To Hell & Back

“Wake up, child, you must wake up,” a quiet voice whispered. I groaned awake as the voice continued, “We must leave, we must leave now.”

I shook myself awake and got up, grumpy but moving. Glancing outside, I noted that it was still raining.

I just want some sleep and something to eat, I thought to myself quietly as I rubbed my eyes.

“What’s happening?” I murmured groggily.

“As should perhaps be expected, Vera was right, where I wrong,” Sarah replied. “They’re coming for your life. They should not be, but they are, which means… It would appear something has changed. I must find out what and why; but first, you must reach safety.”

“Oh,” I said, not sure what else there was to say. “Okay.”

Without a word, she handed me what was left of my clothes, so I started getting dressed. It took me a moment to notice she was already dressed. Darkened leather pants covered her legs, though her feet were bare. A tight, darkened, studded leather top protected her chest, back, and sides, while her arms, stomach, and shoulders were left bare. She had a quiver full of arrows slung on her back to go with her bow. The bow was huge, easily as large as I was tall, but she held it easily in one hand. A pair of bone-hilted daggers were strapped to her calves.

Dettrick Moatz / To Hell & Back / 154

Mobility, I thought. I shook myself back to reality and finished dressing. The elf watched, silently peering out into the rain every now and again. Okay Stas, what’s the damage… Pant leg torn off at the knee, other side has holes, but at least my shirt is… Well, it is ripped to— Wait, where are my panties? My Bra? Seriously? Great, didn’t want those anyway. Going commando…

“Is it cold?” I asked suddenly. “I don’t do well in cold water.”

“Not yet,” she replied. “We must hurry, for the chill will come soon. Night approaches and a storm with it… a storm not like most.”

I nodded, hurrying, but not relishing the thought of being rained on. Warm water is fine, but cold water is the bane of a witch’s existence. It saps our strength and lowers our receptivity to magic, making it nigh impossible to cast. The air was warm, but that would change when I got wet. If the temperature stayed warm, and if I kept my blood pumping, I would be relatively fine. If it got cold, especially if I had to hide, I could go unconscious and die. I tried not to think of that as I finished buttoning what was left of my shirt.

“Can you make it go away?” I asked, now fastening a belt I didn’t remember having before; it was black, had little studs that felt like marble, and it gave off an extremely subtle aura. “The storm, I mean.”

“It is not of my doing,” she replied.

“But… but you can control the weather, can’t you?” I asked, hopeful.

She looked at me and said, “Yes… up until that moment upon which I can no longer do so.”

“Like now?” I asked.

Dettrick Moatz / To Hell & Back / 155

“It would appear so,” she replied with a shrug. “For many centuries I receive obedience… now, it is only anger.”

“Is that supposed to happen?” I asked, panic beginning to rise.

“Supposed to? Yes, one may say that,” she said with a wide smile.

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“It means…” she trailed off, lost in thought for a moment. “They near us. Let’s go.”

Fine, I didn’t want to actually know what is going on for once in my life, I growled inwardly.

“How far?” I asked, stepping into the rain and wincing at the feel of it. “The uh, portal thing, how far is it?”

“Not far,” she said. She pointed and said, “That way: go.”

I shook my hair out and forced myself to relish the water for a moment before I started running. I should have stretched, but there didn’t seem to be time. I increased my pace as my heart rate went up and my muscles responded favorably to the exercise.

“Left a hair,” a voice whispered into my ear. I turned to the side as an arrow slammed into a nearby tree. “Can you move more swiftly?”

I responded by doing just as I was asked, breaking into a full sprint. I felt a grin overtake my face. My body seemed to sing out in joy as I picked up speed. I always forget how much I loved running. Every part of me focused on pushing myself faster and faster.

Dettrick Moatz / To Hell & Back / 156

“Yes, that is it, little one,” the voice whispered, fading out. “Do not stop. Never, ever stop…”

My footsteps pounded on the ground, propelling me faster and faster. I narrowly dodged trees, ignoring my mind’s demand for caution. I didn’t care about caution or safety, I wanted speed. My breathing sped up until I was taking in air as fast as I could get it. My lungs burned, but I didn’t care: I felt too free and happy to care about such things. I wasn’t sure how long I had been running, but it wasn’t long before I crested a hill and saw the gate I had come into Faerie through. My target was just a few hundred yards farther. A part of me was sad that my journey was almost over.

I was running across a hilltop, and about to turn down to head directly towards the gate, when I discovered what it was like to have your foot taken out from under you by a bola. The simple throwing weapon, a few stones held firmly by a rope, came arcing towards me, completely unseen and unheard. All of a sudden, I felt something wrap around one foot mid-stride a split second before my leg was yanked violently sideways. I shrieked in pain as it hyper-extended my leg and caused me to fall hard onto the ground. I had a brief, split-second look at the wet, grassy hillside before my momentum carried me past the edge, and I began tumbling end over end down the hill.

About halfway down, my face found the side of a tree, and the next thing I knew, I was down at the bottom of the hill, staring upwards, dazed and confused. Getting up onto my elbows, I felt something trail down my face and into my eyes, so I wiped at it with my hand. I looked down at my hand to see it was stained red.

“Oh! Am b-bleeding. Hit ma head again,” I mused aloud. I stared at my hand, wondering why it and the trees above me were moving so much. I shook my head, wincing as my vision cleared a little. “Sarah… Sarah m-my face hurts. Sarah…”

I sat there for several minutes, just staring at my hand, before a shrill cry brought my attention away from my hand. I followed the sound to see a figure rushing towards me. I had a few moments to awkwardly untie the bola from my foot and stand up before the figure — a tall, male elf — was upon me. He darted forward at a full sprint and slashed at me with a knife, lightning fast. I swayed, awkwardly jerking my body to the side to avoid him. His first attack missed, but he kept at it. He slashed sideways after me, an intent look on his face. His third cut caught my cheek, but I caught his wrist with my right hand instinctively, stopping his fourth. I pulled him across me, unbalancing him, as I twisted his wrist painfully and rammed my knee into him, catching him in the leg.

