The Contrast Ch 04

People say that the will is what makes you never give up, no matter what happens to you. The will makes you go on, fight for your beliefs and gives you strength. The young girl now came to understand the power of will. Although not used to these conditions, Rose was using every bit of her strength to walk in the deep snow. On the other hand, the dark elf was walking easily like it was but a childs game for him. Maybe it really was, Rose scolded herself for being weak.

"Are you alright? Should we stop for a little rest?" Balok asked always patient with her. She really enjoyed his company, but more frequently she asked herself if she was some kind of burden for him. She really hoped she wasn't.

"No, I am fine." It was almost a week since she had escaped from the brothel and made a deal with Balok to go with him. It was strange for someone of her kind to be in the presence of a drow, but she trusted him. So far he earned her trust and Rose could not feel safer than in his company. Balok Philion, the dark elf who took her innocence and slightly calmed her fear of men.

"Look, I do understand that you are doing your best, but your body is not used to this kind of travel. I think that you have to rest a bit. Don't worry, every day you are getting stronger and stronger."

"Thank you Balok" she said and looked for some tree stump to sit down. Balok took his time to collect some logs while humming to himself. Rose liked the melody he was humming. It sure was some drow song or something. It was relaxing. Like Balok himself.

Rose was watching him, his muscular body bowing and standing up while he was searching for fire wood. More than once she caught herself dreaming of his naked body pressed to hers. She would not lie to herself and say that she was not attracted to him. To tell the truth, she wanted so badly to touch and feel his body, but knew that this weather would not allow them to be naked.

The same was for Balok, since they started to travel together, he would feel the desire between his legs or wake up with morning wood. Not that he minded, but being hedonist, he wanted some warm place so they could take hours to enjoy each other, not some five minutes in cold weather.

"If I'm not mistaken, we have food for two more days I think. How far is your destination?" Rose was slightly concerned that they would not have enough food.

"I believe that we need one more day to reach the city. What do we have for food?" he asked as he joined her on the tree stump close to the camp fire. Rose took a look into the bag.

"We have cheese and some vegetables. Will it be enough?"

"It's perfect." The drow said and took two potatoes and started to eat. Rose had to wait for her potato to be roasted to be able to eat it and she watched him. Although she knew that he could easily eat uncooked potatoes, she was still amused by that fact.

"Do you like to eat raw food or are you unable to eat cooked food?"

"Well. It's a matter of choice. Dark elves CAN digest cooked food, but when you are in a battle, you do not have time for cooking food, you know."

"Right now you are not in a battle." Rose chuckled at him, which made him chuckle back.

"Yea, you are right Rose. I am not in a battle."

"But you could be if you do not change that habit of yours" she poked him in the shoulder. "Really? And what if I don't change my habit? What will you do beauty?" he teased her, his eyes obscured of desire for her body. "This." She smacked him slightly on his butt. "You have to do change your habit."

"And when I do change my habit, what I will gain? You?" oh, how he loved to tease her! As he finished his meal, he snaked his arms around her waist, bringing her close to him. Balok kissed her passionately. She was becoming a better kisser and he really enjoyed her luscious lips. Rose was lost into his kiss as her desire for him grew again. She knew that if she let go she would tear his clothes and make love to him right here in the snow. Slowly she departed from him.

"Soon... I promise we will reach the city soon and you better watch yourself Rose, because you won't be able to stand after I am done with you." They both laughed.

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'How could this happen?' the blond haired man asked himself. He had planned everything to the very last detail. How could this young stupid girl escape? Everyone he had previously questioned would have told him if she had seen when she fled. It's not like there was another building in flames in the city that day. He carefully investigated, asked every prostitute in the city if they saw Rose escape. And every time he would receive the same answer... nothing. They did not see her escape. Damned!

"Are you sure Candy you did not see Rose?" he asked a red haired prostitute, fifteenth in row. She seemed to him a bit more conscious. He hoped that she would tell him something different.

