The sky was darkening.
I'd left my aunt's village in the heat of the summer afternoon, some hours earlier, wearing a blue sundress with white flowers and open-toed sandals.
Going in the woods to look for plump blackberries.
Be careful, she'd said, not to get lost!
Don't worry about it! I'd quickly dismissed her.
But now, completely clueless as to my whereabouts, I felt bitter about my misplaced confidence in my orientation skills.
I didn't receive any signal on my phone, and I'd ventured too deep in the woods. There was no path nearby, nothing to indicate a return to civilisation. Nothing but the whisper of the wind rustling the green leaves. I hadn't even found a single berry bush.
The sky was dark now, or at least no light filtered through the canopy anymore.
And I was starting to panic.
In the distance, it seemed as though a light --a flame-- flickered. Desperate, I ran towards it.
As I got closer, I got a better look at what seemed like the entrance of a cave, although it only had the outline of a large boulder.
I was within twenty metres when the flame winked out, and tears pricked my eyes.
'No!' I shouted, 'Please!'
I didn't know what I was pleading for, but fear had seized my brain.
And apparently, it was making me see things.
Because the cave entrance wasn't one. It was just a boulder.
Suddenly, something hit me on the head. Hard.
Thunk.
The darkness took me.
***
I woke up with a startle, a dull pain throbbing at the back of my head.
I couldn't see anything around me, but I was sitting on hard ground. Rock, not soil. My bare ass touched the cold stone, dress riding high up my thighs, my pretty black lace thong doing nothing to protect against the chilly bite.
I lifted my hand to check my head for an injury, and it came back sticky. I assumed it was blood, and quickly concluded I was running the risk of a concussion. I needed water and rest.
I forced myself to calm down and breathe, waiting for my eyes to adjust to the darkness.
What I saw terrified me.
I seemed to be in a wide cave with low ceiling, so low I would barely be able to stand upright in all of my 5ft5 glory.
Yet that was not the scary part.
The cave was full of creatures.
They almost looked like men, but far smaller and burlier. They couldn't be taller than 4ft, but at least 3ft wide, some with long beards, others nothing but exposed jawlines. They wore what looked like leather pants and sleeveless tunics that revealed their muscled arms.
They all had the same black, weaselly eyes. Intent shone cruelly there, and creeps flooded my skin.
'The filly's awake,' said one in a low, cavernous voice that resonated in the crowded space.
'Finally' drawled another.
I didn't dare say anything, as my eyes wildly jumped from gnarly to gnarlier face.
'Well, sweetie, aren't you going to introduce yourself?' asked the first not-man. He must be their leader, I decided, and took a better look at his face. A long, white scar adorned his right cheek.
My panicked mind slowed down enough for me to analyse the situation.
There were at least fifteen of them circling me, and I could discern boots beyond that initial circle. I was clearly, painfully outnumbered.
My best option was to play along, and hope to charm them into releasing me.
Whatever they were.
Whatever they had planned for me.
'I- I'm Ellie', I stuttered in a high-pitched voice.
The not-man's mouth split into a delighted, malevolent grin.
'Ellie. That's not a name for a filly.'
It was the second time he called me that, and I absolutely hated it. I ignored the greasy feeling pooling in my gut, and forced myself to ask. 'What--What are you?'
Snickers rose in the cave.
The leader came forward, standing right in front of me, so that his groin was right in my face. Only then did I notice the bulge there.
The bulge in all their pants.
'We are your new steeds, filly,'