Ashes of Eden

Eric wasn't a coward. He whirled around, climbing to his feet in one swift movement and held up his sword in a defensive pose. Carter could deal with the yelping idiot who'd fallen between them.

"It sounds like a wild animal," Eric murmured, edging his feet apart after taking cautious steps closer to the trees. Leafage still shook from the fleeing birds. "Kind of like…" it came charging out of the thick forest and into the clearing. Eric smirked. It was a boar—well, it sounded like one and looked enough like one, too, but there was something seriously messed up. Boars didn't have scaly tails with spikes on their ends—it looked like a giant bee stinger.

Eric swallowed before moving into action. He'd never been in an actual sword fight—aside from boring sparring matches—so, he dodged when the strange boar charged him. Eric wanted to get its attention and he did. The enraged animal did a half circle before veering for him again. Eric trusted his agility, but didn't run this time. No. The same feeling—from when the bubble appeared—pumped his blood raw. It was fire burning in his veins. He swung his sword low, sliding left so he wouldn't catch the unbalanced animal in the chest as it tumbled down, bleeding, without its left front leg. Eric stared for a moment. The steel was coated in red. Thick liquid ran down the sword's tip. It wasn't his first time drawing blood, but that blood came from random fights where punches got thrown and kids' bones broke under his superior swings all too easily. He'd killed game, too, but he'd used a compound bow for that. He'd never cut anything with a sword before. It felt…

"Eric!"

Catching himself, Eric stumbled when the boar howled, trying to charge again. No good. It felt back down, squealing in pain as more blood poured. The thing wasn't dead yet, though. It swung its bronze tail wildly. Eric watched in eerie fascination as it grew, stretching to reach him. The stinger was aimed directly at his head. He didn't waste a breath, maneuvering the sword to shield himself. The stinger made a loud metallic noise connecting with the longsword. With a fluent move, Eric swung the sword around as hard as he could in his proximity to the stinger. It made a small dent, so, he brought it down again—harder. He felt the hard scales resisting for a second before gritting his teeth, powering through the whole thing.

A clean cut.

Carter and Jane Doe were staring at the cut off tail in wonder. Maybe with a little fear. Who could blame them? Eric stepped back—wait. His eyes swung to the person next to his brother. Right. The person was a girl. She looked about his age with strange hair. Whatever sunlight was left highlighted the girl's strawberry hair, making her hair tips stand out like sore thumbs. Who dyed their hair blue?

"What's that?" Eric pointed his red stained weapon at the dead animal, looking at Carter like he was an encyclopedia.

His brother glared at him, baffled. He threw out his arms, "How should I know?" Eric made a face. Usually his brother had all the answers, that's how Eric's English papers magically got done. "Is it even… dead?"

The pig wasn't moving now. It'd gone completely still once Eric cut of its tail. Maybe it acted like bees. Once they lost their stinger they died.

"Can someone… please explain… what the hell is going on?" the girl ground out. Eric noticed she'd made her hands into fists. Her shoulders weren't shaking, though.

Carter, always the gentleman, took the lead. "I wish we could explain… We were just dragged here—to this place—a minute before you showed up…"

"Nadia," she prompted taking a quick glance at Eric. Their eyes caught. Hers were gray, pale. They reminded Eric of a full moon. "I was just… leaving the subway station when this bright light popped up—it started pulling me in. Then everything else was gone and I ended up… here."

Carter nodded, pensively, "Same thing happened to us. I'm Carter, by the way, and that's Eric. My brother." Eric tilted his head in greeting, getting a reproving once-over from his older brother. Pft, he thought. "He can be a pain to deal with, don't take it personally."

Nadia said nothing, only shrugging like Eric's behavior didn't bother her or impact her at all. Carter smirked a little at that.

"Hey," Eric called. "Did you see people dancing around fires lately?"

"What?"

"A little subtlety wouldn't kill you, hmm?" Carter whispered, dismayed.

"Why bother? You told me you saw it. I did too—today, in the shower." Eric turned to Nadia, taking one step closer, eyes intent. "So, did you, or didn't you?"

