His boots hissed across the floor as he moved to stand over her. “Do you care to answer my questions again, honestly now?”
She squinted at him as the burning receded from her lungs. “What was the question again?”
“Shadowmarsh. What do you remember of it?”
Was this man utterly mad? Perhaps his foul magic had corrupted his mind. “I remember beaches, and mist, and marshes, and my mother’s mutilated body.” She forced herself to her feet. “I believe your father was responsible for that.”
He laughed. “Now that’s more like it. What else do you remember?”
She blinked at him. “That’s it. I was young when I was forced to leave, and you know exactly why I left. What more is there to tell?”
He began to pace. Even when his back was turned, she didn’t bother trying to escape. He’d simply crush her again, and she wanted to avoid that. “Did you know that the Faerune elves amplify their magic with gemstones, moonstones in particular?” He turned toward her.
“Uh, yes? I suppose I’ve heard that.”
“And the Dreilore,” he continued, resuming his pacing, “are as great in magic as the elves. What amplifies their natural gifts?”
She blinked at him. “Um . . . metals?”
He nodded. “Very good. The elves have their gems, and the Dreilore their metals. Their magic comes from the earth.” He stopped pacing again. “But you,” he gestured to her, “you have greater magic than either race, but where does it come from?”
She crossed her arms to hide their trembling. “I could ask you the same question.”
He grinned, though it didn’t reach his cool, apathetic eyes. “Yes, you could ask, but you can’t make me tell you. I’m going to make you tell me.”
“Well good luck with that,” she scoffed, “considering I have no idea. There are no mines in Shadowmarsh, or any of the old Arthali provinces. We don’t have gems or metals.”
He frowned. “Stupid girl. You possess great magics, yet know nothing about them?”
“Well maybe if my mother hadn’t been murdered she could have taught me more.”
“Never mind,” he sighed. “We’ll simply have to figure it out ourselves.” He spread his feet apart. “Now, attack.”
She blinked at him for a moment, then drew her cutlass. He wasn’t going to have to ask her twice. She summoned fire to her blade, then whipped it through the air, flinging it at him.
A lick of flame hit him in the chest, then dissipated. He didn’t so much as flinch.
With a growl of frustration, she summoned more flame, letting it grow in strength before flinging it his way.
Just like the first attack, it faded, leaving the emperor utterly unscathed. Anyone else would have suffered severe burns.
He tilted his head. “What else do you have? I know Rissine can summon lightning. Can you?”
She glared at him, unwilling to admit she couldn’t summon lightning indoors.
“Weaker than your sister after all,” he sighed. “Oh well, attack me with all that you have, and do it quickly, I’ve got things to do.”
Her eyes widened. He truly was insane. She had to think of another tactic, lest he make her attack him until she was completely drained and defenseless.
Thunder crackled outside, bringing with it the scent of rain.
Egrin grinned. “So you do have lightning.” He widened his stance a bit more, bracing himself.
Should she tell him it was simply a storm moving in?
Suddenly the door handle across the room crackled with blue electricity. She and Egrin watched as it intensified, then the door burst open. Elmerah caught a flash of a figure standing outside, then lightning hit Egrin in the chest, flinging him aside.
“Run!” Rissine shouted, as she rushed in through the door.
She hit Egrin with another bolt of lightning while he was down, the impact sliding him across the floor and into the wall. Even so, he quickly got to his knees.
Elmerah ran out the door into the drizzling rain as Rissine filled the small shack with electricity. Out in the street, she hesitated.
“Run!” Rissine shouted again as she charged out the door, framed in crackling blue light.
Elmerah ran.
The rain increased, soon soaking her clothing. Rissine ran at her side, her boots seeming to thud in time with the thunder.
“What in Ilthune is going on!” Elmerah rasped as they ran.
“Keep running,” Rissine hissed. “I’ll explain once we’re safe.”
Elmerah flung herself forward into a blind sprint, wanting to achieve as much distance as quickly as possible, though she heard no sound of pursuit. Long moments passed until they outran Rissine’s storm and stumbled into an alleyway to catch their breath.
