by Toni Cox
The palace shook again with a light attack of dark magic. Servants and soldiers ran through the corridors; all on some errand. All too busy to notice me.
Still, I kept to the edge of the upper corridor, pressing myself against the ivy that clung to the wall. When I descended the wide marble staircase that led to the lower floors, I hid behind the flowing trellises as I went down.
There was pandemonium in the stable complex. Warriors rushed everywhere, getting their horses ready, and I didn’t need to worry about being seen.
It gave me an idea, though, and I dashed in and stole an officer’s coat which he had draped over a hay bale while he was busy with his horse.
The jacket was too big for me, but I slipped into it with my bag underneath it, before making my way to the private part of the stable complex where the royal horses were kept.
The moon had already risen and shone a bright light on the yard outside, which too, was as busy as the stable complex.
Lapis Lazuli, my snow-white Arabian mare, whinnied when she saw me. Curious, Lorelei stuck her head over her stable door and also whinnied when she saw me.
Smiling, I approached the horses. For once, things turned out the way I planned.
It didn’t take me long to saddle them both and lead them out of their stalls. Riders left the yard in twos and threes, gathering further down on the training field.
I joined them to exit the yard and then left them where the road turned towards the city. The city’s lights seemed too bright, and I rode in shadow as much as I could.
With the elves on the eastern side, the side I had come in from, I decided to leave through the western gate. I was half-way there when a thought crossed my mind.
What if I had led the elves to Draeguard? During my entire journey since I’d left Draeguard, I had been waylaid, followed, captured, or gotten into some kind of trouble.
Yet, on my way home, alone, from escaping the elven house, I had travelled unmolested. It seemed more plausible that the elves orchestrated my safe passage, than simple good fortune.
How else would they have been able to find Draeguard so quickly, what with the charms around the city? I led them right to it. I showed them the way.
Lazuli shook her head as I pulled her to a halt. I had to go back and tell my father. The horses’ hoofs rang on the cobbled road as I turned them, then I halted again.
Telling my father about it would not change anything. It would only delay me getting to Thomas. I would just have to be more careful the way I travelled.
Doors and windows banged shut around me as the citizens of Draeguard hid within their houses. Messengers rode along the streets, spreading the news.
They would have locked and secured the western gate by now. I turned my mare’s head down a wide street leading back towards the palace. It forked not far up the road, and I followed it to the left.
There was a gate to the north of the city. The king’s gate. It was the king’s private gate, used when he travelled unofficially ~ like when we went riding together in the forests.
It would also be locked. One gate on each side of the mile-long tunnel, but I hoped to be able to blast those open. They were also guarded, but I would deal with those guards once I got there.
The streets became quieter, the closer I came to the gate. The area around the gate was for grain storage and trade goods, and no-one lived there. Now that no-one was working, it was deserted.
The sounds of the city dulled. We left most of the street lights behind us, giving me the shadows I had wanted earlier, but in this eerie silence, the shadows did not seem as friendly.
Soon, all I heard were the horses’ hoof beats on the cobbles. Even the horses now spooked at the shadows, sidestepping and throwing their heads. My only consolation was the fact that we didn’t have much further to go.
All we needed to do was convince the guards to let us go through, or we needed to stun the guards and force our way through. The guards would have torches, so we could have light to pass through the tunnel.
It sounded easy enough in my head. I had stunned the elf with my blue magic without causing him any lasting harm, and I had hit him with all the power I had, along with ill intent.
After my success with the magic in the courtyard, I felt more positive about my abilities. Maybe, I could control it, after all; I just needed to believe I could. I also needed to have enough energy for it.
I looked ahead through the darkness. A streetlight illuminated the narrow street every hundred yards or so ~ only shadows in between.
Lazuli raised her head, her motion suddenly jerky. Both horses had their attention fixed forward, staring ahead at something I could not see. I patted my mare’s neck, whispering to her.
“Probably a cat.”
Lazuli snorted softly.
We rode on, but the horses did not relax. It disturbed me, and I decided not to take their warning lightly ~ not after everything that had happened to me lately.
The light ahead strengthened as the additional light from the king’s gate came into view. It spread a pool of yellow light across the road, and I could clearly see that the ornate iron gate stood open.
That was strange. I rode closer. The horses hesitated. I halted.
I took a closer look at the scene ahead of me, while at the same time manoeuvring the horses deeper into shadow.
At the edge of the pool of light lay a lump. I could only identify it by the colour of its guard’s uniform. Searching, I soon found another lump like it, a bit further on.
Two dead guards. The horses pulled restlessly on their reins. I shivered. Something else was wrong.
A familiar sound had me turn to the right. Softly whispered words, not close, barely audible. Elf magic, like the one the female elf had used, but this was a man’s voice.
I heard another sound. To the left. When I looked back to the gate, two elves walked through it.
I swallowed hard. The elves were in the city.
Chapter 17
My blood turned to ice. I sat frozen on my horse, watching the elves walk casually across the open space between the gate and the warehouses opposite. Another three elves soon followed.
