by Zora Marie
Eragon and Saria rode out of the trees with bows drawn. “She’s not alone.”
“Would you kindly remove your foot from my friend?” Zelia’s gaze drilled down her arrow at the man.
“Friend? Your friend?” A tree creaked behind the trapper as he continued, “Now I think I’ve heard it all. A girl who calls a beast her friend! The boys are gonna love this!”
The tree twisted around and knocked him on his butt. “I’ve had quite enough of you!” The tree creaked as she ranted on, “You little disrespectful, inconsiderate, destructive, oh you little!”
Zelia choked down a laugh.
“I believe you’ve angered the trees. I would have to say it would be foolish to step on their roots any further, being this deep in the forest and all. And I wouldn’t dare think for a moment that this is the only tree that can move. They all can be vengeful if provoked.”
The trapper scrambled away from her and the tree that had knocked him down. “You little witch!”
She slid from Bête Noire’s back.
“If that’s what you wish to call me, so be it. I may be able to hear them speak, but I don’t control them. They have free wills of their own and do as they please.”
Eragon and Saria brought their horses around to block the trapper from getting to her while she knelt and soothed the griffin. “Shh, it’ll be okay. You’re safe now.”
The griffin let out a soft screech as she cut the ropes binding it.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you! I am forever in your debt. If there is anything you should need, I would be more than happy to assist you.” The griffin curled his head clear to his breast with his bow.
The image of Alrindel’s death flashed before her eyes and she took a step back.
“There... there is something, if you’re willing. In a couple weeks’ time, I’ll need help fighting the Darkans at The Hold. I need someone to fly me out into their ranks so I can kill as many as possible. You needn’t fight, I wouldn’t ask that of you. I just need you to fly me out into their ranks.”
The griffin flicked his lion’s tail. “You will have my help and I may bring some friends along.” The griffin shook and spread his wings. “Well, I must be off.” He leapt a few times and took off into the air. “See you at The Hold!”
She climbed onto Bête Noire, and Keller pointed to the trapper.
“So, what should we do with him?”
“Leave him to the fates. The trees will warn the creatures of his traps. That’ll be his punishment.”
Keller shrugged as he rode after her.
They rode in silence for some time before Saria asked, “So just what are you planning?”
Zelia dug her fingers into the rope around Bête Noire’s neck. “Something crazy, but none of my other plans panned out in my dreams. I should be able to take out half of the army in one swoop.” If they don’t shoot me down before I can do it.
“Just how do you plan to do that?”
“You’ll see, unless I come up with a better plan.”
“It’ll be getting dark soon, we should find someplace to stop,” Kafthry suggested with a yawn.
“There should be an opening a little way ahead where we can stop,” Eragon said.
When they stopped, Zelia didn’t even bother to eat. She just curled up and was fast asleep by the time Eragon pulled her close.
She opened her eyes to the point of a sword in her face. The man holding it sneered. “Ah, aren’t the two of you the cutest thing ever. Draw your sword. We can finish our little argument here.”
The other two trappers held knives to Keller and Saria’s throats. Keller didn’t keep watch very well.
“Zeli...” She held up her hand to stop Eragon.
“It’s okay. His swordsmanship is shoddy at best. Besides, he’s followed us this far, he won’t stop. May I borrow yours?” His sword was better than the one she had from Dragon Island.
Eragon slid the hilt into her hand.
“Oh, you’re gonna get it little runt.”
The angrier the man, the worse he fights. Let’s see how far I can push him. She spun the sword around at her side and rolled her shoulders back with a crack.
“Fine, it’ll be nice not to hold back. We could make this interesting and all three of you could fight me at once. At least that way it’d be closer to an even fight.”
The man almost growled as his face turned red and he hacked at the air as he charged. She stepped to the side and gave the enraged man a wide berth.
“I guess not. Pity, I was hoping for a challenge,” she lied.
“You little brat, someone’s got to teach you a lesson!” Enraged he bellowed and charged her.
She blocked his haphazard blow and spun her sword around with a twist of her wrist.
His sword fell to the ground with his twitching hand still attached.
He collapsed to his knees and gripped at his stub. His eyes grew wide and his face paled as he watched his blood spray into the fire. Time seemed to slow to an agonizing pace as he scrambled to stem the bleeding before he passed out.
Keller and Saria took the opening to overpower their captors as they looked on at the other trapper in shock. She should have helped them, but she battled with the urge to help the dying man as he bled out on a bed of red and green moss. Eadon had raised her better than this, but he also wouldn’t condone this man’s actions either. He’ll have lost too much now. She sighed, she couldn’t save him, but she didn’t have to kill the others. She wiped a drop of blood from her cheek with the side of her hand and walked over to the trapper. A few drops of crimson blood still dripped from her sword.
“You just couldn’t leave with your life intact, could you?”
She wiped the sword on his tunic and pulled a rope from his pack.
“Now your lives truly belong to the forest.” She turned to the other two trappers as they stared at their fallen friend.
The sky lightened with the first rays of daylight by the time they finished hoisting the hogtied men into the tree. She stuck a knife in the trapper’s bound hands.
