POV Eliza
I stared at the hand, not sure if salvation or damnation awaited me. But I had to get away from here, that much was clear to me. I didn't know why, but my feeling told me it was better. So I grabbed the other man's hand. He patted me on the head and pulled the hood back over my face.
“Stay calm and inconspicuous and nothing will happen to you.”
He led me out of the building and into the hustle and bustle of the slums. The buildings were old and dilapidated and the residents on the streets were poor. The man led me through alleys and sometimes through a building, only to emerge in a backyard. I quickly lost my orientation, partly because I couldn't see much under the hood. But from the smell I knew we were approaching a river. Finally we went into a building and into the basement. The man pulled on a bracket in the wall and the lid of a large barrel popped open. Inside there was a ladder that led down. Suddenly a disgusting stench of feces and decay reached my nose, making me choked.
“Don’t act like that, it’s just the sewers. You will get used to it. Eventually. Propably. Hehehe.”
I had to climb down the ladder first. There was a glow of light underneath, which allowed me to see surprisingly well. I also heard the sound of running water and a gurgling sound. I had to vomit downstairs, but nothing came out except stomach acid. After all, I hadn't eaten since yesterday. The man in the intermediate lid closed the lid above us, which stopped the light from above. Then he climbed down and took my hand again. I didn't run away. Firstly, I was miserable right now and secondly, I didn't know where to go. We walked through the canals for a while. New inflows kept coming from the sides. I could see from the light current that we were getting closer to the exit. But before we saw daylight again, we turned into one of the tributaries. After a few steps the man stopped and told me to turn around. So I didn't see what he was doing, but I could hear the grinding of stone on stone. He had opened a hidden entrance. It was unlit, but I could still see enough to see a small corridor. We went into this corridor and behind me the entrance closed again. I expected it to be pitch black, but surprisingly I could still see the outline of the surrounding area. How good were my eyes?
“Be careful not to hit your head or fall. It’ll be light again soon.”
The man felt the wall with his left hand and slowly walked along the corridor to one end about 5 meters. There he felt around at waist level until he found the switch that was there. He pushed it and the wall in front of us swung open. Behind it was a small, high room with a bed, a table, a chair and a chest. On the table were a bowl, a jug and a bag. At the top, about 5 meters high, there was a small opening through which some light came in. It seemed to lead outside, because the room smelled much less. You could also hear the sounds of the city.
“Come here, stay here until tonight, then I’ll come pick you up again. There is something clean to wear in the chest. There is fresh water in the jug so you can wash yourself with it. There is something to eat in the bag. That should take care of you until tonight.”
I entered the small room and looked around. The entrance closed behind me and I was alone. For the first time since I woke up in this world, I was completely alone. It was an unfamiliar feeling of freedom, even though I was locked in a small room. I felt liberated, freed from the stench and freed from my tormentor. The first thing I did was go to the jug and smell it. The water was clear and smelled normal. So I took a big gulp to get the foul taste of bile out of my mouth. Then I looked in the bag. There was some dry bread in it, which I immediately greedily devoured. I rinsed with water. Then I looked around more closely. The bed was a simple wooden box with straw in the middle. There was a blanket over it. Both were clean. In the chest was a simple dress and straw shoes. I couldn't make out a color, but it could be white or gray. There wasn't anything else here, so I took the opportunity to wash myself. I took off my clothes and threw the rags into the chest. Then I washed myself as best I could without wasting too much water. I also used some water to wash my hair because I wasn't allowed to do that before. My ears were significantly longer than usual and tapered to a point. Once again I realized that I was actually an elf, as I knew from the stories. I sighed and then put the dress on. A significant increase from the rags before. I then continued to examine the room. I quickly found a lever that probably opened access to the outside. Other than that, there was nothing here. I sat down in the chair and once again summarized the facts surrounding my current situation. Unfortunately there were still very few and there was still no reliable information as to why. Why I'm here? What happened? I also didn't know enough to make any grand plans. I could only hope that things would get better in the future, even if I didn't believe that the man was a benefactor who only wanted the best for me. I was a slave and he had paid money for me. Who knows what awaits me next.
Night had long since fallen when I heard the entrance opening. I recognized a person holding a small lantern with a dim light coming from it.
“Come on, it’s time. I’m taking you out of here now.”
I recognized the man from the voice. I noticed how he glanced at me briefly, probably to check whether I had changed my clothes and not run away. He led me through the secret entrance back into the sewers. I suddenly felt nausea again, but this time I was able to pull myself together. We went back onto the canal leading towards the river. As I now realized, it had to be a main canal because it was significantly wider than the tributaries. I didn't consciously notice this before. With every minute that we followed the canal the air got better or rather less bad. We had to get closer to the exit. After a few minutes I saw the exit in front of us. However, a large gate blocked our way. The man didn't let that deter him and stepped up to the bars. As if by magic, he bent part of a pole to the side, revealing an opening through which a slim person could fit. The man himself is slim and so we both fit through. Behind us he returned the pole to its correct position.
There was a large river in front of us and we came out at the bottom of a cliff. I breathed a sigh of relief and looked around. Upstream the lights of the city could be seen, which stretches on both sides of the river. The river cut several meters deep into the landscape and formed the cliffs on both sides. A massive bridge could also be seen against the night sky. I saw the night sky for the first time, full of twinkling stars. In the middle there is the moon in all its splendour. I was fascinated by the moon and stared at it. He had a deep fascination and attraction for me. Involuntarily I muttered to myself:
"Beautiful."
A sudden short gust of wind blew through my hair and I briefly thought I heard a distant giggle. But as quickly as the wind picked up, it was gone again. What remained was an unfamiliar euphoria and a strange feeling of security.
"Come on. We have to move on. We are expected.”
Who is waiting for us? Curious and much less worried, I followed the man downstream along the river bank away from the town. The cliffs flattened significantly on both sides and after half an hour the surrounding land and river were level. To our left on our river bank we could see lights coming from a small camp. I recognized several carriages parked around a large tent. As we approached, there was a distinct smell of animals in the air. Is this a circus? We got closer and saw a large campfire burning in the middle with several people sitting around it. A man saw us coming and stood up, causing everyone else to turn to look at us. He spread his arms theatrically and said.
"Welcome. Welcome to Vigo’s Great Circus.”