The Warrior Elf

by Morgan, Mackenzie

  Chris nodded.

  “When did you find time to let everyone know Duane was coming?”

  “All I did was mention it to Darrell and Karl. Guess they told a few people, who told a few more, and so on. Seems half the town knows both him and Shelandra. From what I’ve been hearing they visited Badec a lot after your mother passed away. Too bad Shelandra couldn’t make the trip today. Several people have mentioned they’d like to see her again. Apparently she could give Miranda a run for her money in the kitchen.”

  “I think Miranda’s the one who taught Shelandra how to cook.”

  Chris pointed towards a dot in the sky over the tree line. “Is that Xantha?”

  Kevin frowned. “Maybe. Too far away to be sure. Could be a falcon. We have those in and out all day long.”

  “Can’t believe you can’t tell the difference between me and a bird,” Xantha said in disgust.

  “It’s Xantha,” Kevin said. “We might need to clear out a place for him to land.”

  Chris shook his head. “They’ll move.”

  Kevin and Chris stood on the outside of the crowd and watched the dot slowly grow larger. After a few minutes, others noticed the pegasus too, and chatter intensified as one person pointed him out to another. Five minutes later, Xantha circled the backyard and slowly sank towards the ground near the stable. The crowd melted back as he touched down right in front of the door.

  After Duane and Rhianna dismounted, everyone surged forward and for a moment, the only sign of them was the tops of their heads. The entire crowd moved with them towards the patio, and the horde didn’t start to scatter until they were backed up to the dining room doors. Fifteen minutes later, when only a few people remained, Kevin stepped up to officially welcome them to the castle.

  Duane grinned. “You’ve grown into your title. There were times when we weren’t sure you would.”

  Before Kevin could figure out how to answer that, Laryn stepped forward and hugged Duane. “So nice to see you again. It’s been a long time.” Then she hugged Rhianna. “I doubt you remember me. I’m Laryn, Myron’s aunt. The last time I was in Crinsor Run was ten years ago.”

  Rhianna smiled. “You brought Shelandra a gift, but I don’t remember who it was from.”

  “You’ve got a good memory. It was from Miranda, our castle cook, and speaking of Miranda, if you’ll step inside, she has some refreshments set out for you.” Then Laryn opened the dining room door and motioned them inside. Once the area around the patio had cleared out a bit, she pulled Kevin to the side and whispered, “You go on inside and see to our guests. I’ll check on Xantha. You can see him later.”

  Kevin nodded and followed everyone else inside.

  An hour later, Kevin caught Chris’s attention and tilted his head towards the hall. Once they managed to slip out of the dining room, Kevin said, “I’ve got to get back to Willow Canyon. I’m sure Darrell will take care of Duane, but can you take Rhianna back to the office? I’m not sure how long I’ll be tied up with Warren.”

  Chris nodded. “No problem. See you later.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  While Kevin and Chris were inside playing hosts, Laryn went out to the stable where Xantha was munching some oats, thanks to Neiven.

  “Really appreciate the oats,” Xantha told Neiven while he was eating.

  Neiven grinned. “Chris reminded me, but I already had them ready. I know how much you like a snack when you get here.”

  “Flying’s hard work, especially when you’ve got a bunch of extra weight.”

  “Maybe I should tell Rhianna you said that,” Laryn said as she walked up.

  “Trying to start something?” Xantha looked up from his bucket and snorted.

  Laryn laughed and shook her head.

  “You can leave the bucket when you’re done,” Neiven said. “I’m going back inside. I’ve got a horse waiting for a new set of shoes.”

  “Thanks, Neiven.” Laryn walked over to the fence and looked out over the pasture while Xantha finished eating. When he was done, he joined her at the fence.

  “Haven’t seen Corin around today,” Xantha said.

  “I haven’t either,” Laryn said. “Thinking of asking him to keep an eye on Rhianna?”

  “The thought crossed my mind.”

  “Mine, too.”

  “Want me to handle it?”

  “If you don’t mind. If I ask, I’m afraid he’ll consider it an obligation.”

