Given a Second Chance

Rise of Darkness Pt. 1

A/N: Updated twice in a week, sweet! I feel a little bad because the bad elf won't get a name, but oh well. I've finally managed to put together some sort of outline for this story, which means the dedication is real this time! This chapter is divided into 2 separate parts. Anyways, enjoy! Beware, it gets a little dark, sorry (not really).

Warning: Mentions of child abuse.

The tension rose as my heart raced at the prospect of getting killed. Cold sweat appeared on Michael's face, and his expression was a mix of fear and anger. I knew that even if I showed my hand at magic, it wouldn't make a difference. His magic was at a much higher level than mine. I glared at the light-haired elf, and for the first time in forever, I wanted to kill someone.

I took another step back, feeling the wall at the back of my heels. Inside, I wanted to laugh mockingly. So, in the end, this life would only last this long then? I turned my head to Michael, and upon seeing our eyes meeting, I slowly shook my head. I had died once already, one more time wouldn't make that much of a difference. He was about to speak when the elf interrupted.

He gave a giggle. "Ha, your expressions were hilarious! The girl looked as if she was going to murder someone, while the boy cowered back in fear. Isn't that ironic?" His eyes dulled and the spear was slowly withdrawn away from my head. With a sigh of relief, I collapsed onto my knees, trying to withhold from crying. The urge to live is scary.

Michael quickly came over to my side, helping me up. "Sorry," he whispered, looking guilty.

The elf motioned his 2 large goons forward, each grabbing a separate arm of the prince.

"This is quite an important decision, isn't it? I'm not completely heartless; you have 24 hours to make a decision. Either you die, or she does. Good luck!" The guards pulled Michael out of the room and resisted as he struggled and yelled with all his might.

I watched as we were separated, confused. Why did he separate us? The words must have shown on my face because the elf spoke. "Why didn't I send you off with him? In the last couple of moments, you see, you have made some incredible deductions. Wouldn't want you to rub that little clever mind of yours onto him."

He came closer until our faces were only mere inches apart. He raised his hand slowly, pushing out a finger to stroke my cheek. I shuddered at the contact and involuntarily breathed in, smelling the aroma of blood and thirst that should not be present in such a young boy.

Not allowing myself to fall into his trap, I flex my leg, which ended up in a not so kind area. His facade immediately crumpled as he cried out in pain, and I grabbed his neatly ironed out collar.

"So you like my deductions? Well here's another one. Why do all of this? Why go through all this effort to kidnap a prince for a 'greater good'? Don't make me laugh. You don't care about the rest of the world. It is you that desires power, isn't it? Let me guess, you went through a terrible childhood, perhaps some abuse? You felt the whole world looked down on you, that you were weak and useless?" I mustered all the sarcasm into those words, as an ugly expression finally appeared on his pretty face.

He grabbed a fistful of my hair, forcing out a yell of pain. "You don't know anything." His face looked entirely murderous while he leads me out of the room, taking a different turn from before.

"Do you know what the elite have in common? Wealth? Knowledge?" He spoke as he walked, pulling me through the dark hallways, while I actively tried to memorize the path. His eyes were crossed, looking a little crazed.

"No, it is power that leads this world. The weak remains at the bottom while those with power rule." We finally arrived at a significantly worse looking cell than I was in before. He quickly reached for the lock on the bars, taking out an odd looking key.

"Until our little Prince makes up his mind, you will stay in here. And don't even think about escaping, there is no water that you can reach." With that, he gave a harsh push, and my knees fell onto the dark rough floor. Fortunately, that was the end of violence and after giving me a long look, he turned and left.

Seeing him gone, I gave a shuddering sigh. Suddenly, a thud sound came from the corner of the cell, causing me to flinch. Still kneeling, I turned to face the origin of the sound, seeing a dark figure. On closer observation, it was a little girl, no older than 6.

She was shivering, arms hugging her legs, looking fearful. It was too dark to tell, but her eyes and hair were both dark, and her ears a little pointed. She looked malnourished, and very underweight, bags under her eyes.But the worst part was the countless of injuries on her arms, all looking like it came from a precise cut, but not self-injured. I quickly realized what had happened. She had been the previous sacrifice; of course the elf couldn't admit that the sacrifice wasn't of his own magnificent race.

Anger rose in my chest, for this little girl in front of me, for the prince, and most of all, for myself. I slowly stood up, causing the girl to flinch, and quickly scoot away.

"It's ok, I won't hurt you," I had to heal the girl somehow, some of the cuts looked to be a little infected, and the scars were too painful to even look at. Still, the girl obviously holds no trust for people, and she could only bring her legs closer, beginning to weep.

An idea popped into my head. Although there aren't any water sources around here, there is always water vapor in the air. Inching a little closer to the girl, I started to focus on the molecules around me, combining them together. It took a few minutes, causing the girl to become curious. She slowly glanced up, her eyes shining at my actions, the first sight of a positive emotion I have seen.

I put all my effort into the intricate details, from the scaly tail to the beast-like head with fangs. I had made an ice dragon, particularly one of Asian origin. I gathered some of the particles onto the little girl's hands, enabling her to touch the dragon without causing her harm. Her eyes sparkled as she slowly reached out to grab the sculpture, giving a small gasp when it wasn't as cold as she thought.

Seeing her distracted, I slowly moved my arms towards her; she didn't mind too much, too captivated by her new toy. I gathered the water into my hands, slowly navigating the large bubble across her skin. It was worse than I even imagined. I had lost count of the scars, and part of me did not want to continue looking at them. But I continued, for the sake of this little girl looking at me as if I was a God.

She had stopped to look at what I was doing and gasped as she saw her scars slowly vanished in front of her grey eyes. Her hair was poorly cut like someone had done it just to remove it from her eyes. After what felt like an eternity, most of her scars were diminished, but not completely healed. I had to get this little girl out, no matter the cost.

I raised my arms to pat her head and asked, "do you trust me?" She hesitantly nodded her head, I was probably the kindest encounter she had so far in her life- she didn't have much of a choice.

"My name is Camille Calvert. I will protect you, but first I have to deal with the elf outside first, ok?" Hearing my words, she frantically shook her head, pulling the ends of my dress, showing her distress. It seems she was mute, but I understood what she was trying to convey nevertheless.

No! It's too dangerous! You'll die!

I gave her a light smile. "No, I won't. This lady is very strong you see. She'll get us both out of here, safe and sound. But you need to stay here, ok? It'll be dangerous if you come out. After I deal with him, I'll come back and get you, I promise." I held out my pinky, the universal sign of promise in my old world. Seeing her noncomprehension, I moved her pinky towards mine, twisting them together. "This means that I vow to keep my promise." She gave a hesitant smile and nodded.

Ok. Now, I had to get out of here. I stepped towards the lock, held together by chains around the bars of the cell. Combining my memories of the key and the observations from the shape of the lock, I built a key made of ice. I hurriedly opened the lock, crept out, making sure no one was watching and said to the little girl, "Stay." Then, I proceeded to retrace my steps.