He stumbled and fell to the ground, turned to attack again, but by that time I was bringing the bola up and around. Everything slowed down to a crawl for a moment. His eyes widened as the weapon came around in my hand and smashed into the side of his head. His head snapped around, and he dropped back to the ground, dead or unconscious. I had a moment of triumph before the weapon in my hand suddenly went white-hot, burning me badly. I dropped it, shrieking in pain. It fell to the ground, landing solidly on my foot. I cried out, fell to the ground, and clutched my foot.

“Never… ever… coming back… to this place… again,” I whispered through clenched teeth.

Cut cheek, probably broken foot, burned hand, I thought, taking stock of myself. Oh, yeah, my face is still bleeding… Stupid tree, or rock, or whatever I hit…

A few moments of deep, pained breathing later, an arrow slammed into a tree next to me, making me jerk myself up. I limped my way to a nearby tree, panting and crying in pain as I moved. Another arrow hit nearby, making me move faster. Using the first tree I got to as cover, I made my way to the next nearest, and then to the next, keeping trees between me and the direction arrows were coming from.

Can’t feel my foot, seeing double, and someone is shooting arrows at… Oh, oh so dizzy, I thought to myself, trying to focus my eyes. Okay, now what, Stas?

I looked around to see someone dart down the hill towards the elf I had just fought. I watched and listened for a moment, remembering my father’s lessons. Observe and analyze: always look and think at every opportunity, he would say. I noticed multiple people from different directions were screaming and shouting. Each voice was different, but they all had one thing in common: they sounded terrified. Shaking my head, I went for the next tree, tired of this place.

“Want go home,” I whispered. “Just want… just want to go home…”

I hid behind the final tree on the way to the gate, trying my best to remain quiet and calm, even if the ground was moving beneath me, and looked up at the gate. It was sitting there, so close but so far. Glancing back, I saw an elf standing next to the downed elf I had fought. He was looking up at me, confused. We both heard a strange, wooden, groaning noise and looked towards the source. A huge tree branch swept down and swatted the two elves up into the air. Before the elves hit the ground, a torrent of wind swept them up, sending them several hundred yards in the air, and then slammed them back down onto the ground. Neither elf moved again.

Suddenly the screaming I was hearing from afar sounded justified: the trees were moving, and they were angry. It wasn’t just the trees, it was wind and water as well. I saw funnel clouds forming and rain thundering down. The rain had already left several inches of water. The area was beginning to be flooded.

This isn’t where you ought to be: best you be gone from this place, child, whispered through my head.

I was debating whether I should make a run for the gate or not when something solid met the back of my head. My world went sideways, before stopping altogether. It took me a second to realize I was now lying on my side. Something grabbed my shoulders and wrenched me onto my back, making me look up to see one of the ugliest faces I had ever seen. The creature towering over me had short tusks, piggish skin, and tiny, squinting eyes. It was also very, very big — both tall and wide. It held a familiar spear in its hand.

“You ’gain?” I murmured. “D-didn’t you died?”

“Staysa!” a familiar voice screamed in despair from nearby before the beast could say anything.

The demon turned and looked towards the voice, just as an arrow slammed into its chest. The demon grabbed the arrow and plucked it out, bellowing out a laugh as it tossed the arrow aside. Another arrow slammed into its eye. The demon stopped for a moment, before falling over backwards, never to rise again.

So even pig-demon-things don’t realize how easy they are to kill, I noted tiredly. I’m… I’m just not move for a few minutes and—

“Staysa!” the same voice from before yelled, interrupting my thoughts. The voice sounded really familiar.

“S-Sarah?” I mumbled, slowly sitting up and opening my eyes. I felt rain begin to pour down over me. I smiled as the drops pelted me; it felt nice. “It is raining again.”

“Yes, it certainly is,” Sarah replied, rushing over to me. She pulled me upright and said, “Quickly now, we haven’t much time.”

“The trees are so angry,” I informed her, swaying on my feet. I could feel the trees’ anger, and I really wanted to let her know about it. “So… so very angry, Sarah…”

“Yes, you would be too, were you— Hmm, bad phrasing of mine, perhaps,” she replied. I wanted to ask why, but I was busy wiping away the blood that ran down my face and into my mouth when I tried. “You must go back through your portal, little one.”

“Okay,” I replied. “B-but your friends try… try kill me?”

“Their interest now focus upon surviving Faerie’s resurrection. I pray it shall ripple and shatter the paradigm, but I am not so sure. Either way, they’ll not bother you: if you leave now,” she replied, gently helping me walk. “That’s it… Up we go, little one, almost there.”

I frowned, trying to concentrate on what she said. The more I tried to make sense of it, the more I was convinced I hadn’t heard her right.

“Why everyone tryin’… tryin’ kill me?” I whined, grabbing Sarah’s arm and forcing her to look at me. “N-n… I not so bad, is I?”

“No, you are fine,” she assured me. “But—“

“Then why everyone tryin’ kill me?” I moaned, suddenly feeling distraught. “Trees angry and elves try to kill me and… and— Why everyone? Why…”

“Were I knew a good answer, I would give it,” Sarah said. I threw my arm around her waist and pressed myself against her, suddenly crying. “Ah, child… were I could, I would, but… I cannot. Good luck, and see me again when you may.”

She took my arms from around her waist and pushed me into the gate. I felt tendrils wrap around me, then pull me into it. I closed my eyes, ready to be done with this trip.