Chapter 3 - Trucking Along

“Owie!” Holly landed on a hard metal surface. Before she could get a grip on her situation, she was plunged into darkness, as a pair of doors were slammed shut with a thunderous clang.

“Wait wait! Let me out! Please!” she cried. She rushed to the door and pounded on them, making as much racket as possible. Even through her frenzied screams she meticulously studied how the doors reacted to physical force. There was a small amount of give, not enough for her tiny body to force through. Ultimately, her display fell on deaf ears and she knew it. After she was sure her captors were gone, she quieted. Stepping back and wiping her face dry, she allowed herself a reprieve to catch her breath. It was good to be able to breathe uninhibited after being restrained for so long.

The whole container vibrated; a foreign noise joined the sudden commotion – it was a strange hum the zalavan couldn’t place. She almost lost her footing as a force was suddenly exerted on her. They were moving.

This must be an automobile, she surmised. Her observations matched the description of such machinery she had read about. With that in mind, she knew for certain they couldn’t hear her false cries any longer – no point in wasting any further energy on that.

She rubbed her head where her namesake berries had been plucked from. The thugs weren’t as foolish as she had given them credit for. They were rough when pulling the hollies from her hair, hearing the Maestro of the two tell his Resonator: “If we leave her with those, she can cast spells.”

“They did their homework,” mused Holly with an impressed chuckle.

Reaching into her coat, she pulled out her seed satchel. “Not good enough I’m afraid.” She drew open her precious inventory of seeds and felt through them. “Hmmm…” She considered her choices. It would probably be wise to pick something with a physical force, just in case the transport had any resistance or shielding against traditional magic. She wasn’t versed in such protections, but the outside world had to have some. Better to plan for it than not.

With that in mind, it really only left her with earth magic, specifically the rocky part of the element. She sifted through her pouch and located four cherry seeds. What better to summon the rock aspect of earth magic than the seed of a stone fruit? Four seeds would give her four shots, just in case it didn’t work the first time. Alternatively, she could channel all four into one big spell and ensure she could force her way through. Probably a better idea for the overall expedience of her brewing plan.

There was a second point that concerned her. They wouldn’t just let her get away so easily. When she did spring herself from her imprisonment, they would fight tooth and nail to get her back. They had made their intentions clear from the little they spoke in front of her: she was a prize to be sold off to the highest bidder.

Mr. Noel

Whoever that was probably didn’t have her best interests in mind considering he was resorting to kidnapping a zalavan.

Holly didn’t plan to stick around long enough to meet the man. To that end, she began to count. Inaction would be her demise or worse. But rash action would kill her faster.

She had to be patient.

She had to wait.

A few hours were nothing compared to the eighteen years of mind-numbing boredom she was subject to within the rocky prison of Inverna.

And so, she counted.
And counted.
And counted.

Every second that ticked by she wanted to just tear the roots out and get it over with, but she needed that plausible deniability. Her thoughts drifted to her mother.

There was a tinge of guilt that stuck in Holly’s heart. Her mother would be heartbroken. Maybe one day Holly could go back? Hopefully, her mom wouldn’t wilt before she got the opportunity.

Holly shook her head. She couldn’t let herself drown in her thoughts now! Her mother would definitely wilt if she died here! No, she needed to be perfect. It all had to go according to plan.

And so, she counted.
And counted.
And counted.

It had been several hours, or at least she had counted enough for that amount of time to pass. During that wait, she had picked out the spells she was going to cast.

Four cherry seeds to give her the highest rank of attack magic – Fortissimo rank. The spell she was going to cast was one called Colpito da una Roccia. She subscribed to the theory of keeping it simple. Just a big dumb rock. Firing one at the highest rank should smash right through the door with little trouble.

The second seed she picked out was a dandelion seed, which could grant her wind spells that existed under the umbrella of the solar element. That was the speed aspect of her plan. Utilizing wind magic would give her the mobility she needed to make her quick getaway.

It didn’t matter where she went after her escape – anywhere far from her kidnappers would do. She’d figure out the rest from there. Spontaneity wasn’t a strong suit of hers, but neither was getting kidnapped in the middle of the night; so she’d just have to deal with it.

“Give me everything you got,” she whispered to the four cherry seeds.

She pulled in the rhythm from the seeds, turning them to dust after absorbing their contents. Flowing within her now existed the power of earth magic. However, it was not something her body was designed to hold. It was desperately exerting its force on her – it wanted out.

With a deep breath, she extended a palm out, bracing her extended arm with the other. She aimed square at the center of the door, where a small crack of light peeked in.

In her mind, she crafted the spell. A big dumb rock. From the seed’s wisdom came form; however, right as she fired the spell, the entire trailer shook from a sudden bump in the road. Her spell instead ended up aimed at the floor just below the door, severely damaging both it and the door with concussive force, but allowing the container to remain shut.

Her heart stopped; eyes wide. She couldn’t even utter a cry of anguish. The zalavan was knocked off her feet as the truck ground to a halt. The massive boulder from her spell now blocked her only escape route.

How did it all go so wrong so quickly? She wanted to just curl up and die.

The slams of the cabin doors jarred her from her mental breakdown.

“He’s fire. Fire’s weak to water.” Her mind worked overtime to devise a plan. She couldn’t die here. Not when she was so close to achieving her dreams. “Water, water, water.” The frantic girl quickly searched her satchel for the seeds she needed. A handful of rice seeds would do the trick. The calm flow of the water element quickly filled her as she drained them for all their magic.

Replacing her satchel in her coat pocket, she aimed a palm out just as she had done for Colpito da una Roccia. The spell she aimed now was the basic spell of water – Idrante.

Water, she was just going to blast him with water. It probably wouldn’t kill him, but even if it did it was either her or him.

Her hand trembled, as she waited for the struggle to begin. She shook violently, both magic and adrenaline coursing through her, attempting to tear her asunder from the inside. Sweat poured down her face as she couldn’t bring herself to blink. This is the price of freedom, she reminded herself.

The door was thrust open from the outside after some effort.

“What the fuck is this boulder doing here?!”
“Move it dumbshit!”
“You don’t gotta yell!”

Holly was wound so tightly she felt ready to snap from the built-up tension, but she held firm despite the painful rhythm struggling to burst out of her. The boulder moved as the fire Resonator pulled it out of the truck.

As soon as his back was turned, she fired. The pent-up force of the fortissimo level Idrante utterly overtook the Resonator who didn’t expect the surprise attack and he was swept away. Holly didn’t take a moment to relish in her handiwork. She sprinted out of the truck and hit the ground ready to run. But before she got away-

THWACK!

She met Riterran soil for the first time in her life. Hard. Violently. Her head swam as she struggled to form a coherent thought. What even happened? Her body refused to obey her. She tried to reach her seeds. Her arm didn't move. It was still there. The cold dirt under her was so vivid at that exact moment. It was still night. So dark… or maybe she was blacking out?

“You little bitch!”

The throbbing pain at the back of her skull was not lonely for long as her ribs joined in on the protest, as they were repeatedly struck by an enraged Maestro's foot.

This was the price of freedom…

Her vision began to fade, the last thing that graced her ears was the growl of the man who had beaten her into the dirt.

“You best thank Sahji you’re worth more alive than dead, you fucking weed.”