"Are you sure everything will be okay if I leave? You don"t have access to most of your powers anymore." Eleanor whispered back."Yes, but they don"t know that. And besides, they"ve all pledged me their fealty. They believe in the changes I want to make. Everything will be fine, precious one." Marg"faz said, patting Eleanor"s head.
She looked down at the tiefling"s oversized clothing, and with a flick of her wrist, the fabric shifted and tightened until it fit more properly.
"There. Now go, child. Our time is short." She said.
Eleanor turned to go, then stopped. She turned back to the gnoll, her eyes damp.
"Thank you, Marg"faz… for-for everything." She said.
"I only did what was right to do. Now go! Thank me after we"ve made it out of this alive." The gnoll said, shooing Eleanor away.
Eleanor turned to leave, drawing the eyes of many of the nearby gnolls. She turned and gave one final look to her rescuer, before spreading her wings and lifting into the sky.
As the ground receded beneath her, Eleanor felt a strange mixture of emotions overtake her. She didn"t want to leave Marg"faz behind, partly out of grat.i.tude, and partly out of a fear that something would happen to her in her absence. But with each flap carrying her towards freedom, the joy in her chest grew. It was becoming real. She would actually make it out of this alive. She would actually make it back to her family in one piece. She would be really and truly free.
And maybe, just maybe, she"d be able to see Jack again.
As twilight dimmed towards night and the stars peeked their heads out, the small campfire lights of the adventurers" camp came into view, little orange-red flickers shimmering in the field in the distance. Most of the camp was unmoving, probably sleeping, but some bodies sat close around a few of the fires, and she could see sentries around each of the camp"s sides keeping an eye out for anything approaching. Eleanor frowned. There were probably fifty or sixty bodies in the camp total. That was less than a third of what she"d seen in the gnoll camp. Even if everyone in the adventurers" camp was an expert fighter like her sister, would they really be able to have bested three to one odds to rescue her?
Looking around, her heart skipped a beat when she saw what looked like Rose sitting next to one of the fires, whetting her sword with a stone. She wanted to scream out to her, but thought better of it. She"d already be drawing enough attention as it is just by showing up. The last thing she needed to do was rouse the entire camp in the middle of the night by shouting. Come to think of it, she"d probably better land and walk in as well. A man-sized flying anything would probably just as likely be shot down by a nervous archer as it was to land safely.
As she got within a thousand feet or so, she gently descended to the dewy field below, alighting softly amidst the chest-high gra.s.s. With a word and a gesture, she banished the wings on her back, and walked slowly towards the lights of the camp.
With each step, she felt her pulse and breathing quicken. Her hands were shaking, and she felt numb, as much from the nervous antic.i.p.ation as from the chill in the air. Almost there, Ellie. You"re almost there. Just take it easy. You have all the time in the world.
Then in the distance, she saw something that froze her in her tracks.
It was Jack.
He was standing near the one of the closest fires, leaning on the handle of his axe, talking to someone else. He was laughing and smiling, his soft face twisted into a warm grin. Seeing him in the thin shirt and short pants he was wearing, she envied his immunity to cold. She"d be shivering to death in clothes like that.
A few more steps, and she"d be close enough to call out to him.
Three more. Two. One.
With her final step, she felt her body collide with something firm. She looked at the spot in front of her, but there was nothing there. She reached her hand out, and met resistance, like an invisible barrier prevented her from moving further. Perplexed, she pulled the components for a dispel out of her pouch, and with a few words and a flourish, attempted to banish the barrier.
Nothing happened.
Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.
Feeling a sudden sense of panic, she tried calling out to Jack, screaming his name, but the words seemed to to m.u.f.fle and fade as soon as they left her mouth. The harder she screamed, the more quickly the sound seemed to die, as if something were forcibly stealing the sound from her lips as soon as she spoke.
Then all at once, a booming voice resounded all around her. A voice she recognized all too well. A voice that made her blood run cold.
"Zurely you did not zhink it would be zhat easy, devil girl." Rawg"faz said, then laughed wickedly. "I zhought you were smarter zhan zhat."
All at once, the vision of the camp in front of her began to dissolve and fade like ash from a fire. She screamed for Jack, but he just turned and smiled as he melted away like smoke. The world distorted, growing darker and darker until nothing but blackness surrounded her. She screamed and screamed, but soon, nothing came out.
"Now, I zhink it"s time ve bring you back to reality, my zweet." The shaman said, his booming voice sickly sweet.
The darkness dissolved around her to reveal a painfully familiar throne room, with Rawg"faz sitting on the throne. He was grinning wickedly, his tongue flicking across his yellow canines.
She looked down to find herself in her old dress, now torn into nothingness, in the chair from before. Her shattered leg throbbed and ached, and she shook uncontrollably as tears rolled down her cheeks. The warm spot building between and beneath her legs told her she"d just involuntarily wet herself.
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"Now, let"s rezume, zhall we?" He said, leaping down from the dais.