Dave

Fallen Jungle

56th of Cycle 2, 1015

The four high elves from the dark elf village stood around me as I laid flat on the floor. I drew my knife and tried to stand up, but the heavily armored elf pinned me face down into the dirt. He took my knife from me like he was taking a toy away from a child and tossed it to one of the two archers.

“Where’s Jason?” The archer asked while examining my knife.

“Right down to business then. Are you sure you don’t want to have a friendly chat first?” I could taste my sarcasm.

“Rory,” She commanded the elf who was pinning me down, and he slammed his steel mace onto my knee. There was a loud crunch, and I screeched out in pain as I helplessly struggled to free myself from his grasp.

“Jack, heal him,” She said in a terrifyingly calm voice, and the robed elf placed his hand over my knee. He chanted something that sounded like the gibberish Jason would chant sometimes, and the pain disappeared in a flash.

Dread washed over me as I came to realize just how bad my situation was. “Why are you doing this? Why can’t you just leave us be?” My voice was shaking.

“I ask the questions here, boy,” She said before nodding towards Rory, who brought his mace down again, this time onto my other leg. My screams echoed across the jungle for a few minutes before she finally waved Jack over to heal me.

“Where’s Jason?”

“Are you sure you should keep this up?” I asked, panting. “All this noise is going to alert everything within a few miles of here to our presence.”

“You make a good point, boy,” She said with a sinister grin. “Rory, break his jaw.”

My eyes went wide as I felt his mace crash down on my chin, knocking my jaw out of place and flinging most of my teeth out onto the ground. The blood leaking out of my mouth distorted my cries of agony into a gurgled mess.

She crouched down in front of me and grabbed my face, amplifying the pain by squeezing her fingers down on my open wounds. “If you think breaking your bones is the worst thing we can do to you, you’re sorely mistaken. Jack, give me the poison.” Jack handed a red vial to her, and she spread the fluid over the tip of one of her arrows. “This is Red Grangea extract, and back home, we call it truth serum. You’re about to find out why.”

She swung the arrow towards my neck but stopped abruptly when someone behind her grabbed her wrist. “Lola, you’re going too far,” the fourth elf finally joined in.

Lola looked back at her and said, “Shut up. It’s your fault we’re in this mess, and you don’t get to decide how I resolve it.”

“If you don’t give him the chance to talk, he’s not going to give us any information. Let me ask some questions.”

Lola hesitated for a few seconds, but in the end, she called Jack over to heal me. My jaw snapped back into place, and I felt my teeth grow back in their original spots.

“What’s your name?” My savior asked as she shooed Lola away and crouched down in front of me.

“...”

“I’m trying to help you, so you need to cooperate with me, okay?”

I didn’t think they’d have good cop bad cop in this world too, but I stand corrected. “Dave. My name’s Dave.”

“I'm Rea. I wish we could’ve met under better circumstances, Dave,” She said warmly. “Why didn’t you leave the jungle with your friends?”

“That’s… That’s because I have something to do.”

“What is that something, if you don’t mind me asking.”

I didn’t think answering her question would reveal anything too important, so I responded, “I can’t leave until I kill the silver panther.”

“What?”

“The silver panther, it’s supposed to be a legend amo-”

“I know what it is, Dave,” She cut me off. “Why do you need to kill it?”

Because I’m an idiot who made a deal with the devil to gain powerful skills.

I’m not sure why, but I didn’t think they’d believe me if I said that. “I can’t tell you.”

“Break his jaw again,” Lola called out.

“Don’t you dare, Rory,” Rea snapped back. “How did you end up here?”

The questions continued for around half an hour, and I gave them a rough understanding of how I got here and what I’ve been doing ever since, making sure to leave out the fact that I was from another world.

“You expect us to believe that you all of a sudden got teleported into this jungle, and you met Jason by pure coincidence?” Lola asked.

“It certainly is strange, but I think it’s stranger that a human as weak and stupid as him isn't dead yet. While I’m not saying I believe his story, we can’t just deny it outright.” I knew she was on my side, but I just couldn’t be happy with her reasoning. “Rory, get off of him.”

Rory looked over at Lola as if he was waiting for confirmation. When she nodded, he moved to the side and let me get up to my feet. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. Now, I don’t expect that you’re going to tell us where Jason went anytime soon, right?”

“Never in a million years.”

“That’s what I thought you’d say. It really is a shame.” She reached out towards me, and I felt my dangersense go off, but I didn’t react in time. She pulled me close to her and I felt a sharp object penetrate my abdomen.

I looked down in horror at the bloody knife in Rea’s hand. “Why?” I asked weakly.

“Jason is probably long gone by now, and by the time we get his location out of you, it’ll be far too late to chase after him. I’m just running damage control, and you’re a loose end, Dave,” She said in a voice far colder than Lola’s.

Was everything up until now just a facade? Is this the real Rea?

She brought her mouth right up next to my ear and whispered, “This is the only way,” before stuffing a strange object into my hand and letting me fall to the floor.

The other three elves were just as shocked as I was. “Should I heal him?” Jack asked.

“No, I suppose she’s right about Jason,” Lola said. “I don’t see a benefit in bringing him to the village to rot in a cell either, so killing him here is fine. Just get Jason’s bow and let’s go back, there’s a lot we have to report.” With that, Rea took the bow off my back, and the quartet of elves left me on the jungle floor to die a lonely death.

I waited for a while to make sure they were far enough away, then I opened my hand, revealing the object Rea had given to me. A smile crept its way onto my face as I realized the meaning of her final words to me.

Clever bitch.