Peregrin Old-Fur: Captured

It was now six months since I had been captured and forced to live in this place. I had counted nineteen people who had mysteriously disappeared. A few new elves and humans from here and there had been thrown into the centre. Wilscar had been losing confidence in everything. I didn’t blame him. Jamamros was still scared of Tylovine, but he had gradually gotten used to him. Hortamus, well he stayed the same. As for myself, I concentrated most of my time on prayers and the implement. I was now used to sleeping on rocks and had been getting much better sleep. That had even become a problem a few times when I would sleep even when the bell rang …
I saw an empty room flooded with darkness. I managed to spot one person: Jam.
“Jam!” I cried out as I ran closer to him. When I ran, it felt like I was carrying a carriage I was running so slow. Jamamros slowly turned his head to the left. Suddenly, his face was engulfed with a presence of fear. The presence surrounded his head, causing his jaw to lower and his eyes to widen. A tall man walked into the room from his left side and raised his hand that was holding a wand. Jam lifted his arms to his head, shielding it from any potential threat. A dim light appeared at the tip of the wand. The muted light brightened and the wand painted everything in the room a bright yellow. The light drowned me and all I could see was a blinding light, and then sudden blackness.
The blackness faded away when a voice from above spoke to me.
“Peregrin,” The angelic voice spoke. “Wake up.”
A straight line that stretched across the horizon appeared in the midst of the darkness. The line slowly arced and spread out, conquering the darkness that was once in the room. I rubbed my eyes and stared at the man in front of me. He had blue reptile-like skin and had the head of a dragon. In my groggy state, the man knelt in front of me as if I was a noble king.
“You need to wake up earlier than this,” the dragon/man replied. I nodded as I hurriedly stood up and walked out of the room.
Before the bell rang for lunch, a man stepped out of the dark hallway. He clicked his heels as he walked into the Centre.
“Excuse me,” the dark magician started. “May I please have everyone’s attention.” He tried to make his voice as polite and innocent as possible. “Many of you have been wondering why I generously gave you hospitality in this cave. I’m sure all of you are aware of the attack on Kemadri. If not, let me give you a summary. After living with goblins for my entire life, I decided to live in Kemadri, and when I knocked on its door, it mocked and humiliated me.” He gritted his teeth as he spat out the words. “I thought to myself, ‘no one should be treated this way’, so I attacked the city.”
“Isn’t that overreacting a little?” A man cried out who was making a long bow. Tylovine smiled at him. The man gulped.
“Overreacting? It was obvious they weren’t going to reason with me. It was the only way to get their attention. I mean, someone had to take a stand against them. Anyway, Reen, your great and noble hero, decided to slaughter my brethren in Destrung.” He said this while he pointed at the goblins in the room. “So what did I do? I killed him, of course. You can see the body if you want.” He gently rubbed his bone necklace. “When I was defeated by Kemadri, it was clear that I needed something powerful. You see, I have these gauntlets. These gauntlets can cause an earthquake to happen.” Contagious fear spread around the room. Some women hugged their children, while others gasped and their faces whitened. “Come now, don’t look so frightened. You’re going to make me feel bad! Kemadri deserves what’s coming to it. We will attack again in six months. All the work that you have done will be given to goblins. I’d ask you to join me, but all of you here are weak. Sadly, we aren’t getting enough equipment from you, so we’ll be cutting your break time in half and will be shortening your sleeping time. Have a good rest of your day.” Most of the people in the Centre cried. They cried for their loved ones, and themselves. Very few still had hope in themselves. I was one of the few. I did not cry, nor did I moan, but there was something inside me that knew the Centre was going to be different. The problem with getting attached to the people of the cave was that you never knew when it would be their turn. Most of the people in here didn’t care for me, but I cared for them. I knew that I could change and I could change them.
The bell rang and we had food. The break felt short, but it was long enough for me to talk to Tonito.
“Meet me in my room tonight,” I ordered. “Bring your cloak as well.”
“Why? What do you have planned?” He asked.
“War.” I returned back to my table and the bell rang.

