COMPLETED! Since she was a little girl, Velvet has been reading stories about great wizards and witches of Rumerra's past, wishing every night to wake up one day and be blessed with the affinity for magic herself. Unfortunately, the odds are stacked...
Going against her gut feeling, she decided to investigate the source of light. When she got closer, it became apparent that the voices were not just a figure of her imagination. They were real. And one of them most certainly belonged to Penelope. Velvet couldn't quite make it out, but she sounded really furious, yelling and throwing insults. There were two other voices present. They sounded like they belong to a pair of grown men.
The unknown light turned out to be a flickering fire as she inched ever closer, until only a few bushes separated her from what seemed to be a poorly set up camp. Quiet as a mouse and holding her breath from the sheer nervousness she felt in that moment, the girl crawled into one of the bushes and peeked out.
Two tents were standing a bit away from the fire on the right. Between them, a rope was hung and on the rope some clothes seemed to be drying. A pot was hanging over the fire and a log placed next to it on the left. On the log sat a strong-looking man wearing a sleeveless shirt, chomping away at whatever it is they were cooking. She noticed her pointy hat lying next to his feet.
The other man was on the right side, crouching next to an immobilized Penelope, who was wiggling around and yelling her lungs out. She was cursing the man, his family, and all his relatives, demanding to be set free. Lucas was not far away from her, staring blankly at the ground and not saying a word. Both their wrists and ankles were neatly tied together with a sturdy-looking rope.
"I suggest ya' shut up right this instant lass, for yer own good!" Velvet heard the man say over Penelope's screams. "Look how nice an' quiet your friend 'ere is. You oughta be more like him if ya' don't wanna piss me off! We're in the middle of the forest, ain't nobody gonna hear ya' anyways!"
"No way!" the bound girl barked back at him. "Let us go right now, you morons! Do you have any idea who I am!? You're gonna be hung in the town square if anything happens to me, do you hear me!?"
The man looked her up and down, from her black tap-shoes with a pink ribbon, over her white knee-high socks and dark-blue skirt, to her pastel-pink blouse. His eyes stopped at her neck, where a gold necklace was shining.
"Oy, come 'ere Spike! Take a look at this!" he shouted to his companion who stopped eating, laid down his bowl, and lazily stood up, making his way around the fire.
"What is it, Roger?" he asked. They both ignored Penelope, who was still going on about how their heads will be chopped off and how they will rot in prison forever.
"This lass isn't yer average girl," Roger said. "Look at that necklace she's wearin'! It looks like it's made of pure gold!"
Spike bent down to get a closer look. "Aye, that looks like gold alright!" he said after a few seconds. "Her parents are some rich folk I reckon! I bet they'd pay us a pretty penny to see their daughter again in one piece. We oughtta demand a ransom!"
"Are you stupid?" his friend slapped the back of his head. "They'd kill us if we ever show ourselves. And even if we get paid, they'd send a whole army right after us as soon as we return her I reckon! It's too risky!"
"Well, what are we going to do with 'er then?"
"Same as with the lad." The man looked over to Lucas. "We sell 'em to a slave trader for a few dozen gold pieces and get on with our lives! Human slaves go well these days!"
"Slaves? Like hell!" Penelope yelled. "You guys are dead when my dad finds out! DEAD!!"
"By the time anyone finds out, ya'll be on yer way to yer new master already lass!" The crouching man laughed at her empty threats. "But we're keepin' this fer ourselves!" he added and reached out for her golden necklace. As soon as his hand came within her reach, the bound girl leaned forward and bit the man's fingers with all her might. He screamed in pain and pulled his hand away, while she spat a mixture of blood and saliva to the side and smiled triumphantly.
"That's what you get! Don't you dare touch me again!"
Looking down at his bleeding fingers, Roger's face turned to pure anger. He raised his right arm as high as it could go and slapped the smug girl with the back of his hand so hard that the sound echoed throughout the forest. Her head hit the ground with a loud thud and she groaned in pain.
"That does it! I told ya' to shut yer mouth a dozen times. And now ya' go and do this?!" The injured man was fuming. "Ya' pissed me off one too many times lass! Now yer going to regret it!"
Saying this, he lifted the girl off the ground and back into a seating position. Her right cheek was bright red and she was wincing in pain. He grabbed the golden necklace and tore it off her neck with such force that the girl almost fell forward.
