by Tristan Vick
Lisette gives Alegra a weary look, but since Leif is there she doesn’t seem too particular about who is saving her.
Lisette raises her tied fists. Alegra takes a hold of Lisette’s tethers and slashes them with her blade, freeing Lisette. Before they can steal away, one of the soldiers spots them in the act.
“It’s an ambush!” the second guard blurts out. “The prisoner is escaping!”
Standing between Lisette and the guards, Alegra digs in her heels and says in a cool and calm manner, “You will not harm this girl.”
“Well, well, well…” the first centurion says, eyeballing enchanting elf. “What do we have here?”
The second centurion slides off his steed and, with a menacing spiked gauntlet, strikes Leif right across his, jaw knocking him down to the dirt before he can get up. “Stay down, you backwater scum.”
Leif rubs the blood from his lip with the back of his hand and glares up at the centurion, who looks completely unworried.
The other centurion climbs off his horse too and draws out his long sword. Smirking, he scans Alegra’s slender body as though he were inspecting a fine cut of meat in the market place. “I haven’t seen an Elflander as pretty as you since the one I had my way with during the festival of wine.”
“I doubt it!” Alegra says. “No elf girl would ever give herself over to a pig like you, let alone one who reeks of a sullied barn.” She spits at his feet.
Outraged, the guard scowls and takes a swing at Alegra, but she easily dodges his armored fist. She is light and quick on her feet and seems to float whenever she moves about.
With her sword drawn, Alegra springs forward and takes a bold swipe at the centurion. Realizing his brash mistake, the guard hastens to raise his blade just in time to deflect a lethal cut to his neck.
Alegra’s sword manages to nick his cheek, opening up a thin red line in his face with the tip of her blade.
Wiping the trickle of blood off with his hand, the guard gazes down at his bloody fingertips and, enraged, snaps his head up. “You elf wench! I’ll make you pay for this.”
The second centurion sees Leif begin to stir and gives him another crack across the jaw. “Don’t go getting any ideas, tough guy,” the soldier says.
Leif ignores the warning and grabs a fistful of sand. He springs up and throws the sand straight into the centurion’s face.
“Gah!” the centurion cries, taking a step back and rubbing his eyes.
While the first guard is distracted, Leif draws out both of his kukri blades, one in each hand, and rushes toward Alegra’s attacker. With brute force, Leif rams into the other centurion with his shoulder. But he miscalculates his trajectory and rebounds off. Tripping on his own feet, he plants himself face first into the dirt and drops his knives along the way.
“What are you doing?” Alegra asks out of the side of her mouth as she watches him spit up dirt next to her.
“I’m rescuing you,” says Leif. Crawling about on his hands and knees, he scavenges up his knives, unaware that the first centurion looms over him with a raised sword
Sparks ignite as Alegra blocks the first centurion’s blade with her own, stopping it mere inches from Leif’s face.
“I’m pretty sure,” Alegra grunts, holding the centurion’s blade at bay, “I’m the one rescuing you.”
“You know,” Lisette says with a smirk, helping Leif to his feet. “I think she’s right.” Leif makes eye contact with her and they share a moment.
“Now is not the time for courting one another,” Alegra barks amid the clangor of steel. Blocking another attack, she stops the centurion’s blade with hers, and pushes back with all her might. He stumbles backward.
The centurion crashes into his friend, who catches him under the arms and sets him right again. The two soldiers pull down their visors, roll their shoulders, and get ready for a more serious assault.
Leif looks at Lisette then at Alegra. “I think…maybe…we should…”
“RUN!” Lisette screams, finishing Leif’s sentence for him.
19
Alegra tails Leif and Lisette as the trio hastens to the cliff’s edge, a couple of soldiers hot on their heels. I move along the tree line, matching their pace step for step, but making sure to stay just out of view as I don’t want to be seen. Not yet. I still have the element of surprise and I’ll need it if I’m going to manage to ambush these centurions.
