by Zora Marie
“Great.” Rogath sulked up the hill and swordsmanship practice went on as usual, with Rogath being instructed on the same thing over and over again. As he settled back into his routine, he rebuilt the wall that blocked her from his mind.
“Rogath. No, please don’t block me out. I’m sorry...” she felt his anger rise, and she changed tactics. “Please, I’ll be quiet, just don’t shut me out.”
Her view of what he saw grew fuzzy, and she was back in the tent. Tears had streamed down her cheeks in her sleep, and Linithion wiped them away.
“You okay?” Linithion asked, and Zelia shrank away from her.
She began pulling her boots on as she shook her head. She wasn’t ready to let Linithion in, she wasn’t sure she ever would be, but she didn’t want to hurt her either.
“What are you doing?” Linithion asked.
“It’ll be getting light out soon. We should get ready to go. If we push, we should only have to spend one more night in their territory.”
“Wait, please tell me what’s wrong.”
“I saw Rogath, that’s what’s wrong. He blocked me out again, but I can still feel his hatred.”
“He just needs time to work through it.”
“You don’t get it. I almost killed his parents. Even if he forgave me, he’d never be able to trust me. I’m a threat to everyone I get close to.”
She cinched her belt around her waist and ducked outside. There were still a good number of wolves and people about. Men sat around a small fire across from their tent. They exchanged words and one of them walked off. Zelia took a deep breath and pushed her emotions to the side, realizing they were not all her own. As she did, she realized how she had lashed out at Linithion was wrong of her, and she sighed as she waited for the princess to come out of the tent.
“Linithion, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have lashed out like that.”
“It’s alright, I know you’re struggling right now.”
“That’s still no excuse,” Zelia said and went to Alrindel and Skylar’s tent. “You two ready to go?”
“Give Skylar a minute,” Alrindel said as he left his tent.
“Where is Nikolas?”
“He’s around here somewhere,” Skylar said from inside.
“Not trying to leave without me, are ya?” Nikolas asked.
“Ready to leave? It’s not even light out yet,” Banon said as he and Nikolas came from the direction the man from the campfire had gone.
“No, we’re not leaving without you, Nikolas,” Zelia said, “but we need to get going.”
“Which one of you is the leader here?” Banon asked, the tiniest hint of amusement in his tone.
“Alrindel, Skylar, and I have all led men in war, and as family, none of us is above the other.”
“Yet you speak for them.” He stared at her with a smile.
“Trust me, they take turns,” Nikolas said, “You can tell they grew up with Elves and not a pack.”
“Alright, well, I’ll show you to your horses.” As Banon walked, he continued, “I sent out runners to let the others know that your group may pass. If anyone attacks you then they’re not one of us and I suggest you kill them.” Banon’s words made Zelia catch in her stride and he glanced at her. “Don’t have a problem with that, do you?”
“I don’t enjoy killing, but it seems that’s all I ever do.”
“If all it takes is one battle—”
“I wish that’s all it were.” The picket line came into view, and she pushed those thoughts aside. The horses were in a makeshift pen, a single line of rope keeping them in. With a few twists of the knot, she let the rope drop. “Come on Bête Noire, it’s time to head out.”
“Good, I think I like regular wolves better.” He snorted at Banon.
“I still find it strange that you can speak that language. Even we only hear it when in wolf form.”
“Do you still understand it when you hear it spoken now?” she asked as she climbed onto Bête Noire.
“Yes, we learn it like any other language. How did you learn it?”
“She was speaking to animals before she could walk, I doubt she remembers,” Alrindel said.
Zelia paused, thinking about the language she had always known. I learned it from the birds, but when? She shook her head. It didn’t much matter anymore.
“Well, we must be going. Thank you for everything.”
Banon nodded. “Be careful!” he called after them.
~
To Zelia’s surprise, they didn’t meet any others on their way and came to the outskirts of the Drakeon Empire without further incident.
“Where are the guards?” Alrindel asked no one in particular.
“Erolith and Banon have an agreement, so they’ve slacked off on patrols through here. I’m surprised you didn’t know that,” Skylar said.
“Well, I have been busy with Darkans lately.”
“Um, the agreement has been in place since Banon took over the pack, when Skylar was little,” Linithion said.
“How do you know that?” Zelia asked.
“Father says that a good ruler must know as much as he can, and that includes the agreements of our allies.”
“And?”
“Before I moved in with Auntie Eleanor, I had been helping Father. I did everything from writing and reading messages to giving him my opinion on different matters.”
“He’s right, but be careful who you tell that to, as not all will take kindly to you knowing so much about them,” Zelia said.
“But it’s just us.”
“You may know a lot, but you have a lot yet to learn.”
“She’s right, you know,” a high-pitched voice answered from the trees. “You do have a lot to learn, like learning to be more observant.” An Elf landed in the path ahead, his red hair falling across his shoulders. “We were not expecting you so soon, but it seems you all travel as light as Elves. Come, you can rest easy tonight.”
“Let me guess, another tree,” Nikolas groaned.