"Spike, take off 'er clothes! She won't be needing 'em as a slave and they are worth more off 'er than on 'er anyway! We'll sell 'em on the market!"
Despite the pain she was in, Penelope's eyes shot open at hearing this. Through teary eyes, she saw the man stand up and go over to the rope between the tents where some clothes were hung. He took a half-dried sock and returned to her.
"Noo! You can't do this!" she protested. "You can't do this to m-hmhm!"
Before she could finish her sentence, the wet sock was stuffed into her mouth, effectively gagging her.
"That's enough of that!" he said as he grabbed her cheeks with his big hand and forced her to look him eye-to-eye. "I'm done listenin' to yer potty mouth!"
"Why do I have to take 'er clothes off?" Spike complained. "Do it yerself!"
"No, ya'll do it! 'Cause I wanna watch 'er eyes fill with fear and tears," Roger demanded, gazing wickedly into her bright blue eyes. "I wanna see every wee' bit of hope drain from 'em when she realizes that ain't nobody coming to save 'er! And who knows, maybe we'll play with ya a bit before we sell ya!" he added, running the rough fingers of his free hand through her golden hair.
"Geez, take it easy, yer even scarin' me man!" his friend commented.
Penelope was now terrified. Her eyes were already teary from the pain, but now the tears started sliding down her cheeks like someone had just opened a dam on a river. They were wide opened, staring at the man before her, and she breathed fast, shallow breaths.
"Phmhmh! Phmhmh!" she wanted to plead but nothing was coming out except for muffled noises.
"That's the face." The man smiled and let go of her cheeks. He stood up and signaled Spike to get to work while he picked up a glass and sat by the fire to enjoy the show.
"Please stop!" Lucas who was fearfully observing until now finally shouted. "Don't do this to her!"
"What do ya' care lad?" Roger smiled taking a large sip from the glass. "Is she yer girlfriend or somethin'?"
"N-no...she's not." The boy's gaze fell to the ground in shame, yet he quickly looked back up at the man with renewed determination. "But this is terrible to do to anyone! She doesn't deserve this!"
"I'll be the judge of that lad!" the man replied, taking another sip. "Close yer eyes if ya want to. Or don't! I know I wouldn't if I were ye'!" He laughed a hearty laugh.
Velvet who was watching all of this unfold hidden inside a bush was frozen with fear. Her mind was racing. This is terrible! I have to do something quick! But what? If only I had magic, I could...forget about it Velvet, you don't have it! Think of something else. Anything else! What would Thoracc do? He would use his magic of course, you stupid! This is useless! Damn, you're thick as a rock! ...a rock?! A rock!
She quickly crawled out of the bush and was frantically searching the ground. Meanwhile, Spike grabbed the bound girl by the shoulders and pushed her down on her back. She was squirming like crazy, her muffled screams drowning all the other noises of the forest.
"Mhmmmmm! Mhmmhmhmmm!"
"Stay still, lass. This won't take long," the man said calmly as he started to unbutton her blouse.
"Stop! Leave her alone!" Lucas protested through tears.
Velvet's hand hit something hard on the ground and she picked it up. Just as the first button was undone, a loud thump was heard from the other side of the camp. The man's hands stopped in their tracks as he looked at his friend sitting by the fire. "What was that?"
Roger laid down his glass and turned back at the direction of the sound. "Some animal I reckon'!"
"Oy! Are there any more of ya' kids around 'ere?" Spike shook the still squirming Penelope. She stopped moving for a second and opened her eyes, looking at the man towering above her, quickly shaking her head.
"I don't believe ya'!" the man said and stood up, letting go of her blouse, which caused her to hit the ground and groan in pain.
"I'm gonna go check it!" His friend started making his way out of their camp, gripping onto the hilt of a blade which was strapped to his belt.
"Wait!" Spike stopped him and proceeded to crawl into his tent. He reappeared moments later with a large crossbow. "I'm coming with ya'. Could be nothin', but it could also be an ursa or some other wild animal. This forest is crawlin' with 'em."
"Pffft, are you saying I can't take down an ursa myself?" the other one replied, sounding slightly offended. "Aight, c'mon! Let's make this quick," he added as he disappeared into the bushes. The man with the crossbow followed immediately after.
