Until I Sleep (Alora Chronicles Book 1)

by Lara Ann

  “You are right, it’s not safe here.” Wyndelleu quickly mounted his horse then reached out an arm to swiftly pull me up behind him. “Link your arms around my waist,” he said quickly. “You don’t want to fall.”

  I gingerly did as he asked, not used to hugging complete strangers, even ones as cute as Wyndelleu. My fingers brushed across the butter soft leather, as I tightened my grip, I couldn't help noticing the hardness of Wyndelleu’s stomach muscles.

  Suddenly Thunder leapt forwards, I held on even tighter, as we sped through the forest. The trees passed by in a green blur and my heart thundered in my chest. Mental images of being flung off to my death passed through my mind and I cursed my vivid imagination. Closing my eyes didn’t help either, it only made the thoughts more vivid. After what seemed an eternity, we finally slowed down to an uncomfortable bouncy trot and finally a walk. The forest looked much the same here and I was glad I wasn’t the one trying to find my way through it.

  “Where are we,” I stammered. “And who are you running from?”

  “We are at my temporary campsite,” Wyndelleu said calmly as we entered another clearing near another stream, or was it the same stream just further along?

  Before I could catch my breath, he lifted me off the horse. I was startled by his closeness as he set me down right in front of him. As soon as my feet touched the ground, I could feel all the muscles in my thighs begin to tremble.

  “Are you well?” Green eyes looked worriedly into my own.

  “I’m fine - I’m just not used to hurtling through the forest.”

  Wyndelleu chuckled. “Thunder would never let you get hurt. As to whom I’m running from? That is a much longer story and perhaps you would like something to eat and drink while I tell it?”

  There was a long log near a small fire pit and I sat down gratefully. The grass was smooth and quite comfortable, I rested my back against the log. Wyndelleu quickly unsaddled Thunder and left him free to roam. The horse immediately lay down and began to roll enthusiastically. After rummaging around in his pack Wyndelleu pulled out two apples and a large flask. He handed me one of the apples and sat down on the grass beside me.

  “Do you like apples Ashlee,” he enquired politely.

  “Yes I do, but please call me Ash. Is it okay if I call you Wyn? Wyndelleu is a bit of a mouthful.”

  “I guess so,” he said not sounding at all sure. “Is it common among your people to abbreviate names like that?”

  “Yes, fairly common, you don’t do that here?”

  “No it is most unusual,” he replied reaching up to push a lock of blonde hair out of his eyes. As he did so I noticed, his ears came to a distinct point.

  “Your ears are pointed,” I blurted out. “Sorry,” I stammered. “That was quite rude.”

  “Don’t worry, I am not so easily offended, my ears are pointed as with all Elves. You seem surprisingly ignorant of our world. Sorry now I am being rude – please forgive me.”

  “Are all Elves as polite as you are?”

  Wyn’s eyes darkened briefly, “Those who follow the old code are much like me...there is a new order however that does not believe as we do,” he said sombrely.

  “Are those the people – I mean Elves that are chasing you?”

  “Yes, I used to live at Emmelion – that is our main city, with my family before the change. We are a proud race, we are disciplined in our fighting skills, but we prefer to use them to keep fit and for contests of skill and valour. We do not use them to kill and maim. All that changed when my Uncle returned from a long absence. He calls himself my Uncle, but I am not sure he is the same man that left Emmelion seven years ago. He was supposed to be finding a cure for my father’s mystery illness when he returned with a group of Dark Elves – that’s how we refer to those that have turned from the old code. He was much changed in both looks and personality.”

  Wyn looked down at his hands as he continued. “He said he had the cure and my people rejoiced. It was short-lived however as my father died the next day after supposedly receiving the cure. Uncle Rothlyn said it was because it was administered too late, but I saw my father before the cure. Yes he was weak, but he had been like that for nearly two years. It does not seem likely that he would suddenly succumb, it is much too coincidental.

