Heirs of the Gods

Ch 4: Death Omens

Creatures, that was the only way to describe them.

A childish, terrified part of her mind chanted monsters.  Monsters, terrible, horrible monsters.

Enormous and skeletal, easily ten feet tall, and bloodcurdlingly atrocious. They were white like sun-bleached bones, their extremities long and crooked like gnarly tree branches, ending with clawed fingers. They looked like standing spiders, all long-limbed and horrendous.

Even from her vantage point, they reeked of death and rotting meat, decay. It made her nostrils sting and her stomach roil violently. The sheer gruesome darkness shrouding them made her skin break into gooseflesh and the hairs on her neck stand on point.

Death incarnate.

One of the creatures turned and Ella was glad for the fae magic preventing her from uttering a word, even if she was furious for being forcefully silenced and manhandled just a second ago. She now understood why. She would have screamed her head off when she saw its face.

It was the face of nightmares, a long white face, gaunt with thin, saggy skin that revealed a prominent skull. It had two slits for a nose, enormous, hollow eyes and a grotesque mouth that twisted into a hideous shape, lined with needle-sharp teeth that resembled immense knives. It reminded her of a macabre rendition of a tragedy mask.

As the creatures trekked up the winding path leading to the Manor like single-minded soldiers, she was filled with nausea-inducing fear and desperation. Her family was in there, those creatures were invading and there was nothing she could do.

Reality hit her like a solid ton of bricks. Even if she managed to run up the hill and get her hands on a sword, she wasn't going to delude herself into believing she was enough to take on the lot of them, no matter how good her swordsmanship was. It simply wasn't enough compared to those sharp-fanged death omens with maws bigger than a man's head. There seemed to be many dozens of them, maybe even a hundred. Hell, even the looming faerie behind her seemed terrified.

She watched for what seemed like an eternity, as the last of them filed up the long winding path, begging any entity willing to listen that the guards had managed to save her siblings and mother, that they had escaped or hidden.

After what seemed like a lifetime, the strong hands on her shoulders released their hold, just as Ella heard voices.  "Commander, should we begin our way back?" A voice said, making Ella turn around, although she couldn't quite see anything, hidden by the darkness and thick trees blocking the moonlight.

"Is that a human woman?" Another male voice asked.

Ella knew right away that they were faerie as well, they had the same feeling of otherworldliness.   

"We retreat immediately to relay the events. This is a human woman, yes. We are taking her as a political hostage." This was said by the first fae that Ella had encountered.

Panic began to swell again, she was being taken as a hostage.

Political hostage, as far as she knew, was a glorified prisoner. A dignified prisoner, but prisoner no less. It meant she wouldn't be starved or thrown into the dungeons, but she'd be taken into custody and not allowed to leave. A political hostage was usually used to ensure a deal, like a warrant. These faeries, they were taking her back into their lands, beyond the woodlands, into Faerie.

One peaceful night, was that too much to ask for? It wasn't even funny anymore.

Legs tensed, she was ready to take off running. Maybe she could make it to Cedric's farmhouse nearby, it was only a half-mile away. She could hide in that hole behind his bookcase. She could use the hideous iron sword he had in the shed, next to his other weapons. Maybe she could hold them off until he came and...