Tangled By Fate

"Oi, bitch! How long are you going to sleep? Wake up! It's dawn!"

A man's vulgar shout woke her up. Her silver long eyelashes fluttered open and looked at the man's back who just left water waking her up.

She knew if she was a bit late, she would be beaten by them.

She got up and winced as her whole body ached.

"Ver, are you awake already?" someone asked with a sleepy tone.

Veronica kindly smiled at the five years old child beside her. She pinched his dirty cheek lovingly.

"Get up, Rulas. We have work to do," she urged the child.

"You, elves, come here and start working!" an angry voice shouted.

Veronica, Rulas, and other children and women got up. They brushed their torn, filthy clothes and walked barefooted in the muddy road.

They needed to work.

It had been two months since Veronica fled from Ironin and got caught up with the traffickers. This time, they weren't human traffickers.

They were elf traffickers.

No matter what she said, she was taken by them as an elf because she had unique hair and eyes.

Afterward, she woke up in a cage and found herself with elves children, and women.

They were taken from Utahill and headed toward the south.

For two months, Veronica gathered some information.

The elves were kidnapped while they were traveling or playing and then they were taken to some unknown place. For some reason, they were highly sought after by the elf traffickers' master.

Who was the master, why did they need elves – Veronica had no idea.

However, she knew one thing.

They had to get out of there and go to where the elves lived.

This way, the innocent elves would be saved and she would also reach her goal.

Although she was planning to escape, she was weak.

They were given meals once a day and the rest of the day, they had to work.

They had to hunt small animals and catch fish to feed the kidnappers and themselves and also had to walk for miles with shackles in their ankles. That's because they had to go to the kidnappers' master's home. They had to take care of kidnappers' horses and cows.

Afterward, when their bodies hit the cold, dirty ground, they were half-dead.

When would she have the energy to get away from them?

Moreover, she had to worry about Rulas, the youngest elf in there. He had a weak constitution because of starvation. She didn't want to leave him behind.

In two months, Veronica had already learned how to hunt rabbits and wild chickens, and ducks. She could catch fish too.

Elves mostly ate leaves and foods made of grain. They never touched meat.

That's why Veronica was mostly certain that she wasn't an elf but a human.

She who craved meat more than anyone in the team, how could she not be human?

Today, Veronica decided to run away,

Rulas had a photographic memory. He could remember everything he had seen in his life.

Before he was kidnapped, he was playing with some human children in the guise of a human child. Somehow, he was spotted and abducted.

Therefore, he knew the way to his place.

Others knew as well but Veronica was worried about the youngest member who might die at any moment.

Rulas rubbed his eyes and followed Veronica. He knew she wasn't an elf, but she took great care of him. That's why he followed her around.

He missed his mother. Veronica cared for him as though he was her son. He was grateful to her.

He would do only minor works. Most of the time, he would help Veronica.

In the south, the sun would set soon. The sky darkened soon, and all the elves were physically and mentally exhausted.

Veronica's tired body collapsed beside the road. She wiped her sweats. She couldn't remember the last time she took a bath.

Whenever they crossed a river, there was always an opportunity to take a bath but no woman dared to.

The smelly body was like a blessing for them. They didn't want to be violated by kidnappers.

The elves were tall and skinny. They had platinum blonde hair. Their fair skin and hair would glitter in the moonlight. Their ears were bigger and more shapely than human beings.

Their unparalleled glamour was hidden under mud.

The same went for Veronica. No matter how disgusted she was by her own stinky smell, she endured it for the sake of her security.

The kidnappers bathed whenever they could, so they stayed away from smelly women.

Later, they were given some dirty leaves and bread to eat.

Veronica took the dirty leaves and chewed them while closing her eyes. Then, she swallowed them.

At the same time, she secretly handed over the piece of dirty bread to Rulas.

Rulas wanted to save some bread for Veronica but she shook her head in denial.

Tonight, she planned to leave this place with Rulas. He needed more strength. She could manage.

After eating, they tried to sleep on the muddy road once again. This road was in the deep dark forest.

Travelers hardly took this path because they would easily get lost in a place like this. Because of that, kidnappers chose this road.

They had marks leaving everywhere in the forest so that they could understand which way they were going. If they were straight ahead, they would reach their master soon.

Veronica found out about it when the kidnappers were chatting. That's why she wanted to move tonight.

When everyone fell asleep, she opened her eyes and moved her thighs close to her chest. She took out a nail from her chest underwear and tried to unlock her shackles.

Ever since she found the nail on the road, she had been practicing for a month how to use it. A month's practice made her an expert. She unlocked her and Rulas' chains soon enough.

She saw not so far away two kidnappers were drinking and gossiping. They didn't have the mood to look at the elves. They never thought these elves would have the energy to escape from their grasp.

Taking their thoughts for granted, Veronica and Rulas slowly and carefully rolled away.

When they went a bit further away and sighed in relief, another kidnapper walked on the trail and suddenly found two shackles without elves.

His face contorted instantly and roared, "Two elves have gone missing. Find them!"

His shout woke up the remaining kidnappers. They all started looking for the two elves.

Veronica shivered as he heard his voice. He was the angry kidnapper who always hit women and children for his pleasure.

She grabbed Rulas' tiny body and stood up. Without looking behind, she ran in another direction.

The angry kidnapper noticed a movement from the corner of his eyes. He turned around and caught Veronica running away.

"That bitch is going that way. She has a child with her!"

Upon hearing his command, Veronica ran even faster. She didn't have enough strength as she was already tired.

However, the hope of getting away from here was so strong in her heart that she ran faster than usual.

She sprinted toward the place where the kidnappers said there was a cliff and a river down there.

However, before she could move further away from them, something sharp pierced her back.

"!!!"