Dark elves in Draeguard! And, they had killed the guards.
Dressed all in black, I could barely see them once they stepped out of the light of the streetlamp, but I could tell they headed towards the sound of the whispered magic.
Another two elves followed the first five shortly after, moving the dead guards into the flower beds before crossing over to where the others had gone.
I waited a while longer, wondering if there would be more of them. When nothing happened for five minutes, and the whispering ceased, I decided that no more were coming and the others had moved on.
With resentment, I turned the horses. I had come so far, and now I needed to go back. If only I knew how many more had made it through that gate besides the seven I had seen.
One thing was for sure, though ~ the king needed to be warned. I could not leave without letting someone know what I had seen.
Once I thought myself to be out of earshot of those warehouses, I urged the horses to a canter. Their hooves rang on the cobbled road, and I could only hope the elves didn’t hear me.
The road that had taken me nearly half an hour on my way there took me barely ten minutes to get back. I galloped straight into the stableyard, causing some excitement amongst the soldiers still present there.
“I need a captain,” I shouted, jumping off Lazuli. “Is there a captain here?”
A handsome man in a captain’s uniform stepped through the archway into the stableyard at the commotion outside. He glowered at me, but I had no time for his displeasure.
“I have an urgent message for Captain Jared. There are assassins within the walls. The king needs to be warned.”
As quickly as I could, I told him what I’d seen. The man’s brows furrowed deeper the more I told him.
“Are you sure they killed the guards?”
; “Yes.” Urgh, why did he keep asking questions?
“And they have a sorcerer with them?”
“Yes, please, hurry.”
The captain hesitated, regarding me with a measuring glance, and I thought for a moment that he didn’t believe me, but then he uttered his orders to his men with urgency. Relieved, I left him to it.
Lazuli pranced on the spot as I tried to get back into the saddle ~ I’d infected her with my panic. I stood still for a moment, calming myself. It would do no good if both of us had a hot head.
She eventually calmed enough for me to get on. I rode away with my two mares under the curious glances of the assembled warriors.
Having wasted too much time already, I rode back to the gate at a steady trot. Only when I got close, did I slow down again and approached with caution. I saw no elves.
I saw no torches, either. If there had been torches, then the elves must have taken them. The tunnel loomed black and foreboding ahead of me.
It didn’t only scare me, but the horses, as well. They baulked at the sight of the dark cavern, snorting restlessly and refusing to go forward. I put my hand on Lazuli’s neck to reassure her, but it didn’t help.
The horses’ stomping and snorting would soon alert someone if I didn’t get them out of there quickly. I needed light. Holding up my hand, I let the blue glow spread from it.
At least this I could control with ease. Making my palms glow had never been difficult. From the moment that magic started, this had been easy.
With the way ahead lit, the horses stepped into the tunnel. They still trembled and snorted uneasily, but eventually settled down.
I didn’t remember the tunnel to be as long as this ride felt, but then I had never ridden it during the night.
Although the way forward was lit by my blue glow, the darkness pressing at my back sent shivers along my body. The urge to gallop through the tunnel became stronger the longer it took.
I imagined all sorts of things in the dark. Creatures I’d read about in stories. My mind spiralled downwards, driving me to the verge of tears.
Sounds amplified in the tunnel. Monsters scuttled about in the blackness beyond. Sharp teeth and slimy tongues reached out to get me.
I turned and sent a blast of blue energy behind me. It illuminated the tunnel in dazzling blue light. Not a monster in sight.
Great. Now the magic shoots from my hand. Where was it when the elves captured us? I shook, a sob escaping my throat.
A different sound made me look ahead. Urgent male voices drifted down the tunnel. Quickly, I extinguished my light but instantly regretted it.
With eyes like saucers, I stared into the darkness. Could elves see in the dark? The horses froze, refusing to move forward without seeing. The voices stopped, but I could now hear footsteps.
My heart thudded in my chest. The urge to turn around and flee grabbed me, and it took all my willpower to resist it ~ I had come too far to give up now.
The men ahead of me raised their voices in alarm. They could see in the dark! They’d seen me; it was now or never.
I raised both hands in front of me, palms facing forward. I thought only of Thomas and what would happen to him if I failed.
The push of energy that flew from my hand sent a shockwave of blue light through the tunnel at such speed that it threw the three elves that had been approaching flat to the ground.
I had no time to check to see if they got up, or if they were still alive. Lazuli sprang forward in a great leap, nearly unseating me. Lorelei threw her head, yanking on the rein, almost dislocating my shoulder.
I clung on, stunned by my own blast, and then put my heels to my horse, and dragged Lorelei along with us.
We flew down the rest of the tunnel at breakneck speed and left the darkness, the monsters, and the elves behind us.
The fresh, crisp air outside smacked me in the face after the dank air of the confined space of the tunnel.
We raced up a short embankment, and I then kept the horses to a fast canter until we crested the rise that would lead us back to the main road.
