Elf Mastery

by Bryant Reil

  “She was sleeping in a park in town. Looks like she's had quite a rough night. I was going to escort her home, and she mentioned you had a portal.”

  “Thank you. Thank you very much, good sir.”

  Aspen and Eunoe were still fawning over Kyla, looking at her cuts and bruises. Her eyes looked raw from crying. She sniffed and looked up at Aura who was circling near the roof of the cavern.

  “Did he hurt you?” Kyla asked the air spirit. Denzig was touched. After all this, her thought was for her friend.

  “No. He could not. But he got away.”

  Kyla nodded and turned to the elf man. “Thank you, Marik. I can go back with my friends.”

  “I said I would see you safely home and I shall!” he insisted. “A portal to Equinox would shave a great deal of time off my journey anyway.”

  Denzig shot a flame from his nostril. “It was quite fortunate you found her. What were you doing in Whitehall, anyway? I very seldom see any non-human folk around.”

  “I'm on my way to see a friend. I was passing by town yesterday and saw all the decorations and lights and thought I'd check it out. Quite a macabre celebration those humans were having, if you ask me!”

  “Yes,” agreed Denzig, “but rather fun. You girls should head back. I'm sure there are people worried about you. You should stop by a doctor, Kyla.”

  Kyla gave Denzig a quick hug. “I'm sorry we caused you so much trouble.”

  “No trouble, my dear. No trouble at all.” Denzig took Marik by the wrist. “And you, good sir, have done me a great favor, and some day I shall repay you in kind.”

  He smiled. “Don't mention it.” He turned to the girls. “Well, guess we should let Denzig have a rest. Where's the portal?”

  Eunoe gave the dragon a gentle touch on the arm and helped Kyla down the corridor. Aspen, apparently afraid of his bursts of flame, kept her distance and waved. “Sorry about Lili and the fire.”

  Denzig shrugged. “No problem. On my first trip into a human town, I ended up eating a dozen people. Was a lot trickier to clear the air after that, let me tell you.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Meanwhile...

  “You look ill.”

  Kyla peered out from her covers to see Aura hovering over her bed. It had been a week since the incident with Dunkin. Kyla had been having bad dreams. Last night she dreamed she had been tied in a web and a great spider was approaching to consume her. She was alone in the dark, afraid and helpless. She was too weak to cry out, and though she struggled against the webs that bound her she was unable to fight or escape. She watched in terror as the spider approached with a click-click. She awoke just as the spider's fangs dripped venom on her face. She was soaked in sweat yet felt cold.

  She didn't wake up screaming this time, at least.

  “I'm okay,” she muttered and threw off her covers. She had started missing some classes, though Elial had arranged to have someone bring her homework. Her stomach rumbled.

  “Would you like me to bring you breakfast?”

  Kyla sat up. “No, thanks. Appreciate it. I'll just go to the cafeteria. Need to get out of bed. Are you going?”

  “I have a class this morning, but I saw Eunoe head down about fifteen minutes ago. Let me know if you need anything, Kyla.”

  “Thanks, Aura.”

  Aura started to dissipate into wind and Kyla felt a surge of panic. She shot out of bed. “Wait! Let me walk down with you. I'll be quick.” She didn't bother to change out of her pyjamas. She felt her hair. She hadn't brushed or washed it for days. She yawned. She no longer cared how she looked. She slid her feet into her slippers and shuffled her way behind Aura.

  Kyla said her goodbye to Aura at the cafeteria entrance and stumbled inside. It was crowded for the breakfast rush. Her mind in a fog, she bumped into people and muttered insincere pardons and wandered a few minutes before finding her way into the food line. Grabbing the daily special, she found her friends and slumped in the seat next to Eunoe. The table felt more crowded today.

  “Good morning!” chirped Eunoe, who had been friendly to the point of cloying lately. She seemed to feel guilty for what happened with Dunkin, though Kyla didn't see how she could blame herself.

  “I thought you were going to go back home.” Saul, on the other hand, had become more serious around her. She was so accustomed to his teasing that him not teasing her emphasized that there was a problem.

  She yawned. “Equinox safer. New magic wards.”

