“Few weather workers left,” the Fogfaun explained, shaking its head. “Very dangerous.”
Celen stepped forward. “What do you want? Why have you brought us here?”
Alluin couldn’t read the Fogfaun’s expression in the slightest. It seemed devoid of emotion.
“Does the weather worker summon the demons?” it asked, ignoring Celen’s question.
The demons? Did it mean the Ayperos and giant boars? “No,” Alluin answered, “absolutely not. An elf summoned them.”
The creature tilted its head. “What is weather worker’s intent? Too many holes torn to the underworld. More demons come through.” It pointed off to its right. “Large hole over there.”
“It must mean portals,” Isara whispered. “There are many myths about portals to the underworld letting demons through. A summoner need only know the words if they possess the power to open them.”
“This is madness,” Celen interrupted. “What have these creatures done with Elmerah?” Facing the Fogfaun, he raised his voice, “Elmerah is no summoner of demons. She did not create this nearby . . . hole, so you better not have harmed her. Our sole intent in these woods is to travel through them.”
The Fogfaun tilted its head to the other side, seeming to think over Celen’s words. Finally, it spoke. “Have weather worker close up the hole, and we let you go.”
They wanted Elmerah to close up a demon portal? Alluin could admit, he didn’t know everything about her magic, but he was quite sure she didn’t know how to close up demon portals.
“Fine,” Celen said before he could answer. “But you’ll have to fetch her and bring her to us first.”
The Fogfaun nodded toward Alluin. “You go. Other magic users stay. More valuable allies to the weather worker. She wants them back, she closes up hole.”
Alluin looked between Celen and Isara. He already knew Elmerah could not close up the portal. If he left them, it could be forever.
He opened his mouth to argue, but suddenly he was back by the stream bed, standing between two horses.
Elmerah looked up at him from her seat in the grass with a scowl. “It’s about bloody time, I’ve been waiting here half the day.”
Half the day? It had felt like mere minutes. “You should get up—” he began, then cut himself off. “No, actually, you better stay seated, because you’re not going to believe what I have to tell you.”
She narrowed an eye and came to her feet. “Well say it fast, I sense strange magics in these woods, and I would like to find Celen and Isara before we investigate.”
He glanced around the peaceful woods, then back to her. “That will not be easy. What do you know of demon portals?”
* * *
Elmerah
Elmerah wasn’t sure which part made her more angry, that these Fogfaun were holding Isara and Celen hostage, or that they had actually thought she was the one summoning demons. Although it also raised the question of who had. Was this the place Malon had summoned his demons from, or was there someone else with such magics and their own dark plan? Saida had claimed Hotrath, the High King of the Akkeri, had summoned the Ayperos they’d faced in an Akkeri temple, so perhaps this was his doing too?
She marched through the forest, leading both hers and Celen’s horses loosely by their reins. Alluin followed with the other two horses.
She hoped she wasn’t leading him into danger, but if she needed to find a demon portal, the strange magic she’d sensed was the place to start. It wasn’t far off either, which meant the Fogfaun might be nearby too. She thought her chances of closing the portal slim—she simply didn’t know how to do it—but finding it might be the only way to find Celen and Isara. Once she did, she’d teach these stupid Fogfaun a lesson—harbingers of the end though they might be.
* * *
Isara
Fogfaun. What could this mean? Was this Egrin’s doing, or had the creatures been lured out by Malon’s summoning? Isara sat with her back against a tree, Celen sitting beside her. The Fogfaun watched them, but had not spoken further since they sent Alluin away.
She bunched up the edge of her cloak in her fingers, nervously wringing the fabric. If the Fogfaun could transport any of them with a mere thought, what else could they do? The myths said they would appear when a land was doomed to perish, but the myths were overly-poetic and often difficult to interpret. The end of the land could mean a whole myriad of things, and so could the Fogfaun’s presence.
Celen bumped her with his elbow, drawing her attention. He was an imposing man with his size and all those scars. She looked up at him sheepishly.
“Don’t fret, little sparrow,” he consoled. “Ellie is resourceful. She’ll get us out of this.”
She doubted his words. Elmerah was powerful, but she suspected, not as powerful as the Fogfaun. “That’s not what I’m worried about,” she whispered. “I want to know why the Fogfaun are here.”
“Why don’t you ask them?”
She gnawed her lip as she looked at the creatures. They waited, some with eyes or ears turned skyward, as if sensing something.
Anxiety turned her gut. It often did when she was forced to speak, even to normal folk. She looked to the Fogfaun leaning against a gnarled tree trunk, and opened her mouth before her brain could talk her out of it. “Where did you come from? Why are you here?”
The Fogfaun blinked at her for a moment, then straightened. “Demon blood in your veins. Faint.”
That wasn’t exactly an answer to her question, but she suddenly wished she hadn’t asked at all. If these creatures were worried about demon portals, what must they think of her?
Celen watched her, his scarred brow furrowed.
“We come from earth,” the Fogfaun continued, his black eyes watching her carefully as if weighing her worth. “Demons upset earth.”
Celen sighed. “Do these wretched creatures speak only in riddles?”