"Master, I don't know much.... The fire started suddenly, nobody knows how. That day the son of the mayor came to Madame Ruby and required to have Rose. I don't know details, but I think that Rose was promised to that man, to be the first to have her. But someone came the previous night and paid to have Rose. I do not know the amount of money, but surly it was a lot of money because Madame Ruby promised him that Rose would have a day off.

"Anything else?" the man was tired and annoyed. He was so annoyed that he would kill this prostitute if he received the same answer one more time.

"The mayor's son came the following day and insisted to have Rose. He was furious by the fact that she lost her virginity to another customer. He went to her room and broke the door. I know Madame Ruby tried to stop him, but in vain. He already grabbed Rose and she screamed. But then..."

"Yes...go on woman. What happened?" Finally! Something new, something that the other prostitutes failed to notice. He was eager to get that information.

"Well, as Rose screamed there was some kind of light ball that came from nowhere. Neither do I know what it was, nor how it appeared in the brothel. The light ball had a color of orange and appeared in the corridor on the second floor where I was. And it exploded and the fire started. I tried to damp it down, but it was useless. The fire expanded quickly and caught the beams of the roof. I ran to warn the other girls so they could immediately leave the brothel. In the end the brothel burned down and the mayor's son died in the fire.

"An orange ball of light that came from nowhere?" so that´s what happened. Again the man cursed. That did not supposed to happen. His plan was ruined and Rose managed to escape. "Are you sure Candy?"

"I am sure, master." Although Candy did not know him, she knew two things. Firstly, that Madame Ruby knew him and that he helped her to become the leading woman in the brothel. And secondly, she knew that she did not believe this man. His appearance was scaring her and his aura spoke about the pure darkness of the world.

"Very well, Candy. You did well. Now I finally know what happened." The man smirked at her. Candy felt a chill spreading down her spine. It was not a pleasant feeling and there was also cold sweat on her forehead. "Maybe I should reward you for the information you gave me, my dear."

"You are kind sir, but I do not need a reward. I am satisfied with food and shelter."

"Oh, but I insist. Come here." Instinctively she backed away. There was something bad, very bad about him. He glared at her. "I said come here!" Candy reluctantly approached him. He bent down to her, as if he wanted to kiss her. But the moment she looked into his eyes, Candy knew what lay behind his stare and tried to scream, but his strong hand covered her mouth, preventing her from screaming.

"Sorry sweetheart, but I can't let you escape with this. Do you realize what you have said to me? Therefore you must die." In the blink of an eye Candy was captured by the man. She tried to free herself, but did not succeed. After few moments her body was lying on the floor of the house, her face white with an expression of pure horror on it. The man smirked. Let's get back to business, he thought.

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Fire, there was a huge fire. The fire was spreading very fast, devouring everything and everyone that would be on its way. Screams of frightened people could be heard everywhere. Screams, she could hear screams even from far away. People were suffering. She wanted to know what was happening, wanted to damp down the fire, but could not do so. The next moment she felt people look at her with an expression of complete horror. Their faces were white from fear, eyes wide and their voices trembled.

"You?! It was you who did it!" a man pointed with his trembling finger at her.

"Me? I did not do it. I want to help you, to save you."

"Liar! You did this! You tried to kill us, you monster."

"It was not me. I did nothing." She saw people approaching her. They had weapons in their hands. They wanted to kill her. The man who spoke to her grabbed her wrists and pulled her toward him. She tried to escape, but failed.

"Now you will pay for your crime, witch." Two more men came and using a thick rope they tied her to a nearby tree. She was scared, scared to death. Then the people set fire to the tree. The people laughed at her, their eyes like those of predators, like vultures waiting for the prey to die. "Burn witch, burn for what have you done. The fire started to consume her body while she screamed like mad, wanting to escape.

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"Rose, Rose wake up." She was startled at first, but when she met his amethyst eyes she relaxed a bit. Rose did not hesitate, and she quickly hugged Balok, seeking some kind of comfort from him. "Shh, it's ok. You had a nightmare. It passed." He wrapped his strong black arms around her and was gently shaking her.