“Yes, but we have a camp on the ground for those who do not wish to climb after such a long ride.” The Elf flashed a grin and walked across the snow without a trace.
“Watch this,” Bête Noire said to the other horses. His hooves crunched in the snow and he gave a great snort behind the Elf.
“Hey! Saria and Kafthry warned me about you. Do you always let him do whatever he wants?” the Elf teased.
“Within reason. What did Saria and Kafthry warn you about and how are they?”
A shadow of worry fell over the Elf’s features, and his pace slowed. “Kafthry insisted that he is not afraid of dragons, he and my sister went away south a day ago.”
“Saria is your sister?” Zelia asked, and he nodded. “She will delay him as much as she can. Hopefully, we can catch up with them. Do you have any messenger birds here that I may use?”
“Yes, but the Darkans have been shooting our owls.”
“I’m not sending a message that direction. I need to send one to Connan asking him to meet us at the cross of the rivers. Flyx will be with him, I’ll send her to Saria if she is able.”
“Why do you want Connan to come? If the rumors are true, then the Dwarves are responsible for the dragon being there.”
“I won’t comment on the rumors, but I gave my word that I would help him and so I shall. Besides, once we’ve convinced the dragon to leave, someone needs to take up residence there if we do not want the Darkans taking it back again.”
“One Dwarf alone cannot keep the mountains.”
“He won’t be alone. He will bring James, and the others will follow once Kniteoff is gone. I hope King Erolith makes amends with Connan as he will soon be the King of the Mountains of The Old Ones.”
“And that is not for me to comment on, but we are here.” They passed
the edge of the thicket and a small fire crackled at the base of a huge tree, leaving a warm glow against the shadows of the moon. The Elf let out several hoots three short and one long like an owl, and another Elf replied. Zelia noted that several owls also replied from nearby trees.
The snow turned to steam as an Elf in the tree lowered a kettle to the ground and jumped down beside it. He picked it up and hung it above the fire. “I have heard much about you, Zelia. Saria told Starling and me many stories. As for you, Princess Linithion,” he stared at them as they slid from their horses, “King Erolith has given us special instructions for you. The others will continue on, but you must come with us.”
Linithion groaned, and Zelia put her hand on Linithion’s shoulder.
“Don’t complain, you knew he wouldn’t let you go with us. We are all traveling south for now, you’re not rid of us yet.” Seeing the defiance in Linithion’s expression, Zelia pulled her hood back. “Linithion, you know better than most why I can’t let you go with me.”
Linithion hugged her, and Zelia froze. “Don’t think that way, you may not die, but you still lose something each time,” Linithion murmured.
Zelia let out an inward sigh. “Please promise me you won’t try to follow us.”
“Fine, just try to make sure you come back to me in one piece.”
“I’ll try, but let’s forget about that for now and eat.” Zelia pulled back from her embrace and sat by the fire.
“Here.” Starling handed Zelia a steaming bowl of soup. “You know, Saria was right, you try to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders even when there are others who wish to help you.”
“Kafthry must have rubbed off on Saria as she wasn’t very talkative the last time I saw her.”
“Well, you were all walking into a battle that you never should have been able to win.”
Zelia grimaced at the memory of the foreshadowing dreams, the death Alrindel should have faced and the bodies of men, women, children, and Elves being piled by Darkans.
“Can we talk about something else, please?” she begged.
“Alright, how did passing through The Wild go?”
“Well, it went better than I expected,” Skylar said.
Loboran let out a slight laugh. “It doesn’t take much for things to go better than you expect.”
“So, you call Shika almost biting Zelia’s face off good?” Nikolas mused.
“Awe, Shika, she is a hasty little wolf,” Starling said.
“I take it you’ve crossed paths with her?” Zelia asked.
“On occasion. I’ll tell you sometime, but for the moment you should eat before your soup gets cold.”
“Great, someone else that wants to watch over me.” She smiled and took a sip of the soup and shivered as it warmed her from the inside. Alrindel grabbed her hands that were so cold she didn’t feel his touch. He glared at her.
“You’re supposed to tell us when you get cold like this.”
“It doesn’t matter, it’s not like I can get frostbite.” She pulled her hand from his and took another sip of the soup.
“Is she always like this?” Loboran asked.
“A handful? Yes.” Alrindel wrapped his arms around her. “You know that it does damage even if you do not get frostbite.”
“No, it doesn’t. Yes, I feel the shrapnel more, but as far as I know it doesn’t do any damage. And you know, it’s kind of hard to eat like this.” She pushed out against his arms that wrapped around her and stared at a spoonful of soup.
“Fine but move closer to the fire.” He rubbed her cloak-covered arms.
Closer to the flames, she found it hard to concentrate on the conversations around her, and her mind tuned everyone out. Soon, all she heard was the crackle of flames as they swayed closer and closer to her.
“Zelia. Zelia.” A tap came on her shoulder and she pried herself from the fire. It was Starling. “You wanted to send a message to Connan. We’d best do that before you fall asleep sitting upright.”