“Be careful not to cut the wrong rope or you’ll go for a little tumble and still be tied up.”
She jumped down to Bête Noire’s back, and they set out on their way with the trappers watching upside down as they disappeared into the trees.
Once they were out of sight, Kafthry beamed at Zelia.
“You were awesome back there!”
“That was just a show to get him angry. And while I could use a challenge, I don’t enjoy fighting.”
It was then they broke through the line of trees and the grey barren face of the mountains stretched before them.
Saria sighed as she looked up at the mountain’s snow covered peak. “We’ll all have our challenges soon enough.”
They cut across the side of the mountain, close to the trees until they found the scarcely used path. It wound up the face of the mountain until it disappeared over a ridge.
They hadn’t made it halfway up the barren portion of the mountain when night came and forced them to stop. The path followed the edge of a spring, so they all had their fill of water that night and refilled their water skins. They spread out and drifted off to sleep to the sound of trickling water as the stars blazed overhead.
34
It was about midday when an arrow whizzed by Eragon’s hood-covered head. Zelia drew her bow as she turned to see where the arrow had come from.
A man veiled in a black cloak stood a short distance up the mountain slope. His dark eyes stared down the shaft of another arrow.
“What business do you have in the pass?” he spoke with a gruff voice that sounded forced as it carried across the barren pass.
“Depends on what business you have here.” She aimed into the wind, ready to shoot him down.
His near perfect teeth gleamed as he grinned.
“So, the girl speaks for the group. That’s something I haven’t seen before. How about you answer my question first? I do have the high ground.”
She released her arrow and drew another. “Do you now?”
A moment later, her arrow sliced through the man’s bow string, the remnants whipping across his fingers as his wooden bow sprang straight. The man shook his hand as the severed bowstring swayed in the breeze.
“Lucky shot.”
He pulled his hood back before stooping to pick up her arrow, rolling it between his fingers. The chiseled shape of his face and wavy black hair seemed familiar, yet altogether strange to her. Even his rough beard nagged at something in her memory.
“Where did you learn to make arrows like this? Only the Elves of Elyluma use that knot.”
“And how do you know that?” Zelia asked.
He half slid, half walked down the steep slope as pebbles and snow rolled beneath his feet. He held his straightened bow and Zelia’s arrow in one hand, his other grazing the ground as he descended to the path.
“Koin’s a friend, he taught me that knot.”
She relaxed her bow. “It would seem we have something in common. Koin’s also a friend of mine.”
The stranger’s eyes narrowed. “Wait, you must be Zelia.”
“How do you—”
“They couldn’t send a search party after they found the cave, so Eleanor and Eadon asked me to look for you.”
“And who are you?”
He jumped across the mountain spring and bowed holding his useless bow and her arrow across his chest. “I’m The Bounty Hunter to most. But the Elves know me as Skylar of the Mountain Kingdom of Old. As for your earlier question, I’m in search of some trappers that should be west of here.”
“We ran into them a few days back. They won’t be causing any problems for a while.”
He raised an eyebrow, so she continued. “I killed one of them and we left the other two hanging in a tree, hogtied. I made it so they can get free, but that won’t be for a while.”
“Taking all the fun out of it for me? Guess I won’t be getting my bounty for the one trapper then.”
“Forget your bounty. An army of Darkans moves south. They aim to attack The Hold. If you’re truly of the Kingdom of The Mountains, then you’ll want to come with us.”
He ran a rough hand through his hair. “Truthfully, I’m the great grandson of the late King. Not the King who rules now. My full name is Skylar O’Fell.”
“O’Fell?” An image of burning pyres flashed before her eyes and his familiarity made sense, he looked much like the late King. “But they killed all the O’Fell family after we left.”
“That’s just what they wanted everyone to think; my grandmother escaped into The Wild.”
Zelia shook her head. “Okay, if the people don’t matter to you, then maybe this will since you call Koin a friend. He, Alrindel, and many elvish bowmen march south to aid the Kingdom of the Mountains. Many of them will perish at the sword of Darkans.” Her gaze fell from his. “If not all.”
“You see as Eleanor does?”
“Sometimes.” She offered him a hand. “Here, Bête Noire will allow you to ride, just this once.”
Skylar hesitated, then climbed on behind her.
She waved her hand in front of her scrunched up nose as they started down the mountain. “I think you’ve been hunting trappers too long. You reek of rotten beaver castor oil.”
“Just try not to breathe through your nose.” He grinned ear to ear.
“So I can taste it instead? Thanks, but I’ll pass.” She shot him a glare over her shoulder.
“You’ll get used to it… eventually.”
It took them all day to traverse the pass, but they came out on the other side just as the sun was setting.
Skylar fiddled with his knife and struck up a conversation to end the day’s silence as they sat around their small fire. “So, where are you two from?” Skylar asked, gesturing to Keller and Kafthry.
“Zelia found us on the ship of a dragon Trapper. They’d put us to work on their ship after destroying our village.” There was a solemn pause and then Keller perked up. “We were dragon riders with Zelia for a short time. When she decided to return to the mainland, we came with her.”
