Chapter Seventeen - Kiss Me

                                    

                                          
After their success at The Western Coast, they started traveling on to the City Of Daleon. With their help, they were now halfway from reaching their goals. Dashel had suggested that Emaia should be the one who brought the message to the people in the new city. Clearly, she had a talent for speaking to a crowd and getting through to the people, and it wasn't lost on any of them. Even Hanke had agreed she should take charge of the public speaking. 
                          
"But don't make it too corny," He had growled and taken a large bite of his cooked rabbit. "We don't want them to start crying."
                          
The group had become so large now that they had to ask the people of The Western Coast to stay behind in the town and wait until they heard from them again. With their support, their numbers had now reached the triple digits. If a group of hundreds started marching into the towns, there would be too much attention. 
                          
Of course they knew that there was only so much they could do now that they had decided to spread the word loudly instead of targeting the individual man. The King already knew about them, so what was the point of whispering? They just had to make sure to stay one step ahead of him, even if that did mean they had to leave the towns on the following day. They knew the final battle was getting closer each day. The men could feel it and so could Emaia. 
                          
The road to the City of Daleon took a few days. There was nothing but forests between The Western Coast and Daleon, so that gave Emaia plenty of time to rehearse her fighting technique in the woods with Aide. 
                          
"Take a breather," Aide told her when she was on the ground, gasping for her breath. "Just say if I'm going to hard on you."
                          
She quickly shook her head and crawled to her feet. "You're not, I'm fine... but maybe just a little break, though."
                          
"Break it is," Aide smiled and sat down. Emaia joined him on the ground while she pulled the cork out of her canteen and drank eagerly. She was practically parched.
                          
Through the trees in the vast distance, by the outline of the forest they were staying in, Emaia could see a big, giant wall. It was the wall she remembered being scared of when she was a kid. It stood so tall it almost looked like a mountain, and the dark clouds that always seemed to hang over it made it look like something out of a nightmare.
                          
Restriction Town. 
                          
It was the place that all The Southern Elves had been locked up in. It was rumored there were over 400 elves in there. Elves who had procreated, but were being kept under strict observation. They called it a 'town' because there were small houses in there, but that was about it. Their food was brought to them from the outside, so was their clothes and other necessities. The guards in there were the toughest around; If an elf even as much as sneezed without their permission, they could get killed. 
                          
Emaia could only imagine the horror that went on in there. Elven kids grew up inside those walls, watched their parents get beaten and killed by the guards. If she thought that the outside world was living in fear, it was nothing compared to what was going on inside that place. 
                          
She glanced towards Aide and saw that he was looking at the wall, too. She could practically read his mind; The little crease between his brows, the way he pressed his lips together; He hated it. It caused him pain to know what was happening in there and what had been happening for so many years. They were his cousins after all – they were his family. 
                          
"Does it bother you?" She asked, even though she knew it did. She just wanted to break the silence. 
                          
"Of course it does," Aide said and offered her a sad smile. "But my kind is strong, and I calm myself by knowing it will all be over for them soon. They'll be free again."