  “Kyla, this is Ach'vach.” That was Aspen's voice. She had taken the middle ground of not treating Kyla differently at all, which was the treatment Kyla preferred.

  “Bless you.”

  “Pleasure to meet you.” It was a low rumbly voice.

  Wait a second. She looked around the table.

  Saul was sitting across the table next to Aspen. Then a green man. Then Eunoe. Then herself.

  Wait another second.

  Her eyes dragged back to the green man. She took a bite of food and chewed slowly. There was something about him that didn't strike her quite right.

  “Hey!” she finally exclaimed with bits of food falling from her mouth. “Who's that?”

  “Ach'vach!” Aspen said in a manner that sounded like she was clearing her throat. “He's in my singing class.”

  “Call me Vock.” He smiled, though his large teeth made it feel threatening.

  “He's an orc!” Kyla recalled seeing an orc or two in Aspen's singing class during the first week, but was embarrassed to realize she couldn't tell one from another.

  ” Yes. And he's a sweet soul.”

  Kyla only knew of orcs through stories. They were usually the villains. But he was eating a raw fish off the bone and so had at least one crucial thing in common with Aspen. The tale of The Death of Emeri came to mind. “Don't orcs eat elves?” she asked.

  “Only in war time,” Vock grunted. “Or famine.”

  “That sounds fair.” Kyla let out another yawn.

  “He was there when we fought Ilian and Opin to go to the dance. Remember? Ach'vach says I beat him up while I was fighting the class. That's when he fell in love with me, but he was too shy to come talk to me.” Aspen leaned forward and started to whisper. “And he's a little scared of Eunoe!”

  Eunoe snorted, but when she saw Kyla looking at her she forced a smile.

  Aspen leaned back. “Well, last week we started working on a duet of the dawn and we got paired together. Turns out he is just the sweetest man I've ever met!”

  Kyla found the idea of a dryad in love with an orc to be odd, but then, there was a centaur and harpy getting cozy at a table across the room so Kyla got over it and returned to her meal.

  The peace was short lived. There was a shrill cry from Kyla's left and a heavy grunt from her right. She supposed the grunt came from the orc, so she looked left to resolve the other half of the equation. Lili had dropped her food tray and held up her ignited hands.

  “What are you doing here?” the demoness shrieked. The table jerked as the orc leaped to his feet and hit it with his bulky legs. Kyla's cup toppled and spilled her juice onto the table. She watched as it trickled over the edge and dripped to the floor.

  “What's wrong with you?” Eunoe shouted.

  “It wasn't my fault!” Kyla started before realizing Eunoe was yelling at Lili.

  “You want to finish it right here?” Lili screamed at the orc. All eyes in the cafeteria were on her now. Two professors – one of whom Kyla recognized as the centaur who taught Saul's engineering class – spoke to each other and headed toward the table. The orc reached for his belt (for a weapon, Kyla supposed), but finding nothing there he held his hands up defensively.

  “I do not wish to fight!”

  “You were pretty keen on it last time! Too scared to finish it?”

  “I was tired! Hadn't slept in days! Now I just want to eat with my friends.”

  “Oh, so these losers are your friends now? Come on, Saul, let's find our own table!”
r />   Lili doused her flames as Saul's professor trotted up to the table.

  “Keep your trouble to yourselves,” he warned. “Any more flames from you—” he pointed at Lili “—or any trouble from any of you and you'll be out on the next coach. Understood?”

  The professor looked at Saul who smiled weakly, then trotted away. The other professor, a ghostly woman who looked like an air spirit, gave Lili a hard stare. Lili jolted and though her face twisted in rage she said nothing. Saul stood and attempted to lead her to another table, but she wrenched her hand free and sat down. She glared at Vock, who grabbed Aspen's hand and looked away. Eunoe shifted uneasily and started caressing Kyla's head like a parent might a child's. Kyla sighed. So much for finding solace with her friends.

  ***

  “What can she possibly see in him?” Eunoe looked up from her knitting, which lay coiled in a pile next to her on the grass. Kyla shrugged but Eunoe hadn't been soliciting a response. “He's a brute. I mean, yeah, he can sing, but he's still an orc. Did you know he's training to be a soldier? He just takes the singing class for fun. Do you have any idea how many trees orcs chop down? By all reason Aspen should hate him!”

