Tobias looked from me to her, and then at everyone else. “I’m assuming you plan on staying with them, correct?” He asked, referring to me and Eli. Risa glanced at me again, and then nodded. Tobias continued. “Then really, that’s none of my business. You can do what you want. It would be a different story if you wanted to stay with us, which in that case I’d leave the decision to my daughter.”
Mira immediately chimed in. “Which I would be perfectly fine with, so you can choose either option.”
Risa looked from her to me, and back again, so I quickly added to Mira’s comment. “And we aren’t going our separate ways yet, so you don’t have to choose right now. You can decide later if you want to come back here with Mira or else continue to travel with me.”
Risa nodded and then looked down at her hands folded in her lap. “I just wish I didn’t have to choose,” she admitted quietly.
I sighed, looking up at Mira. “Me either,” I agreed. I then returned my focus to Risa. “But let’s not worry about it right now when we don’t have to. I’d really like to enjoy our time together while we can.”
Risa and Mira both nodded in agreement.
“Right,” Tobias continued. “Then, since that’s settled, I’ll have the guys help me make sure the children are all loaded, and then after we escort them to the gate we’ll go into town to get the supplies we need for the trip tomorrow.”
Eli took the hint and followed him outside to meet up with Landon and all the children.
While the guys were outside taking care of the caravan, Risa and I helped clean up the mess made from breakfast. I was a little surprised Risa wasn’t upset to see any of the kids go, but she had only been around them for a few days and they were required to be quiet the majority of the time while they were being transported. She hadn’t really bonded with any of them, not that she would have changed her mind if she had.
Just as we were finishing up, a disembodied voice filled the room. I looked over at a metal box hanging on the wall similar to the one I had seen the old man speak into yesterday. Except this time, I recognized the voice. It was Landon.
“Umm, Mira?” He asked in a shaky tone.
Mira immediately ran over and grabbed the device off the wall, holding it so that the long metal probe was sticking upwards. “What’s wrong?” She asked urgently, sensing his concern. “Something with the kids?”
“No, we already sent them off,” he replied. “But…” He hesitated. “It appears Riella has some company. There are three elves here to see her.”
I thought my knees were going to buckle, forcing me to sit down in the chair next to me. Elves? Why would there be elves here for me? In the eighteen years I had lived with them, not once had I ever heard of an elf leaving their protected territory. Not once. And I couldn’t think of one possible reason why they would have now. Not a single one.
When Mira didn’t respond right away, Landon spoke again. “Is she coming?”
Mira was watching me, trying to evaluate my reaction. “Do you want to see them?” She whispered.
I stared at her, trying to focus. “I just…” I began to say, before starting over again. “I just can’t understand this. I don’t understand why they are here. They kicked me out forever.” I took a deep breath then, looking over at Risa. “But I guess it can’t hurt to find out what they want.”
Mira immediately held up the metal box to her mouth. “We’re coming.” Emphasis on the ‘we’ part. I was glad she didn’t leave room for negotiation. Her tone made it clear it wasn’t to be debated.
I grabbed my black sword, not wanting to be near the gate without it, but left my pack behind. As we headed out to meet them, I apologized to my two friends and picked up the pace to a run, telling them I would meet them there. I knew better than to make an elf wait. Surprisingly, they both chased after me, with only Risa being able to keep up. Granted, she seemed to lack endurance, so she quickly fell behind too after I got about halfway there. Either that, or she decided to wait for Mira after all. I didn’t bother looking back to check to see if she was out of breath.
When I got to the gate, Tobias and Landon were standing at the entrance with Eli roughly twenty feet further out. The three elves were waiting even further away, seemingly wary of the metal structure. Once I passed the two humans and reached Eli’s side, I realized that I recognized one of the elves right away.
And I couldn’t believe it.
The elves approached then when they saw me stop by Eli. I just stared at them, seeming so out of place in the human world. All three were wearing the familiar emerald green guard uniforms with gold embroidery. Two had pale skin and one was tan, the latter of the three being the one I recognized first, although I at least had seen the other two before. The white hair and tan skin gave him away from a distance.
“Regulus!” I exclaimed. “W-What are you doing here?”
The tall elf shifted his green eyes from me to Eli, prompting me to glance up at my half-dragon friend to see that his arms were crossed, his posture slightly defensive. I wasn’t sure why, other than the fact that these three men were strangers to him. I looked back at Regulus when he replied to my question, speaking in the elvish tongue.
“Riella, we came to take you back.”
My knees nearly buckled again, and I reached out to grab Eli’s arm. He immediately readjusted his posture to allow me to support myself. “W-What?” I exclaimed in the human language. “Take me back? You can’t take me back. I’ve been banished!”
Regulus smirked at me, persisting to speak in elvish. “When I saw you get attacked by the elderfel as soon as you crossed the meadow, I immediately went to the elders and demanded they let you back in. It took a lot of debating, but I finally got them to allow you to reside within our territory permanently. You wouldn’t be welcomed back in town of course, but you’d be safe at least, allowed to live wherever you wanted in the forest.”
