Chapter 115 - Melvi

With a grim look on her face, Helvi pointed her knife at Lele, 

"What are you talking about?" Helvi was glaring at her, her eyes no longer had any innocence she had moments ago, not the eyes of someone who wouldn't hesitate or bat an eye to kill someone.

"Don't worry, shouldn't you go to her by now." Lele sighed.

Helvi flinched with her knife, she couldn't bear looking at Lele's eyes anymore.

She bit her lips in remorse and opened the door, 

"Thank you for everything you did so far, I am grateful to you." And Helvi ran off into the forest.

Running as fast as she could without looking back, she just ran and ran, she galloped through beaches, went through caves, 

"Please be safe! I am just about to be there." 

Until she finally reached a hollow tree trunk far away in the opposite corner of the village, it was close to a small stream of water. There were small plants and grass around that trunk which had several glowing algae around it.

She was out of breath, she let go of the deer cub who had her mother nearby, she went to her mother and thanked her for staying nearby.

She moved the hanging vines from the small hole in the trunk but wide enough to crawl in, she crept inside, the pathway of that narrow tunnel went downwards like a rabbit den.

She crawled until the cave widened enough to stand, she stood up and sprinkled some water on the lumio algae to help them glow again, with every footstep she sprinkled water on the walls until that dark cave turned into a haven of different lights.

"It's gotten cold here!" She rushed inside the cave, 

"Sister? Are… you…here?" A timid and breaking voice of a little girl reached to her, it even though the droplets of leaking moisture made an echo in that cave, that girl's voice was far more than weaker.

"Melvi!" She yelled and rushed go that voice, 

There was a little girl of age 4 lying in the soft moss, her face was reddened and sweating like hell huffing out steam, she was struggling with her breaths.

Helvi rushed to her and kneeled close to her, 

"Sister…" Melvi slowly raised her hands and touched her cheek, 

"You are really here?" 

"Yes, I am! Now don't worry you'll be fine soon!" Helvi was panicking and anxious. She pulled out the bottle and poured a small portion and diluted it with water. As Lele said, she picked Melvi's head on her lap.

"Here, drink it! After you drink this you'll start running in no time!" She gently placed the cup close to her lips, Melvi slowly gulped that portion and rested on her lap.

After a while Melvi opened her eyes, she dozed off for a few hours while Helvi was looking after her, 

"You woke up? Did you have a good rest?"

"Mmm," Melvi nodded, 

"I see, great then." Helvi checked her temperature with her hand, it went down quite a bit, she took a breath of relief.

She laid down letting Melvi rest on her belly, but she was struggling from inside, she hid her eyes with her arm and strengthen her heart,

"Melvi, do you like this place?" 

"Hmmm."  Melvi hummed, 

"Really? Why?"

"Well, there is everything! Water and so many berries and fruits, cute animals! I even saw a family of lavender bunnies, their babies were so cute!

and there are also many flowers with sweet nectar-" Melvi got excited but spoke a bit too much. She covered her mouth with small hands and Helvi got up with a scary look.

"Didn't I tell you not to suck nectar from flowers!" She pinched Melvi's cheeks, 

"I am sowy!" Melvi tapped her hands and Helvi eased her cheeks, pulling her face close to her.

"No! I am sorry, I am glad you made so many cute memories here, but we have to leave now-"

"Again!" Melvi smacked her hand away, she got up and glared at Helvi with tears in her eyes.

"Why is it always like this? No matter where we stay, just after a few months you say now we have to leave it! Why this always?"

"Melvi-"

"Don't come closer! No matter the place, no matter the time we are just running away! Why can't we have a home?

A home that is only ours! Where we both can live happily! Just why?" Melvi dropped on her knees crying and shouting.

Slowly Helvi came close to Melvi and wrapped her arms around her, snuggling her close to her breast she whispered,

"Don't cry! I know it's hard but I know and I promise one day, you'll have a nice home, 

Where you don't need to run anywhere, you'll live there proudly, there will be many more flowers around it, there will lot of fruits and berries inside, you don't need to wait for night to go out then, you'll be free,

Free like a bird, which will soar above clouds flapping her wings unbounded with kind of chains, you'll be free one day and find a place where you belong, where there will be your lots of friends and will be there for you in rough times, who will wait for you, and you'll be able to find them and stay with them in your own home."

"Will you also be there?" Melvi raised her gaze,

"Of course! Who else then cooks for you? 

Who will make your dresses? 

Your hair?

Who will take you for a nice stroll?

Who else will make you study?

Who else will make sure that you sleep on time?

Who will teach you to be a nice girl?"

"But I am a nice girl already!" Melvi pouted, 

"Fufu! You sure are!" Helvi snuggled her back and they broke into sweet laughter,

'We need to get out of here before the village elves arrive here.' Helvi's heart was wrenching in fear of them finding Melvi. If such a thing happened they would kill her without any second thought.

"Melvi shall we go?" Helvi packed up everything in a small void pouch, she crawled out of the den, following her Melvi came out.

Helvi heaved Melvi on her back and covered and wrapped a cloth with her waist so she won't slip when she runs.

"Sister wait!" Melvi tapped her shoulder, 

"What?" 

Melvi pulled out some biscuits and threw them on the ground after crumbling them, 

"Bunnies! We are going, so I won't give you any more biscuits! Eat this and grow up big tomorrow!" Melvi shouted and 6 small baby bunnies came out staring at her.

Melvi waved them goodbye and without wasting much time, Helvi left the place, she ran in the diagonal direction of the village to make sure they wouldn't follow the obvious trail.

Though they didn't even get far and an elf jumped right in front of them, Helvi startled and took her step back.

"Stay away! Take a step closer and I will kill you!" Helvi pulled out her wand, she wasn't a frail elf, but more than an unsheathed weapon.

"And here I thought I could trust you!" That led to raising her head, her eyes were filled with anger and disdain with an image of Helvi between them.

"Cecelia?" Helvi's hands trembled, for six months they spent this time just as sisters, with a meal together every day, trails, gossip, chores they had their part together in everything.

"I trusted you Helvi, 

No! The whole village trusted you Helvi! How could you betray us like this!" 

Cecelia charged at her, she had her dagger and tried to stab Helvi but she evaded every attack with ease, 

"Cecelia, please forgive me and let me go, I don't want to fight you!" Helvi was anxious to run away but Cecelia followed her, attacking her with every leap.

"Tell me Helvi! Where did you fall short? Food? Friends? Leisure? Tell me what we did not offer you!  Tell me Helvi!' Cecelia screeched, 

[ FROST FLOOR! ]

Cecelia froze the nearby surroundings and tried to freeze Helvi along with them, but Helvi was far faster than her spell.

"I am sorry but Cecelia please let me go! I don't belong here, I am thankful for everyone! I was really happy but-"

"Sister!" Melvi wasn't able to see anything but the sudden rush and unrest made her afraid.

"This smell? So she is a human!" Cecelia halted in her place with memories of humans torturing her and her killing parents flashing before her eyes, no matter how much she begged for their lives, they ignored her and slaughtered them in front of her.

"How could you do this? You are helping that filth? Did you choose that filth over us? I am disappointed in you, I guess you are too young and didn't know how much of a monster they are, you must be getting decided by that filth. 

I remember they could use mind control spells, but don't worry once I kill her you'll be free-"

An outrageous amount of mana blasted in the forest shaking up every leaf till the edge of its span, it was just Helvi's aura, just her presence filled Cecelia with terror, so much that she wasn't even able to move her legs.

"Cecelia, I am grateful for everything you did for me but, if I even think to harm my sister, I will destroy this very forest and everything in it to its deepest root.