Leif and Lisette skid to a halt when they come to the end of the ridge and peer over the precipice. Some loose pebbles, dislodged by their feet, spill over the edge and plunge eight hundred and seventy feet into the deep blue ocean below.
Once again placing herself between the two centurions and her new friends, Alegra takes up a defensive position as the two guards pin them in. With the centurions’ backs to me, I know they are completely unaware of my presence, even as I’ve kept up with them the entire way.
Stepping out of the thicket, I finally make my presence known. Using my sword to reflect the sun’s light, I flash a beam of light at Alegra, Leif, and Lisette, alerting them to the fact that I’m about to make my move. Making a swirling motion with my free hand, I point up into the sky to let them know what I’m planning.
“Get down and take a hold of something,” Alegra says.
“I beg your pardon?” Lisette asks out of confusion.
“You’d better listen to her,” Leif explains, helping Lisette find a fissure in the rocky surface to cling too.
“See how easily they surrender!” the first centurion bellows.
“Don’t think your groveling will save you,” the second centurion snarls. “It won’t!”
He scrapes his sword against his shield which creates the shrill, spine-tingling sound of a butcher sharpening his knife for the slaughter.
“We’re not surrendering, you dumb oafs,” Alegra announces as she gets down on her knees. “We’re ducking.”
“Ducking?” the centurion asks in a dumbfounded tone.
I use the wind rush technique and appear directly behind the two soldiers. My sudden arrival kicks up a spray of gravel, which catches their attention. There’s no way around it now, since I need to be out in the open for this to work.
Surprised by my sudden arrival, the first centurions asks, “Who in the realms are you?”
I ignore his inquiry. Waving my blade in the air, I trace a circle, then repeat the motion. Each time I trace the subsequent circle with my blade I spiral it down smaller, and smaller, until finally a small vortex forms around the Moon Blade.
The first centurion turns and begins walking toward me. I raise my hand and the wind picks up. Dry leaves, sand, loose branches and other debris start pelting him. I push my palm forward and the wind picks up in strength. Soon, he stops in his tracks and throws up his arms to block the blast of random fragments that are getting in his eyes and scraping his skin.
“What is this?” he shouts above the howling wind. The wind has increased to the point he has to lean with all of his body weight just to stay upright.
As I hold the Moon Blade in my hands, I listen for its song. If everything is quiet and still, and my focus is keen, I can hear it humming. It sings to me. The Song of the Winds. Its song is ethereal. Otherworldly. And it alludes to an unplumbed power which lies deep within the sword itself.
Swiping my sword forward and upward, I launch a small maelstrom at the two centurions. It flies off my sword like an arrow from a bow and kicks up rocks and debris as it rushes toward them at breakneck speed.
Unable to react in time to its onslaught, all they can do is raise their hands and shield their eyes from the sandy sting of the lacerating winds. I can hear the smaller pebbles scrape and ding their body armor.
As the full force of the wind crashes into them, it lifts them off their feet and tosses them high into the air and, consequently, over the cliff’s edge.
Their screams fade away until they’re silenced by two plops in the ocean. Satisfied they’ll no longer be a threat to us, I put a
way my blade. Walking over to my friends, I ask, “Did anyone miss me?”
“I missed you!” Lisette squeaks enthusiastically as she springs up and practically leaps into my arms. Her hug is warm and welcome, and for the life of me I cannot remember the last time anyone embraced me with such affection.
“Luckily, I wore them down for you,” Leif says with a cocky grin as he gets back up and dusts himself down.
Alegra, who’s already back on her feet, looks at Leif with her perpetually dour gaze. “Worn down by your incessant floundering and falling on your face, perhaps.”
“It was all part of my strategy to throw them off-guard.”
“If by strategy you mean blind luck.”
“Blind luck is one of my many strategies,” Leif says confidently. He puffs up his chest, which elicits a small laugh from Lisette, who cannot hide the fact that she’s totally into Leif. Being the thick-headed dolt he is, he doesn’t seem to see it.
