Alyssa flushed. "Well...just this morning my father has arranged a marriage for me with the prince of Alltalos – do you know him?"
"Prince Tristan? Of course, I do, he is so cute!" Her fiancé coughed not so subtly. "I don't like him – he's one of those arrogant types of people, if you get me," Alyssa said, envisioning Tristan in her mind. "But at least he'll protect you from any dangers, did you hear when he destroyed the fire breathing hydra? Everyone in Alltalos was swooning over him for the next few months, it was absolutely disgusting."
"I thought that hydra wasn't that dangerous, at least not as dangerous as mermaids," Alyssa said. A memory from five years ago suddenly appeared in her mind.
"Yeah, I totally agree with you! Mermaids are like the worst of the worst, no one has ever actually killed one before, I don't think. They're far too dangerous – particularly for men." Particularly for men. But then how did that boy kill that mermaid all those years back? She shoved the thought out of her mind. That boy was dead now. Another mermaid had pulled him into the water, she had waited in terror for him to come out. But he never did.
"Alyssa? Alyssa?" Azura waved a hand in front of her face.
"Sorry, just zoned out for a few seconds," she apologized.
"Guess what?" Azura suddenly said.
"What?"
"Only last week..." she launched into a whole string of gossip, but Alyssa's mind was somewhere else. Reliving the memories of her past. Then finally her earliest memory. A face looking down at her, smiling softly. Blonde curls, exactly like her own, spilling over the woman's shoulders. But where was she now?
Chapter Five
Kelsie watched her tutor walk briskly down the palace courtyard; he was carrying something that looked like a book in his hand. Kelsie frowned. There was something incredibly wrong with her tutor at the moment, but she couldn't figure what it was. She needed someone as smart as Alyssa to help. She stepped out of the shadow of a pillar and secretly followed her tutor. She kept a safe distance from him, so he wouldn't notice his new stalker. She waited behind a large beech tree as he got a horse out of the stables. Travis and Connor weren't there monitoring the stables for some reason. They were probably slacking off duty and pickpocketing some innocent human villages. They always liked to target the weaker ones.
Once Mr. Wright was a safe distance away, Kelsie quickly saddled a horse and sped after him, keeping to the shadows of the trees. She could tell that he was pushing his horse to its limits, there was definitely something up. She struggled to keep him in sight; maybe he knew that she was following him. Suddenly without warning, he veered off right into a dark forest. Kelsie panicked since he was out of sight. She sped her horse up and turned her horse right, though she wasn't sure if she was in the right place. She saw a moving figure through the trees, but it was gradually getting smaller. Hurrying her horse up, even more, she raced towards the blur through the trees. The light shining through the trees was disorientating and there were bright spots in her eyes.
It was unnaturally quiet. There were no birds singing and the leaves made no rustling as she rushed past them. She felt like she had stepped into dangerous grounds. The blur in the distance had disappeared. Kelsie felt a pang of frustration. There was no way she could follow him now. But part of her told her not to give up. Giving up was not something she did often. Suddenly her horse tripped underneath her, skidding across the muddy path. She didn't even have time to scream before she went flying off her horse and straight into a tree. ‘Damn it’ was all she thought before she lost consciousness.
She woke up tied to a slab of stone a ceiling of soil above her. Her head pounded and throbbed, her right arm felt like it was on fire. "She awakes," a gruff voice announced. That was not a human or an elf. She tilted her head to the side. Giant cloudy red eyes glared at her. She jumped at the sight of the grotesquely hideous creature. It had large hairy ears that stuck out prominently on its head. It had a rather large belly and wore nothing except for a strip of cloth around its lower parts. Black snot was bubbling just below his nostrils. Kelsie wrinkled her nose in disgust. Of all the people to kidnap her, it just had to be a chronically obese goblin that seriously needed a tissue.
She heard the door open. Kelsie tilted her head to the other side and saw a tall elf enter the room. He wore a brown leather apron and carried a nasty looking dagger in his hand. Kelsie didn't know why she was scared. Elves couldn't die, could they? This man wouldn't be able to kill her. "Finally, I actually get a good specimen for once," the elf said, smiling down at Kelsie as if she were some kind of present.