The Fogfaun affixed Celen with its unsettling gaze. “Not speaking in riddles, earth worker.”
“Are you here to get rid of the demons, then?” Isara asked.
The Fogfaun shrugged. “No getting rid of demons now. Only hope to fill in holes.”
So maybe they weren’t harbingers of the end, if their intent was to close the portals. If they understood demon magic, perhaps they could even give her the answers she’d searched for all her life. The same answers sought by her father, and perhaps even the reason he was killed.
“What happens to the demons who’ve already come through?” she pressed, thinking of Egrin. If he really was a demon, he must have come from the underworld at some point.
The Fogfaun looked up to the sky for a moment, as if listening to something only it could hear. Finally, it turned its gaze back to her. “Lesser demons bring death. Greater demons make the earth their own. Reshape it. End it.”
Her mouth went dry. She doubted Egrin was a lesser demon like the Ayperos. Did that mean . . . “Is it possible a greater demon has already come through? Perhaps a long time ago?”
The Fogfaun stared at her for a moment, then answered, “Yes, demon king came through. A very long time ago. Only so much magic in land. Limits him. For now.”
Her heart skipped a beat, then started racing. Judging by Celen’s expression, he’d already figured it out too. Could Egrin be the king of demons, limited only by the land’s lack of true magic? But he’d been gathering power for years. He now had more than ever before, yet, he continued his search.
The question left was, what would he do when he had enough?
Alluin
The cavern appeared no different than any other, except for the way it went straight down. It was wide enough for a man to descend, if he was willing to risk the fall. Alluin watched Elmerah as she knelt near the rocky lip and peered into the abyss.
“Anyone down there!” she called out, startling him.
He glanced around the quiet forest, then back to their tethered horses, more worried about something in the woods hearing them than some
thing down there. It was too mind-boggling to consider a creature might actually be down in that narrow darkness.
Elmerah rocked back on her heels, still observing the hole. “I’m quite sure this is it. It feels . . . dirty, like lamp oil coating my skin.” She rubbed her coat-clad arms. “I’ve no idea how to close it though. It seems Celen would have been better suited to this task.”
“The Fogfaun seemed to think you were the only one strong enough to do it,” he explained.
She glanced up at the sky, then back down to the hole. “Storms and fire will not close this.” She stood. “Those are the only magics known to me.”
“If you cannot close it—”
She held up a hand to silence him. “I know. They will not return Celen and Isara, and without Isara, we’ll have a difficult time killing the emperor.”
“And without Celen?” he asked without thinking, then wondered why he’d even asked it.
She scowled. “He is useful too, and I would regret his loss.” She turned away, walked a full circle around the opening, then looked down it again. “Well,” she sighed, “I believe the only way I can figure out how to close it is to go down there. There’s nothing I can do from here.” She raised her eyes to him. “You wait here with the horses.”
“Are you mad!” he blurted. “I’m not letting you go down there alone.”
“No choice,” she said, already leaning her hands on the cavern’s edge to dangle her feet down. “There’s a slight slope, I might be able to keep my footing, but a rope would help.” She looked over her shoulder at him.
“Elmerah, no.”
“I know you brought a length of rope, Alluin. Be a good boy and go fetch it.”
He stared at her, warring with indecision. This might be the only way to reclaim Isara and Celen, but the thought of Elmerah lowering herself into this unknown cavern made him ill.
She watched him, waiting patiently, because she already knew he had no choice.
“This is insanity,” he huffed, then went to fetch the length of rope from his saddlebag. If he ever had another chance at that Fogfaun, he’d send an arrow between its eyes. Elmerah should not be risking herself to close up some demon hole. It had nothing to do with her.
He returned to her with the furled rope, unwound it aways, then handed her one end. “Tie it securely around you waist. If I hear any sounds of struggle, I’m yanking you right back out.”
She secured the rope tightly around her waist over her coat.
He took his end and paced around the nearest tree, looping the rope around its trunk for leverage.
“Ready?” Elmerah questioned.
“No,” he grumbled, but she was already lowering herself down the hole. He gave her just enough slack as she went, hating every moment of it.
If something happened to her . . . he gritted his teeth and clenched the rope tighter. He could not now consider what that would mean, not to the elves, not to their mission, and especially not what it would mean to him.
* * *
Elmerah
The cavern was pitch dark, and seemed to go on forever. They’d run out of rope soon, and she would have accomplished nothing. At least the slope had increased as the cavern turned to pure stone. Elmerah inched along on her rear, then as soon as she was able, crawled forward on hands and knees. She was utterly blind, but it would be difficult to draw and light her cutlass in the tight space.
She moved along just a bit further, then the rope grew taught. Lovely. She’d run out of length.
She debated her options for a moment. Alluin would be furious, but she wasn’t about to return to the surface with nothing accomplished. She’d never see Celen or Isara again.
With knees bent, she leaned back on her heels, her back hunched against the stone above her. She unknotted the rope and removed it from her waist, hoping Alluin would at least leave it dangling so she could climb back out.
