by Ethan Spears
Aoden sat up. “Wait, Reggy, the Elvish war camps are full of mages! There are five in my squad alone! She can’t walk through the camp with an amulet that won’t even hide her from mages! Which she won’t be, by the way, because there’s no chance I’m taking her with me.”
“Try and stop me,” Mergau said.
“With the state you’re in? I could do it with one hand.”
Reggy stomped his foot. “Well, excuse me for only having a few days to work on the enchantment! What with you being mister fussypants, I had to rush the job. I couldn’t even get a proper amulet to work on,” he added, indicating tarnished areas on the silver surface. “I had to nab this off a beggar.”
Aoden barked a laugh. “You stole that off a beggar? Reggy, have you no shame?”
“I used to once. No point looking for it now when it would be terribly inconvenient.”
“Can we just discuss for one moment how your idea is insane?”
“Right, here,” said Reggy, pointing and bringing the conversation back to the locket. “I’ve taken the liberty of carving instructions for a more powerful version of this illusion spell on the back that will fool almost everyone, even mages.”
“Almost everyone?” asked Mergau.
“Seers can, of course, see through illusions naturally,” he said. “I wouldn’t worry about seers, though; Elves distrust them, so I doubt you’ll find any at camp. Also, any mage more powerful than you can see through or dispel the illusion if they actively try and, as you’re currently poisoned, I think it’s safe to say they’re all more powerful than you, so don’t give them a reason to try. Wear this medallion to fool the common folk while you learn it but practice every night. The enchantment should only last a few weeks, maybe a month, so you’d best perfect it snappish. Obviously,” he added, putting his hand up to stall Mergau’s rising question, “you can’t actually use the magic at the moment, what with the poison in your blood and all, but if you practice the motions and the words, you should be able to perform it perfectly the first time it’s needed. I’d suggest waiting no less than six days before making an attempt, risking four only if you absolutely have to.”
“Hold on, you’re saying a lot, and you’re saying it very fast,” she said.
Reggy ticked the items off on his fingers. “Wear this, start practicing, don’t try the spell for six days, don’t get spotted by mages until you master the spell, and don’t give mages a reason to be suspicious of you. Got that?”
Mergau nodded.
“You could’ve said it that way the first time,” remarked Aoden.
“But that’s so boring.”
“We need to discuss this, Reggy,” Aoden began. “There are a thousand problems—”
Reggy put up a hand. “I’ll hear no more dissent from you. The choice is up to the lady. I too would suggest against this action—”
“Then why are you giving her the amulet, you little liar?”
“—but for entertainment purposes, I will not try to dissuade you.”
“Wasuku, please give me the strength to strangle my friend.”
“And I’ve already made my decision,” Mergau said. “I will be following you whether you want me to or not, so you may as well cooperate.”
Aoden sighed deeply. “I’m not stopping you, am I?” She gave him a determined shake of her head. “In that case, we may as well get some sleep. We’ll be off early tomorrow, before Reggy gets up.”
Mergau uncrossed her legs and jumped down from her chair, passing into her room and closing the door with no further comment. Aoden sat down and rubbed his eyes. When he stopped, he found Reggy staring.
“Is there something the matter?” he asked.
“Yes,” said Reggy matter-of-factly. “I wholly expected you to put up more of a fight about it.”
“I tried, but you wouldn’t even let me get a word in edgewise.”
“Please,” said Reggy. “I know you. If you were really opposed to the idea, you’d have put up a big ol’ fight with crying and flailing, but you caved-in too easily. You’d never give up just because I told you to, so clearly—and this is hard for me to believe because the idea is as insane as you suggested—you actually agreed with my idea.”
“Then why did you even bother suggesting it?” Aoden asked testily as he began changing into his bedclothes.