"No thanks to you Luke, I heard that you knocked yourself out before the ambush even started," he told the goblin with disapproval.
"Excuse me, who do you think you are?" Kelsie said angrily.
"Me?"
‘Who else?’ She thought with annoyance.
"I'm Leo, I work on teenage elves day in day out – it's very tiring you know."
"That's disgusting."
"And this -" he gestured to the goblin. "– is my assistant goblin. Of course, he used to be an elf once...but I kind of messed up an experiment...and you know what happened next."
"I didn't agree to this," the goblin muttered grumpily.
"It's not like you've got a choice," Leo snapped back, pointing his dagger at him. The goblin decided to take an interest in his feet. "Sorry about that, my goblins are always temperamental, I have no idea why – I consider myself a very good slave master," he said with enthusiasm. "So, Luke, what's on the agenda today?"
The goblin huffed. "Dissecting the teenage nose – discovering why elves don't catch colds and goblins do."
"Awesome, let's get started," Leo clapped his hand together in excitement. "Frank! Hazel!" Two children under the age of ten burst into the room. They had a strange orange aura clinging to them.
"What's happening?" Kelsie said panicking. "Let me go, you weirdo!"
"But I haven't even started experimenting yet!" Leo complained. "Don't worry; I won't be using your nose for too long. Then we can do some proper experimenting!" He rummaged in his leather apron pocket and pulled out a massive instrument that should not have been able to fit in that pocket. Her eyes widened. "Hazel, my dear – care to knock her out for me?" The girl nodded robotically and took the heavy object.
"No! Don't do it," Kelsie commanded with as much authority as she could muster. "Put it down!" Hazel still slowly approached her with the tranquilizer. Kelsie desperately tried to remember who Hazel and Frank were. She vaguely remembered a group of girls younger than her playing in the grove when she was ten. Hazel...Le – lav – "Hazel Levesque, put it down." The spell broke and she promptly dropped the tranquilizer on Leo's feet. "OW!" he let out a very girlish scream.
"Ahh! Where am I?" Hazel shrieked. "Who are you? What's happening?"
"You horrible girl!" Leo wailed. "You broke the enchantment – and made her break my toes. That well hurts."
"Good," Kelsie said. "Hazel, it's me, Kelsie. Do you remember me? Can you untie me?"
"O-ok," she stammered.
"Oh no you don't," Leo spat. He stumbled towards them with his dagger pointing at Hazel. Suddenly, the ground started shaking, piles of mud started falling from the roof. Hazel started screaming and Leo starting cursing in his own made-up language. Frank stood completely motionless, unaware of his surroundings.
"We're all going to die!" screeched Luke the goblin. Then everything exploded.
Chapter Six
"Lords and ladies, I welcome you to the opening of the 5th and biggest Knight's Millay!" Alyssa's father introduced. The elves in the stands erupted in applause and cheers. Around the arena were all the contestants, Alyssa could see Kelsie's older brother, Hadaway, standing amongst them. Thinking of Kelsie, where was she? She thought that Kelsie would have loved to witness the Millay, her father, Duke Devlin, was watching with them in the royal box.
Alyssa was disappointed that Kelsie wasn't here since this meant she had to sit alone, under her father's
glare – which was not her idea of 'fun' Her father waved the contestants off the arena and then the first match had begun. Powers and magical abilities were allowed, the first to fall unconscious was the loser. This was going to be a long day. Alyssa looked down from the royal box and saw two elves circling each other guardedly. The tallest one lunged suddenly at his opponent, his black ponytail swinging. The shorter elf blocked his sword with unexpected strength and blasted his opponent with a powerful stream of energy which hit the taller one directly in the chest. The spectators cheered when the elf was sent sprawling on the arena floor. He recovered quickly and charged again at his opponent, he blocked another stream of energy with his sword and slashed across the elf's chest. Alyssa quickly looked away at the gruesome sight of blood.
Unlike Kelsie, she couldn't bear the sight of someone else's blood. Seeing her blood was fine – but on someone else...it was just foul. "Are you not enjoying it, Alyssa?" Her father asked.
"No, it's very interesting," she managed without vomiting over his feet.
