Elf Doubt

by Bryant Reil

  ***

  Titania’s heart jumped as Oberon zapped into the center of the throne room. Aethelwyne was again leaning against the King’s throne but jumped aside before Oberon noticed. Not that he looked in a mood to worry about such a trivial transgression. His brow was furrowed, and his eyes scanned the room.

  “Where is Imel? He was to meet me here.”

  The High Seer spent little time in the throne room, so it seemed an odd place to meet. “I don’t know, dear.”

  Aethelwyne stepped forward and curtsied. “The High Seer called a meeting of the Council, Your Majesty.”

  By this Aethelwyne meant the Council of Seers, of course, though Titania didn’t know why Aethelwyne would know this and Titania would not. Oberon seemed to wonder this too, as he cast an angry glance her way. Titania was more worried than offended. Oberon was not a jovial sort, but he was kind, and it took much to cause him such stress.

  There was another zap, and Bremnos and Agrimarch appeared, each with a pair of fairies holding their elbows, as they lacked the ability to teleport themselves. Oberon turned to them.

  “To the High Seer’s Council Chamber.” And he vanished with another zap, followed by the other fairies and Bremnos and Agrimarch. Just as abruptly as he had arrived, he was gone, with not a greeting for his wife and Queen.

  Aethelwyne again leaned against the side of the King’s throne.

  “Why didn’t you tell me the High Seer called a Council meeting?”

  The fire sprite’s eyes opened wide and her mouth dropped. “Oh, my apologies, Your Highness!” She never bowed to Titania, as she did for Oberon, but then the two spent much of their days together. Aethelwyne had become overly familiar. “I assumed you knew. I only found out because I saw High Seer Imel in the corridor this morning.”

  “In the future, you are to tell me these things. What is the nature of this meeting?”

  “He didn’t tell me, Highness, though I didn’t ask.”

  It was an odd thing for him to mention it to Aethelwyne, then. Still, she was heir to the throne, and perhaps the members of the Royal Court had begun to equate her to the King and Queen.

  It would be prudent to seek out Imel and find out for herself, as Oberon was likely to head back into the field without providing any answers of his own.

  ***

  "He's a bit…off."

  Kyla cocked her head to the side to match the little dog's gaze. He met the requirements of a cinqueno dog in technical respects, but he wasn't quite right. His head drooped to one side, with his mouth hanging open and long tongue lolling nearly to the ground. His face was wrinkled and squished, like he had run into a wall, and his right legs looked shorter than his left. He was panting and wagging his tail and seemed happy enough.

  "He's adorable!" Aspen picked up the black-and white dog and stroked his ears. His coat was patched, both in color and in length, and when Aspen put him down he ran toward Eunoe, though he veered to the right and ran into a tree.

  Eunoe picked him up and looked him over. "A bit lop-sided. Stitching wasn't tight enough. Still, it worked. And he is cute."

  The dog’s rear-end wagged along with his tail, which made him difficult to hold while he was excited. He wriggled free from Eunoe’s arms as Faron approached, ran around the curupira's legs, and licked at his feet. Faron stooped down to pet the dog before it bounded off to meet the rest of the crew.

  "What's his name?" Faron asked.

  "Oly," Kyla decided.

  "Why Oly?" Aspen wondered.

  Kyla shrugged. "He's kinda roly-poly." The name had popped out of her mouth before she realized why she had chosen it.

  "Are we keeping him, Eunoe?" Aspen clasped her hands together. “Someone has to take care of him when we’re done.”

  "You can. Castor keeps me busy enough."

  Aspen paused. She knew a lot about caring for plants, but not such much about animals. “Maybe. I guess I must. That little thing isn't going to last on his own in the jungle."

  Kyla jumped as Handrin approached from behind and spoke in a commanding tone.

  "We can sort that out later. We need to move. Full moon is tomorrow night and we still need to pick up the ciguapa's trail."

  "I know where we can start looking," Kyla said.

  "Anima Point, right?" Aspen asked.

  Kyla nodded. "That's where we were told to go."

  " We can find a faster way. Pack your bags and follow me." Handrin turned to his bandit crew and waved them over. "Get ready, boys! We're heading out."

  Kyla stumbled over a root before catching her balance against a tree, which she quickly backed away from as a green and black bug with ridiculously long antennae scuttled past her hand. Handrin led several feet in front, focused on his destination and seldom looking back to make sure the other bandits were following. Kyla struggled to keep close behind, as her orb was providing him light.

  Oly yipped and brushed past her leg, chasing a lizard under a broad leaf that drooped to the ground from an unfamiliar plant. Faron followed and swooped the little dog into his arms.

  “Careful!” Faron whispered into the dog’s one standing ear. “Don’t know what sort of monster might be waiting to eat you in there.”

  It wasn’t much longer until they arrived at the hut. Now that Kyla wasn’t in a panic, she took more time to examine the premise. The earth around much of the house was tilled and small shoots reached from the earth. Stones carved with runes hung from branches of the surrounding trees, and the door itself was carved in unfamiliar markings.

  “We can pick up the scent here, but how will Oly know which scent to follow?” Kyla didn’t have much experience with tracking, but realized the dog needed to know what smell he sought.

  “I’ve got something. Remember how I told you about how Ceiba and his goons left a dead ciguapa at my door?” He walked around the back of the tree-house to a pile of stones. “Buried her under here to keep the jaguars from getting at her.”

