IVORY: The age of Gloarian

Chapter 26

    It was hard enough for the leader to have to make her way to the messenger to send a letter she most certainly did not wish to, but it was an entirely different level of annoyance when she was stopped from sending the letter because she was too busy being abducted by Balthazar yet again. The woman had not even realised that she had been taken until her eyes reopened to the silence of darkness and the familiar walls of a cell where she had previously resided came into her line of sight. She had not needed to think of who was behind the crimes, and sat once again in irritation on the cold grounds of a jail cell. Words had refused to make their way out of her mouth as she wondered to herself what she had done so wrong to deserve the life she had. The flame certainly had something against the woman who time and time again had to pick herself up from the ditch the flame threw her into. Eliana knew that once again, somehow, Razaar would have to find himself rescuing the damsel in distress who kept getting kidn*pped by the enemy. The leader had never been this enraged in her life at her ability to be so clueless and defenceless, and wished desperately for a larger attention span to get her powerful, individual strength back. 

    By now it had become evident to the Hybrid leader that the flame had been up to something, and pondered why it was in the worst of ways that she had to be constantly reunited with her unwanted mate. Nevertheless, soon enough the futile complaining going on in the head of the strong woman halted as she stared into nothingness and decided to doze off into some well deserved sleep, despite the awkward position she had been chained in. 

    Her plans, of course, had to be interrupted as the sleepy woman woke up to the door of the cell being open, and Beneta -a stranger to Eliana- stepped in to carry out the duties she had been commanded to do. 

    ‘New face, how delightful’ she commented sarcastically at the sight. The excited Witch, who had been waiting for this moment for quite some time, chuckled at the statement, advancing towards the woman before bending down to her height. 

    ‘Lovely to meet you Miss Genova, my name is Beneta’ she simply said, waiting anxiously for the torture session to begin. 

    ‘So are you the mate, the mistress, the warrior, the jail keeper or the torture master?’ she questioned, wanting to skip the theatrics of introductions. Eliana was more than aware that this time around the woman would receive more damage than the previous time, though she readied herself for the impact in the most dignified way possible to her. 

    ‘The torture master, I’m afraid’ responded the Witch, grabbing herself a chair upon which to sit, towering over the poor leader of Hybrids. 

    ‘Great, let’s just get this over we shall we.’ Eliana braced herself for the impact, but none came. Instead, she heard laughter erupt from the woman in front of her, who by now had begun to annoy the Hybrid leader. 

    ‘Oh darling, I’m not here to torture you physically, that isn’t my job’ she mentioned, smirking at the frown that had now been drawn upon Eliana. The evil woman stood from her place on the chair, and tucked it away before walking towards the door without hinting a thing. 

    ‘If you’re not here to torture me, then why are you here? Who are you?’ growled a now frustrated Eliana.

    ‘That is for me to know and you to find out’ she whispered into the darkness, closing the door behind her. Eliana shrank in confusion as to what Balthazar was up to before the woman felt herself get sucked out of her reality into a realm that most certainly wasn’t the one she belonged to. 

    She was suddenly in the middle of a forest, nothing around her aside from the soft shaking of trees with the mild breeze that flew by. It was an atmosphere of pure and utter peace, one that she was used to and enjoyed the most. The surroundings, no matter how familiar they seemed, were foreign to the woman as she walked around the unfamiliar grounds of the forest she was in. To her understanding, she was most certainly not on Hybrid territory, neither was she on Werewolf or Lycan grounds, so where was she? She had yet to explore the lands of the rest of the members of Gloarian, though a scene so silent made her wonder if there were any members residing close by at all. 

    Walking around the mysterious forest, she found herself alone, with no other creature on sight. The woman had been startled as a sound suddenly emerged from above her, and she saw a small, white species fly up above her head. Shocked, the woman looked around to figure out what she had been looking at. It surely wasn’t the Batrids, for they never fly in broad daylight, then what other creature could it be? Scampering about, the woman stopped in her tracks when she found herself facing a man carrying a massive weapon to the head of the woman. The weapon had been like nothing she had ever seen on Gloarian, and it increased her doubts even more about being in her own zone. Before words could find their way out of her mouth to express the concern of the situation, the man cut her off. 

