I head back down to the Gallows because I can’t go back home. Not after what happened. My father is a hypocrite. I head back to my uncle’s hideout. Several of the gang are still there, including Renna, her boyfriend Minpireth, and Valindra, who might be with my uncle, but I’m not quite sure what their relationship is.
Zaos, Olaurae, Larongar, and Haerzis are also there with my uncle. They’re all around a table discussing plans of some sort. As soon as they see me, my uncle steps up and walks away from the table over to me. “Kid, what are you doing here? You’re supposed to be home.”
“I got into a fight with my father. He lied to me. He’s a hypocrite on top of that. He tells me not to hang out with you and that what we do here is wrong, but he was your partner. He abandoned you,” I say, barely able to hold back tears.
“Oh, Lura. That is far from the truth. There’s a lot you don’t know. I can’t tell you everything. It’s not my place. That’s your father’s place, but him leaving wasn’t his fault. Things happened between us, and it cost us both a great deal. Your father especially. He was never the same after. He left and went on to live a more noble life. You can’t fault him for that, nor can you fault him for wanting a better life for you. This isn’t a life for you. You deserve much better,” he says. I know he’s right, but it doesn’t make me feel any better about it. “Now, I promise you this, if I ever see Phraan again, I’ll make sure he dies if he touches you a second time.”
The door slams open and shut as footsteps rush down the stairs. Delmuth and Saevel rush down. “The Order, they sent guards down to the Gallows. Phraan is with them!”
My uncle puts his hands on my shoulders. “You need to get out of here.”
Boom!
The door crashes down the stairs with smoke following. Lots of footsteps rush down the stairs as the room fills with smoke. My head hurts. I reach in my pocket for something to wipe my face with when I grab the vial. Before I realize it, I have it uncapped and on my lips. I drop it after emptying the tangy liquid down my throat.
It’s as if the room becomes all shadows. I can see everyone inside it, but I can barely hear them. It’s like an echo of a whisper. There’s a fight, but it’s not much of one, as a spell caster binds my uncle and the gang with magic.
“The girl is down here, I know it. I saw her walking. She’s mine,” Phraan says. What is he doing with the guard? They haul my uncle up. I run to him and no one stops me. But as I reach him, my hand goes right through him. What in the gods is happening?
Phraan stops the guard with my uncle. “Where is she?”
My uncle spits in his face. “I hope you end up in the ninth level of hell.”
Phraan backhands him across the face.
“Phraan! You’re not allowed to touch the prisoners,” a man with rather lopsided ears and a familiar look.
“Brother, we made a deal,” he says.
“We made no such deal,” the elf says. I can’t tell what he looks like because it’s like he’s cloaked in shadow. Everything is cloaked in shadow. What is this?
What did I drink? The soldiers bring my uncle and his gang up the stairwell. No! This can’t be happening. They can’t take my uncle away or his gang. What am I going to do? Tears fall from my eyes as I try to grasp my uncle. I can’t even touch him. My hands just go right through him as if he were pure smoke. No! They can’t take my uncle. No! I watch helplessly as they haul him and his friends away in chains. The tears fall down my eyes and hit the ground in a puff of smoke. I follow them all the way out to Tent City.
What can I do? This feels like it’s my fault. Phraan turned on my uncle because of me. If I would’ve listened to my father and stayed away, this would’ve never happened.
I go to the only place I can go, home. As I get home, I find my mother sobbing and my father trying to comfort her. “We’ll find her. I promise. We’ll get her back. Somehow. Don’t worry.”
“I’m right here!” I yell, but my words do not reach them. A scream escapes my lips. “I’m right here!”
Neither of them look up at me. My father writes a letter and puts it in an envelope, leaving it on my bed. “Just in case she comes home and we’re not here.”
“Now let’s go find our daughter before she gets hurt,” my father says.
“Don’t leave. I’m right here,” I say as I try to stop them, but they walk right through me.
“Is this the tent?” A man asks outside.
My father hobbles to the entrance to have a look. I can barely make out several of the Council’s justices standing outside. My heart goes still as I hear the voice of Phraan. “This is her tent. Remember our deal. I have a lot more information on other gangs, too.”
I rush outside, walking straight through the guards gathered. Several other elves have come out of their tents to watch as several guards pull my father and mother out. “We have a warrant for the arrest of the girl named Lura who has been seen stealing and is a known associate of Lethvelion and his outlaw gang.”
“She is not here,” my father says.
“Check the tent,” the main guard says. Two of the guards push past my mother as she walks out of our tent. I can hear them tossing things aside before they come out.
“She’s not in here,” one of them says.
The elven man giving the orders looks at my parents. “I hereby place you both under arrest for harboring a fugitive. Arrest them.”
“Leave them alone!” I scream.
I desperately try to stop them from taking my parents. No matter how hard I try, I can’t touch them. I watch helplessly as my parents are dragged away. No! What have I done?
I fall to my knees and cry. The tears won’t stop. I ruined everything. I’m so sorry, father. I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault.
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