  Aspen laughed stupidly at some comment by Vock. Traitor. Aspen had gone and snatched up the first boy that came along. Eunoe didn't mind that Aspen was dating. No, that was good for her, to get out and have some fun. But she didn't even acknowledge Eunoe anymore. She had gone to class with Vock this morning. He met her right at her tree without telling Eunoe, who then made a fool of herself yelling at the vacant oak before realizing Aspen had left.

  An orc! Why not someone with a brain? What about Saul? Sure, Saul was a satyr but at least he was smart. And then he'd stop bringing Lili around.

  “No, Kyla! Guanine always goes opposite cytosine!”

  Kyla, half-heartedly filling in for Aspen, was still having a hard time grasping the concept of base pairs. “I'm tired of doing this.” She dropped her beads back in their containers. “I need some sleep.”

  “Do you want to get something to eat?” Eunoe turned to Kyla who was now curled up on the grass with her eyes closed. Had she even been listening? Eunoe gave Kyla's shoulder a shake.

  “Hey! Do you want to play sticks and stones?”

  Kyla squirmed and curled into an even tighter ball. “No. What's that?”

  “Oh, you've never played? We use to play all the time in Arkwood. Aspen and I were the reigning champions!”

  “I really need a nap.”

  “You sure you don't want something to eat?”

  Kyla pried an eye open. “Eating isn't sleeping.” The eye closed firmly.

  “It's not that I don't like Vock. I mean, he seems nice enough. Not what I expected in an orc. It's just, you know. Aspen's fragile. He'll hurt her eventually.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “She's going to come crying to me. I know it. And it'll be up to me to solve everything.”

  “Yeah.”

  “I just don't want to see her go through that, you know? Kyla?”

  Kyla squeezed her eyes shut and frowned. “You know, if you don't let me take a nap, I'm going to go find Dunkin and let him finish me off. Or, better yet, you.”

  “Right. Maybe I'll go see what Aura's up to.” Eunoe started to rise, but as she did Kyla's eyes shot open and she gasped in panic. The poor girl was terrified of being alone. Eunoe sat back down and watched Aspen and Vock as Kyla slept.

  ***

  “What's wrong, Sin?” Saul caressed a lock of Lili's hair. He called her Sin, not because she was a demoness, but because it was short for Cinnamon. It was a clever dual meaning though. Her face was twisted in rage but he could tell she was nearly crying. She would never admit it, of course.

  Flames licked off her fingertips. “Why do you hang out with them?”

  “Ah, they're not so bad. They're interesting, at least.”

  “Well, I've had it. They blamed everything on me at the party.”

  Saul didn't know how to respond. The fire was clearly her fault. “You want to go see what's playing at the theater tonight? I got some good heckles lined up.”

  Lili looked at him. “I can't. I'm helping with the hampers for the homeless.”

  “Right. Well, see you tomorrow, then.”

  Saul gave Lili a quick peck on the cheek before running off to class.

  ***

  Bremnos tucked a large pinch of silage into his cheek.

  This was a boring and fruitless meeting, considering they were discussing the fate of the world. It was always so when political delegates were invited. Two of the snakes on Director Anh-Bul's head were hissing at each other, which offered Bremnos more insight than the words coming out of the Director's mouth. Anh-Bul had no connections to the military. Why was he even talking?

  “...and so I think such a complete network of these wards could keep them off the planet.”

  General Agrimarch grunted. Bremnos liked him. Brief and direct.

  “For the director of a school you're an idiot.” The ogre stood and stretched his arms as though awakened from a nap. “Cost and manpower would be unattainable. Thousands of years, probably, to set so many wards. The star system has failed already – who's to say they won't find a way to bypass the new wards?”

  Anh-Bul looked offended, but this only made him sit higher and speak more firmly.

  “They've protected Equinox. We've seen it. Two Avowed were detected and captured on campus. And don't lecture me about cost. Put me in charge and I'll see the project complete in two weeks.”

  Agrimarch raised an eyebrow. Bremnos chewed his silage slowly. He wished Elial were here to see this.