  “Many believed as I did – that my father had been administered a poison rather than a cure. Those that spoke up against my Uncle quickly began to disappear. My mother also believed my father had been poisoned. She was smart enough not to say anything directly against him. Instead she begged me to disappear into the forest with a few trusted allies until I turn eighteen and am able to challenge my Uncle for Kingship.”

  “Wait,” I said. “Was your father the King of the Elves? Are you a prince?”

  “At the moment I am nothing. It is not like your world, the throne does not pass from father to son or daughter. It is bestowed upon whoever is deemed most worthy. There are tests of strength, intelligence and valour. Yes, my father was King before my Uncle. Many believed I would be King after him, but it was certainly not guaranteed.”

  “Where’s your mother now?”

  “She is still in Emmelion. I suspect she is being held captive by Rothlyn. I’m not sure how she’s being treated, but we are hoping to find out soon. The last thing she told me before I left was to in no way risk myself by trying to contact her, or rescue her.”

  “I suspect you’re going to totally ignore her advice?”

  He looked at me surprised. “How could you know that?”

  I looked into his earnest green eyes and thought that heroes always did the right thing, but in-stead, I said, “because this is just my dream, and in my dream, the hero would always rescue those in need.”

  “Surely you don’t still believe this is just a dream do you, after all I’ve told you?”

  “Well if it’s not a dream, I’m either going crazy or the world is a far more complex place than I ever realised. I’ve been through so much lately, I think my subconscious is just rewarding me with a vivid escapism dream.”

  Wyn put his hand on my cheek and gazed into my eyes. “I am not a dream, and I expect your presence here is no accident.” Dropping his hand from my face and standing up he added, “no one from your world has entered Alora in a long time. I strongly suspect you are important somehow.”

  “That only goes to prove my point,” I said somewhat breathlessly after the close contact. “If this is MY dream of course I’m going to play an important part in it.”

  “How is it that you know nothing of Alora? Did you not have an instructor? I have been taught about the human world from the time I was small. Even when I was too young to really under-stand, my bedtime stories included tales of Earth and humans.”

  “I grew up with my mother, I’m sure she knew nothing of magic worlds, and Elves belong in Lord of the Rings.”

  “Ahh I love that story.”

  “You’ve read Lord of the Rings,” I asked amazed.

  “But of course, where do you think some of those ideas originated, if not from, among our people? Humans have been travelling to Alora for many hundreds of years.”

  “How come I’ve never heard of Alora if people have been coming here for so long?”

  “Like you, many find the concept somewhat difficult to accept, and we strongly discourage those who have travelled here from telling others, with the exception of descendants of those who have been. Is the connection on your father’s side? Did you never know him?”

  “My mother passed away several months ago and I only just met my father a few days ago.”

  “I am deeply sorry to hear of your mother’s passing. The loss of a parent is difficult to accept. That does explain why your knowledge is so lacking though.”

  “Um thanks a lot.”

  “The fact that you’re here now with no instruction is interesting, usually it takes a lot of study of our people and of course the artefacts to even attempt to travel here.”

  “Artefacts?
What artefacts.” I was starting to have a sneaking suspicion I knew what he was referring to this time.

  “Has your father given you anything unusual?”

  “He gave me this locket today as a gift,” I said lifting it out from under my pyjama top to show him.

  Wyn quickly stepped closer and removed the locket from my hands; a strange wistful look came over his face. “You have the Jaega. That explains why you appeared in such a remote location, but close to me. This belongs to my family, it is still linked to us and makes travel to our world possible.”

  “Ah,” I said seeing a problem. “If you need an artefact to travel to your world, how did the first person get here?”

  “It is not the only way to get here Ash,” he said gently releasing the locket. “It is merely the easiest and the safest way to travel between our worlds.”

  Still not convinced, instead of arguing further I asked, “Aren’t you worried those people chasing you will track you here?”

  “I am not without skills in that area,” Wyn answered somewhat cryptically. “But you are right to be cautious, we should head back to base camp to be sure.”

