***
The admiral had stayed true to his word, ordering the entire camp to pack and move almost as soon as she arrived. ?Lisiek had tied Caelfel's hands together with some sort of metal wire and secured the other end around his waist. ?Caelfel was still bleeding on the back of her head from where the panther's chain had struck her, and even though it throbbed painfully, no one tended to her injury. ?Lisiek eventually called attention to it during their trek through the desert.
"I had heard a rumor that elves are particularly sensitive to the scent of blood from their own kind. ?Is this true?"
They had put her on a horse, and the air was unbearably hot and dry. Caelfel didn't believe she had ever been as uncomfortable in her life, so she did not feel inclined to answer him.
"Since you are bleeding, I thought it might be possible for someone of your kind to smell your trail."
She turned her head slowly and met his curiosity with a blank face.
They didn't stop until they reached a hidden oasis well after nightfall. ?Lisiek tugged her to the admiral's tent where they were discussing something in low voices. ?Caelfel sat in the corner and tried to pretend that they weren't there. ?She lifted her hands to discreetly feel around the dried blood on her head. ?Lisiek looked up immediately, feeling the movement on the chain, and Grimault fell silent with him.
"Is there something wrong, Lisiek?"
"I suspect her wound has probably closed now, scabbed over or something."
"Is this a problem?" ?
Lisiek straightened, and Caelfel met his ruthless eyes unwaveringly. ?"It is not something I would like to risk. ?Call in a guard."
Grimault did, and when the guard entered his tent, he received very clear instructions from the admiral. ?"Reopen the wound on her head."
The guard did not intend to be gentle about it either. ?He turned to Caelfel, and holding his sword by the scabbard, bludgeoned her with the hilt. ?She tried dodging the attack, but Lisiek pulled her to the ground with her leash. ?The best she could do was bite down on her tongue and taste fresh blood as she forced down any and all vocalizations that started rising in her throat.
"That's enough," came Grimault's command, and the beating ceased. ?She felt nauseatingly dizzy, but it did not slow her anger as she stood up and lunged for the guard who had senselessly attacked her. ?She did not have a sword, her bow, or her aura, and Lisiek might have taken her defensive amulet away once he recognized its magical properties, but Caelfel still had her hands, though bound, and she used them like a club on the man's face to knock him to the ground.
The damage she could inflict was minimal. ?The guard wore his helmet, so she just bent his visor before Lisiek dragged her off of him.
But Caelfel's anger did not stop. ?She attempted to attack Lisiek by kicking him. ?However, he stood out of her range, and her kick proved ineffectual. ?Before she could do anything else, Lisiek held out his hand with the palm facing her, and a glowing blue light twisted from his fingertips. ?When it touched her, Caelfel found that she could no longer move. ?She dropped to the ground.
Now that she was no longer a threat, the three men examined the guard's broken helmet curiously. Caelfel watched them silently from the ground as their gazes transferred from her to the misshapen metal and back again.
"How strong are the elves again?" Grimault asked at length, taking the helmet into his own hands. ?"She must be rather young. ?Those other two were much larger than her."
Lisiek leaned forward. ?"She easily pushed the cat off her as if it weighed nothing. ?Elves do have heightened senses and abilities, which would account for the helmet and the ability to detect blood."
"Then we must be sure we are prepared. ?I want this camp mobilized before dawn," Grimault ordered.
They left her lying on the coarse sand and although Caelfel's head and eyes throbbed, she was able to deduce something. ?While she wasn't sure why they picked her over all the elves of Honey Water, they did expect someone to follow them to rescue her.
She did not look forward to the moment when she disappointed them.
Archer of the Lake Page 29