Page 2 of Plaything of the Dark Elf

“I’ll be taking that from you.”

I fight the urge to bare my teeth at the dark elf and his flippant words. I hate how they demean us, whittling us down to ‘it’s and ‘that’s and ‘those things.’ It’s infuriating and dehumanizing which is exactly what their goal is.

I don’t move from my spot, simply fixing the dark elf in front of me with a hard stare. He isn’t going to be tearing us apart at all. I’m not going to leave her here to suffer while I’m dragged upstairs to be tied to a bed for the next twelve hours.

He surprises me though when he sticks out a boot and kicks me in the head.

I choke out a surprised gasp, temporarily letting my arms fall away from Caitlin when they come up to curl protectively around my head out of instinct.

I feel the weight of Caitlin’s body leave my lap and I force myself to breathe through the pain and open my eyes again. Spots color my vision, making it hard to see in the already dark cell. I press my hand to the side of my face where the boot had connected, feeling my tender skin.

The dark elf has his hand wrapped around Caitlin’s ankle, dragging her carelessly over the dirty floor and back to where the other dark elf is waiting with the keys to our door dangling in his hands.

My heart lurches, my brain finally catching up with what’s actually happening.

“No!” I lunge for Caitlin’s arm, grasping it in a firm hold and effectively forcing the dark elf to halt.

He looks back at me, a cruel sneer on his face. “Let go, you disgusting beast.”

I tighten my hold on her, knowing that I’m most likely bruising her poor, burning skin.

“You can’t take her,” I tell them desperately. “She’s sick.”

The dark elf chauffs at me, the disbelief evident on his face when he swivels back around to regard the other dark elf. They hold a steady stare before the first one looks back to me.

“She’s coming upstairs. She’s been requested.”

I swallow thickly, trying to keep my voice level.

“She’s sick—”

The dark elf yanks her right out of my hands as I’m mid-sentence. My hands clap together, filling the empty space where Caitlin’s arm had just been occupying.

I scramble to my feet. “Wait! Please!”

They both ignore me, the first one throwing Caitlin over his shoulder like a sack of somana while the other swings my cell door shut.

I throw myself against it, reaching out to grasp at either of them.

“Take me instead! She’s sick! She could be contagious!”

I have no idea if that’s true or not. My understanding of human to dark elf virus transmission ratios isn’t exactly based on any kind of facts, but it does have them stopping.

I force myself to keep going.

“Please. I’ve been with her all day and haven’t contracted anything. Take me instead.”

Both dark elves exchange looks with each other, the second one poking Caitlin a few times and frowning deeply when she’s unresponsive.

“We can’t bring her upstairs like that.” He says after a minute. “No one’s going to want to fuck a corpse.”

The first one grunts with mild agreement.

I sag against the bars in relief. I don’t care that I’m sacrificing myself to protect her. I’ve endured far worse at this point.

“They want a young one.” The first one speaks again.

The second one shrugs. “Who will know what is young and what isn’t? She has no marks of age from the sun.”

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