  Wyn quickly saddled Thunder and again pulled me up behind him.

  “Ouch,” I said feeling sore from our ride earlier.

  “Are you sure this would hurt in your dream,” Wyn asked turning to flash me a cheeky grin.

  My heart fluttered at the sight. “Maybe,” I answered somewhat dubiously, did things hurt in dreams? I couldn’t remember. Maybe I wouldn’t remember any of this when I woke up tomorrow anyway. Although I was hoping I wouldn’t forget Wyn; there was something different about him. ‘Of course silly girl,’ I said silently berating myself, he was a super sexy polite non-human; of course I had never met anyone like him before. He seemed to think of me as a sweet but ignorant child, the attraction was obviously one sided. I was glad he couldn’t see my face flush at that thought. I re-solved to myself to stop thinking about him. My train of thought was lost as Thunder took off at high speed and it took all my concentration just to hold on.

  Just as I was beginning to think my aching legs could take no more, we arrived at another break in the forest. At the far side of the clearing, a huge rock wall towered above everything. There was a large opening at the bottom of the cliff face; a welcoming fire was burning in a fire pit just out-side. Two men quickly looked up from what looked like dinner preparations as we came to a stop.

  “Ah Wyndelleu,” the older of the two said. “I was almost beginning to worry about you.”

  It sounded more like a running joke than actual concern; I could hear genuine affection in his voice.

  “And who is this you’ve brought us, and what on alora is she wearing,” the other man enquired.

  Wyn again reached up to help me down from the horse before replying.

  “Argus,” he said indicating the shorter stockier Elf, “and Finnan, this is Ashlee.”

  He didn’t mention I preferred ‘Ash’ and seeing that they didn’t usually shorten names, I decided not to either.

  “Pleased to meet you,” I said – not really sure how to address them.

  “How is it we send you off scouting and you come home with a beautiful maiden?” Argus said. “When I go, I’m lucky if I come back without an injury.”

  Finnan gave Argus a disapproving scowl but didn’t reprimand him further. I got the impression that Finnan who appeared several years older, was somewhat in charge of the group.

  “Has she come to aid us,” he enquired looking at Wyndelleu.

  “I think so, although she doesn’t know it yet. She thinks this is all a dream.”

  I looked down embarrassed. I did still believe I was dreaming, but it somehow seemed awkward having it pointed out in front of them.

  “How is that possible?” Finnan looked grave. “What has gone wrong?”

  “We’ll discuss it later,” Wyn answered. “Where are Callum and Halmer?”

  “Keeping watch, as they should be,” Finnan answered.

  “Let’s eat then – I’m starving,” Wyn said.

  The meal consisted of a fish stew and some unidentifiable vegetables, but it was warm and much nicer than I expected.

  “What sort of fish is this,” I enquired, wondering if it would be something I had heard of.

  “Eel.” Argus laughed seeing my face grimace in reaction. “Not up to your usual standard my lady,” he asked somewhat mockingly.

  This time it was Wyn that leapt to my defence. “Cut it out Argus! Perhaps you’d like to get in some sparring practice after we eat,” he said, a mischievous grin on his face.

  “Sure,” he replied looking less pleased with himself.

  Finnan was smiling at the banter, which left me feeling less concerned.

  I offered to wash the bowls in the stream after we finished eating and Argus quickly acquiesced handing me the four dirty bowls. I used the sand to scrub them out and quickly returned. The sun was just starting to go down and goose bumps pebbled my skin. My summer pyjamas didn’t cover much of my arms or legs. I sat down near the fire to warm up; Finnan came and sat next to me, offering me a woollen blanket that I gratefully wrapped around myself.

  “You’re in for a good show now,” he said. “Wyndelleu will be doing his upmost to impress you, and Argus will be desperate to still be able to walk tomorrow.”

  He didn’t sound worried, so I tried to be calm. Finnan didn’t seem to think Wyn was in any danger of being hurt, and as much as I didn’t really like Argus, I didn’t want to see him hurt either.