I could tell that the stalwarts were watching us closer than before. It felt like a crow rested on my shoulder, pecking at me if I made a wrong move. A murder of giant green crows clouded the Centre, examining the prisoners’ work. One crow saw that a prisoner wasn’t working fast enough, so it latched its talons onto the shaking man.
“Alfred!” A woman screamed as the mutated crow yanked the man back.
“I’ll come back for you,” Alfred insisted and his body, being dragged away by a crow, vanished through the dark hallway.
“Come on, Peregrin,” I argued with myself. “Let go of the brick and knife and help that man.”
“and then what?” My alter ego defended himself. “You’ll take the cloak and then it will get stolen again.”
“I can’t just stand here and let him die in there.”
“You’ll have to deal with it. You can’t rescue everyone in here. It’s too risky. He could kill you. You will save everyone in here.”
“Not everyone-”
“-and if you try to save him, you’ll save no one.” I stared at the dark hallway and narrowed my eyes. I silently prayed that Bahamut would protect Alfred.

At the end of the day, I could barely stand. I dragged my eye lids everywhere I walked. My eyes have never been redder in my life. My body collapsed on to the sheet. I willingly surrendered to the darkness so it could cover my eyes. I was finally at rest.
“Peregrin,” Hortamus said and grabbed the implement. “You should read the book of Hlal tonight.” I guess when I said I was finally at rest, I spoke to soon. I moaned as I got up.
“Do I have to?” I whined.
“It’s only 7 pages long,” He insisted. “This book will teach you about keeping a positive attitude.” He reached over to me and showed me the implement. He wanted me to grab it. “Speaking about positive attitudes, there’s something clouding your mind.”
“What if I fail?” I asked. “What if I let everyone in here die and never see Kemadri again?” The thoughts of the destruction of Kemadri haunted me ever since I heard Tylovine’s plan. I adored Kemadri and the happy citizen’s that live in it. Of course when I was younger, I only loved their pockets, but getting to know the people in here, it helped me appreciate them more. I couldn’t bare watching the city fall.
“It won’t get destroyed. I trust you can do it. I’ve taught you many things, capable of taking down an army. I’ve seen you care for the weak and the needy. When you save the city, they’ll put a statue of you across from Reen’s.” I paused for a few seconds to reflect. He may not be the best speaker, but he knew what to say. I thanked him and he smiled at me. “Read the book and then we’ll discuss the command prayer tomorrow.” I read the pages and then went to sleep.

“Get up,” I heard from above. I stood and wondered where the voice came from. The outline of a man walked up to me. The outlined started moving around and feet appeared in front of me. Soon after, the legs arrived, and then the torso, followed by everything else. The brown elf placed his invisibility cloak under his armpit.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“You asked me to come here,” He replied, and stared in confusion at my confusion.
“Right, I need to talk to you.”
“I know, that’s why I’m here.”
“-Just listen. We need everyone in the cave to be prepared for battle. We need to go around to the rooms and train them, if some of them aren’t trained already.”
“Are you sure they’ll listen or cooperate?”
“It’s the only chance we have at getting out of here.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“We should go around to each of the rooms and tell them of the news. We’ll take turns every other day. You take odd days, and I’ll take even days. You go towards the left side, and I to the right.” He looked up to the sky, counting the days of the month. He realized that today was an odd day.
“Alright. There are two stalwarts out there now, you’ll have to be very quiet when walking from room to room.” and with that, he grabbed the air under his armpit and vanished.