Nadia glared openly at Eric. Most girls didn't do that. They either batted their lashes at him or were too intimidate by the freezing coldness of his stare. She wasn't affected. Nadia stepped up to him and Eric felt like she was seizing him up for a fight. Out of an eye corner, he saw a sports' bag slung across her shoulders. This girl was an athlete. Not ballet or anything girly. Her muscles were too defined and sharp, he could see their outline even with little light.

She shook out her hair, "I've gotta be tripping..." she whispered, sighing. "Yes, I saw something like that. Yesterday at school. I thought I fell asleep or something, but…" she trailed off looking angry and wistful at the same time. "Maybe I was hit by a truck on the way home and this is a coma. Maybe you two are a figment of my imagination."

"That's colorful," Carter pipped up, not paying attention. He was looking around their surroundings. He shielded his eyes from the dying sun, squinting. "I was just telling Eric about what they were chanting. The people? It sounded drowned out and it was like they were saying it backwards. They kept saying: Paladins, Ó ye, our saviors… I don't know what it means." He added the last part for Eric's sake.

"It sounds like some sort of invocation."

Carter beamed at Nadia, "Yeah, that's exactly what I thought of. I didn't find anything on it when I googled it, though."

Eric arched a brow, saying nothing. It looked like his brother was enjoying this little debate. As for him, he knelt on the grass, dragging his sword along it, trying to get some blood off. Wouldn't want it to become encrusted or anything. He was almost done when Carter yelled.

"Hey, aren't those yours?"

Eric looked up, icy gaze following his brother's finger. Roughly six feet from where they'd landed, were his combat boots. They weren't the only things scattered around. He could see something quadrangular reflecting light among the grass—it was a CD. Eric crossed the space separating him and his boots, shoving them on and lacing them up. Pencils and pens had also gotten dragged here. But there was nothing useful.

"I wish our dinner got dragged in along with those." Carter sniffed, kicking at a number 2 pencil.

"Oh, yeah. That's what's worrying me. Dinner. Not the fact that we're stranded in the middle of fucking nowhere being attacked by mutated pigs." Eric grumbled.

"Language!" Carter hissed.

Eric ignored him, eyes catching movement to their right. "Hey," he raised his voice. "Where the hell are you going?"

Nadia was making her way to God knows where. It didn't look like she was going to stop walking. Eric was right, she kept going, only sparing a glance over her shoulder.

"I'm going to figure out where I am and how I get out."

"Alone?"

Eric thought Nadia snorted.

"I'm not a damsel in distress. Worry about yourself, Samurai Jack." Eric balanced his longsword's weight effortlessly. Samurai's used katanas, not broadswords.

Cater scratched his chin, "We should go with her."

"Why?"

"Because she's got the right idea. We're not going to figure out what happened by standing around. More of those," he waved at the boar. "Could come. Maybe we're in their territory or something."

Eric wanted to argue saying he'd keep slaying them all. But his brother made a good point. Following the girl with the pink Nike bag wasn't the worst idea. Plus, she was kind of… hot. A little eye candy never hurt anyone, right? Nodding, Eric rested his longsword on a shoulder, falling in step beside Carter. It didn't take long for them to catch up to Nadia. The girl might be quick, but her legs were shorter than theirs.

"Decided to follow, moi?" she asked, sounding smug.

"What kind of adult would I be if I left a teenage girl all alone in an unfamiliar place?" Carter thumped his chest giving Nadia a peek at his most iconic chivalrous grin. What. A. Clown.

"Huh…" Eric read Nadia's thoughts clear as water. How old do you think you are, dude? Eric could answer that. Carter was five years older than Eric, making him twenty-two.

Eric felt the urge to hit his older brother with the blunt side of his sword. He could be such a dumbass.

"Ignore him," he mumbled instead. "He thinks he knows what's best for everyone. Like a mother hen who's been alive for a hundred years."

Nadia tilted her head, "Oh, I thought he was trying to be funny."

"You weren't wrong. His jokes just suck." Eric side glanced his brother who was red in the face. He smiled lazily. "Don't look so sad, Dinah still likes you. Or so you say."