  Xantha nodded. “I’ll take care of it, and I’ll let you know what he says.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Do you know where the pup is?”

  “Nikki?”

  “Kevin asked me to keep an eye on her this afternoon and let her handler have some time off.”

  “Babysitting a puppy? Isn’t that a new one for you?” Laryn asked with a laugh.

  “Not really. Although in Crinsor Run, it’s usually young horses.”

  “I’m not sure where she is right now. I think Marshall took her out to the far pasture this afternoon.”

  “Want to go with me to find them? I don’t know Marshall and he might not be willing to let Nikki go off with me.”

  “All right.”

  Ten minutes later, Laryn tapped Xantha on the shoulder and pointed towards the woods on the east side of the pasture. Xantha started a gentle glide down.

  As soon as Nikki realized the pegasus was in the area, she started jumping around and barking. Marshall turned around to see what had Nikki so excited right as Xantha landed in the pasture with Laryn on his back. Marshall’s jaw dropped as the pegasus walked towards them. He slowly dismounted and stepped around in front of his horse.

  “Good afternoon,” Xantha said. “Myron asked me to keep an eye on the pup so you could have the afternoon off.”

  Marshall’s eyes widened as he heard Xantha’s voice in his head. Then he shifted his focus to Laryn.

  “It’s all right,” she said. “This is Xantha. He’s been a friend of Myron’s for years, since Myron was a young boy. Xantha knows Nikki, but more importantly, Nikki knows him.”

  The puppy kept bouncing around the pegasus until Xantha said, “Nikki, sit.” She plopped down and looked up at Xantha. “Would you like to go for a run?” When Nikki jumped up, Xantha said, “Race you to the fence over there.” Both pegasus and dog took off across the field, leaving Marshall and Laryn to gaze after them.

  “That was strange,” Marshall said slowly.

  “Which part? The telepathy or a pegasus landing in front of you?”

  Marshall shook his head. “Take your pick.”

  Laryn laughed. “You’ll get used to the telepathy after a while. Just remember everything you think when he’s around is as clear to him as if you’d said it out loud. And Corin’s the same way, although he’s not likely to answer you. As to Xantha landing in the yard, that never gets old.”

  “Is Nikki going to be all right with him?”

  “She’ll be fine. Xantha can control her telepathically if he needs to, but mainly he gives her a picture of what he wants her to do.”

  “Nice,” Marshall said as he watched the two of them run. “I’d love to be able to do that.” Then he asked, “Is he coming back for you?”

  “I doubt it,” Laryn said with a laugh. “He probably figures I can ride back with you. Hope you don’t mind.”

  “No, of course not.” Marshall offered her Watson’s reins. “Why don’t you ride? I’ll walk.”

  Laryn shook her head. “I’m sure Watson can carry both of us. Let’s mount up and head back. You need to get started on your afternoon off.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  Glendymere and Warren were still working when Kevin got back to Willow Canyon. Warren was standing not five feet from Glendymere’s head as they both faced the back wall of the cave. Glendymere held a large sheet of paper against the wall while Warren made notes on it. Kevin shook his head and grinned as he thought how much he’d love to have a camera.

  “You’re back already?” Glendymere as
ked.

  Kevin walked over to join them. “Well, you said a couple of hours, and it’s been a little more than two since I left. I can come back later if you’d like some more time.”

  Warren had turned around at Kevin’s voice. He nodded at Kevin but waited for Glendymere to respond.

  “We have enough for a beginning. We can work on it some more after Warren moves into Rainbow Valley.”

  “Have you decided when that might be?” Kevin asked.

  “Two weeks from today,” Warren answered. “That’ll give Colin and Ryan time to get used to the idea I’m leaving for a while.”

  “I thought you’d already told them.”

  “I have, but without a date, I don’t think either of them took me seriously.”

  Kevin nodded.

  “Will you have time to help them move two weeks from today?” Glendymere asked. “I’d like for Warren to start working with Landis that Monday.”

  “If you want Warren to start on Monday, it might be better for them to move in on Thursday or Friday so they’ll have time to look around, meet the giants, and get settled,” Kevin said.

