Chapter 13: Grief and Pain

                                    

                                          
Elk began to open his eyes, his vision blurry and a ringing goes off in his ear. A blue blob comes into his view, waving their hand or hoof, and eventually his vision clears and Horse was standing above him, "He's alive. Help me get him up." He moans in pain as Wammawink and Rider help Horse get Elk to sit up and he regains his breath, before remembering what happened, "Adalie!" He tries to get up quickly but felt a sharp pain in his shoulder and collapses back to the ground, panting, "No...no..." He gets back up, and his eyes began to tear up and Emilia goes to his level and hugs him, "Shhh...it's okay..." He shakes his head, "N-No it's not okay. They took her away, who knows what they'll do to her!" 
                          
Emilia touches his cheek and Horse walks over to them, "We're not going to let them get away with this. We're going to get her back." Emilia looks at her, "But how? And when? My daughter just sacrificed herself to save us..." "Yes, but that doesn't mean they won't come back. They could use her for what they need and comeback here, and leave her to die." The old centaur shaman steps forward and looks at Horse, "You and your friends were able to raise an army and fight against the Nowhere King, and since then we all felt no need to fight...until now. We must prepare to battle Keres and end her reign." Elk looks up at the shaman centaur, "But what about Adalie? How are we going to save her? We don't even know where they took her."
                          
The shaman helps Elk stand back up carefully, "Which is why we have eyes in the sky and ears below." The birdtaurs and groundtaurs look over and nod and the shaman centaur continues, "They can help look for where they are going and find out their plan. So we can prepare ahead." She nods at Horse and Horse steps forward, "Alright everyone. We've all been through this, but this enemy could be more powerful, especially with the key now. Let's clean up and training starts tomorrow bright and early, and the birdtaurs and groundtaurs will scout out for where they are heading with Adalie. We have a war to win!" All the centaurs cheer and quickly clean up the place to prepare for tomorrow and Elk wanders to Adalie's cottage and sighs, "This is all my fault....I should've done something more...they might torture her, or kill her...I should've done more to save her....Now she's going to die because of me..." He lays on the bed, tears falling down his cheeks and he cries softly.
                          
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Meanwhile, a few miles away from the village, Keres, Hadeon and Adron were walking back to the castle, Adalie behind them, her wrists bonded together and a rope attached to them, along with one around her neck so she couldn't run away or do anything. She looks at the ground as they took her and her eyes water as her mind wanders, "I hope everyone is safe now...I could be wrong...I could've put them in more danger...And Elk....did....did the liontaur kill him?...." Her thoughts were interrupted when Hadeon pulls onto the rope around her neck,  "Hurry up!" She picks up her pace a bit as they continued forwards and Adalie looks at Keres, "Why are you doing this?....What did we do to deserve this?..."
                          
They all stop and Keres looks at her, "I like it when my hostages are quiet. So I suggest you shut up or else." Adalie takes a step forward, "Please, they don't deserve this. There's no need for another war. I'm sure we can work something out and help you, and maybe you might see that this world isn't so bad and-" "I SAID SHUT UP!" Adalie felt a hard blow to her face and she pants, feeling something run down her nose until she sees a couple drops of blood hit the dirt. She looks back at the griffontaur whose eyes flashed with anger, her fist covered in Adalie's blood, "One more word of nonsense and your tongue will be gone!" She forces the centaur to look at her face and gets close, "You, my little angel, are what we need to bring back the army of the Nowhere King and may be able to bring back as well." Adalie stutters a bit, "B-But that's impossible because-" She felt the cold blade of Keres's knife against her throat and she shuts up quickly.
                          
Keres stares her down, "And with the key's magic, we can make them stronger, and make a larger army as well." She roughly pushes Adalie's face away and pulls on the rope, "Don't worry, we'll make sure you're comfortable, as well as making sure you can't escape until it's all done. But probably by the time the war is over....you might be too weak to even stand up, let alone even move at all." Adalie shakes in fear and they continue forward, pulling her along, and soon they arrive at the castle and Hadeon pushes her into a cell, "Get in there." She lays on the ground and he looks at her, "We start tomorrow. It'll be quick and painless...well, painless for us." He laughs walking away and Adalie cowers in the corner of the cell, and she covers her face, crying softly.
                          
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