"Never question Dinah's undying love for me."

"Yeah, okay." Eric chortled.

After that they walked in silence. Stumbling up a hill and finally finding a beaten dirt road. They followed it until night came. The scenery wasn't much. It looked like they'd landed in the middle of woods and clearings, with no sign of life. There wasn't a cloud in sight, though, and when Eric glanced up he could see an infinity of stars painting an endless dark canvas. He frowned. Where the hell was the northern star? Eric knew basic constellations, it helped when he was out hunting. Plus, when they were little, Carter used to tell Eric storied about them. Eyes searching for the big dipper, he found a dark cloud instead. It was smoke. It was coming from within the forest.

"Look over there. Someone's got a campfire going." Nadia and Carter stopped short, glancing around before catching the wafting smoke. "It's worth checking out." His stomach agreed. It'd been protesting every ten minutes, a never-ending soundtrack to their long walk to nowhere.

Carter's arms were crossed over his chest, his stance serious and calculating.

"Alright," he said softly. "Maybe there's someone who can help us."

Nadia stepped forward to take the lead but three of Carter's long strides won him first place. Eric heard her scoff. His lips quirked. They headed inside the forest. Eric was doing swell, ducking every low-hanging branch until Nadia let go of one and it smacked him in the forehead. Hearing the smack, Nadia eyed him over a defined shoulder.

"Watch it," he hissed, rubbing the spot above his right eye.

"It's not my fault if your reflexes suck." Eric wanted to protest. Hadn't she seen him kill that animal? Eric figured he better keep his mouth shut for the sake of stealth.

His older brother was kneeling behind a large bush, spying through a slit between said bush and an enormous tree trunk. Eric knelt beside him, getting his face close to Carter's, squinting. A fire was raging. Around it, were chopped logs—serving as seats—but only one was taken. A man was sighing and grumbling something intelligible under his breath, sharpening what looked like a machete. The blade's steel was thick and unlike Eric's sword it wasn't shiny but dull, slightly rusted. Or was it dried blood? Either way, the man kept dragging a stone across its curved body. Eric's eyes took in the rest. Two other men were sleeping in some kind of sleeping bags, their hands stationed close to identical machetes.

"We're so not in Kansas anymore…" Carter breathed.

"Are those things… skins?" Nadia whispered, jerking her chin at the sleeping bags. Yep, Eric thought, they looked a lot like something you'd get after skinning an animal. "Where are we?" she muttered to herself, sounding curious instead of panicked.

Carter remained quiet, eyes studying something very carefully. Eric tried pinpointing what his brother was obsessing over. His eyes had to adjust to the darkness before he saw an outline beyond the sleeping men. A rug was thrown over something—maybe boxes? Whatever it was, the cover was shaking.

"What should we…" Eric's words died. What the shit…?

Carter tried snatching her back, to make her squat behind the bush. No luck. Nadia—the crazy-ass chick—had unzipped her bag, dawned some gloves and walked on, right into their camp.

Eric gritted his teeth, "She's insane." Carter said nothing, blinking after her.

The man's head swung her way. No surprise there. When he lifted his face, Eric saw one of his eyes was gone, the eyelid was sewn shut. Against the campfire's light his face looked eerie, scars marred most of it.

"Heh? Whatcha' pretty thing like you doin' 'round these here parts? These be dangerous parts, miss…" the man trailed off as his eyes roamed Nadia. Her clothes had to look strange to him—her vibrant green camisole, her jeans. The guy was wearing a brown shirt that'd seen better days, with stains and holes in it. And he wore leather pads on both shoulders. Had they walked into a medieval film production? "Say…" the man's eyes pulled away from Nadia's gloved hands to stare at her face. He lifted the machete, nudging at her. "That ain't no color I ever saw on hair. Not on a human, lass, no. Are ya' Fae?"

Fae? What the hell was a Fae? Eric's grip intensified when the man changed his stance, standing, rather menacingly. He wasn't sure how he knew, but that glint Eric caught fluttering in the man's eye made his blood boil. He only noticed Carter was gripping his arm, keeping him from revealing themselves, when his brother gave a strong tug. Eric staggered back, landing on his ass. Carter held up a hand signaling him to wait.