  Argus and Wyn stood on opposite sides of the clearing twirling long polished wooden staves. It was an impressive display already and they hadn’t even really started. Argus was much stockier and musclier compared to Wyn’s taller leaner body. It’s just a dream I reminded myself as they began to move closer together, their staves and bodies moving smoothly at an impressive speed. They came together and there was a loud ‘crack’ as their staves collided. I let out a short scream of surprise at how loud it was. Immediately Wyn turned to look at me. Argus used the opportunity to stab the end of his staff into Wyn’s stomach.

  “Keep your focus,” Finnan instructed. “You can’t let her be used against you so easily.”

  I expected Wyn to crumple under the blow, however he merely pivoted to the side and faster than I could follow returned the favour. Argus was slower to recover and I could tell Wyn was waiting for him to be ready instead of pursuing his advantage as Argus had.

  As the sparring match continued Finnan gave me a running commentary on some of the moves and the skills involved.

  “You can see Wyndelleu is faster and more agile. If this were a real fight, it would be over al-ready. Wyndelleu rarely gets to practice with an opponent that can provide him with any challenge. If I were younger…” Finnan said wistfully.

  “Have you known him a long time?”

  “Since he was a baby. I am his Watcher, which is a kind of mentor. I have spent the last seven-teen years training and teaching him how to be King.”

  “He told me it was never a certainty that he would become king.”

  “That is technically correct, but his father was the best king Alora has had in many generations, and Wyndelleu was showing all the signs of being a very strong ruler before Rothlyn returned. I don’t think anyone would have even challenged him. Now unfortunately it is going to be very difficult. But we must try, no matter the cost. Rothlyn is a tyrant in the true sense of the word. He leads through brutality, the people are afraid. The longer he is in power the more difficult it be-comes as he converts the greedy and weak minded to his cause.”

  “You said before that I had come here to help, what could I do to change anything?”

  “That remains unclear at this point. Our history is full of stories of people from earth helping us out at critical points in our history such as this one. Already there is one thing you can help him with.”

  “There is,” I asked, surprised.

  “You saw
how easily he was distracted when you screamed before? Never have I seen him distracted like that from a fight, not since he was six years old and his favourite puppy ran into the practice ring and almost got hit on the head with a staff.”

  “What happened?”

  “He leapt to cover the pup with his body and suffered a nasty concussion because of it. It was a lesson he remembered well until now. Because you are unfamiliar with our history, I will tell you now that it is forbidden for an Elf to become involved in a romantic relationship with a human.”

  “I don’t think that will be a problem.” Wyn wasn’t interested in me that way whatever Finnan thought.

  “Good, make sure it remains so. Now I want you to get up. You can take the blanket, and I want you to walk off towards the stream, keep going until you are out of the light and Wyndelleu can no longer see you. Stay there until I motion you to return.”

  “What will that do?”

  “It will let me observe whether Wyndelleu will be distracted by you leaving, and how much of a problem we have.”

  Wyndelleu and Argus were still exchanging blows, but they had slowed down somewhat. It was quite frightening to watch. I slowly got up and moved away from the fire towards the darkness. The ground was cold against my bare feet. I didn’t watch the fight as I left, instead trying to concentrate on not falling over anything as it became harder to see what was ahead of me.

  As soon as I thought I was far enough to be hidden from sight, I turned to see Wyn staring in my direction into the darkness his staff still by his side. Time seemed to slow as I watched Argus’s staff continue in its arc straight for Wyn’s head.

  “Watch out,” I cried.

  He started to move but it was too late. Argus’s staff struck a glancing blow to the side of Wyn’s head. He fell in slow motion as I ran into the clearing. I somehow beat Finnan to Wyn’s side and knelt down beside him. His eyes were closed and already a lump seemed to be rising on his fore-head. Finnan arrived and I could hear him muttering to himself.

  “It’s much worse than I thought,” and something about me that I couldn’t make out. He lifted Wyn’s eyelids and then stood.