  The ogre paced closer to Anh-Bul's chair. The gorgon shrank back in his seat.

  “Foolish promise. So foolish I have no desire to address it. You have no concept of the demands of resources or manpower.” The ogre turned to the rest of the council. “Dunkin is unaccounted for. One witness survived his escape; a prison guard, who took stress leave after seeing his comrades killed.”

  Bremnos gave a derisive snort. Soldiers never got such stress leave.

  The ogre continued. “Marik Esilgard. He filed a detailed report but his current location is unknown. I suspect foul play. His family is being contacted to see if we can locate him. So far, no one has seen him since the incident.”

  “Could he be with Erebus?” the elf delegate from Highwood asked.

  Agrimarch shrugged. “Possible, but the wards in the prison were set to detect the Avowed. Dunkin was the only one noted. As of now, Marik is not a suspect. That does not mean we aren't suspicious.”

  “Any sign of the dwarf?” This question was raised by Madam Gzoula of the Vi'ikali lizard folk.

  “He was last seen in the human settlement of Whitehall, near Ventilation Site 1109-B. The circumstances are classified.”

  “We all have clearance here!” Anh-Bul objected.

  Bremnos felt it was his turn to step in. “If I may, General.”

  “Of course. Everyone, this is Taxiarch Bremnos Aviremn of the Kulgoth clan. He has been appointed by King Oberon as a functionary in the Royal Army, so please treat him as such. Bremnos.”

  “Thank you. I apologize for this interjection, but I have been following this case with the assistance of one of my contacts, whose identity is also classified.” He gave Anh-Bul a brief glance. Bremnos suspected the Director knew of Elial's involvement, but he likely didn't know the details. “There are civilians who have accidentally become entangled with some of the followers of Erebus. We need to protect them. Several leaks have been uncovered within the military, and until we can plug them, many of the details surrounding Dunkin and Erebus will only be given on a need-to-know basis.”

  “Only Bremnos, Oberon, and myself have been granted full access to the reports,” the General nodded. “The rest of you will be informed as we see fit.”

  This brought some opposition from Anh-Bul, but he was quickly shot down by Agrimarch. The meeting continued for hours, where
in very little was accomplished.

  ***

  You have done well.

  Marik smiled and offered a slight bow. “Thank you.”

  “What!” Dunkin gurgled. His voice bubbled like a brook and blood trickled from the side of his mouth. He couldn't seek medical treatment for his lungs without fear of capture by the military. He had refused to divulge the details to Marik, but Marik knew Erebus had saved him. Marik had feared Dunkin's great strength once, but the dwarf had exposed his weakness in being bested by Kyla and an air spirit. Failure, unfortunately, hadn't humbled the dwarf's attitude.

  “He did nothing!” the dwarf shouted. “He had her but he did nothing! He hasn't even taken his Vows. Why should we trust him?”

  Marik smirked. Dunkin didn't understand the plan, though it had already been explained. “Someone needs to be able to bypass the wards. I don't need supernatural strength anyway. Look where it's gotten you. A war can't be won by muscle-bound idiots alone. And asking about the stone would have raised suspicion. I will obtain the rubbing once I've earned her trust. Quite fortunate that she made one before giving the stone to Elial.”

  It was fortunate she told you of its existence.

  “Well, the trick is to just let her talk. Took a little prying because the oaf here terrified her”—Marik smirked as Dunkin gave him a hard glare— “but once she starts yapping everything she knows pours out like a waterfall.”

  “Get me into Equinox and I'll show you how to take care of business,” Dunkin muttered.

  We have more pressing matters. The military knows they were infiltrated at Sulafat station and have mobilized to uncover the remaining Avowed. The two who created the filament have already been captured. We must strike before more are discovered. Dunkin, you are to begin the assault at Acubens. Marik, you will keep an eye on the elf and gain her trust. You will also need to gain access to military communications. When the darkness falls find out what you can about any defensive strategies Oberon may assemble. This is your primary mission.

  Marik smiled. “Very well. Perhaps I'll pay Anh-Bul a visit.”

  Dunkin let out a derisive snort which was accompanied by a bubble of blood bursting from his nostril and a burbling cough. “Fine. I'll do the fighting. You keep on schmoozing.”