"I don't know what you're talking about, dude. I came here for help. Think you can manage that?" Nadia's voice was laid back. With bite, Eric noted. "Can you can tell me where I am?"

When Eric got back to kneeling, he spotted the one-eyed man closer to Nadia and she was still looking mellow about it all. The chick had a death wish.

"Ya' can't fool me, girl! Yer' with the Fae! Hey, numbskulls we gotta—" Nadia was quick. That was an understatement. She moved like a lethal dancer, evading the machete swinging at her arm by twirling left, then she swung her foot, smashing it without a hint of hesitance into the man's right knee. He shrieked in agony, crumpling to the ground, screaming his freaking head off. Eric almost didn't hear it—because of the guy's yells—but it'd been there. The loud crack. Like a dry twig snapping in two. She'd skillfully broken the man's kneecap.

Shit. Eric didn't let Carter pull him down this time, he jumped through the damn bush, running as quickly as possible. With his sword handle, he hit one of the other guy's—the one-eyed man's yells and screams got the other two up. Duh. Eric hit the man's skull again, making sure he was knocked out. Nadia was already making light of the last one when he got to his feet. She danced around him once—twice—before a well-timed fist connected underneath his chin, making him stumble backward. With a left hook, the guy fell over with blood spilling from his mouth. Nadia wasn't satisfied. She kicked the guy lights out, cracking her neck when it was done. Eric just stood still, watching Nadia's serious face. He swallowed. Okay, so maybe she knew her way around beating assholes to shit. Plus, he'd been right. She wasn't a girly-girl athlete.

"Wow. I think you need anger-management worse than Eric does. Damn," Carter said half-jokingly, half-serious. He walked past the one-eyed guy—who was still writhing in pain—and whistled through his teeth.

"Feeling emasculated?" Nadia asked Carter with a sly smile.

"No. My masculinity is intact, I'm not above relying on women for anything." I gave my brother an exasperated glare. Really? "Glad you left one of them conscious or all of this would've been a waste of time." Carter doubled back to the squealing man, crouching beside him. His older brother put a finger to his lips, "If I were you, I'd be quiet. Weren't you saying something about these woods not being safe? Well, you and your friends aren't looking too hot. What if some animal comes and thinks you look better as its dinner than you do alive?"

Eric headed over to the covered mount. The cloak tossed over it kept shaking. His hand itched to snatch it off, curiosity burning bright.

"The hell are ya'? An Elf?" the man choked out. "Ya' ain't normal, no, lass…"

"Elf?" Eric turned around at Nadia's laugh. "This is hair dye, weirdo. It's normal. An Elf? Now that's insane."

Right. Insane. Eric turned to the shaking pile underneath the mantle. His fingers twitched towards it. Damn it, he couldn't hold off. Eric pulled the fleece off, tossing it beside the guy he'd knocked out. Cages. Little ones. Not as small as the ones you used to keep crickets in, but still. And these were made of iron. There were about a dozen, Eric quickly counted. Some were empty, but others…

"Huh," Eric looked over a shoulder. "Guys, I think whatever brought us here scrambled my brain…"

On cue, Nadia and his older brother stopped their interrogation, swinging eyes on Eric. He stood aside, allowing them full view of what he'd seen and still couldn't believe. Their wings buzzed quietly as they zoomed from one side of the cage to another, murmuring softly. No wonder that guy thought Nadia's hair was weird, besides the obvious reasons, those little guys had hairs all sorts of strange. Red, yellow, green—

"Don't stop there! Open these cages, kid." One of them yelled, speeding for the bars, stopping before brushing up against them.

I blinked. It… was talking.

"Hey, are you listening?" it had red fiery hair and was wearing little human clothes. It had… wings. Red glittering wings. "Come on! Elves owe those who help them, you know."

Elves, Eric thought and the strangest thing happened. Like before, with the light, it didn't freak him out, it made his breath itch. He whirled on his heel, delivering the one-eyed man a glare.

"We're going to need the key to those cages."