"I'm glad," though he didn't sound very glad. The horn blew to signal the end of the match. Alyssa looked down again to see the shorter elf being carried away by servants – the winner was bowing and taking in the applause and roar of the crowd.
"How many more is there to watch?" Alyssa asked looking back at her father, who was talking to the King of Alltalos. He stopped talking and peered down at the scroll in his hands.
"49 more... for today," he said smugly. She could positively hear the words that lay underneath: 'It's so fun boring you to death' She held back a groan and set her eyes back on the arena. She only hoped that Kelsie turned up so she could have someone to talk to.
Kelsie opened her eyes cautiously. The ground had stopped shaking and she still was in one piece. There was a massive crater all around her that was full to the brim with precious jewels and gems that had not been there a moment ago. She was still tied to the stone block, but at least she was in the open air. There was clanging of metal and Leo poked his head out of the jewels and started wailing about his house being trashed and generally making a racket. "Hazel?" Kelsie called.
"What – what just happened?" She stammered. The aura of orange had disappeared. Kelsie noticed in shock that Hazel was standing completely unscathed with not one gemstone touching her.
"Can you untie me and then we can figure that out?"
Hazel blinked. "Yeah, sorry..." She started pulling on the knots that came off easier than Kelsie expected. "Why are you so old? I mean...you look older than you were a few weeks ago."
Kelsie wondered how to break the news nicely. She sat upon the stone slab once the knots were all undone. "Hazel, I haven't seen you in five years."
"Wait, what do you mean, I'm sure -"
"That mad creature over there-," she pointed to Leo. "- has been keeping you, prisoner. He trapped you in time and made you his slave for five years." She let that sink it. Hazel took it surprisingly well.
She breather deeply and exhaled. "What about my mother and my father – they must think I'm dead..." her eyes widened even more. "I have to get back!"
"What about your friend? He was here a moment ago," Kelsie remembered.
"I don't know!" Hazel wailed. "What friend?"
"Erm...the guy with short black hair – you know, the person you have a crush on?"
Hazel looked dumbfounded. "You mean Frank? He's here too? Eeek! We need to find him." Well, she didn't deny that she had a crush on him... Hazel immediately started wading through the giant crater of gems, desperately screaming Frank's name. Kelsie saw her tumble over suddenly. "I've found him!" she yelled. She pulled up a figure that did not look like Frank. "Put me down!" hollered the goblin, his feet dangled in the air from Hazel's grip. Hazel screamed and dropped him right into a very spiky looking crystal.
"Oof."
"Try calling his full name," Kelsie suggested helpfully.
"MY PRECIOUS HOUSE, YOU'VE MANSLAUGHTERED MY HOUSE," cried Leo, who was trying to find his broken pieces of furniture and the occasional lamp shade.
"Frank! Frank Zhang!" Hazel called.
A head burst out of the thick sea of precious stones. "Yes, yes! I'm coming, mother! Wait what am I doing here?" his head promptly fell back heavily with a nasty thud. Kelsie winced.
"Frank's alive!" Hazel said happily, rushing over toward him. Together Kelsie and Hazel dragged him out of the pit and laid him carefully on the ground. He started snoring heavily, so they knew he was alright.
"What are we going to do about him?" Hazel asked pointing down at the hyperventilating madman.
"Leave him there? He did kidnap us after all," Kelsie said hardheartedly.
"But -"
"Let's go," Kelsie interrupted. "You take his hands; I'll take his feet." Hazel blushed when she had to hold his hands. Yep. Undeniably in love...at 7 years old. "Poof, he weighs like a ton," Kelsie groaned.
"It means that he is very muscular," Hazel defended, though Kelsie could tell that she was struggling. They stumbled out of the clearing, not even considering taking any gems.
"So, what was your last memory before today?" Kelsie said, changing the subject smoothly.
Hazel stared into the distance. Her brow creased as she tried to think. "Hmm...I think I was with Frank – we were locked in a box? I can't really remember that well, oh there was also someone called Ben!"
"Ben? I don't know any Ben's around here."