She looked down, noticing she had finished her soup without realizing it. Then Starling pulled her to her feet and climbed up the tree.
“You staying with Nikolas, Skylar?” she asked.
“Yeah, you guys go ahead.”
“Alright.” She turned and climbed up the tree after Alrindel and Linithion.
“So, what do you want your message to say?” Starling asked Zelia once she made it to the building high in the tree. It was a spacious single room home that hugged the trunk of the tree. The comfy bed and assortment of glass figurines told her this was their home, not an outpost.
“Meet the girl of mysteries at the crossing of rivers.”
Starling wrote on a thin strip of parchment as she spoke, then paused to ask, “Want any specifications of when?”
“He already knows I’m coming and by the time the message gets to him, they’ll leave just in time for us to get there about the same time. I’ve seen the maps.”
A white owl swooped down and took the little scroll.
She bit back a yawn.
“Alright. Well, get some rest so we can head out in the morning.”
This time she couldn’t hold it back and yawned into the back of her hand.
“Sounds like someone is tired,” Alrindel teased and pulled her onto a pad of fur blankets, saving her from having to turn Linithion down.
“You can take my bed, Linithion. Loboran and I will keep watch. Need anything else before I head down?”
“I think we’re set,” Alrindel’s voice reverberated through his chest as her ear rested against it. His breathing slowed and the steady beat of his heart soothed her to sleep.
11
“Come on, it’s time to get up.” Alrindel rubbed her back. “Sleep well?”
“Well enough.” She rubbed her eyes and remembered where she was. “Ready to get going?”
Starling appeared through the hole in the floor. “Oh, good. I was just coming to get you up, breakfast is ready.” Starling offered them each a hand and pulled them to their feet. “Up you go and down.” He jumped through the opening to the ground.
“If he hadn’t told me of his relation to Saria, I never would have guessed.”
“Want to race like old times?” Alrindel asked.
“Sure.” She jumped through the hole in the floor and with a few steps on branches, she landed in her spot by the fire.
“You and your head starts,” Alrindel said when he landed beside her.
“What? You said, like old times.”
“What did I miss?” Linithion asked.
“A playful sibling rivalry. Can’t you tell?” Starling asked.
“No, I don’t have siblings,” Linithion responded, “but I’m glad you get some moments of joy.”
“You know, you’re family now that Eadon and Eleanor are officially together,” Skylar said.
“What?” Starling and Loboran asked in shocked unison.
“I guess you wouldn’t have heard yet, the squirts here,” Skylar messed up their hair, “got them to make their love for each other official.”
“And then Flyx dropped a scroll at Eleanor’s feet.” Zelia flicked a dried blade of grass into the fire and watched it wither in the flames.
“That explains why we didn’t hear about it yet. It’s always business first with those two. Here.” Loboran handed her a bowl of soup and a piece of bread.
“Off to tack the horses,” Starling sang and pranced off across the snow.
“He’s full of it this morning,” Skylar said.
“That?” Loboran pointed at Starling. “No, he’s just in a good mood. You should see him when Saria gets him going.”
“Hopefully, we’ll get to see that someday.” Zelia let out an inward sigh and bit off a chunk of soup-soaked bread. She could tell that Starling was acting norma
l, for him at least, but she felt there might be a hint of a plan to cheer others up beneath his actions.
“We will, you have to be optimistic.” Alrindel gave her a nudge.
“Yeah.”
She sopped up the last of her soup with the piece of bread. With one last bite, she got up and went after Starling. He may be unlike anyone else she had ever met, but she wasn’t sure Bête Noire would behave himself.
“Afraid I’d get trampled by Bête Noire?” Starling asked.
“Hm? Oh.” She stopped and stared at Bête Noire eating out of Starling’s hand. “Looks like I don’t need to worry.”
“Well come on, don’t just stand there. Let’s get going so maybe you guys can catch up with Saria and Kafthry.” Starling’s smile faltered as he gave her a boost onto Bête Noire.
With Zelia on her horse, Starling led the other horses to their group and happily ushered them into motion. It wasn’t long until they set out again, this time with Starling and Loboran walking at their sides. Starling sang and skipped across the snow ahead of them, Loboran smiling at his antics. It was some time before Zelia’s mind began to wander.
Kafthry, how could he be so stupid? I told him how different the dragons on the mainland are from those of Dragon Island.
“Zelia,” a voice broke through her thoughts, “come on, sing with us!”
“Wait, she sings?” Nikolas mocked.
“Quite beautifully if I may say so myself,” Alrindel said. “Come on, it’ll help get your mind off Kafthry.”
“That obvious?” she asked.
“Mmhm, now come on, what should you sing? Ah, I know!” He started to hum, and the song flooded back to her.
She started slow at first, then the song took off at its rightful pace.
The leaves blow with the wind,
Spreading color through the air.
To and fro the leaves blow
Following the wind
Wherever it may go.
Birds raise their wings
And into the air they go,
To fly to and fro
Following the wind
Wherever it may go.
The owl hoots his call,