When I woke up the second time, I felt my body moving. I looked around me and noticed the absence of Hortamus. The room itself seemed to back away from me, like it was rejecting me. I felt something grip my legs so tight, I was sure they were going to snap. I tried to grab the floor that was right in front of my nose, but the gripping force yanked me backwards. The death grip loosened up and the ground seemed to also reject me as I grew further and further away from it. I felt like a bird when I was lifted into the air. It felt nice to be in the air. No one wanted to hurt you up here, and you were stranded from most harm. It was only a matter of time until the ground and I would become one again. When I landed, I lost my breath. I suddenly felt a burst of adrenaline. The forced from the ground felt like a punch from a stalwart. It took some time, but I managed to control the Earth so it wouldn’t spin. I stood up and realized that I was in the Centre. Every eye in the room fixed on me. A figure walked slowly towards me.
“You know, I thought watching you get hurt would be boring after a while, but you know, it actually is funnier!” The figure smiled politely at me.
“What do you want, Tylovine?”
“Weren’t you listening yesterday? I want you to wake up earlier. All of these people woke up on time, why didn’t you? I think this deserves… punishment.” He waved his hand and a dim red light appeared on the palm of it.
“Here it comes,” I thought. The light to my surprise faded away.
“But I got other plans for you.” He pointed to a dwarf who was fretfully hammering a piece of metal. When Tylovine pointed at him, he turned his wrist and pointed his finger towards himself. The scared dwarf sheepishly followed the orders and walked towards the Goblin King. A small goblin dropped one knee at the presence of his master and with both hands, presented a small knife. The Goblin King received the small knife and handed it to the dwarf. Confusion and fear flooded the face of the dwarf. The dark magician then showed the dwarf to me.
“Nnnnno,” The dwarf choked on his words. “I… ccan’t stab him.”
“Please? For me?”
“No!”
“Then you left me with no choice.” The dark magician raised his hand and the dwarf walked towards me. He was slow at first when walking, but he began to accelerate. Tears fell from the dwarf’s eyes. When I tried to walk forward, Tylovine raised his arm and my muscles tightened. The blade went through my thickened skin. The pain was sharp and cold. The adrenaline kicked in again as I lost my breath once more. The blade retreated from my body. I quickly aided the wound with my hand when the dark magician lowered his hands. A great grin was drawn on his face. “It keeps on getting better,” Tylovine chuckled. He walked into the dark hallway, clicking his heals again as he did so. He ordered us to get back to work and then he vanished. Everyone went back to their business, and I went to my table. The wound wasn’t bad, but it needed to be treated immediately. I grabbed a dirty rag, soaked it in water, and then applied pressure to the wound.
“Are you okay?” Hortamus asked. I nodded my head. I waved my hand over the wound and healed it, under the table of course. I only healed it slightly, because I did not have the implement. I looked back towards my room to see if I could go there, but with the stalwart there, the attempt would be useless. I managed to sharpen the knives for the rest of the day.

