goblin species. They were three feet tall, green and had a mouth filled with needle-teeth. They were a new species integrated only a few centuries before, but most found them to be detestable. Foul and uncivilized, they worshipped food and only respected violence and only so long as they had to.

The sheer number of goblins showing up was alarming to Rayne. It was never a good sign when a large number of goblins congregated at one location. Not that there was anything that she could do about it from her position.

The goblins never lasted long among the Wenduags. A day never passed without at least a few of the goblins angering one of the Wenduags and getting beaten to death. Still, the deaths hardly made a difference to whatever goals the Wenduags had. More would be brought in a few days later.

The strangest among the prisoners had to be a member of the Lizardfolk, a Kobold. It stood four feet tall and covered in orange and black scales. It had to be an outcast if it found its way here, so far from their lands in the South.

The last to arrive were a group of three more of those humans. Each one was different than the other, making it difficult to recognize them as the same species, but Rayne was sure that they were all human. One was tall with a dark complexion and was completely hairless. It stood feet above the others with warriors’ physique. It almost appeared like a giant compared to the other two with him, and Rayne was confident it was a male of the species.

The other two Rayne believed were females of the species. Both were shorter than the giant human, but still taller than the first she met, the one she had learned went by Clayton and was the leader of these Wenduags. One had a similar physique as the giant human, but a more compact version and with a lighter complexion, and Rayne was certain that she was some kind of warrior as well.

The last one was the opposite. Slim, frail, and as pale as a lily compared to the other humans, she could have passed as a member of the moon elves race at first glance. She even had the pitch-black hair of the Moon elves. Even Rayne, who had met many before, thought she might be one at first, but the ears gave her away. The roundness of them would never be so brazenly flaunted had she truly been one of them.

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They were brought to the prison cages like the rest. Another oddity of that species. Newly integrated species could appear anywhere in the world which meant that every one of your own species you were able to find was a treasure. Why would one of their own imprison them? Rayne didn’t trust it.

“You awake?” she heard Sylvian whisper.

“Mhmm.”

“They are at it again,” Slyvian continued.

“Just ignore them,” Rayne said. “They can’t speak our language anyways.” Every night since those three humans had joined them, they had taken to waiting late into the night and then hold whispered discussions. It was obvious they were planning something, probably an escape as there was little else a prisoner would want. But Rayne still didn’t trust them.

“The giant chatty one keeps trying to speak to us,” Sylvian said. “I think he is trying different languages.”

Rayne perked up a little at that. “Any you recognize?” she asked.

“No,” Sylvian said. “Though one sounded Dwarven to me.”

“How would he know Dwarven?

“I don’t know,” Sylvian said. “Maybe he ended up near their kingdom at one point?”

“Possible,” Rayne said. “Still, doesn’t help much.”

“Speaking of which,” Sylvian said, Rayne could hear the excitement building in her voice now. “I think there might be another human in the camp.”

“They captured another? I haven’t seen any new ones show up.”

“I don’t think he’s a newly captured one,” Sylvian said. “Remember that elemental I thought I saw?”

“The wind sylph?” Rayne said. “It wasn’t a trick of the light?”

“No,” Sylvian said. “I saw it again today. While they had us out gathering. I was even able to speak to it for a moment before the Wenduags started to take an interest. Sounds like it might be a familiar of the other human.”

“A spy?” Rayne said thinking of that first human, but he didn’t appear to be a familiar type. It was widely known that only Wizards had familiars, but the Clayton human didn’t appear to be a Wizard at first glance, but anything was possible.

“I don’t think so,” Sylvian said. “Sounded like her master is captured like us, but not part of the two groups.”

Every morning, they would be separated into two different groups. The more physically or less intelligent would be assigned to the manual labor group and would be given some rudimental tools and sent into caves. Why? Rayne still wasn’t sure. They looked to be digging and gathering different materials from the caves, but while the Wenduags appreciated the materials, they didn’t appear to have much use for them.

Instead, they would just gather different types of material and sort them into piles. Every so often, a large group of them would gather around one of the piles and begin trying to use them in different ways. The Wenduags had a firm grasp of some basic blacksmithing and building but they didn’t appear to be very familiar with most of the things they were mining from the caves. Not that Rayne knew much about ores and rocks either.

Her sister and her were always assigned to the other group. The gatherer and crafter group. They would be assigned various chores around the camp or gather different plants and bring them back, carrying water, or helping to put together some of the bamboo buildings. Their group was the smallest of the two. Just her sister and her, the Kobold, and that frail pale human who shortly after arriving, spoke with the other human, Clayton, and was immediately put on cooking duty afterwards.

Their group was closely watched at all times, but no one tried to escape. Rayne thought about it many times. There wasn’t much keeping them captive except for the threat of the Wenduags. After witnessing how fast and nimble they were able to move, she held no delusion of being able to escape from them.

“If he not part of the two,” Rayne said confused. “Then what are they holding him for?”

“I didn’t learn too much,” Sylvian said. “But apparently that human leader we keep seeing around. He’s not looking for the Foundation Crystal. He’s looking for some ancient ruins and the guy they are holding separately has some information on where it might be.”

“That can’t be true,” Rayne said. “Why would any newly integrated species not care about a Foundation Crystal over some ancient ruins? They’d need a Foundation Crystal in order to accomplish their Species Quest.”

“Maybe their quest is different?” Sylvian pondered. “I don’t think the Sylph was lying though.”

“I don’t trust it,” Rayne said.

“You don’t trust anything to do with the humans,” Sylvian muttered. “That one aside, the others don’t seem too bad. Especially that tall one, he has kind eyes. I think he’s trying to talk to us again.”

“Just ignore them,” Rayne said. She had lost track of how many times she had said that over the past few days. “And of course, I don’t trust them. One is working with these creatures and has us as prisoners. We just need to wait until Alzona finds us and launches a rescue.”

“It’s been weeks,” Sylvian muttered bitterly. “They probably think we are dead by now…. Or they are.”

“Not Alzona!” Rayne said. “She’s still out there. I’m sure of it.”

“If you say so,” Sylvian said letting the subject drop. “Still, if there is an ancient ruin in this place, I wonder what could be in them. It would have to be good if it’s worth more than a Foundation Crystal.”

“Perhaps it is what gave birth to the crystal,” Rayne said beginning the hypothetical conversation of what could be. There was little else to do until Alzona arrived and it would help to pass the time.