Eli Fellaway

Eli awoke groggily, the faint light of late morning streamed through the blinds. He turned over and flopped his arm across the bed, expecting to hit the soft body of the woman he spent the night with. Instead his arm hit the soft cushioning of the bed. 

Eli shot up in bed, now startled awake by the absence of his nightly companion. The room was empty, and although more messy from their romp, the same as he remembered. A sadness trickled through him, but he wasn’t not quite sure why. It wasn’t like they were a couple or anything. Besides, his heart belonged to Kate! 

He cleaned himself up, scraping away the grime left from the night before. Throwing on a black robe over his light weight platemail to conceal it from view, and strapping his sword to his back, he made his way out of the room.

It was much quieter than the night before when he had arrived with Maxine to rent a room for the night. Just a lone person wrapped in a white cloak, red lining contrasting against it.

Eli was in the middle of fiddle with his sleeve cuff as he descended the stairs, taking a moment before it clicked.

“Shit…” Slipped out of his mouth involuntarily.

The figure turned, and the hood shifted back revealing a familiar face.

“Ah good you're up. Come eat with me, you’re going to need your strength today little Eli.” Maxine said with a knowing smile. 

She cocked her head at Eli’s stunned expression, “What’s wrong? Never seen a woman Holder before?” She tugged on a chain around her neck, showing off three rings with glittering gems hanging off it. Something in her eye told him that she knew it wasn’t the rings but rather her uniform responsible for his reaction.

“Uh yea. I don’t remember seeing those yesterday,” Eli managed to get out. She hadn’t been wearing the robes yesterday, although he had met her while she was training. He vaguely remembered that she had a gold chain tucked away into her small shirt, but hadn’t paid much attention to it. 'Idiot!' he degraded himself, overlooking such an important fact.

“I don’t like to flaunt them. Tends to draw in unwanted eyes, and better that they underestimate me before I kick their ass,” Maxine continued, still playing with him.

He forced himself to take a seat next to her, waving over the waitress to order whatever kind of porridge Maxine had chosen for breakfast.

“Eat quickly. I was just about to go back up to get you, but you came down before I had the chance to. We’re going on a little field trip.”

——-

This was crazy. Even if it was to save Kate’s mom, entering the den of snakes was unequivocally a bad idea. 

Maxine had led him through the maze of streets until they had reached the Royal Chambers. They had made it through the gateway surprisingly easy, the guards certainly had respect, or maybe fear, for the white and red cloak Maxine possessed.

Standing, waiting,  in an open circular building, a congregation of five guards emerged from the western wing of the building. Maxine still hadn’t told him what exactly he was doing here, but he had followed nonetheless in hopes of finding Layla.

A guard stepped ahead of the rest, a long blue feather emerging from the crown of his helmet indicating he was the captain of their group.

“Master Gythaden will see you now,” he said, giving a small bow before turning on his heel and walking back into the west wing of the building. 

Eli and Maxine were quick to follow the man, who was now leading them past what seemed to be offices for varying officials, the rest of the guards trailing them close behind.

Reaching the end of the long hallway, the Captain gave a quick knock on a sturdy wooden door, which was followed by a faint “Enter” from inside. The Captain opened the door, allowing Eli and Maxine to step past him, and he shut the door behind them, assuming his post outside.

Entering the room, it consisted of a large desk made of a light brown wood facing the door. A singular chair was positioned between the door and the desk, made for a visitor to sit while they met. A large window was built into the back wall, allowing light to shine through and illuminating the man sitting at the desk.

He was older, perhaps in his later 50s, with dark black hair and a matching beard. He wore identical robes to Maxine, and Eli felt a sense of authority radiating off him. 

“What do you want this time Maxine?” The Gythaden asked, annoyed by their presence. “Make it quick, al’Mira has a meeting I must attend to.”

“This is my new friend, Eli Fellaway,” Maxine said, gesturing to Eli who was now standing behind her as she claimed the only chair for herself. “I would like access to the mist. I think he has the proper temperament for it.”

Gythaden eyed him, trying to see what Maxine had that intrigued her so. It took a long moment before he finally spoke.

“It hasn’t worked on a man, what makes him so special that you think it would work on him?” 