    ‘Who are you and why are you on my property?’ he questioned with an accent that the woman had never before heard in her life. The poor Eliana found herself backing up as she pondered that perhaps she had stumbled into the land of the Amethyst. 

    ‘I am Eliana Genova, leader of Hybrids. Where am I? Who are you? Is this Tetra?’ she asked, hoping the strange man would lower whatever foreign weapon he had pointing against the woman. 

    ‘Tetra? Hybrids? What are you on about? You’re in Texas girl, on private property might I add. I suggest you get the hell off my property before I shoot your brains out’ he snapped, directing her with his rifle. Eliana said nothing in return as she hurried out of sight, attempting to find a way out of wherever the hell she was. 

    What did the man mean when he said she was in Texas? What was Texas? What weapon had he been holding against her? Why did his accent sound so unfamiliar? Questions flooded the woman's mind as she ran for her life. 

    Though by doing so the woman only increased her level of danger as noise began crowding her ears, and before she knew it, she had tripped across a log, falling on a ground that didn’t belong to the forest. It wasn’t just any muddy ground, however, it was a grey path upon which massive vehicles had been dashing upon. Eliana stepped back in fear, knowing there and then that she was most certainly not on Zaleon. She looked around to see humans -that very much resembled her- speeding around with devices all over them. It was a foreign sight for the Hybrid leader, as she finally came to the conclusions that she was, in fact, on planet Earth. She blinked, trying to remember how she had gotten there, but came up with nothing as all memories of the past couple of hours had been wiped sharp out of her memory. 

    Glancing around foreign territory, she knew not how to function as she thought of her next move. The woman had remembered learning about the human world during her days as a young girl, though her knowledge hadn’t prepared her in the slightest to face it in person. She had forgotten most of what she had learned, only remembering certain things that stood out to her, such as the weird devices that humans called technology -that they were constantly surrounded by- the fact that they didn’t have mates, and of course the fact that they lived without any other forms whatsoever. She briefly remembered learning about the concept of God, the equivalent of the flame, though found herself unable to remember anything of value to get her through the rest of her journey. 

    How was she to get out of this foreign planet and return to her own orbit, to her people? She finally took a step forward, regretting it so as another vehicle flew past her, leaving behind the loud and obnoxious sound of a horn, that had more than terrified the Hybrid leader. Thinking of trying something different, she looked to her sides, noticing a certain establishment a couples miles down from where she stood. 

    Stalking towards it, she trembled and wondered how to venture herself to safety. Stopping in her tracks, she watched as vehicles pulled into the spots, and humans stepped out of their transportations as they proceeded to use a rather strange metal handle, and stuff it inside a hole at the side of their vehicles. A few moments later, she noticed the same people remove the handle, placing it back in their holders before following a certain protocol on a screen next to it, playing around with cards and buzzing sounds that altogether had the woman going insane. 

    Deciding to make a move, the woman began stepping in the direction of a short building and was amazed when the doors opened as she neared them. Not knowing what to do, she ran in, watching the doors automatically close behind her. Keeping the amusement to herself, she peeked around, noticing stalls and stalls of food around her. Some of the food had certainly resembled what she ate back in Zaleon, though certain items seemed to catch her eye as she read their names in confusion. 

    Doritos? Cheetos? Lays? The words seemed foreign to her as she scanned around. When she arrived at an isle that clearly stated chocolate, her eyes caught an interest. Chocolate had been a luxury snack on Zaleon, and as she watched the entire row of chocolate come to view, she wondered what it would taste like. The variety of some confused her to the core as she read aloud to herself.

    ‘Coconut chocolate? Orange chocolate? However can you have chocolate with coconuts?’ She asked herself, no doubt grasping the attention of a man that stood a mere meter away from her. 