I just stared at him in disbelief. Did he really care that much about what happened to me? I couldn’t believe it. I ended up slipping back into the elvish tongue myself, since I was most familiar with it. “Just you?” I wondered.
His grin faded slightly. “Well, no,” he admitted. “Matron Aurora Akema, your godmother, played a large role as well. I went to her first, knowing she would be the necessary piece to make it happen.”
Of course. I realized Regulus didn’t have the power to convince them, which meant he was heavily exaggerating his role in all this. At least he didn’t lie about it though. Granted, I knew his honesty was probably only because I would find out the truth anyway if I accepted the offer. Still, he had gone to the person who did have power. I couldn’t even imagine the effort my godmother had been required to put forth to make this a possibility. She had already called in so many favors while I lived there.
My ears twitched when I heard Mira and Risa finally catch up, but I was too overwhelmed to glance back at them.
Regulus’ eyes were shifting between me and Eli, and I began to focus on what he was looking at. His gaze kept going from Eli’s right arm, to my arm on his left, to my face…
No, to my neck.
Obviously, he could see that something was dramatically different. I certainly wasn’t tattooed yesterday.
I cleared my throat, getting him to look at my purple eyes again. I finally stood up straight and took my hand off Eli, having gathered myself enough. “Is the offer indefinite?” I wondered seriously, speaking in the human tongue again so Eli would understand my part of the conversation at least.
Regulus shook his head slightly. “No, you must come with us now.” His tone was demanding.
I didn’t like the way he said it. In fact, now that I thought about it, I didn’t like this entire situation. He was too stiff, unlike his usual relaxed posture. I knew he was uncomfortable, but there was something else about his demeanor…
I suddenly looked up at Eli and realized what it was. They were both acting…possessive. And I knew there could only be one logical sour
ce of their behavior – me.
I at least knew why Eli was acting this way. No doubt it would be a problem for him if I went back to the elves while we were still bound together with this magic. Although, as I thought about it, I realized I might not be able to go back at all unless Eli was welcomed too. Because this magic wasn’t going away unless one of us died.
But as for Regulus? If he was being possessive it wasn’t for my benefit. He had already made it clear that he didn’t really value me. I was just a beast to him.
I finally glanced back at Risa, seeing that her ears were forward and alert, listening intently to every word. Her gold eyes were filled with concern, and I saw in her expression that she was afraid I was going to leave her. I didn’t want to leave any of them, but the elderfel issue wasn’t going away anytime soon and it was dangerous for them to be around me.
I returned my gaze to Regulus, seeing that he was impatiently waiting for my answer. I sighed. “I’m assuming that bringing along others is out of the question, correct?”
Regulus grimaced. “Yes, that is correct.” His eyes then brightened. “Although, you won’t be entirely alone. I’d be happy to come visit you occasionally.”
I stared at him completely baffled, watching the other two elves cringe at his comment. Such a statement might seem subtle to a human, but since he was talking about me, the disgusting pantherian, it wasn’t subtle at all. Yesterday, such a comment might have been flattering, just like his comment for a kiss threw me off guard, but I felt level-headed enough to remember that he was a selfish bastard who didn’t care about me at all.
I took a deep breath, and looked away from him. “I can’t,” I whispered.
Regulus abruptly took a step forward, his possessive posture becoming a little scary. “What do you mean, you can’t?” He demanded.
I flinched and looked up at Eli. His demeanor was responsively more defensive, but he relaxed a little when he glanced down at me. He abruptly spoke up, focusing on Regulus. “Hold on a second, let me talk to her.”
“Excuse me?” Regulus snapped in the human tongue, acting like he was insulted that Eli would even speak to him.
Eli sneered. “Maybe I can convince her to go with you if you’ll be patient for a moment.”
I just stared at Eli, heartbroken, as Regulus stood up straighter. “Very well, make it quick.”
Eli immediately grabbed me loosely by the arm and led me away from everyone, further north, so that we would be out of earshot. When he stopped, he turned to face me, his expression reserved. “If you want to go,” he whispered, “we can find a way to make it work out.”
“But how?” I barely heard my own voice, feeling like I was going to pass out again.
He noticed and reached out to steady me, his hands grasping my shoulders. “I can…” He sighed heavily. “I guess I can live here in this town, and if that’s too far for this magic, then I can make a home in the forest, so you can be free to live under their protection.”
“But why?” I wondered, feeling pathetic as my eyes began to sting.
He took a deep breath. “So you’ll be safe. So the elderfel can’t hurt you.”
“But they can hurt you!” I countered, trying not to be too loud.
He shook his head. “I can take care of myself. So if you want to go, then you can. Nothing here is holding you back.” When I didn’t answer, instead bowing my head to hide my tears, he spoke again. “Do you want to go?”
I sniffled, my voice failing to hide my emotions. “Do you want me to go?” I wondered quietly.
His body stiffened, and I wiped my eyes to glance up at him. He was looking away, off in the distance. Finally, after a few seconds he glanced at me and responded. “That’s…a hard question to answer.”
