Fated to the Dark Elf Episode 5

Chapter 26

Delia

I tuck my shoulder as the cool night air envelops me, the air whistling past as I fall from the window. My shoulder barks as I make contact with the roofed patio below, rolling to absorb most of the fall. Anulu gasps above me, and as I right myself, I see her head poke out of the window.

I lift a finger to my lips, reminding her that we need to be absolutely silent, and motion for her to follow. She hesitates for long enough that I’m not sure she’s going to, and my broken heart cracks a bit more at the thought of having to do this alone.

Then, Anulu clambers out of the window, hanging from the edge of the windowsill before dropping down to the roof below with a hissed “Ouch!”

I slink silently along the heavily shadowed edge of the rooftop, making my way carefully to the trellis and shimmying down to the back lawn. Anulu follows me, limping slightly on her right foot. If I wasn’t so bent on the path before me, I might feel bad for forcing her into this situation, but I need her.

I can’t accomplish what I need to do alone.

With Anulu a few steps behind me, I sprint across the lawn, taking care to avoid any of the better-lit areas until we reach a smattering of trees around the side of the sprawling manor.

“Don’t take this the wrong way,” Anulu pants as I slow to a stop behind a thick tree trunk, “But what the fuck are we doing?”

“We’re going to the Dark Market,” I say cooly, glancing over my shoulder at the manor, looking for any signs that our absence has been noticed. I find none, and turn back to Anulu, her jaw slack in horror as she stares at me.

“I’m sorry, we’re going to the Dark Market?” She repeats incredulously, her voice becoming shrill. I shush her, and she looks around hurriedly before leaning in to whisper to me once more.

“Have you lost your mind, Delia? This is a really bad idea, you were bought there, and now you want to go back?”

“We have to,” I reply simply before breaking into a light jog toward the path that leads back north. I hear Anulu huff her annoyance over my shoulder, but soon enough, I hear the light fall of her footsteps behind me.

“Why? Why do we have to go back… there?” Anulu asks, suppressing a shudder.

“Because I need supplies,” I tell her. Anulu seems to have had enough of my evasive answers, because she picks up speed, practically throwing herself in front of me and forcing me to stop.

“Delia, please, just give me a straight answer. I’m here for you, I want to help, but only if you tell me what’s going through your head. I’m worried about you.”

I sigh, my anger waning as I look into the face of my friend. I know she means well, and if she doesn’t want to be involved anymore, I’d never force her, but deep down I know I need her. The idea of being alone in the wake of everything that’s happened is too much to bear.

But she deserves to know what she’s getting herself into.

“I’m going to kill them. All of them.”

Anulu’s eyes go wide, and her mouth opens and closes around silent words. Unable to look her in the eyes, to stand there while she passes judgment on me or my plans, I move around her, settling back into a jog.

My chest tightens as I notice the absence of Anulu’s footsteps behind me, but the pang in my heart quickly turns into fuel for the fire raging inside me.

I don’t care if it’s wrong. I don’t care if Anulu is better than me, kinder than me, smarter than me.

I’m going to kill them. Thorne and Syress both, and then when I’m done with them, I’ll hunt down my father. And then I’ll kill him too.

They deserve it.

I’m so lost in my fit of rage that I hardly notice Anulu beside me, matching my pace. When I look over at her, her face is set in grim determination.

“You don’t have to do this,” I tell her as we jog beside one another.

“No, you don’t have to do this,” she says, giving me a hard look. “But I’m not going to make you do it by yourself. I hate this, Delia, I really do. This isn’t who you are.”

“It’s not who I am,” I admit, facing forward again. “But it’s who they made me.”

Silence falls between us as we make our way to the Market, and by the time we arrive, we’re both slick with sweat. Somehow the Market seems even busier in the dead of night, lights and the distant sounds of chattering and yelling bleeding into the night air. We circle around the outskirts, staying out of sight, until I spot a nearby stall with thick, dark cloaks hanging right outside.

I bide my time, waiting until the owner of the stall disappears from view, before darting forward and snatching two cloaks. Even the dark elves appreciate anonymity in a place like this- and that suits me just fine.

