THE RUNAWAY BRIDE

CHAPTER 8

*Cave*

"Raya wake up..we have to leave now!!."Raya was still deep in sleep,she slept quite late the day before although Morgan was around she was still very scared she knew that the moment she crossed the Alavara forest she was closer to the place she used to call home.So worry consumed her until she eventually just fell asleep."Okay I'm up."When they left the cave it was really dark outside she almost thought Morgan was mistaken by thinking it was dawn.but soon enough the sun rose."I suggest we go through forests I've seen a lot of souls get lost by walking the straight path and meeting unkind people."Raya wanted to refuse but then it occurred to her that maybe he was right,she was also afraid of meeting anyone from her clan so it was better to just walk a path that is likely to get them to cross each other."Okay"Morgan looked around and pointed to a small road that had almost no trail and suggested they use it.Raya walked infront and didn't notice the look Morgan had cast behind both of them,he struck his cane twice on the ground and followed behind"It's best to hurry before she changes location."The forest was wide and had all kind of beautiful creatures even pixies ,Raya's soul was at ease watching all of them live so freely together.She even saw a Lion with a Tiger cub and one could tell they were a beautiful family,her heart slowly ached even a lion knows how to love even if it wasn't biologically it's cub but her father couldn't.By noon they had reached dwarf village."You know I knew dwarves were short and had tiny houses bit I didn't think they would be this tiny!!"Morgan was about to laugh when he noticed that all eyes were on both of them.

Each Dwarf had come to an abrupt stop and all their faces were pale as if they had seen a ghost,Morgan leaned in to Raya's ear and slowly whispered"I don't thinking they like what you said...but most importantly I don't think we're welcomed here."As soon as he finished speaking all the dwarfs screamed and ran to their tiny houses. Raya tried to salvage the situation "Wait..We're not going to hurt you please don't run!!please..we mean you no harm!!"The more she talked it's the more she made them upset.A bell suddenly rang loudly ,so loud that it made their ears ring..atleast hundreds of dwarves surrounded them each with a bow and an arrow and to top it off the arrows were torched "Great just what we needed."Morgan was about to use his staff when he noticed it was long gone gone"Darn thieves!!".Amongst the crowd of dwarves a much taller dwarf came out,He looked different from the other dwarves.He had no big face or big nose or even looked like them but one could tell that he was a dwarf by his height and build although he wasn't as short as the others but he was still short compared to normal height."And what do we have here??.."He walked with so much confidence and arrogance that it baffled both Raya and Morgan what kind of power he really had.Morgan felt no pressure at all that would suggest he had a way to defeat them but he stayed quite and just observed."How did you get here??Who are you!!!and why are you here??Did those bastard elves send you??!!"His voice was pitchy and honestly was annoying to the ear"Hi,we are just passing by we weren't sent by anyone,just passing through!!"Raya hoped this would be an enough explanation and they would let them go.The tall elf started laughing really loud making his annoying voice even more annoying "Do you think just because we're dwarves ,we're stupid.No one can get in here,this place has existed for thousands of years and no one has entered for thousands of years and you're telling me you were just passing by."Raya slapped her forehead in disbelief Aethoniel was not lying she was a magnet for opening hidden places,she knew that explaining that it was all a coincidence wouldn't do so she reached for her bag."Wait just a minute let me get something

for you I'm sure you'll like it."She had read in Aethoniel's library that apparently dwarves were die hard fans for gold ,they would literally do anything for it,she took out a sack containing gold and took out one gold coin and raised it up for all of them to see.

Their eyes were mesmerized as if they were seeing God for the first time"If you let us go ,this could be yours."Raya could see that the one who seemed to be the owner of this tiny village was hesitant so she took four out and flaunted them as if they were worth nothing.. Aethoniel had made sure that she lacked nothing when she left,the bag she carried could literally store anything it could never full no matter what was put in it."Is this enough??."They looked up in awe "Oooh shiny."they all said in unison, the tall elf cleared his voice "Well why didn't you say so in the first place ,please do feel comfortable."He started barking orders at the dwarves who were holding arrows and started being sweet all of a sudden.Raya thought to herself that this gold really saved them ,they got to have hot bath, a steady meal they haven't had in a long time and especially Morgan's first meal after thousands of years.Since they were too big to fit in any house they had to sleep outside with only fire to warm them up.Morgan suggested not to spend the night but Raya felt safe and happy so Morgan dropped it before he slept.He went back to the shield they had crossed before getting in this village and it seemed as though Raya didn't see it at all.He struck his cane twice again just as he did on the cave and went back and slept.