“Because it’s hilarious! Just think of the stories you’ll have to tell afterward!” He wiped the smile from his face and took on a serious tone. “But also, it really is the best option, even if it sounds terrible. If there are more orcs tracking her, the trail leads here. I may know about the Gelta blade, but my knowledge of those who use them is essentially non-existent; for all we know, there are a dozen more waiting on the outskirts of town for some sign of her or her assassin. The best course of action is getting out of town—for a while, anyway. I’ll take a little vacation, invite my neighbors, just in case, and you sneak off with her. They’ll never suspect she’s traveling in the company of an elf. We can’t simply abandon a weakened woman in the woods so, as far as I can see, this plan is the best we have to keep her safe.”
“It would be far safer for her to travel with you than with me,” Aoden insisted. “You have your illusions. You can just hide with her.”
“I see them both as highly dangerous options, but the situation warrants choosing one and her going with you seems best to me. Elves may have more mages, but halflings are a hundred times more suspicious; if she comes with me, we might be able to avoid running into as many people, but those we do are more likely to check her for illusions. And again, I don’t know what her hunters are capable of. They may be swarming with seers. My illusions might mean nothing and, if that’s the case, I can’t protect her. You know me, Aoden, I’ve never used my magic to fight. You can actually defend her. At the very least, the orcs will never think to search in the Elvish camps. That’s how I’d hide.”
“But it will also be dangerous for me.”
Reggy shrugged. “It’s a dangerous situation. Someone is going to have to be put in peril, whether you, me, or her, and I know if the choice comes down to you and someone else, you’ll choose yourself every time. Besides,” he chuckled, “since when has your life being in danger stopped you from doing what you thought was right? Just last week, you threw yourself at a blood-raged orc to save a woman you didn’t know who was of a race you openly distrust. Now, you can barely tolerate her, yet I don’t doubt you would do it again tomorrow if it were necessary.”
“Damn you, Reggy,” said Aoden, trying to think of some other option or somewhere Reggy’s logic was flawed, knowing it was a pointless endeavor. Eventually, he sagged in defeat. “I’ve got nothing. The best I can come up with is, ‘what does it matter to us if she’s hunted down?’ but I can’t honestly make that argument anymore.”
Reggy smirked. “Oh? So, you’re finally concerned about her well-being? What made you change your tune?”
Aoden considered the question. Reggy waited patiently, turning the amulet over in his hand with nervous energy. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “You were right to chastise me for being cold towards her plight since she’s clearly an intelligent person, but more than that, being around her these past few days, I feel sort of responsible for her safety. I mean, I can imagine you in a scenario without your magic. You would be completely ruined.”
“I think ‘ruined’ is a bit of an exaggeration—I can shin-kick with the best of them—but it’s not just that, right? I mean, the idea is pretty crazy; even I can see that, and I’m the crazy person who thought it up.”
Aoden was silent a moment. “I also can’t be like them. I can’t let blind bigotry control me.”
Aoden did not elaborate, but Reggy knew who he meant.
After a pause, Aoden said, “I admit I’m curious about orcs. I’ve never spoken to one in an environment where we weren’t trying to kill each other and everything I’ve learned throughout my education—whether from the humans, elves, or my self-studies�
��is dramatically off base. Did you know they don’t all worship Kenta?”
“I was the one who told you that,” the halfling pointed out.
“He’s the god that created the orcs,” Aoden continued, “the one whose body was used as a model for them! The idea that there are orcs who don’t follow his orders is alien to me; intriguing, yes, but alien.”
“Well, goblins also follow Kenta, and Kenta hates goblins. The world is full of weird little quirks, isn’t it? Giants are hunted to near extinction by races a tenth their size, dwarves have struck deals with dragons, humans still pay homage to the gods that condemned them to die. If there’s anything that doesn’t surprise me anymore, it’s how the world keeps finding ways to surprise me. I’m just happy to see that the spark of curiosity in you hasn’t died completely.”