Skylar turned to her. “Is this true?”
She nodded, but her gaze never left the flames. “They speak the truth, however far-fetched it may sound.”
“Eadon spoke of you as if you were kin. Why’s that?”
“Eadon took me in as an infant upon Eleanor’s request. He raised and taught me as his own for a hundred and forty years. I remember many a night singing and dancing under the stars with Alrindel when he was but a young elf.”
Skylar gave her a puzzled look. “But you’re not an elf nor are you from the royal line, so how…”
“Appearances are not always telling. I’m only part human, just as you are, only less so. I age as an elf, if not slower. So, your great grandfather was Dane O’Fell, the King that united all men of the Forgotten Lands under one man? I should have liked to have met him. He was a just ruler.”
“Yes. Eadon used to tell me stories of him,” Skylar said.
Zelia yawned into the back of her hand and leaned against Eragon. She fought sleep for a while before she drifted off.
Zelia woke to see Skylar staring down the side of the mountain and she thought of his bow. She shuffled through her pack and went down to sit with him.
“I believe I owe you this.”
Skylar took the bowstring with a grin. “Well, you’re just ready for anything.”
She lay back against the steep slope of the mountain and looked up at the morning’s stars. “Not everything. Some things are beyond my control.”
Skylar turned to look at her as she lay barely visible in the night’s light. “Was it my imagination, or were you not saying everything yesterday? There was something about your tone when you mentioned Alrindel.”
“I’d rather not talk about it. It haunts me enough without speaking of it.”
Skylar got up, dusting himself off. “Well, if you’re keeping watch, I’ll go help the others pack up.”
He went over to help Eragon saddle the horses, but she could still hear him.
“Need a hand?”
“What do you want, Skylar?”
“What’s Zelia not telling me about Alrindel? I asked her, but she said she’d rather not talk about it. Something tells me you know.”
“She sees his death in her dreams. The worst time was a few nights back. It’s his death that drives her. She’s determined to save him and the people of The Hold.”
“That’s a lot for someone so young to carry.”
Eragon tightened the saddle’s girth with a jerk. “That’s not even the half of it. She tries to be so strong for everyone around her, yet she’s so broken on the inside. I wish there was more I could do for her.”
Skylar slung a saddle onto the next horse. “She’s lucky to have someone like you looking out for her.”
“Someone needs to.”
Zelia walked up to them with her things packed. “I take it Eragon answered your question. Good, now, Bête Noire won’t let you ride with me again. He rather dislikes human men. So, who will lend Skylar their horse and ride with me?”
“I will.” Eragon gave Zelia a lift onto Bête Noire and hopped on behind her.
Skylar led them down the mountain since he knew the pass better than they did.
It wasn’t much longer before they reached the tree line and Skylar pulled his horse to a stop. “We have two choices. We can continue along the edge of the trees for a while and get there faster or we can take the easier path through the woods.”
She looked to Keller and Kafthry. “Are you two up for a more challenging ride?”
They slumped their shoulders. “Yeah, the faster path it is.”
They turned and headed north along the edge of the trees that crept up the side of the mountain. It was a tedious task to walk along the forest’s edge. The horses often slipped and lost their footing, but they always stayed on their feet.
; One time Bête Noire would have fallen down a ravine if a tree growing on the edge hadn’t been there to stop them.
Caught off guard by the sudden jarring motion she clung to Bête Noire’s mane.
Skylar glanced over his shoulder. “Not much farther and we’ll call it a night. Zelia, are you okay?”
She raised a shaky hand. “I’ll be fine.”
Skylar looked to Eragon for answers.
“She has shrapnel in and around her heart and lungs.”
Skylar’s gaze turned to her as a flash of pain crossed her face before she could squelch it.
“Do you need to take a break?”
She shook her head. “Wouldn’t do any good, just keep moving.”
She spit out blood as they came to a stop. Skylar’s rough exterior seemed to melt away at the sight.
“You should rest.”
“I’ll take first watch. I can’t sleep right now, anyway.” She slid from Bête Noire’s back.
“Why’s that?”
“My lungs are still bleeding. Can’t sleep until they stop or at least I shouldn’t.” She shrugged and sat beside him as he set to work starting a fire. “I thought Eadon raised you, shouldn’t you know that?”
“How long have you been like this?”
“About two years. The day after the explosion I began training with Yargo’s sons. Magic practice with Rog and swordsmanship with Terik. That’s until I moved wrong and just about collapsed.” She flipped a smooth flat rock between her fingers. “It took a while to get used to the lack of range of motion. Metal plates don’t bend all that well.”
“So, that’s why you are so good with a bow. You trained with gods.”
“No, I learned that alongside Alrindel. I wasn’t very graceful as a young child, so I worked hard to beat their best bowmen. You know, you never told me about yourself.”
Skylar stirred the fire for a long while. “I was five when Darkans killed my father in The Wild. The wolfbloods took me in for a while until the Darkans came for me. I couldn’t watch them kill all of them, so I ran. They chased me into the woods of Elyluma. Eadon was among the Elves who saved me.”