    ‘You alright? Do you need any help darling?’ The sound alarmed her as she jumped away from the man. 

    ‘Sorry, I’m just looking around’ she mentioned, stepping further away from him. Supermarkets on earth had definitely been different to those on Zaleon, still the leader did her best to blend in with the humans. 

    Grabbing onto a packet that read Oreos, she began walking away in the direction she had come from. The beeping of a loud machine, however, had her stopping in her tracks.

    ‘Miss, you have to pay for that!’ yelled a dark skinned woman sitting behind the counter. Eliana walked towards her, attempting to keep her voice down as she did so. 

    ‘Sorry, I just don’t have any human money on me’ she commented, unable to think of what else to say. 

    ‘No money no chocolate, you’ve got to put that back then’ spoke the woman in the same accent everyone around her had been using. Her bold tone had completely surprised the leader, who found herself getting angrier by the minute. How dare she stop her from taking food? On Zaleon food was a right that all members of the community deserved, whether they had the money or not. Eliana had been lucky enough not to pay for anything on her territory given that she was the leader of Hybrids, though in the human world, that sort of respect was very much lacking. 

    ‘Excuse me, I am the leader of Hybrids, I demand you show me some respect’ she commanded, having no effect whatsoever on the human. 

    ‘Listen lady, I don’t care if you are the president of the United States, that chocolate costs money, you got no money, then get out of my store’ said the woman rudely. The Hybrid leader found herself shaking at the disrespectful tone of the woman. Luckily, the same middle aged man from before had decided to intercept in hopes of rescuing poor Eliana. 

    ‘It’s alright, I’ll pay for her’ he offered, pulling out a note that had confused Eliana even more. That was human money? The woman stumbled back as she began wondering what her plan was to get herself back. ‘You alright darling? You lost?’ the man questioned, coming to her side. 

    ‘Thank you for helping me’ she began ‘I need to get back home, I just don’t know how to get there’ she stated, hoping to get any help out of him. 

    ‘Sure thing sugar, let me drop you off’ he offered, leading the grateful woman out the store towards his car. He opened the door for her, instructing her to get inside before he got into his own seat and began the engine. The acts had petrified Eliana, who knew not what to say or do. She simply sat limp as she watched the man play around with the buttons. Sound had begun coming from the radio, scaring the woman even more as she backed away. 

    ‘What is that noise?’ she asked, scurrying back in her seat. 

    ‘It’s just the radio sugar, no need to worry. What’s your name and where can I drop you darling? Where’s your home?’ he asked, beginning to drive out of the gas station. 

    ‘My name is Eliana Genova, I need to return to Zaleon’ she answered, confusing the poor man, who simply laughed, thinking of it as a joke. 

    ‘Now where would I find Zaleon?’ questioned the laughing man. Eliana, however, did not find it funny as she watched the man in amusement. 

    ‘It’s in the galaxy of Horex. I need to get back into Horex’ responded the leader, making a bigger fool out of herself than she knew. The confused man by now had realised that the leader was, in fact, dead serious, and pulled over on the side of the highway. 

    ‘I’m sorry darling, I’m having a hard time understanding where I’m supposed to take ya. Are you from Texas?’ his questions had begun getting harder for the leader who wanted nothing more than to cry. Deciding against staying with the strange man, she turned around, grabbing on to the latch of the door and nearly breaking it until she successfully managed to swing the door open. She ignored the protests of the man who watched with amazement as she raced away from him into the distance. 

    The woman ran, and she didn’t stop until she arrived at the safety of the forest where she had originally woken up. She had no idea where to go or what to do, but for the time being relied on her wolf form to drag her to safety in the human forest. After what felt like ages, Eliana stopped in the middle of a clearing, transforming back to her human form and taking a seat on a nearby rock. 