“Look, just because I don’t study—”
“Blah blah blah don’t care,” said Reggy. “Rather, just be careful. I fully endorse people doing stupid things to satiate their curiosity—because gods know that’s how I got where I am—but I doubt the elves will be so understanding. Sneaking an orcish woman into their camp will be hilariously ironic, but don’t get yourself hung, alright?”
“Words to live by,” Aoden said dryly, though partly because his mouth had gone completely dry.
Reggy clapped him on the shoulder and hopped down from his chair. “I won’t be seeing you for a while, so take care, yeah? Now gimme a hug.”
“I’m not hugging a halfling,” Aoden said.
“Yeah, I gotcha,” said Reggy, “but you didn’t have to say it like that.” He breathed, pulsing his magic outwards. His illusion cracked and faded, and in the blink of an eye, Reggy the halfling was gone, and in his place stood a middle-aged, dark-haired human. He held his arms out and gave Aoden the wicked grin he always did after he revealed one of his tricks, then wrapped his arms around the half-elf. “Take care, Aoden. Don’t wait so long between visits, okay? I missed you.”
“It’s not like I have a lot of other friends to visit, Tommy. You’re the only one who made it.”
Thomas the human held Aoden at arm’s length. “But I’m here. We’re here. Someone made it, and that’s what’s important.”
Aoden chuckled. “And you’ve been hiding so long, you practically are a real halfling.”
Tommy smiled. “That’s all part of the illusion.”
Chapter 15
Lesson and Deceit
Bringing her… Why did I ever agree to this? What kind of idiot am I?
They had already reached the edge of his battalion’s camp, taking three days to cross that distance. They avoided all elven cities, roughly following the same path he had taken since camped at Handock. Without wagons, tents, and an army, they crossed in one day the same distance it had taken the battalion three camp shifts to cover.
Traveling with Mergau was difficult in many ways, even ignoring that she was weak. She was still aggressive towards him and wouldn’t accept his offers to support her, so progress was slow and tense. It was strange knowing that he was traveling with an orc, the foe the elven army was now preparing for war against. Granted, she looked like an elf when she wore the amulet, but that only made things stranger. He would have found this situation inconceivable a week ago.
Following him… Have I gone mad? What can I even do now?
Mergau was cloaked and obscured even more than when she arrived at Oakwillow Pines. The three of them agreed that even with the amulet, the fewer people that saw her, the better. Nevertheless, she was a shivering, frightened mess; she had plainly stated that she was following the Elf simply because saying any more would have resulted in terror vomit. She had to find a way to not only slay the Elf in a camp full of elves and then escape alive, but she then had to somehow cross back over the mountain, find her clan, and convince them that she had not murdered Ezma. Right now, she wasn’t sure how she was going to check off the first item on that list, much less all in flawless succession. She didn’t want her spirit to wander the world forever. That sounded like a horrible fate.
The two of them walked mostly in silence. Aoden wanted to know about her people and her ways, an urge to question and learn that hadn’t been this strong in years, but they were both too nervous to talk. On those rare occasions when they did speak, it was to determine when to stop or eat or sleep.
When they paused for the night, Mergau would tentatively focus her magic until she felt the pain again. She had hoped to regain her powers before they reached the camp so that her rashness wouldn’t wind up getting her killed, but that wasn’t going to happen. It had barely been two weeks since the stabbing after all, too soon for the poison to disperse, but it was aggravating to have her powers locked away. She hadn’t studied for all those months just for this nonsense.
Odd as it sounded, she also wished the Elf would be more of a bastard. She could stoke her rage when he was the rude and arrogant ass he acted in Reggy’s home, but he was considerably less abrasive now that they were alone in the wilds. Even when she let her ire bubble up into insults, he didn’t respond in kind, opting to change the subject or ignore the outburst. She figured his nerves were as frayed as hers, but it was easier to stay focused on her mission when he was an uncaring monster.
They were hunkering down around a campfire for the final night when Aoden decided it was time they discussed how they would go about keeping their heads despite having lost their minds.
