slave1

"I'm cold." I peered into his emerald eyes, but he refused to acknowledge me. He poked the dying embers absent-mindedly, shifting one elbow onto his knee to support the weight of his head.
"Good for you," he mumbled, and added a few words in Dark Elvish. He turned to me briefly as he spoke, the firelight illuminating his deep, thoughtful eyes as the wind gently plucked at the stray strands sticking out of his short ponytail.
I changed tactics. "Where am I to sleep?" I asked as politely as I could. A small gust of air blew through the open sleeves of my nightgown and caused my skin to prickle and tremble. I hugged my knees to my chest, trying not to look at the bruises on my wrists and ankles.
The tall, muscular dark elf, his indigo skin bronzed by the light of the flickering flames, just looked at me and grunted.
I was getting angry and frustrated, but I refused to let myself show any weakness in front of my captor. Hot tears welled up in my eyes as I bit my tongue hard, trying to stop the crying. When I spoke, my voice quivered slightly.
"Why are you kidnapping me?" I demanded, attempting to sound confident.
He looked up at me, completely uncaring. "Will knowing make you feel any better?" he countered with a crooked grin on his face.
"Of course it will!" I said indignantly, pouting in my captor's direction.
"What if I say that I'm gonna kill you?" he said, pulling out his dagger from the sheath he carried at his side and making deliberate gouges in the log he was sitting on.
"If you were going to kill me you'd have done so by now. I'm not stupid."
He chuckled, shaking his head and resheathing his dagger. "No, but you sure are annoying, even for a lightie."
I began to anger. "Why aren't you answering my questions? You're just avoiding telling me anything!"
He, in a lightning-quick motion, whipped out his dagger and hurled it towards me. It stuck itself into the tree upon which I was leaning, mere inches from my head. Instinctively, I cowered and broke out into a cold sweat. He crawled over to me, his face inches from mine.
"Yes. You're right. I am avoiding telling you anything! Why? Because I can! Because I own you! And there's nothing you can do about it! Don't talk back to me again or you'll regret it!"
I couldn't help it. I broke down into tears, sobbing hysterically as I collapsed onto the dusty ground, shuddering.
The dark elf sighed, embarrassed, and shook his head. "Please don't do that."
I brought my bound hands up to my face, wiping the tears and dust from my skin, still crying quietly. He looked confused, like he did not know how to handle the situation. Rolling his bright green eyes, he took off his cloak and draped it over me. Shocked, I just watched as he walked a short distance away and laid down inside his bed roll.
With much difficulty, I pulled the dark elf's cloak tighter around me, breathing in the strong, masculine scent that the material held. I was comforted slightly as memories of Dzaxx flooded my thoughts, both happy and sad ones. I still feared my captor, but now I knew that there was a small crack in his cold facade. Perhaps I could exploit that crack, that small piece of humanity that made him feel sorry for me.
Now warm and with slightly higher spirits, I soon drifted off to sleep.

I awoke to raindrops gently falling onto my face and trickling down off my nose. I shook my head, spraying water in every direction. I attempted to sit up, but found that I could not.
Looking around, the forest was hazy and eerily quiet; not even the sounds of birds chirping greeted my ears. And my captor was nowhere in sight. My deepest instincts told me to try to escape, to hobble to my feet and get out of here as fast as possible. But the logical part of my mind knew that I could not escape. My captor wasn't stupid. He wouldn't be very far away from me or he would have tied me up to something.
Sounds coming from the forest prickled my senses to life. I heard rustling of leaves and twigs cracking, as if something large was sneaking up on me. I suddenly became frightened. I was completely helpless here, my arms and legs tightly bound together, not to mention the fact that I could not bring myself to my feet. I suddenly wanted to call out to my captor, my only protection from whatever evil was frightening me. I was just about to say something when I realized that I did not even know his name.