Hunched over with hands on knees, Elmerah looked to her sister, in the same position. “Now,” she panted, “will you tell me what in the name of Ilthune is going on? Why does the emperor care about Shadowmarsh?”
Seeming to catch her breath, Rissine straightened and wiped away a lock of hair plastered to her face. “I do not know, but I’m beginning to think he has no intention of lifting the Arthali exile.”
Elmerah leaned against a nearby wall and peered up at the dark night sky. “So was it his alliance with the Dreilore, or the fact that he’s madder than a whipfish that finally gave it away?”
Rissine glared at her. “Neither, it was him privately approaching Thera and bribing her to keep an eye out for you. He didn’t want me to know if you returned.”
Elmerah bent her knees, sliding her back down the wall until she sat in the dirt. “You knew Thera would betray you?”
Rissine crossed her arms. “You’ve always been dense. How do you think I found you?”
Finally, things fell into place. “She played the emperor,” she realized. “She only let him think no one else knew where I’d been led.”
Rissine nodded. “Since you were seen together by guards at the gates, she had no choice but to alert the emperor of your presence, but she found me first, before going to Egrin.”
Elmerah glared. “Then what took you so long to rescue me!”
“Oh don’t be silly,” Rissine lectured as she turned away. “I wasn’t going to pass up the perfect opportunity to figure out what Egrin wants. What he really wants. I knew he would not kill you outright, else he wouldn’t have asked Thera to lure you to a private location.”
Elmerah rolled her eyes at her sister’s back, then stood to follow her out of the alley. “And did you figure it out?”
Rissine sighed as Elmerah reached her side. “Well, we know he’s interested in Faerune’s gems, and the magical metals of Salisfait. He obviously hoped there would be something similar in Shadowmarsh.”
“But what could he hope to do with the gems and metals? Only the Faerune elves and Dreilore can utilize them with their natural magics.”
Rissine glanced at her, her eyes glinting in the starlight. “I do not know. All I do know, is that we mustn’t let him get them.”
Elmerah stopped walking. “I thought you only cared for the fate of the Arthali. Why would you care to stop him?”
Rissine stared at her, as if waiting for her to figure it out.
Elmerah stared back, utterly clueless about her sister, as always.
Rissine sighed. “I do only care for the fate of the Arthali. I care about you and I, and Egrin wants us both dead. Therefore, it is now my mission in life to keep Egrin from getting anything he wants, even if that means protecting Faerune.”
Elmerah smiled. “Well then, sister, I think we finally have something in common.”
Rissine raised her eyebrows. “So you’ll help me?”
Elmerah’s smile broadened. This had been easier than she’d thought. “Find me a mug of ale and a warm safe place, and we’ll discuss our new plan.”
Rissine pouted. “But I liked my old plan. Little needs to change.”
Elmerah gestured for her to start walking. “Your plans are always the
worst. Do you remember that time you thought it would be a good idea to scare mother by filling her bed with fish heads.”
Rissine chuckled as she started walking. “She made us eat only fish head stew for days.”
“I can’t stand the stuff to this day,” Elmerah sighed.
Her sister flashed her a smile. For a moment, walking side by side, it almost felt like a time long ago, before they’d both been scarred by violence.
Unfortunately, much time had passed between them, and there were some things now, despite their current partnership, that Elmerah would never forgive.
Alluin
Alluin patted his dappled mare’s thick neck as she carried him south. He’d felt a bit guilty stealing her in the dead of night, but now that morning had come, bringing with it clear skies, he’d stopped thinking about what the farmer would do the next day when he wanted to take his cart to market, or plow his fields. He could only look forward, for the past held too much pain.
He stopped occasionally to check for signs of travelers, but it was impossible to tell where Saida and Merwyn had passed. The rains had washed away all but the freshest tracks, and he was yet to notice the double-pointed hoof prints of the antlioch. Even if there were prints to be found, there was no saying if they’d kept to the woods this far south, or if they’d risked the speedier travel of the road. If they were stopping for rest each night, he might even pass them by entirely.