Now that she was a bit more upright, she drew her cutlass and encased it in flame, momentarily blinding herself. Her eyes scrunched while she lessened the magic until the flame was just barely sustained, then peered further into the cavern.
It seemed she was almost at the tunnel’s end. Her stone surroundings concluded ahead, opening into a dark space.
Gripping her cutlass in one hand, she crawled forward awkwardly, scraping her knuckles on stone. She reached the end, then held her blade into the darkness and peered down. The cavern floor wasn’t too far of a drop. She could make the jump, but she’d have an interesting time trying to get back up.
She supposed she’d just have to figure that part out when the time came, though her stomach rebelled against the thought of getting trapped in the cavern. Starving to death in a small, dark, space was not the way she wanted to go.
She said silent prayers to Urus, Cindra, and Arcale. She’d take any god that would listen, if they existed at all. She finally sent a silent apology to Alluin, swung her knees over the ledge, and jumped.
Her feet touched down with a puff of dust, sending a shock through her knees. She straightened and held her burning blade aloft. At her back and on both sides was solid stone, roughly twenty paces across. The rest of the space before her was thick darkness swirling with green light.
“It really is a demon portal,” she muttered, then took a tentative step forward. “Now, how to close you?”
The portal rippled like water, then bulged outward, catching flame light on its newly uneven surface. She scuttled back, holding her cutlass defensively. It bulged further and further, reaching toward her, then a humanoid hand with long black claws broke through.
She realized too late that whatever this creature was, it had probably been drawn to her fire. A black-scaled arm followed the claws out of the portal. Given the proportions of the arm, this thing was twice her size. She glanced back at the ledge above, too high for her to scale in time.
“Useless gods,” she muttered. “First time I decide to pray, and you send me a demon.” She held up her cutlass, prepared to fight until her dying breath.
Alluin
Alluin peered down into the cavern, cursing himself for letting Elmerah go down there alone. Not long after the rope had gone slack, he’d heard distant clanging and unearthly shrieks. Smoke reeking of of burnt flesh wafted up from the cavern.
He’d tied the rope around a nearby tree, and now debated whether to climb down, or jump. If Elmerah had removed the rope from her waist, that meant there was solid footing not too far below. He might be able to make it down . . . though he’d be no good to her with two broken ankles.
He gripped the rope and began to climb down into the hole, just as the other end went taut. The acrid smoke made him gag.
“Don’t come down!” Elmerah called up. “I’m fine!”
Every bone in his body sagged with relief, save his hands on the rope. That cursed witch had scared him witless, and now here she was, calling up as if nothing was amiss.
He hoisted himself out of the hole, then peered over the edge. “Tie the rope back around your waist!” he called down. “I’ll help pull you up!”
The rope shifted, scraping along the edge of the cavern, then went still.
He gave a tentative pull, then, feeling the weight at the other end, began hauling it up. If he’d had his wits, he would have taken the time to untie the rope from the tree to use the trunk as leverage, but he wanted her out of the cavern now.
He was sweating by the time her head crested the surface, and her hand clamped down on the cavern’s edge.
Dark sludge covered her fingers. The same dark, slick, liquid coated her hair and dripped down into her eyes. There was a large tear in the shoulder of her coat, but he couldn’t see if there was a wound beneath.
His one hand tightened on the rope while he reached the other out to her. Gripping her hand tightly, he tugged backward, digging his heels into the earth. Her other hand met his, then she was out, and they both toppled to the ground.
He was overwhelmed by the scent of burnt,
rotten flesh. She must have used her fire against whatever had attacked her.
“Ouch,” Elmerah groaned. “Next time I try to venture off into an abyss, stop me, won’t you?”
He sat up, wiping the oily substance now coating his hands onto the grass. “What happened? What is that you’re covered in? Is your shoulder injured?”
She rolled over onto her back, her eyes focused on the calm blue sky above. “Well I found the portal. I’m covered in demon blood. And yes, that thing stabbed me with its horrible talons. Hopefully they had no toxic coating.”
At her words, he gripped the torn edges of her coat and pulled, tearing her entire sleeve free of her arm.
“Alluin!” she cried out. “I liked this coat!”
He barely heard her words. He wiped her blood away with his sleeve, observing the wound still seeping blood. “It’s deep. It will need to be stitched or cauterized.” He glanced back toward the horses. He had a needle and sinew in his saddlebag. “How did you manage to climb with such an injury?”
“The possibility of demons nipping at your heels can be quite the motivator.”
He wanted to scold her for making quips at a time like this, but he’d spotted shapes moving beyond the horses. The Fogfaun approached, not just the few who’d apprehended them, but dozens. The creatures wove through the trees toward where he knelt, peeking out with wary eyes.
“Alluin, not to rush you, but I’m bleeding out,” Elmerah said, looking up at him, unaware of the Fogfaun.
“I’ll fetch my sinew and silverleaf sap.” He knew if he told her what approached, she’d hop to her feet and threaten to kill them lest they return Celen and Isara. Not that it was a terrible plan, but he’d rather her remain conscious and not lose any more blood.
The Elven Apostate Page 7