After Hortamus healed me, he began to talk to me.
“You know how Tylovine stopped you from moving?” He asked. I nodded my head. “I can teach you how to do that.” I remembered to pain I felt from my muscles tightening and twisting. I remembered the lack of air and a silent cry for help. I wouldn’t wish that feeling on my worst enemy.
“I don’t want to learn that,” I insisted.
“Commanding people is different from controlling them. Controlling, what Tylovine does, requires direct muscle tension to occur, whereas commanding, what I will show you, requires a more fluent movement, which means that there would be no muscle tension.”
“Is that the only difference between the two?”
“No. They depend on where the core force comes from. Controlling needs anger, fury and aggression. Commanding needs reason, justice and nobility. If you don’t have a noble heart, you can’t command. Are you ready to learn?” I inhaled as much as possible and then released it all out.
“Yes,” I answered. He grinned.
“Then repeat after me. Okdakensplet.”
“Okdakensplit.”
“Don’t go too hard on the ‘I’ sound when saying ‘splet’. You want to open your jaw up. ‘Splet’ not ‘split’.
“Splet.” I imitated his actions by opening my jaw.
“Good. Now all together.”
“Okdakensplet.”
“Perfect! When you say this, choose a person or object and imagine how you want to move it. The bigger the object or person is, the more energy it will take to move it.”
“What about Tylovine?”
“For your size, it might make you pass out, but if you practice enough, and use the strength spell earlier, you should be fine.”
I started to reflect the plan of action. I would be putting my life at risk. I wondered if it would be worth it if I failed. He pointed me to the sheet on the ground. I imagined the sheet gently floating in the air with waves of cotton drifting by.
“Okdakensplet.” I commanded and my imagination came to life. I felt happy and confident, but at the same time, I felt my lungs shrivel. I released the sheet and inhaled until the shrivels disappeared.
“Good job!” Hortamus smiled. “We need rest, we will try again tomorrow.”
“Alright,” I replied. “But first, I have to go and train some prisoners.”
“I know,” I raised an eyebrow.
“Did you read my mind?”
“I heard you last night. Go right now.” I walked out of the rooms and noticed that Tylovine was right; there were two stalwarts at night. Sneaking by will be much more difficult. I held my breath and instead of walking left, I turned right. There were 5 rooms before you reached the dark hallway. Like last time, I clung to the wall. I placed all my weight on my heels. I walked to the first room on my right. I was able to get by without the stalwarts paying attention. When I walked into the room, I saw 6 humans on the ground with their eyes shut. I knelt over to the strongest man and shook him to wake him up. When he stood up and saw me, he gulped.
“I’m not here to hurt you.” I stated.
“Then what do you want?” The tense man asked.
“On the day Tylovine plans to attack, I plan to attack him and the goblins, along with the rest of the people here. I’d like you to take part by learning how to fight.”
“I know how to fight.” He demanded.
“Good, can you teach the others?”
“Can you make sure that we’ll make it?”
“No, but it is worth the shot. If we don’t take that chance we’ll never make it out.”
“What if we wait and do as he wants, then we’ll make it.”
“-and take the blame for the destruction of Kemadri? Would you destroy hundreds of lives, just so 30 or so can make it out?” The man hesitated.
“I guess not,” He sighed.
“Good, then train these men and women every day until they’re trained. We’ll make it out.” He nodded and I let him go back to sleep. I snuck back to my room and shadowed his actions.

The following day, I got up on time, thanks to Hortamus. As well as everyone else, I have a hard time staying awake. When we got to the Centre, a young boy walked out of a room and examined his surroundings. I had déjà vu when I saw the boy, but I didn’t know why. When the boy saw me, he ran up to me. I felt his soft skin grip my rough and stiff back covered with bruises and scars. The grip wasn’t forced; it was a seek of comfort. The instant he hugged me, I remembered a boy trapped behind wood, crying for help.
“What are you doing here?” I asked. After I asked the question, I realized it was rhetorical. He sniffed back his tears and let go of my back.
“An elf and I…I… were training on some manikins, when…we were…attacked bbby goblins.”
“Where’s the elf?”
“D…dead.” His body shook like an earthquake rumbled below his feet. Tylovine stepped into the room to inspect the conversation. A stalwart walked over and grabbed his body, only using its hands. The boy’s eyes overflowed with tears, and he protected his eyes with his hands.
“Peregrin!” He shouted as his body thumped in the goblins hands every time it took a step. I couldn’t bare to think that he would be dragged away again. An innocent boy who was too scared to hurt anyone might end up taking the consequences for a wrong he had not committed.
“Stop!” I ordered as loud as I could. My neck was in pain after. The goblin and its master simultaneously stopped and arced their heads towards me.
“I just wanted to talk to the young boy,” Tylovine stated.
“Then come talk to me,” The Goblin King stared at me and hesitated. He wasn’t sure if I meant what I said, but I was more than willing to risk my life for his. Tylovine nodded to the stalwart and he dropped the child. I walked up to Tylovine, refusing to let go of my eye sight on the boy. I wasn’t sure why I was so devoted in saving this boy. Perhaps it was because he was innocent, or maybe I saw myself in him. I could relate to his feeling of helplessness, his pain of dealing with death, his sudden change to a new reality. That would be hard on anyone, especially a young boy.
I continued my walk with Tylovine into the dark hallway.