Hazel frowned; she looked as though she was trying to remember more. "He told me that he didn't have a proper name...can't think why." She got lost in thought again. Before Kelsie could respond Hazel screamed and dropped Frank's hands. His head clanged painfully on a rock. He murmured something unintelligible. Kelsie spun around and she met a familiar pair of dark crimson eyes.
She jumped, startled. "You!" she said. He looked up at her soberly.
"You shouldn't judge my master too harshly," he told her seriously and quickly wiped a bit of snot from his nose.
Kelsie fought the urge to hand him a tissue. "He turned you into a goblin if you haven't realized that yet. I can't see why you're defending him," Kelsie pointed out. "So, stop wasting my time, we need to get going – Hazel let's go." Hazel heaved Frank's arms up and they slowly started making their way back again. The goblin kept up with them on his short knobby legs.
"He suffered a tragic heartbreak when he was younger – it turned him insane."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because I want my master to recover from his insanity so -"
"- he'll make you an elf again?" Kelsie finished.
"Yeah, but for his own benefit as well," Kelsie was taken aback to find that goblins could feel compassion. Kelsie looked back and saw Leo wandering through the woods alone, crying and muttering random words from his own made-up language. She felt slightly sorry for him. Homeless and insane.
She sighed. "Ok, I'll help," She didn't know where this pity had come from, but seeing Leo looking so lost made her heart pang with remorse. The goblin smiled gleefully.
"Wow, that sounds so unlike you," Hazel grinned warmly. "The cold fearless Kelsie saying 'I'll help'"
"Shut up," she said playfully. She gently put down Frank's legs and weaved her way in through the trees to find Leo.
Luke the goblin hobbled along after her. "My house...dim-witted...never should've...m – mer..."
"Leo?" Kelsie said, trying to sound kind. Leo looked up at her, his eyes were rimmed with red and his pupils looked abnormally large. He fiddled with something inside his apron pocket.
"You? You came back for me?" He sounded so happy.
Kelsie nodded. "Come to Mylvehil with me, I can find you a new place to live there..."
"No... No... Call -"
"Earth to Leo, are you coming or what?" Kelsie said impatiently.
"I will join you," he said, breaking out of his trance. "This new place sounds nice."
"Good," Kelsie ran her mind through the places he could stay. Either he staye
d at an inn for the rest of his life or she would have to use her money to buy him a house. She wasn't sure if she had enough heart to do that.
"Leo – are you strong?"
"Me... Pfft...Yeah I'm strong – I've always been the strongest, not even the King can b -"
"Ok, I get it – can you carry Frank back to Mylvehil for us? So, you can show off that strength." Leo nodded and muttered a few make-believe words. Luke screamed excitedly and went off on a ramble about spinach and cabbage leaves. Apparently, he liked cooking.
Hazel greeted her when they got back to Frank. "You've changed, Kelsie," she said. "The old Kelsie would never have done something like that." Kelsie didn't know what to reply.
The waiting area stank horrifically of sweat, which was not Ben's idea of starting a new life. Especially when he was being forced to listen to the continuous boasting of a muscular guy called Hadaway. Apparently, he had won every single Millay event he had ever competed in. Right now, he was having a heated argument with the Prince of Alltalos. Both of them were standing chest to chest, screaming into each other's faces. How conceited could they get? No one had taken any notice of Ben; he hadn't expected it. Most of the knights here had competed in the Millay before and they knew each other quite well. Ben sighed. This wasn't what he had thought the Millay was going to be like. Since there were so many contestants, he had to wait extra-long to fight. He fiddled with his dagger. He still remembered the girl who had given it to him. He wondered where she was now – she could even be watching from the stands. He sensed a presence approaching him. Hadaway. Just his luck.
"Where did you get that?" he sneered, gesturing to the jewel-encrusted dagger. Ben ignored him and continued fiddling with his dagger. "Answer me."
"How about 'no'?" Instead of questioning him anymore, his eyes gleamed. A devious smirk appeared on his features.
"Only girls use daggers," then he walked away. Ben clenched his jaw, trying to contain his resentment. The next contestants went on; he could hear the roar of the crowd all the way from here. The fight lasted for approximately 5 minutes, ending in a flash of turquoise light that made the crowd go wild.
Dark Oceans (Ocean Series Book 1) Page 3