With that thought in mind, he tugged the mare’s braided leather reins. He glanced left to the deep woods, then to the more sparse woods on his right, willing them to tell him their secrets. Beyond the sparse woods he’d find the sea, another possible area to search. If Saida and Merwyn became lost, they’d only need follow the coastline all the way to Faerune.
He said a silent prayer to Felan, the goddess of the hunt, then dismounted. While riding granted him speed, tracking on foot would grant him accuracy. He needed to find some sign of Saida and Merwyn so he would not pass them by.
As he led his horse through the quiet shadows of the woods, he was overcome by an odd feeling of unease. His instincts told him the woods were dangerous, which he already knew, but this was something more. It was almost as if he could sense a prickle of magic nearby.
Rubbing at the goosebumps on his arms, he continued on regardless, keeping his eyes on the earth, and his ears focused on things unseen, just as was taught to all young Valeroot hunters. That was something that would never change, despite how far removed from their homeland they’d become.
Elmerah
Elmerah lounged on the dusty wooden floor, waiting for Rissine to return to the small warehouse they’d commandeered as their new hideout. A sliver of light cut across her black breeches from a window high in the wall. She’d watched as it slowly made its way across her legs. Rissine had been gone ages.
She wondered if Alluin had made any progress. If he’d managed to catch Saida’s trail, he could be back on the way to the Capital within the next day or two. She needed to be ready with a plan when he returned.
She slumped a little further down the wall, splaying her long legs across the floor. While it made her nervous to work with her sister, she held hope that perhaps Rissine would be the one to kill Egrin. After her experience in the shack, she was not looking forward to facing the emperor ever again.
A key turned in the nearby lock, then the door swung inward, revealing Rissine. She’d exchanged her emerald coat for charcoal gray to better blend in with the crowds. Not that the pair of them would blend in at all if they traveled together. One Arthali witch with her hair covered could be mistaken for a tall, deeply tanned human. Two was just making things obvious.
Rissine tossed an overfilled satchel beside Elmerah, then turned and locked the door behind her. “I’ve spoken to Thera. She’ll keep an eye out for your friend.”
Ignoring the satchel, Elmerah laced her fingers over her stomach. “You’re sure we can trust her? She won’t turn Alluin in?”
Rissine approached, then sat cross-legged on the floor, facing Elmerah. “I trust Thera with my life.”
“Why?”
Rissine pulled the satchel toward her, then pawed through it. “Because she owes me hers. There’s a reason you don’t see many Faerune elves in the Capital. They don’t survive long on their own. Thera knows if she truly helped the emperor, it would only result in her death.”
Elmerah smirked. “So basically you trust Thera to not get herself killed?”
Rissine nodded, not seeming to catch her sarcasm, then removed a waxed linen pouch from the satchel, handing it to Elmerah.
She took the pouch and opened it, finding it filled with dried sweet plums.
“I remember they were your favorite,” Rissine commented.
Elmerah handed them back to her. “I’m no longer the girl you knew.” Never mind that she still adored dried sweet plums.
Rissine sighed, then popped a plum into her mouth.
Elmerah’s mouth watered. She snatched the bag back and pulled out a plum, stuffing it into her mouth. At her sister’s grin, she growled while chewing, “Just because they’re not my favorite doesn’t mean I’m not hungry.”
Instead of commenting, Rissine stood. “We should probably leave the Capital at nightfall. It will be easier to meet your friend that way, rather than bringing him into the city. You say he knows of other Valeroot settlements?”
She nodded. “You know, I’m surprised you’re willing to work with the elves.”
“It seems the best option,” she explained. “Now that I’ve confronted Egrin, I must abandon my initial plan and move forward. Until we can gather the Arthali, the elves are our only logical allies.”
Elmerah ate another plum, fighting her blush. Though Rissine claimed to have her doubts about Egrin previously, Elmerah knew she’d sacrificed her whole grand plan to save her. She’d sacrificed an alliance with the emperor himself to save a sister who’d abandoned her nearly a decade prior. She really was crazy.
