Realities Vengeance

Chapter 12: Uh Oh Part 2

"Esmeray, Reael, Aditi, this is my grandson Allister", the nice old women told us. He was tall for his age which made him a little taller than me. He had long brown hair and boyish green eyes. I could tell he would be cute when he got older. He smiled at all of us, and kissed Aditi's hand which made her turn red. "What brings you ladies through our town?" he asked, looking at me. "We are just traveling." I said, and he raised an eyebrow. "Ah, yes, traveling, very specific." he said with a fake seriousness. I couldn't help but crack a smile. "Don't be so pushy, Allister", his grandmother said and swatted him playfully. "What is that amazing smell?" he asked. "These lovey girls helped me put together a truly beautiful meal." she said with a proud smile, and he raised an eyebrow at us. "Wow, you guys must be miracle workers." he said with a goofy grin at his grandmother. I was the only one who laughed. We walked into the kitchen and sat down. The nice lady held out her hands. "We must pray before we eat" she said, and we took each other's hand, and she prayed. I was impressed by her devotion. The meal was amazing, and I was impressed with the simple, but delicious recipes we used. I laughed, and had a great time as we ate. "Esmeray, is it? As in dark moon?" Allister asked. I raised an eyebrow, "Yes, how did you know that?" I asked. He grinned at my surprise. "I pay attention", was all he said as an explanation. "You do strike me as an observant person." I said, and he shrugged. "Depends on what I'm observing" he said, and he grinned as I laughed. "You know, I have never met an Elf that acts like you." he said. We were entering dangerous territory. I waved a dismissive hand. "Can't judge a whole kind, on a few." I said, and he sat back. "Very true, but in general Elves are much more....... elegant" he said with a smirk, and I realized that he was teasing me. I opened my mouth in fake insult. "How dare you! In general I thought farm boys were much nicer" I said and I saw that he respected my banter. "Ouch!" he fake winced. "Really hurting my self-confidence." he said, and I shrugged, making him grin. "Well played" he said. I really liked Allister and I had feeling we could be really good friends. It was the first time since I left grandmother's castle that I truly felt at home. I didn't know why, but I felt like I was with family when I was with Allister and his grandmother. It was nice to see that there were still normal, kind people left in the world.... even if it was in a world I was just learning about.

We had finished dinner and were relaxing in the sitting room when we heard yelling and commotion coming from outside. "Did Buford get out again?" Allister turned to his grandmother and she shook her head. "It doesn't sound like a pig got out, it sounds like fighting." she said, and she looked worried. I got up and started towards the door, "That's not a good idea Esmeray." I heard Allister say behind me, but I was too curious not to see what was going on.

When I stepped outside I saw torches and a bunch of people were yelling. "She has black hair! She has big strange eyes! An elf warrior is with her!" I heard those few sentences and I ran back into the old lady's house. "We need to go. Now" I said, and everyone jumped up. "Why" everyone asked with confusion. Reael said it in a, bring it on, way. Aditi said it in a sad way, and Allister said in a curious way. The old lady asked with a worried expression. I looked at Reael and I knew I couldn't tell anyone else the real reason, so I decided to try out the telepathy and see if it would work. There are people here looking for us, and I think that they are Styx. I said to her mentally, and by the look on her face I knew she had gotten the message. I turned to Allister and his grandmother. "You have both been very nice and kind to us, but I realized that we are a day behind in our travels, and we need to get going." I said. I knew neither of them bought that excuse, but they didn't say anything. Reael grabbed her bag and her bow, and was at the door before I was finished talking to Allister and his grandmother. Aditi was following Reael and I wanted to say more to these nice people, but we had to go. Reael opened the door, and I jumped back. A Styx was staring at us and he had a gun. "Well, hello there" he said, and Reael slammed the door in his face. "What is going on?" Allister asked, and I looked at him with panic. "They are after us, we need to escape, or they will kill us" I said to him. I could hear the extreme fear in my own voice. I could remember the acid pain the guy at the academy had put me through, and I shuddered. I did not want to have that happen to any of these people, and I had no idea what to do. "Hello! Earth to Esmeray! Follow me". I snapped back to attention as Allister grabbed my hand and led me to the back of the house as the Styx banged on the door. At the very back of the house there was door leading outside, and he pushed the three of us out of it. "Wait here" he said and went back inside. We hid behind some stacked firewood while we waited for him to come back. He came running out of the house minutes later with his grandmother in hand and a satchel over his shoulder. "Okay, we have horses, follow me" he said and we started running through the corn field. We had to slow when his grandmother got a cramp in her leg. "Go Allister, take them to safety, go" she said shoving his arm. "What!? No!" he said, and she pushed him again. "I will point them in a different direction, I can't keep up! Protect them! Make me proud" she said, and she shoved him again. "No!" he said stubbornly. "If you don't go, you will get us all killed, take them. Be brave Allister" she said, and he kissed her forehead. Finally he took off running and we followed him. We ran though the corn field at full speed. We could barely keep up will Allister, even Reael struggled with keeping up. He stopped suddenly at a barn and threw open the door to reveal three horses. "Get on!" he said in a quiet voice, so no one would hear him if they were close. I had never ridden a horse, so I didn't trust myself having Aditi ride with me, so Reael reluctantly helped her onto her horse. The horses took off running and we started hearing gun shots. We rode the horses into town, and we ran back by Allister's house. The world seemed to slow down when we saw his grandmother on the ground. I felt my stomach do a queasy flip and I felt the blood drain from my whole body. "NO!" I heard Allister scream, and then Styx started running out from the house onto the streets. They started firing their guns at will, and I could feel bullet flying all around me. Suddenly, I felt a white hot pain in my leg and screamed out. I felt my balance slipping because we had no saddles. I flung my hands out to hold onto the horse, but I didn't catch anything. I felt air for a split second before I hit the hard cobblestone, and landed hard on my wrist. I cried out, and I saw people running towards me. I fumbled around and I felt something small and round, and closed my hand around it. I saw the first guy come up to me, "It's her!" he yelled. I flung out my hand and I threw the rock at his head. It did nothing, but bring a scowl to his face. More people were coming, so I painfully stood up and limped into the ally. I knew the man was chasing me, and I turned, surprised to find Allister. He grabbed my hand. "Who are you?" he said in a low voice. Reael and Aditi came around the corner on two separate horses. Allister hopped onto one horse with Aditi, and I got on behind Reael. Our horse turned and ran out of the ally. When we excited there were more gun shots, but the horses were out of view and it was dark. The horses ran into the dark forest, and the nightmare was left behind along with Allister's dead grandmother, and our last stroke of good luck.