  “Good idea. So, will you have time to help them? If not, I can make other arrangements.”

  “As far as I know it should be fine. If anything comes up, I’ll let you know.” Then Kevin looked at Warren. “Are you ready to go back home now?”

  Warren looked at Glendymere and raised his eyebrows. The dragon nodded, so Warren said, “Anytime you are.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  Torrey was in the kitchen when Kevin and Warren got back. She saw them out the back door so she picked up the coffee pot and poured two cups of coffee. She set them on the table as the men walked through the door.

  “Did you have a good time?” Torrey asked as Warren sat down in front of one of the cups.

  “Sure did.” He took a swallow of coffee and smiled. “Thanks. I needed that.”

  Kevin laughed as he picked up his own cup. “Thanks, Torrey.”

  “Either of you want anything to go with it?”

  Both men shook their heads as Warren patted the chair beside him. “Sit down for a minute. We need to talk.”

  Torrey frowned as she sat down.

  “We have a date now,” Warren began. “Do you think we can be ready to go by a week from Thursday?”

  Torrey’s frown deepened. “As in eleven days?”

  Warren nodded. “Glendymere wants me to start working with Landis the following Monday. Myron thought if we went on Thursday it would give us time to settle in first.”

  Torrey nodded. “I guess so.” Then she looked at Kevin. “You’re still willing to bring me back every once in a while to pick up supplies and visit people, aren’t you?”

  “As often as you want.”

  “Then I don’t think it’ll be a problem to be ready by then. Anything I forget, I can come back and get.”

  Kevin nodded.

  Torrey started to get back up, but Kevin said, “Wait a minute.” Then he looked at Warren. “I didn’t want to say anything at Glendymere’s, but Laryn and Steve are planning to go out to Rainbow Valley that week. Would you mind if they’re there when you get there? They were planning to stay through the weekend, maybe through the middle of the next week. I hate to tell them they can’t go, but those caves are going to be your home for the next few months and I don’t want to impose.”

  “Of course not,” Torrey said. “In fact, that’s wonderful. Laryn’s lived there before, right? Back when Badec was training?”

  Kevin nodded. “But not in the caves. She and Badec lived with the giants while he trained, but she and Steve spent a couple of weeks in the caves while I was dealing with Gwendolyn.”

  Torrey smiled. “So she’ll know her way around and be able to show me where things are.” Then the smile faded and a slight frown took its place. “But will we be intruding on them? They haven’t been married very long. Would they rather we wait until they’re gone before we move in?”

  Kevin shook his head. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

  “All the same, I’ll feel better if you check with them. If they’d prefer, we can go later.”

  “I know they won’t mind, but I’ll talk to them and if we need to change the date, I’ll let you know.”

  Torrey nodded and got up. She walked over to one of her cabinets, took out some paper and a pen, and started writing. “I’ll make a cake, and maybe a couple of pies, and some sweet buns of course, and maybe a hearty stew for dinner. You can carry it all through the energy field, can’t you?” she asked as she turned back around and looked at Kevin.

  “Sure, no problem. Make anything you want and we’ll see that it gets there.” Kevin grinned as Torrey turned back to her lists. When he glanced over at Warren, he saw a big smile on the man’s face.

  “Well, I’m sure you’ve both got a lot to do,” Kevin said as he stood up. Then he looked at Warren. “You need to have a long talk with Colin and Ryan. I’ll check back with you later this week to see how it went. And now, I need to get back to my guests.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  When Kevin got back to the main office, Chris, Rhianna, Duane, and Darrell were seated around the conference table talking and laughing.

  “Duane was telling us about some of his adventures over the past year,” Darrell said by way of explanation.

  “Or misadventures,” Chris added with a grin.

  “And those were just the ones I was willing to tell you,” Duane said, laughing.

  “What have you been doing?” Kevin asked.

  “Mostly training recruits,” Duane explained. “You wouldn’t believe half the stuff that happens.”

  Darrell shook his head. “And you thought we were bad.”

  Chris saw Isak frown, so he explained. “Duane was hired to train us to defend ourselves before we started traveling to Milhaven.”