Elmerah sucked sticky bits of plum from her teeth. “So we’ll leave the Capital and wait for Alluin. Once we know word has been sent to Isara, we’ll begin our plan to assassinate—” She whipped her head to the side at a frantic knocking on the door.
Rissine hurried over to it.
“It’s me,” a voice hissed.
Rissine unlocked and opened the door, letting Thera inside. Her white-blonde hair was pulled away from her face and stuffed under a dirt-brown cowl atop a raggedy tunic and loose breeches. She looked nothing like the refined elf Elmerah had seen the previous day, and the bruised nose only added to her poor appearance.
Thera leaned her back against the wall, lightly panting as Rissine peeked outside, then shut and locked the door.
“The Dreilore,” Thera said as soon as she’d caught her breath. “They’ve been spotted south near Port Aeluvaria. An entire army of them.”
Elmerah stood. “Port Aeluvaria?” As she recalled, that was only a two-day ride south at a leisurely pace by way of the Emperor’s Path. Saida had left two days prior, heading in that direction, though traveling through the woods would slow her down.
Thera nodded. “It seems the attack on Faerune will happen sooner than we’d thought.”
Rissine stepped toward Thera. “What of the militia?”
Thera shook her head. “They have not yet been organized. Only the Dreilore.”
“And they’re heading toward Faerune?” Rissine pressed.
Thera shook her head. “No, they’re camped in the deep woods, but have not advanced south according to the most recent report. It seems they’re waiting for something.”
Elmerah chewed her lip. If Saida and Merwyn were keeping off the road, they might very well run right into the Dreilore, and if Alluin was tracking them, he’d be next.
“We need to go,” she decided. “We cannot wait for nightfall.”
Rissine raised an eyebrow at her. “Do you hope to confront an entire army of Dreilore now? Plotting to overthrow the Empire is one
thing, facing the Dreilore without an army of our own is utter madness.”
She glanced at Thera. The elf already knew they were waiting for Alluin, so Elmerah supposed it would do little harm to voice her worries in front of her. “Alluin is likely heading right for them, and he doesn’t know that they’re there.”
Rissine tilted her head. “You worry for his safety? Have you fallen in love with an elf?”
Elmerah snorted. “Hardly, but he is our only connection to that army you’re so keen to acquire. It is in our best interests to keep him alive.”
Rissine stared at her for several long moments. “Fine,” she decided. “It will be risky to leave the city in daylight, especially after last night’s events. We’ll have to leave by boat at the South Docks.”
Rissine turned to Thera, who nodded. “I’ll arrange it.”
As Thera departed, Rissine turned back to Elmerah. “I sincerely hope your elf friend is worth all this trouble.”
Her shoulders slumped with a sigh. “So do I, dear sister. So do I.”
Alluin
Alluin cursed his rotten luck. He’d found no signs of antlioch tracks. Instead, he’d found many horse hoof prints and large boot prints. In places the underbrush had been cleared, and he’d even found fire pits. Large numbers had been passing through the woods roughly halfway to Port Aeluvaria, which was unusual considering the well-trodden Emperor’s Path spanned down to the trade port and well beyond. Anyone staying in the woods was hiding from something. While his kin might take such a path, they would not leave behind so many signs of their passing, and they’d likely have antlioch, not horses.
He lifted his ear to the wind, but heard nothing save the chatter of birds. He walked onward, then his boot kicked up a long, thin branch. He looked down. Not a branch, but an arrow, its tip coated in blood.
He knelt down and retrieved it. While it could have been from a hunter, he doubted it. Any hunter would not have left the arrow behind, especially an arrow such as this. The point was made of gleaming silver, and the shaft dark wood with intricate runes carved along it. Instead of the common turkey feather fletching, vibrant red feathers were used. He’d never seen such feathers before.
The Witch of Shadowmarsh (The Moonstone Chronicles Book 1) Page 23