From there, I could see specks of orange zooming through the night sky above the city. Flaming arrows. The battle had begun.
I knew how long Draeguard could last in a siege, especially with the charms around it that protected it. It was the elves within the city that worried me. Hopefully, that captain managed to get the message through to Jared and my father.
Skirting around the city, I found my way back to the road that led to Clover Hill. I had to take a roundabout way, because the elven army now occupied most of the area.
Once I was on the road, I set the horses to an easy trot that they could maintain for a good distance. Even at night, the forest remained friendlier than the tunnel, by far.
Owls and other nighttime creatures gave a voice to the forest, and I let my fae magic spread from me, letting the animals know I meant them no harm. At least, in this forest, most things did not bear me ill will.
The faint glow from my right hand spread only far enough for the horses to see where they were going. I didn’t want to attract any unfriendly attention.
Between walking and trotting, we made it to the edge of Clover Hill by noon the next day. I found a narrow, overgrown forest path next to a river close to the town, and halted there to let the horses drink and rest.
It would do no good to ride the horses into the ground. They needed rest, just as I did. I took two apples from my bag, shared one between the horses, and ate the other.
While they grazed, I rested beneath the trees. I’d been awake all night, and I just needed to close my eyes. Not sleep, just rest. I couldn’t be careless now.
The rhythmic chomping of the horses and the soft gurgling of the river soon had me drifting off into sleep, and I had to fight myself. Sitting up straighter against the tree, I forced my eyes open again.
The horses still grazed peacefully. I knuckled my eyes.
***
Lapis Lazuli snorted, and I startled awake.
I cursed myself. Scrambling to my feet, I went to stand next to the two mares to see what had spooked Lazuli.
Still some way down the overgrown forest path, a group of riders approached. I couldn’t be sure from my position, but it looked to be at least twenty horses.
My stomach knotted, and the blood drained from my face when I thought I recognised them as elves. Sunlight glinted off metal ~ probably warriors. Again, I couldn’t be sure, but I wasn’t going to take that chance.
I wasted no time, but quickly retied the bags to the horses and swung myself into the saddle. I had to guide them up a steep embankment so we could ride deeper into the trees on the other side.
We had not been on the path, but under some trees next to the river. Hopefully, that meant the elves had not seen us.
The forest here did not have the brambly undergrowth of Raven Hall. I could ride between the trees even off the path and still make good time. Soon, I could not see the trail, or the riders, at all.
I was just starting to hope when I heard the sound of horses moving through the trees behind me. My heart bounced in my chest.
When I looked back, I saw two dark riders on dark horses moving through the trees. My hope faded.
Branches whipped in my face as we crashed through the trees. I let the horses pick their own way lest they stumbled, but urged them to greater speed.
I hoped that whoever was after me was hunting fae in general, and would give up the chase if I could outrun them long enough. Surely they would not ride too far from their troop.
If, however, I had been recognised, the situation could be dire, but I doubted it; the distance had been too far, and I had not been directly in their path.
The trees thinned up ahead, and I pushed the horses towards it. A shout from behind made me turn around to look. They had caught up, but not enough for me to recognise them.
I turned my head back to the front. Searing pain shot through my mouth, and I grabbed the mare’s mane to
stay in the saddle.
Spitting blood, I leaned forward over her neck, cursing the branch that had whacked me in the face. Blood dribbled on Lazuli’s white neck, spotting it with red.
Ducking under another branch, we crashed through the last of the trees and broke free. The road lay open and straight ahead of us.
We startled a farmer with his vegetable cart and sprinted away at a gallop without looking back, the horses’ hooves drumming a steady rhythm on the hard sand of the road.
My mouth throbbed with every step the horse took. I kept swallowing my blood, the salty, metallic taste making me gag.
I didn’t dare wipe at it, not at this speed. The horses ran full tilt; I asked them for everything they had ~ urging them on with my body and sending waves of hazy-white fae magic their way.
The road curved, and for a short while, I could not see the riders following me. When the road entered another forest, I thought it could be my opportunity to hide before they came into sight again.
We dashed under the treeline at the same time that the riders behind us came into view. I heard the shout go up as they spotted me.
The light dimmed under the trees, and it took a moment for my eyes to adjust. We were on a narrow path with pine trees left and right, imbuing their scent on the forest.
The sandy path meant heavier going for the horses. They soon laboured through the sand, breathing heavy. Their speed declined.
The path meandered through the pine forest, and I couldn’t see more than two hundred feet ahead of me before there was another bend.
I pushed the horses harder, hoping to slip into the forest after one of the bends, but the elves had caught up, remaining within sight of me around every bend.
One of the elves yelled again, and I thought I heard my name. With the sound of the horses in my ears, I could have been mistaken, but it still left me feeling like I’d been drenched with a bucket of ice water.
I chanced a glance backwards. Darven’s grimace glaring at me over his horse’s neck had me yelling at Lazuli in panic.
The poor horses ploughed onwards. Another corner loomed ahead. I pushed them towards it. Hope faded and the elves gained with every step.