  “But you had Myron with you,” Isak said. “You didn’t need to know how to fight.”

  “We didn’t want anyone to figure out who he was before we got here,” Darrell said, “so he couldn’t do any magic, which meant we had to defend ourselves with swords and knives.”

  “That’s right,” Kevin added as he sat down beside Rhianna. “I carried a sword too, not that it would have done me a lot of good. Just ask Duane.”

  Duane laughed. “We tried, but I was scared to death he was going to get hurt before he got the hang of it.”

  “That thought crossed my mind, too,” Kevin said with a chuckle. “Fortunately though, I had people with me who were a lot better with weapons than I was.”

  Duane stood up and put his hand on Darrell’s shoulder. “If you want to work out before dinner, we better get going.”

  Darrell motioned towards the door. “After you.”

  After Darrell and Duane left, Kevin asked Rhianna if Chris had shown her around the castle.

  Rhianna shook her head. “But I know the basic layout from when I was here before.”

  “Then why don’t I take you on the grand tour and introduce you to the staff?”

  “That sounds nice,” Rhianna said as they both stood up. “Chris? Are you coming with us?”

  Chris shook his head. “I’ve got a stack of messages on my desk that need attention. I’ll meet you in the dining room for dinner.”

  Kevin spent the next half hour escorting Rhianna around the main floor of the castle. He introduced her to Kort, a few of the other guards, and Cryslyn. When they reached the dining room, he said, “I’d introduce you to Miranda and her staff, but with dinner in half an hour, they’re pretty busy right now. Let’s head outside and I’ll show you the gardens.”

  “Fine with me,” Rhianna said as Kevin led her out the door onto the patio.

  “You haven’t met Nikki yet, but that can wait until after dinner.”

  “Your dog,” Rhianna said.

  Kevin nodded. “Xantha’s minding her right now.”

  “Xantha?”

  Kevin smiled. “I took Nikki up to Crinsor
Run and introduced her to Xantha. They really hit it off. It would be easy for me to get jealous. Whenever Xantha’s around, I don’t exist.”

  “He does have a way with animals. The horses follow him around whenever he’s at home, especially the mares.”

  Kevin laughed. “I can believe that. He’s a beautiful animal, and they probably think he’s a horse.”

  By then they had reached the gardens, so Kevin led Rhianna to the center and motioned to one of the benches. After they sat down, he quietly said, “We need to talk, but not here, and not tonight.”

  “All right. When?”

  “Do you know when Duane’s planning to leave?”

  Rhianna shook her head. “But Darrell asked him if he had time to hang around for a couple of days and work with the guards a bit.”

  “What did Duane say?”

  “He said sure, but I don’t know how long that’ll be.”

  “At least he won’t be leaving tomorrow morning so he won’t be looking for you. Let’s plan to slip away right after breakfast if nothing comes up.”

  “I’m sorry about all of this.”

  Kevin shook his head. “Not your fault, but let’s wait until we’re somewhere else to talk about it. Now, shall we head back and find out how much longer it is before dinner? For some reason, I’m starving tonight.”

  After dinner, they went out to the stable to collect Nikki. Xantha was standing inside eating some hay and Nikki was passed out in her crate.

  “She tried to stay awake until you got here, but she couldn’t,” Xantha said as he continued to eat.

  Kevin knelt down at the door to the crate and reached in to rub her ears. Nikki was stretched out on her back, paws up in the air. She opened one eye, looked up at him, yawned, and went right back to sleep. Kevin laughed as he stood back up. “Guess she’s had it for today.”

  Rhianna smiled. “She’s adorable.”

  “Hear that Nikki? Someone’s paying you a compliment. Want to come say hello?”

  Nikki opened her eyes again and slowly rolled over on her stomach, raised her head, and yawned again. After a moment, she stood up and walked over to Rhianna. Then she plopped down beside her.

  Rhianna knelt down and stroked Nikki’s head and neck. “You’re lovely, but you know that, don’t you? You’ve got all these men wrapped around your paw, and you love it. Wouldn’t have it any other way.”