DRAGONS' GAME | JENLISA

Chapter 3

While she was busy fixing her hair and cleaning her dress, I had an opportunity to look at her a little closer. I met some elves earlier, in fact there were a few elven girls in the Academy too, but they looked nothing like Lisa. This girl had some noble, aristocratic, proud vibe about her. Not to mention it was intimidating how much taller she was than me. Her body was just... long. Yes, it was a good word to describe it, as stupid as it sounded. Together with gorgeous hair, flawless skin and irresistibly charming face, it made a really striking combination. Not to mention I always liked those pointy elven ears sticking out of their hair...

"My portal should be nearby-" Lisa said, interrupting my thoughts.

"It's no longer there. I'm sorry, I closed it."

"You did what!?"

"I had to, I was pursued-"

"Great! So now we may be stuck in here!" she yelled, shaking her head. "I swear to all my gods, you humans are-"

"Watch your tone, didn't I just save you?"

"Oh yeah, I wonder how much longer you'll keep reminding me of it."

"Until you show some gratitude."

"I said 'thank you', didn't I?"

"Yeah, in this irritatingly prideful tone of yours!"

"Because you made me beg to release me, Ninivai."

"Ninivai?"

"It means 'pretty-face' in elvish and it also kind of resembles your name. I mean 'human' clearly wasn't good enough for you..."

"Can't you just call me Jennie?"

Instead of responding to my question, she stared at me, her eyes lingering on my features. "You really have an intriguing face, I've never seen anything like it."

I wasn't really sure if it was meant to be a compliment or an insult."You elves are really strange." I mumbled out, just to say something.

She whispered something in elvish and conjured up a glowing orb, similar to mine.

"You're a mage too?" I asked in genuine surprise. Magic wasn't really taught outside of the Academies.

"Elven magic is much older than yours, it's just forgotten nowadays."

We started exploring the ruins, looking for a way out. Since silence was becoming awkward, I decided to ask:

"So what were you doing in here and how did you get trapped?"

"Do you really want to know or you're just making conversation, Ninivai?" she asked. Ugh, I can't with her, she's so infuriating.

"Yes, I'd really, really, really love to know." I said mockingly, but to my surprise she ignored the sarcasm in my voice.

"According to our tradition, when an elf turns sixty he or she goes on a quest to prove that he or she is ready to be an adult. Sixty years old for us is like twenty for you humans." she explained and I nodded. I knew elves lived much longer than us, several hundred years.

"And I was on such a quest: my goal was to retrieve an ancient elven artifact from these ruins."

"Do you have it?"

"I had it but I don't anymore."

"What happened?"

"It was taken by the same person who trapped me: Garevha'dan. The Hooded Witch in your language."

I shuddered. I heard the legends about a scary witch living in this forest. Only legends, because no one who had ever met her was able to survive. She was a powerful conjurer and even the most powerful wizards in the Academy spoke about her with respect and even fear. There were some attempts to find and chase her away, but they all failed. And some of these expeditions ended up with no survivors. Yes, if there was someone that you should be truly afraid of, it was the Hooded Witch.

"I can tell by your reaction that you know who I'm talking about. So do you understand now why I'm so anxious to get out of here?" Lisa asked and we both started walking noticeably faster.