I stood up straighter and crossed my arms, knocking his hands off in the process. “And why is that?” I wondered, trying to mask my sadness with annoyance.
He sighed. “Because if I say I want you to stay, then that’s almost the same as saying I want you dead. You’d be safe there, with no chance of the elderfel being able to get to you.”
I dropped my arms as I considered his words. He was right, it was a hard question to ask him. At least I knew he didn’t want me dead. Did that mean he actually cared about me? I wanted to think that was true, but I was afraid it would hurt too badly if I found out it wasn’t.
Eli sighed heavily again when I didn’t respond. “Riella look at me.” He continued once I complied. “I want you to do what you want. Not what I want, not what any of the others want, and certainly not what those elves want. It’s your life in danger.”
I stared at his sapphire eyes as I thought about it. What did I want? Well, I certainly didn’t want to die, but I also didn’t want to leave my new friends. My only friends. And most importantly, I didn’t want to leave Eli, even though I wasn’t sure he felt the same way.
Taking a deep breath, I tried to view the situation a different way.
If I had known for a fact I would make friends outside of the elven forest, would I have gone willingly? Would I have abandoned their protection and left of my own accord? Would I have risked death in order to obtain my deepest desire?
Or would I have stayed?
The moment I asked the right questions, I had my answer.
I would have left. Without a doubt.
Staying alive and living the empty life I had wasn’t worth it to me. I would rather have risked death to obtain that which my heart yearned for most – friends, and love. A life without those two things was no life at all.
Really, I felt like I hadn’t truly been living until now. And I wasn’t about to go back to a life of solitude just to keep this body breathing while my heart slowly withered away in loneliness. I needed to feel, to be alive, even if it did ultimately lead to an early death.
I looked up at Eli with renewed determination, only to realize he wasn’t focused on me anymore, and his expression had changed drastically. He had a look in his eyes that I hadn’t seen before, and I hoped to never see it directed at me.
Pure hatred.
I turned around, almost expecting him to be looking at Regulus, only to see that the three elves were facing the other way too, swords halfway drawn. I gazed further on, trying to understand what was happening, finally seeing it for myself.
At the edge of the forest, far in the distance, there were at least twenty elderfel.
And more were beginning to appear so fast that I was quickly losing count. Within a matter of seconds, the original number had doubled, and yet there seemed to be no end to them.
Fear gripped my chest just before Eli returned his hands to my shoulders, holding me upright. I looked up at him, seeing that his gaze was on me now, his expression dramatically different again. His eyes were gentle now. “Riella,” he said in a whisper, “remember the promise I made to you?”
I immediately shook my head, having no recollection of him making any promises. A small smirk formed on his lips. “That I’d show you the magic I received from my father. I think now is a good time to use it.”
Chapter 10: Dragon
I chased after Eli as he ran back up to the three elves, who were talking amongst themselves urgently. Risa and the three humans all ran up to meet us too. Risa looked terrified as she looked down at me, but I saw in her expression she was terrified for me, without even a hint of concern for her own safety.
“What do we do?” Tobias asked no one in particular. “Even if we flee inside the fence, they may turn on the town instead.”
The elves ignored the question, debating amongst themselves. But Eli already had an answer for him. “You do nothing,” he announced in an extremely loud and authoritative tone. It caught the attention of the three elves too. Regulus eyed him suspiciously, as Eli continued. “Except stay out of my way.”
Regulus immediately scoffed, but I wasn’t focused on that. I was focused on Eli walking away as he took off the armor covering his chest, before going for his pants. “What are y
ou doing?!” I exclaimed, unable to comprehend why he was stripping in front of us.
He grinned at me as black scales abruptly began to form all over his body. By the time he had his pants off, there was barely a trace of his human-self left, looking more like a pitch-black anthropoid lizard.
“Protecting you of course,” he replied in a deep voice, just before his body abruptly grew at least ten times larger. A tail rapidly grew out of the base of his back while his wings grew even more massive.
Suddenly, I was staring at a black dragon the size of five horses combined. At least now I knew why he was so heavy, although I suspected he was actually light for his size. He probably weighed less than one horse, never mind five.
Eli reared up on his hind legs and leapt into the air while beating his wings, taking flight with an elegance I wouldn’t have expected from such a beast. I watched in disbelief, barely noticing anyone else’s reaction, as he quickly flew across the large expanse of farmland to greet the army that was coming specifically for me.
It looked like all of the elderfel who were present for the attack were out of the forest now. Over a hundred of them were running silently across the fields, seeming to already know exactly where to find me. They were heading straight in our direction.
The black dragon circled over them in the sky, before opening his mouth and scorching the ground – except, not with fire. The moment Eli’s mouth opened up, an eruption of blue light split into hundreds of lightning strikes all at once. The air around us immediately exploded with thunder that quickly became so deafening I had to cover my ears. The hair on my head and tail began to stand on end as the air became charged with Eli’s energy, even from this distance.
The sudden display of power was so overwhelming, it was all I could do to remain on my feet. The hundreds of simultaneous peals of thunder shook the ground underneath us, and radiated through my body, shaking my bones.
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