Tangled By Fate

Veronica woke up with a pain in her back. 

'Ow! Ow! Ow! My back hurts!'

Her expression changed as the pain was unbearable. 

She wondered why she was in pain. Remembering the last incident, she was stunned.

'Wait, I can feel pain. Does that mean I'm alive?'

She opened her eyes and saw a brown ceiling. 

'Hmm? I'm not in the river?' 

As she tried to get up, her back throbbed and almost made her numb.

"Ver!"

A cheerful voice could be heard.

Veronica looked down and saw Rulas. He looked radiant. His olive eyes were filled with joy as she gazed at her,

"Rulas!" Veronica exclaimed, momentarily forgetting that she was in pain.

"Are you okay, Rulas? Are you in pain?" she repeatedly asked as she scanned him up and down.

The five year old elf child shook his head. He trotted forward and grabbed her hand.

"I'm not in pain. I was saved by you, Ver. You are saved too. We are home. No one can harm us anymore."

Veronica was taken aback. "Home? What home?"

"My home of course!" Rulas gave a crispy laugh.

"Your home?" Veronica's voice quivered.

'This is an elf's house? Am I in their territory?'

Forgetting about the kidnapping incident, her heart started pounding.

Rulas replied, "Yes, yes, my home. After falling from that high place, you were sleeping. You wouldn't wake up no matter how many times I called for you. Some people heard me and found us.

"Later, my parents noticed me and we took you home. Ver, you don't know how happy everyone is. They are happy that I came back. Later, other people who were locked up like us came back. We are holding a big party."

Veronica was stunned. "What did you say? Others who were kidnapped came back?! How?!"

Rulas shook his small head. "I don't know."

Veronica calmed down. 'Of course, he doesn't know. He is just a child. I should talk to his parents.'

She glanced at the little boy and inquired, "Where are your parents? Can I talk to them?"

"I'll call them!" Rulas sprinted from her room.

A few minutes later, Rulas came back with a man and a woman. They were both elves.

It was the first time Veronica saw clean-faced elves. She was nearly blinded by their radiant faces.

The couple smiled at her kindly. The man said, "We greet you Miss Ver in our den. Thank you for saving our son."

Veronica looked at them in a daze. Her tongue was tied. She had never seen such beautiful beings in her lifetime.

She suddenly regretted being born as a human.

"Ver, they are my mommy and daddy," Rulas introduced them.

Coming back to her senses, Veronica bowed. "Hello, I'm Ver. Thank you for taking care of me while I was unconscious."

Rulas's mother shook her head to deny her claim. "No, it's us who should thank you. We know human beings as capricious beings. Thus, we always avoided them. But, you are different from them. You could have escaped by yourself, but you didn't. Please accept our gratitude."

"Then I have no other choice. I only wanted to take Rulas away because he couldn't survive that place," Veronica answered truthfully.

After a pause, she mentioned, "I heard others were rescued and came back. Are they all right?"

Rulas's father answered, "Yes, they are. Apparently, they said some humans came to save them. They seemed to be looking for someone."

Veronica's heart skipped a beat. "Who were they looking for?"

"One of them gave your description. I guess they were your friends."

Veronica lowered her head. Her heart was racing.

'Could it be Arthur? But he is too busy with his old lovers. Will he remember me? I shouldn't get my hopes up. He has already chosen his path. I have to get those killers before I confront him.'

'Those who are looking for me must be the Utahill soldiers. I shouldn't let them know that I'm here.'

She raised her head and asked, "Umm… I have a question. Do you know a clan that carries the basilisk symbol?"

Upon hearing her question, the couple exchanged glances. They seemed astonished.

Rulas's father inquired, "Miss Ver, can you tell us how you know about that clan and why you are asking?"

Veronica's eyes shone. 'So, they do know. There is a clan like that.'

She hid her excitement and shared, "Actually I was looking for them for a long time and traveled many places. They came to look for me first but an incident separated us. I didn't get to know their names, but I saw their rings. From then, I was looking for them. Later, I was kidnapped, and you know the rest."

She lied without batting an eye. Her heart was beating fast.

She was this close. She didn't want to miss this chance.

She waited for them to reply.

However, the news shocked her.

They said, "Basilisk is the symbol of the elves' royal family."

"You may not know the war history of the basilisk and dragon. That's how our ancestors became elves."

"The royal family produces the strongest elves and is respected by us all."

Veronica took all their words with a wide-open mouth but didn't know how to digest them.

Royal family? She was trying to find some culprits.

How could she go against the royal family of the elf clan?

She would be killed before she could get justice for her people.

Rulas's mother suddenly gasped. "Oh no, I should prepare some food for you. Look at my manners. Please excuse me."

Rulas's father said, "You were unconscious for a month. Please take it easy. After you recover, I will see how I can introduce you to the royal family."

"A month? I was knocked out for a month?"

Veronica didn't know what else could make her more shocked.

"Actually, I'm more surprised that you are alive. No normal human can stay alive after falling from such a high place. Your body should have been crushed to the stone.

"Others thought you were acting at first but Rulas told us everything and knew you saved him and in the process got badly injured. As his father, I have no words to show my gratitude. He is my only child."

"Uhh… about me being here, who else knows?"