Meanwhile, Velvet sneaked around the camp, making sure she made as little sound as possible. As soon as the two men disappeared, she crawled behind the unsuspecting captives and reached out to pat a whimpering Lucas on his shoulder.
"Pssst, it's me, Velvet," she whispered into his ear as she touched him, to avoid him screaming in shock and possibly alerting their captors. "Be quiet and stay still, I'm going to free the both of you."
The boy turned around halfway and wanted to say something, but restrained himself from doing so and simply nodded instead. Penelope tilted her head to the side and made a muffled sound as she saw her. The cloaked girl reached out to take the sock-gag out of her mouth, but stopped half way. Maybe we should leave that in for now, she thought and shifted her focus to the knot which held Lucas' hands tied behind his back. The gagged girl gave her an "Are you serious!?" kind of look, but she simply ignored her and continued dabbling with the rope. After a couple of excruciatingly long seconds, which felt like minutes to her, she finally managed to untie it and the boy's hands were freed. He didn't waste any time and quickly started to untie his legs as well.
While he was doing that, Velvet rolled Penelope over to her stomach and started to work on untying her hands. Thankfully, the knot was a lot more sloppy, probably from her frantically jerking around so much, and she was freed in no time. Not even a second after her hands were free, she turned around and pulled the sock out of her mouth.
"I can't believe you!" she said begrudgingly. "You think I don't know what being quiet means?"
"Apparently not," Velvet whispered and put her index finger in front of her mouth, signaling her to keep it down. Penelope was already busy untying her legs, while Lucas was standing and staring at the bushes where the two men disappeared into.
"They can come back any second," he whispered in panic. "Let's get out of here!"
"Almost done." The blonde girl kicked off the loose rope and got to her feet. She wanted to start running when she looked around. "Where's Velvet?"
She saw her across the camp, making her way to the log where her pointy hat was resting on the ground. "Are you kidding me?! Leave that thing and let's get out of here!" she hissed through clenched teeth.
Velvet, who had just picked up her hat and placed it on her head smiled and gave her a thumbs-up sign. Just then the bushes behind her started rustling and an angry Roger appeared. Before she could even react he grabbed her right hand.
"Gotcha!" he announced gleefully. "I knew something was fishy 'round 'ere! Oy, Spike, the brats got a helper and they're tryin' to escape!"
Velvet was tugging relentlessly, bracing herself against the ground with all her might trying to free her hand but to no avail. The man's grip was simply too strong. With a pale face, she turned to her, now freed, schoolmates who were standing on the other side of the camp, frozen in fear.
"Run! You have to run for it! Save yourselves!" she called in a desperate voice. Lucas didn't need to hear that twice. He instantly unfroze and bolted. But after only making a few steps he came to a sudden stop as something grabbed his collar from behind.
"Oh no, you won't!" Penelope yelled, holding him back. "Where the hell do you think you're going you coward?! We're not leaving her!"
After shouting that, she picked up Velvet's staff, which was lying on the ground near her, and charged at the man holding her with a feral scream. Lifting the stick high above her head she swung it forward, targeting the man's arm. But to her great dismay, it landed safely in Spike's big hand. With a swift motion he tore it away from her and threw it to the side, then proceeded to grab Penelope and lifted her off the ground, her feet now dangling in the air. She struggled and kicked around, trying to land a hit on him, but it was fruitless.
"Let me go you big buffoon!" the thrashing girl shouted.
Lucas was watching all of this in horror. It's over. They caught us again and won't let us escape this time. We're going to get sold as slaves and will never see our families or friends ever again!
These were the thoughts that plagued his mind as he was standing there, once again frozen in fear, observing the useless struggle of his two companions. Very similar thoughts went through Velvet's head as she was fighting an already lost battle trying to free herself from Roger's strong grip. There has to be something! Anything! What can I do to get us out of this? Is there really no hope left?
She looked around frantically, desperately trying to find something she could use to make the man let her go. But there was nothing. Only one thing came to mind, but it was useless. It wouldn't work anyway. Her heart was pounding like it wanted to jump straight out of her chest and the fear and dread that overcame her were not even close to anything she had ever experienced in her life until now. When she felt the man grab her other arm as well, she knew it was over.
Thank you for reading this part of the story!
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Uh-oh, Velvet is in trouble. What will she do in this situation?