“You’ll be staying in my personal tent,” he said. “Elves can be light on their feet, but they have no reason to move quietly in camp, so you should hear anyone approaching for some distance. Just keep your ears open for movement and duck under a blanket or something if someone comes. Stupid question, but you don’t speak Elvish, do you?”
Mergau shook her head with an amount of disgust Aoden found irksome. The illusion that Reggy had crafted was flawless, which wasn’t a surprise, but the face he had chosen was achingly beautiful by elven standards. The amulet hid her brutish features behind soft white skin, a delicate nose, full lips, eyes a bright shade of green that could only be described as ‘startling,’ and long, lustrous, light-brown hair. The problem was that a scowl on an orc was something Aoden could dismiss offhand, but having a beautiful woman constantly glaring at him was really damaging to his ego.
“No one should talk to you, but if anyone does, just act shy. Elves don’t typically speak Krik so it would be best to only speak to me in private. Don’t do anything that might draw attention to you. We should probably have some sort of warning signal.” He thought for a moment. “There shouldn’t be any need for the word ‘sandglass,’ so if you hear me say ‘sandglass,’ just run.”
Mergau cradled her head. “Why am I doing this?” she said aloud to herself. Of all the foolish things she had done, this was the first time she understood it as foolish in time to stop herself, yet she couldn’t bring herself to stop. She could easily give some excuse and slip off into the woods, never to return, but the Elf was right there and would move on without her, once again lost beyond the reach of her vengeance. Danger was behind, but danger was also ahead, and it wasn’t like she could return to Ezma’s anymore. She chose to keep moving. “This is so stupid.”
Aoden nodded in agreement. “Very. It’s also exciting, in a way.”
“Only in the way plummeting from a cliff is exciting.”
Aoden chuckled morbidly but couldn’t disagree.
***
Going through the camp was simply the worst.
Aoden was sweating bullets as he supported Mergau on the way to the camp. She had grown so tired from their days of travel that she could barely walk on her own. Despite how much she despised having the Elf clutching onto her like he was, they were too close to stop and rest without being stumbled upon (according to him). That, and she was getting tired of wearing her disguise. Aoden couldn’t understand why looking like an elf irritated her so much when she couldn’t see herself and would see through the illusion even if she could, but her mood
was sour enough without him riling her further.
Reggy had gifted Mergau with her outfit: a jerkin over a long-sleeved undershirt and knee-length trousers, traveling gloves and knee-high boots, a hooded cloak, and several shawls, all green, all cut and fashioned in such a way that none would look out of place on an elf. Why Reggy even had this clothing readily at hand was beyond guessing, but they reckoned that even should some part of her body slip out of her all-concealing getup, anyone with the talent to see through the illusion would mistake her skin for more green cloth. So long as no one got close enough to notice the trick, they would be fine.
They made their way deeper into the camp using the messenger alleys. They got a few looks from passing messengers, but the elves offered no help with the limping, hooded figure, either because they didn’t want anything to do with the half-elf supporting her, or because they didn’t want to interfere with an officer without his leave.
Mergau felt like the world was closing in on all sides. She felt the hostility growing all around her. Every step was taking her deeper into enemy territory. Once more she was questioning the judgment of this decision, but it was too late to have any regrets. Turning back was impossible. She wanted to look up and search for escape routes for when the time came, but she was too terrified to risk even the tiniest hint of her face to passers-by.
She jolted when Aoden inhaled to speak.
“It’s just me,” he said. He indicated ahead of them with his finger. “The camp is just through that stand of trees. Do you see it?”
She chanced a look. No one could see her from the front except for the elves in the camp, but the view was so cluttered by trees it was unlikely they would. “I see it.”
“And do you see the big tent off to the side there? That’s where we’re headed. It’s a straight shot. Unless I say otherwise, just keep walking. You should be safe inside the tent. No one enters without my permission. We’re both idiots for doing this,” he added. Mergau nodded.