    ‘What is happening to me? How did I end up here?’ she questioned to herself, placing a hand on her heated up forehead. She forced herself to remember the events that had led up to the moment, though huffed in annoyance when she could not come up with an answer. Would this be her home now? Would she have to spend the rest of her life on earth as a human? What would she do without her people? Without Razaar? Unwittingly the woman found herself thinking about the flame’s curse to her and how he would save her if she was in another galaxy entirely. The sun had descended by the time she completed the processing of her present, and as the stars came out, the Hybrid leader looked up at them in curiosity. 

    She had decided to switch back to her wolf form as she travelled to a nearby cliff and rested on the edge, not having any other alternative to thrive upon. She had eaten the bar of chocolate earlier, and despite loving it, had nothing else to consume the entire day. The hungry woman had not known of the concept of hunting, for on Zaleon there were no animals to hunt, and the diet of the Ivory would come from plants or any other foods farms could grow. 

    Though the era of danger had yet to end for the brave Hybrid leader, who soon enough had her peace interrupted once again by the barrel of a rifle that pointed right in her direction. 

    ‘Oh little wolfy, I think you’re going to make a wonderful rug’ the man commented smugly, ready to press the trigger. The words had been confounding for an innocent Eliana, who soon after experiencing the pain of the bullet, had understood what the man meant. The sudden impact of the bullet had caused her to shift back into human form, an act that this time had the man blown away. ‘That isn’t possible’ he whispered, walking towards the human form of the Hybrid leader. He had known what he had seen, and knew he hadn’t been going crazy, and so found himself grabbing the woman by the arm and dragging her across the floor of the woods towards his cabin a couple miles away. Eliana had passed out of the pain, and remained so as this happened, completely unaware of the fact that a human man had not only watched her change -spilling her secret- but had now decided to take the woman home and much like Balthazar, chain her up to a wall by the neck. 

    The woman awoke to noises in the background, the sound of a human discussion going on in front of her. 

    ‘I’m telling you Georgia, she ain’t no ordinary girl. She’s a wolf’ he pleaded to a blond haired, short woman next to him.

    ‘Are you out of your mind James? She’s just a girl! And you shot her! We need to take her to the hospital, get her out of those chains!’ exclaimed the woman, pushing the man out of the way as she approached a now awake Eliana. ‘Are you ok darling? I’m so sorry, my husband’s going crazy. Let me take care of that bullet wound for ya’ she said, unchaining the leader, helping her across to the sofa in the cabin upstairs. Eliana had decided against speaking, thinking best if she remained silent for the remainder of the trip. She knew well enough she wasn’t capable of fitting into the human world, and knew that it was only a matter of time before she was killed. 

    One thing was for sure: the human world was far worse than she had expected, and in just a matter of hours, she despised Earth more than she did her own hierarchy in Zaleon. 

    The woman, Georgia, soon understood the mute behaviour of Eliana, and let her be in peace, removing the bullet and stitching it up on her own. The pain had been excruciating for a woman who had been used to only the weapons on Zaleon, causing her to doze off right after the surgery. Although Georgia had been nice enough to allow the leader to stay the night, Eliana’s eyes opened as darkness had completely taken over, and at her healing found herself able to shift into her snake form, slithering out of the house, back into the woods. By now the leader had found herself stray in a different world, and found no will in herself to live whatsoever. 

    Though as fast as the pain had come to her, it had been snatched away when the woman’s eyes opened, and she adjusted to the dark surroundings around her. She had realised that she was back in the dark cell on Balthazar’s territory, and despite being in the most uncomfortable of positions, let out a sigh of relief.

    She questioned what exactly had happened and how she bounced from one planet to another in a matter of minutes, and thought that perhaps she had just been dreaming. However, after a short glance at her body, she identified the scar left by the bullet had yet remained on her body. Her eyes widened at the realisation and for the first time in a long time, the leader found herself terrified of what had been going on. She allowed herself to begin the process of crying, one that would be the only action the leader would find herself doing in the next couple days of her stay on Lycan territory. 

    For the first time Eliana realised that physical damage only left scars that told stories, but mental trauma had an effect of shaping a being entirely for the rest of their future. What would the effects be for the brave leader of Hybrids? Only time will tell.