“You two get along about as well as a cat and dog,” Lisette says in her characteristically disarming tone, glancing at Alegra and then back at Leif.
Alegra brushes a strand of platinum blond hair from her face and tucks it gently behind her pointed ear. She turns her head and looks directly at me and catches my eyes lingering on her.
I mouth the words “Thank you,” to which she responds with a regal nod. Although I don’t know much about elf customs, I find her rather stoic, only speaking when necessary.
“I’m terribly sorry,” Lisette says apologetically, extending her hand toward Alegra. “I completely neglected to introduce myself. My name’s Lisette Durante of Algoroth. I’m Arianna’s steward and apprentice.”
Alegra looks down at Lisette’s hand, but ignores it. Apparently, she is unfamiliar with the finer points of human etiquette. Placing her hand across her chest, Alegra bows reverently and says, “I’m Alegra Lockwiel of Thananor. I’m pleased to make your acquaintance.”
“Great!” Leif says with a clap of his hands. “Now that we’re all acquainted, what do you say we find some grub? My stomach is killing me.”
“How can your stomach kill you?” Alegra asks in all seriousness.
Leif just shakes his head. “No, you don’t understand. It’s just a figure of speech.”
Alegra looks at me and I shrug. It seems a suitable enough answer for her and she starts to walk back toward the forest. “Follow me.” She beckons to us without looking back. “The forest isn’t safe at night. We must go now if we’re going to make it to the forest’s edge by nightfall.”
“It’s not safe during the day either,” Leif quips, rubbing his sore shoulder.
Lisette laughs. Leif, Lisette and I smile at one another and then follow our elfin guide, the newest member to join our band of stalwart adventurers.
“Also,” Alegra adds, before entering the dark green tree line of the looming woods. “I should warn you all that we’re being hunted.”
“What?!” Lisette gaps.
“You’re kidding me, right?” Leif says, equally dismayed.
“No,” Alegra says, looking over her shoulder at us. “The Sylek python, the most venomous snake in all of Valandra, is hunting us as we speak.”
“Gee, thanks for the warning,” Leif retorts.
Turning around, Alegra tosses her silvery hair across her shoulders and looks directly at me. I feel spellbound by her purple eyes, which sparkle like amethyst crystals. “I noticed its presence when you were first helping me escape my captors. It’s been following us ever since.”
“What do we do if we come across it?” asks Lisette, fearfully.
“We kill it before it kills us,” Alegra answers. Obviously, the Sylek is a big deal around here. Of course, growing up in Bellera, I heard the rumors of giant man-eating snakes, but I never much believed them. Until now.
“Let’s just keep our eyes peeled, everyone,” I say, trying to soothe their worries the best I can.
“I wouldn’t recommend it,” Alegra says, “Peeling your eyes would be rather painful. Just stay vigilant and you’ll do well.”
Leif places his face in both palms and lets out an exasperated sigh. Lisette and I can’t help but smirk, although we suppress our snickers in an attempt to be discreet. After all, it’s not her fault that she, an elf girl, is not familiar with the colloquial expressions of humans.
With Alegra’s dire warning of man-eating snakes issued, we all venture back into the Dark Forest of Thananor in a race against the clock to reach the forest’s end by sundown. And, perhaps more importantly, get there before the Sylek python corners us and makes us its supper.
20
With Alegra’s help, we safely navigate the treacherous terrain of the Dark Forest of Thananor with its living vines with poisonous barbs and its mists of confusion. We even manage to find my horse, Merrium, who now trots cheerfully behind us along with both centurions’ horses, which we have conscripted into our ragtag assemblage.
As we follow Alegra, I can’t help but find myself sneaking surreptitious glances her way. Of course, I don’t want to appear to be gawking, so I divert my gaze anytime it seems she might catch me staring at her a little bit too intensely. But there’s something about her that I can’t quite put my finger on. Some alluring quality that I find irresistible. Some invisible force, like a lodestone, drawing me to her. It’s almost as though I’m under some kind of spell.