"It was horrible Balok. I saw buildings on fire and people were screaming. I wanted to help them, but they captured me and wanted to burn me at the stake...like I was some witch. They said that I did it, that I did set the fire." Her voice was trembling. The nightmare was so vivid that she still could feel the heat of the fire, could still feel it on her skin. Her body was soaking wet from sweat.

"You are hot Rose, as if you have a fever. Are you feeling well?" the dark elf was worried. It was similar to the fever she had when they met in the woods. He knew some medical tricks, but was not skilled enough to tell what exactly was wrong with her.

"I am...fine. I am just still shocked because of the nightmare. But there is something. I still feel the heat of the fire, as if it had not disappeared. Does it mean something?"

"Well, I have been told that when someone has a very strong dream, or in your case a nightmare, it is possible that the body shows some after effects from the dream." He explained to her. But for that kind of event, it is necessary for dream to be very strong and vivid....or for the person to have some kind of supernatural abilities. He touched her forehead and it was still hot, but she seemed to be calmer than moment ago.

"Balok, please hold me. I want to forget that nightmare. It's not one of the nightmares I usually have."

"You frequently have nightmares?" well he could have expected something like that, but did not want to believe that Rose could not relax, even in her dreams.

"Well, I had a lot of nightmares, but usually about men beating, hurting and raping me. I never had a nightmare like this." She explained to him. Balok nodded. He wished that he knew some kind of spell to block nightmares coming to her.

"Do not worry. I am here and I promise you, nothing will happen to you. Now try to go back to sleep. Tomorrow we will arrive at the town." He kissed her on her forehead, never letting her out of his arms. After some time Rose fell to sleep, breathing slow and regular. 'A very unusual dream. She said that she never had this kind of dream before. Was this dream some kind of result to the fire that burned the brothel down back then?' he thought.

Rose never seemed to be scared to him on their journey. Well, she was surprised here and there on some occasions, but never asked him to save her. To tell the truth, Rose was afraid of men ...no surprise there, but every time they were close to eachother she was more and more relaxed. She trusted him. Sometimes he was asking himself if he was a person worth of trust. But then again he knew that, no matter what he would never hurt Rose.

However, there was something about her that was both attracting and scaring him. Something that was still hidden from him. Yes...during their journey they talked a lot, finding out various things about each other, both good and bad. Nevertheless, he still felt that there was something about her, something magical. Two days ago, he found out that she uncovered herself in her sleep. That would not be a big issue if it was not for the fact that they still were in the wood and that it was winter with a lot of snow. On several occasions tried to cover her up again, but Rose unconsciously would throw her blanket off again. And the strange thing was that she wasn't cold at all.

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A tall, dark figure was walking through the night. The man was cursing silently. Although he had the information about her, he didn't know where the girl went. Sure he was a master when it came to seeking someone, but it was a big challenge to find her. She was powerful, so powerful that her abilities could block her trace. Everything he knew was that her magic was awakened and that his plan was changed, but the man did not want to give up. He had to find her... and kill the bitch. Oh he would enjoy, watching her suffer and die.

There again, was that stranger. Did she go with him? Who was he? Did he really work for the elves, like Madame Ruby said? Damned! He didn't know. Sure that stranger, her deflorist, had enough money to pay for her and give her a day to rest. Once again, like Madame Ruby had said, only Rose saw the stranger, but did not tell anybody, or did not have time to tell. Maldas...hm. The person used elven gold coins to pay which meant that he surely had some connection with them, or he himself was an elf.

As for the other prostitutes, the man decided that he killed enough of them. Why wasting useless lives when they could not give him more information. Fifteen out of thirty women were dead and he considered it as doing the remaining prostitutes a favor by killing their colleagues. Besides, the spared prostitutes were free to do what they wanted, if they wanted to continue with their work, it was their decision. It was not his business.

Maybe he could look for some information about the stranger. Had anyone seen him and what he had told? The dark figure made a decision. He would investigate a bit about that strange visitor and see who and what he was. He strongly felt if he would find the stranger then he would also find Rose. He disappeared into the night, starting to search houses and buildings in the city.