“We have… a special bond,” Maxine said, trying to phrase her words carefully. “Besides, what's one more trial run going to hurt?”

Eli shifted uncomfortably. He couldn’t quite decipher what the two were referring to, but it certainly didn’t sound good for him. It appeared to be he was made to be a test subject, something he most certainly did not sign up for. Analyzing the room once more, his only route out of here was right through the two Holders and out the window, or clashing swords with the guards barring the door.

After considering it for another beat, Gythaden spoke. “Very well, try it on your pretty boy. I must leave tomorrow anyway to transport a subject to show the King. He has become quite interested in our research here in Nollemburg.”

Gythaden seemed to catch Maxine off guard with this information. Her eyes widened slightly before she regained her composure, and Eli got the sense that there was tension between the two. 

Gythaden checked the time keeper set on his desk, before continuing on. “I must go. Take him down to the dungeon and prepare him for the mist. It may take me a while to set up the device, so perhaps tonight after I have finished with my business.”

They spoke like he was not even in the room, like he was nothing but a puppet they could control, doing whatever they pleased.

Eli stepped backwards, and drew his sword releasing a mighty sound as it left its scabbard. 

“What are you doing my sweet?” Maxine said, turning to face him with a sadistic smile on her face, “Put your sword down, I’m sure you’ll like the present I have in store for you. Trust me.”

“Trust you?! Why would I trust you? I’m not some lab rat you can play with,” Eli said, outraged. 

Gythaden only sighed, before calling out “GUARDS!”

The door swung open, and the guards poured in, swords drawn. The captain led them at the front, blue feather swishing in the air as he charged forward. Eli turned to face the charge of men, bringing his sword to cover his body in a defensive position. 

The captain reached him first, bringing his sword down in an overhead slash. Eli pushed forward, deftly deflecting his attack to the side and tripping him as he moved past the man. 

The captain fell to the ground, but more guards were instantly on him, not allowing him to take advantage of his maneuver. One from each side swung at him, each intending to pierce him in different places. He ducked, avoiding one of the men’s attack, and deflected the other with the brace around his forearm his platemail offered as protection.

Quickly counterattacking, Eli cut down one of the men, his heavy sword slashing through armor and chopping halfway through his torso only to meet resistance and get stuck. Ripping his sword free, blood sprayed out, covering his robes in a red splattering. 

The man he dodged had regained his posture after his miss, and the last two leaped forward to attack. There were simply too many to dodge or deflect all of them, and he was forced to allow one of the men to slash at him without contest as he danced out of the way of two others. A spark of pain exploded from his thigh where the guard’s sword hit him, and he stumbled back, placing his back against the wall to avoid being surrounded. 

In his retreat backwards, he slashed at the Captain still on the ground who was now attempting to stand back up. He severed the man’s head from his shoulders, fitting his sword in the gap between his helm and breastplate. 

Breathing heavily from the first encounter, Eli was now bloody and hurt facing down three more opponents. The two Holders had not moved from their seats, watching on interested as Eli battled for his life. 

“Hold on,” Maxine spoke as she made eye contact with Eli. The three remaining guards paused in their stances, still ready to pounce on the trapped man against the wall.

Maxine finally stood from her chair, drawing her long, thin saber from her scabbard. “Very impressive. Managing to fight off five people at once? That shows real talent. Perhaps if you manage to defeat me, Gythaden here will show some mercy.”

“Cunt,” was all Eli responded, spitting on the ground to show how much respect he had for his new opponent.

Anger flashed in Maxine’s eyes at Eli’s display of anger, speaking once more. “Unfortunately for you, such an ‘if’ is not possible,”

As the last words left her lips, Maxine rushed forward, moving as a blur towards Eli. The guards stumbled backwards, desperately trying to get out the way of her fury. She closed in on him, adjusting her saber intending to stab right through him.

Eli read her movements, and leaped forward. He trusted his platemail to stop her thin sword, enough to at least to prevent a fatal blow. He brought his two-handed sword down to cut through the soft part of her neck. 

Maxine slipped right past his swing, moving faster than Eli could swing downward, and struck. Making contact with the back of his head, Eli fell forward, his world going black.