Anulu and I don the cloaks before moving closer to the market, the heavy hoods obscuring our faces. We push through the crowd, Anulu clinging onto my hand as if it were a lifeline.

“Delia,” She whispers, fear permeating her voice.

“It’s okay,” I reassure her as we pass a body stall, humans naked and lined up in front of it for purchase. “We have to do this. I have to do this. We’ll leave soon, I promise.”

“We could just leave now,” Anulu offers, but I can hear in her voice that she knows how futile that point is. I shake my head in lieu of a response, delving further into the Market and doing my best to avoid any of the flesh vendors that might recognize me.

“I need your help,” I whisper to Anulu as I pull her into a shadowy alley between stalls. “I can’t buy anything here, or else they’ll notice that I’m human. I need you to purchase things for me.” Anulu gulps audibly.

“There’s still time to stop and think about this,” She says as she accepts the coin purse from me. “We don’t need to rush into anything.”

“Yes, we do,” I dismiss her. “I’m going to motion beneath the cloak at the items I need, I just need you to do the talking.”

Anulu sighs but nods, making to duck back out of the alley and into the populated path, when I grab her hand.

“Anulu?” she stops, turning to me. Her face is obscured by the hood, but I swear I can feel the hope coming off of her in waves.

“Thank you, really. For everything,” I say. Her shoulders sag slightly, but she squeezes my hand in response before we duck back out into the Market.

By the time we’re headed home, my pockets are heavy with supplies. Various poisons clink softly in my pocket, two daggers are secured at either ankle, hidden armor hugs my chest softly beneath my tunic, and an enchanted, protective ring glints on my finger.

The sky is beginning to lighten softly overhead, the inky black of the night fading at the edges to a soft, deep gray. The manor stands tall against the lightening sky, a shadowy fortress that grows ever-larger on the horizon.

“Delia?” Anulu asks as we walk toward the manor, her voice gentle. I stop, turning toward her. We’ve spent most of the walk in silence, and I expect her to try and talk me out of my plans for the umpteenth time, but Anulu surprises me.

“What’s your plan?” She asks. There’s no judgment in her voice, no hint of reproach or disgust. Her question is a genuine one, although it’s laced with worry.

“I don’t know,” I admit with a sigh. “I just know I have to do this. I’m tired of being a victim, of letting people use and hurt me. I can’t let them get away with it anymore, or else a victim is all I’ll ever be.”

Anulu’s eyes shine with unshed tears as she pulls me into a tight hug. Even knowing what I have to do, shame bubbles in my stomach. I don’t want to be this person. I was always such a happy child, even when I was lonely.

I want so badly to just be happy again, but I don’t know how to be anymore. Not with all of this hanging over my head, with everything my family and Thorne and his father have done to me.

I won’t be able to even begin to heal until they’re all gone, wiped from this planet.

Anulu releases me, giving me a long look before exhaling slowly.

“I hope you change your mind,” She whispers softly as we look at one another.

“Me too,” I tell her with equal quiet, my voice wavering. I take a deep breath, looking back toward the manor. We need to make it back inside before anyone begins to wake up- they can’t find out where we’ve been.

“Go back to your room and get rid of the cloak,” I tell Anulu quietly. “It goes without saying, but don’t tell a soul where we’ve been. I’ll tell you more as I figure everything out.”

Anulu nods, giving me a final, long look as she reluctantly slinks into the shrinking shadows, heading back toward the far servants' wing as I edge back toward the trellis below my room.

I shimmy up it, trying my best to stay quiet despite the extra weight hanging on to every bit of me. It takes me longer than I’d like to make it back to my open window, but finally, I’m there, sliding through the opening and closing it behind me.

The coming dawn spills into the room light enough to guide me so that I don’t need a candle. I grin, glad I don’t have to risk that. 

I turn toward my bed, readying to begin shedding all of my extra weight, when something makes me pause.

I’m not alone in this room.

I have no time to take a harder look at the dark figure standing in the corner before they fly at me.