And I’m familiar with the old adage “Never trust a Dark Elf,” but Alegra has sworn to help me in any way necessary until she can repay her debt to me. Besides this, ever since I first laid eyes on her, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her.
Unexpectedly, I hear the huff and puff of heated breathing next to my ear. Leif is staring at the exact same area of Alegra’s backside that I am, to my profound embarrassment.
“Pretty nice, right?” He looks at me with the biggest, corniest grin I’ve ever seen and I immediately blush and divert my gaze. Was it that obvious? Could everyone tell I was looking at her?
I know that whatever shade of pink my cheeks have turned will surely give my feelings away, so there is only one thing to do—own up to them.
“Yeah,” I respond bashfully.
Honestly, I don’t know what is worse, getting caught drooling over a pretty girl in the same way Leif does or thinking that she might not reciprocate my feelings. I know how absurd it sounds. I know it’s likely just a passing crush. But still, I can’t help myself. Alegra is beyond stunning. And whereas Leif’s fantasy ends with Alegra giving into his advances, what I want is simply to get to know her better…as a person. Dark Elf or not.
“So…” Leif begins, lingering on the word while he searches for the most delicate way to broach the subject matter with me. “I didn’t know you were into elf girls.”
“Keep your voice down,” I say out of the corner of my mouth. “She’ll hear you.”
“What are you talking about?” Leif says, trying not to burst into laughter. “Have you seen her ears? She’s an elf. Of course she can hear us!”
“It’s true,” Alegra chimes in, without so much as looking back. “Elves have impeccable hearing.”
She heard all that? By the Goddess! I feel like crawling under a rock and burying my head in the sand. The level of embarrassment is almost too much to bear, but Lisette saunters up to my side. She takes my arm in hers and consoles me with a warm smile. “Don’t let him get to you. He’s just being a big idiot.”
“What? I didn’t say anything that wasn’t true.” Leif says, feigning innocence.
Lisette doesn’t buy into his polite pretense and merely makes a sour face, sticking her tongue out at him. I have to smile, but I’m quickly distracted again when I catch Alegra watching me from the corner of my eye.
I turn to look at her and she smiles at me. Suddenly we’re sharing a moment, and it’s the first time I’ve seen her smile since she joined our group. Not only that, but her smile is everything I imagined it would be. Electric. Alluring. I bite my lower lip, and pull
myself together before I embarrass myself any further.
Although I want to ask her a thousand personal questions, I console myself with the knowledge that there’ll be plenty of time to get to know her better along the journey.
“Hey…what’s that?” Lisette asks, extending a finger toward a small pond of water. It appears to be glowing.
“What’s what?” Leif says looking at the spot but clearly not seeing the light.
“It’s the fountain of El’Niar. Only the pure of heart and honest can see it.”
“I’m honest!” Leif says defensively, squinting hard to try and make out the mystic pool but to no avail.
“I don’t think saying the first thing that comes into your head counts as genuine honesty,” Lisette teases. “There is such a thing as too much honesty.”
Leif shrugs.
“You can see it too?” Alegra asks me.
“Yes.”
“Good,” she says, as though she’s much relieved by the news. Reaching under her cloak, she fetches her Bota bag, pours out its contents, and walks over to the pond. Kneeling, she bends down and fills the leather bag full of the glowing blue liquid and then hands it to me. “Drink,” she says, urging me to take the bag.
I hesitate, but not because of any worry. Instead, I find Alegra’s amethyst gaze trained on me, and I feel my palms begin to sweat as my heart races inside my chest. I smile and take the bag from her then, putting it to my lips, I tilt my head back and take a long drink of the cool, refreshing water.
Oddly enough, it tastes like ordinary water. “Is something supposed to happen?” I ask, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. I find everyone else looking at me inquisitively, waiting for something to happen. “I won’t begin to glow or anything, will I?”
“No, nothing like that. The water merely has unique properties,” Alegra informs us.
“What kind of properties?” I ask.