  “Wasn’t us who did it,” Loquai insisted. “I swear, Handrin, this is the first I heard of it.”

  The other bandits murmured their agreement. Juak and Ori’s names were offered as potential offenders.

  Handrin waved them silent. “You fellas pull out the body. I’ve got something else to take care of.”

  As the bandits begin dismantling the pile of stones, Kyla followed Handrin inside. He looked over her aunt, all four hands on his hips, before chanting below his breath and pulling a red bottle from the shelf.

  “Outside,” he ordered.

  Kyla went back out, and Handrin followed. As soon as he was out the door, he threw the bottle of red liquid at the wooden floor. It shattered with a fiery whoosh as flames spread inside the tree. One of the bandits ran over to see what was happening.

  “Cremating my aunt,” Handrin told him. “Nothing you need to worry about.”

  As the fire spread to the shelves, it occurred to Kyla the remaining potions would have been useful. However, it seemed inappropriate to bring it up.

  Once his aunt’s body was engulfed in the inferno, Handrin walked back to the pile of stones, now cleared and encircled by the bandits. Castor was sniffing about at the now-exposed body.

  “Shoo!” Handrin waved a hand at Castor, who growled under his breath and slinked away from the corpse. “This is her. See the puncture marks around her ankle? Ceiba must have caught her in a trap. That cut above it? She must have been trying to cut off her own leg to free herself. They killed her with a blow to the head from behind.”

  There was another chorus from the bandits that they had nothing to do with it, but Handrin didn’t seem to be listening. He pulled a tooth necklace from the dead ciguapa’s neck and beckoned Faron to bring Oly closer. The pudgy little dog sniffed and began making his way to the southwest.

  “Smart dog,” Handrin muttered.

  “I made him to be a tracker,” Eunoe shrugged.

  Faron rushed to grab Oly before he ran off alone into the woods. “No, boy. Not gonna be
able to find ‘em til the full moon. But keep that spirit up!”

  Kyla cleared her throat. “I hate to have to mention it, but your aunt’s house is burning down.”

  “You’ve started a forest fire!” Aspen shouted at Handrin. Her voice was trembling, but Kyla couldn’t tell if it came from fear or rage.

  “Ah. I needed to keep her secrets from these slobs. Don’t worry. Upper branches will be too wet to catch.”

  Aspen did not look convinced. She turned and began to caress the tree and whispered something to it. Then she stepped back and began to sing. She was difficult to hear, over the inferno, but the trees encircling the flaming house bent and drew their branches away from the fire.

  “Trees don’t know how to protect themselves,” she scolded Handrin when she was done. “Shame on you.”

  “I apologize, miss,” Handrin said. “It was my aunt who raised them. Me, it was always my job to kill.”

  “No! Get back here!” Kyla ordered as Oly once again darted forward, which on his uneven legs took him sharply to the right. Kyla darted into the bushes after him, worried he might be snapped up by one of the many snakes or giant insects that lurked in the undergrowth.

  Kyla grabbed Oly and cradled him as he squirmed in her arms until she returned to the path. She set him down, this time keeping one hand on each of his sides to help guide him in a straight line. Eunoe, Faron, Aspen, and the bandits followed, a few carrying torches but most of them clustered around Kyla’s light orb, which Eunoe now carried. Handrin walked several paces ahead of Kyla, at the edge of the light, and kept silent.

  Kyla turned to see Faron walking up behind her. She had taken control of Oly away from him, on account of his being so slow.

  “Whatcha doing?” he asked as he tore off a chunk of leaf and gnashed the mouthful of fiber.

  “He’s pretty good at finding the scent but he gets excited and keeps running off in the wrong direction.”

  “Told you it wasn’t that easy. Want me to take over?”

  “No, I got it. Hurry, boy! We only have til morning.”

  Faron clicked his tongue. “Don’t rush him! He’s doing good, isn’t he, Oly?” He bent down to scratch the dog’s ears, but Kyla slapped his hand.

  “Don’t distract him. Oh, shoot.” Oly started to bolt, but this time Kyla snatched him up before he got away. She gently placed him back down and stooped low, shuffling her feet forward as she gripped the dog firmly.

  There was soft laughter, and footsteps, and Kyla heard a whisper in her ear. It was Aspen. “You might want to be careful. You’re sticking your bum out and its drawing some attention. Faron keeps looking at it.”

  “What?” Faron sputtered. “I am not!”

  “I saw you.”

  “No! I was just seeing if she needed help with the dog!”

  The bandits started laughing, and Faron fell back, his face red.

  Kyla shrugged. “At least someone’s appreciating it.” She looked up, though she knew she wouldn’t see the moon or stars through the canopy. “What time is it?”

  Eunoe’s voice came from behind. “Two hours to sun-up.”

  Kyla sighed. She couldn’t wait until the next full moon to pick up the trail again. If they didn’t find the ciguapa soon, she might have to go back to Sophrosyne a failure.

  “The trees have changed.” Aspen ran up alongside Kyla. “There is no fear, here. We are out of Ceiba’s domain.”

  It took two more hours, at a waddling pace, and Kyla feared she had run out of time when she heard a strange bird. Though she was unfamiliar with the birds of the jungle, she knew a true call from a fake one, as the elves often used such means to communicate. She stood and held up her hand for the others to stop.

  “Handrin!” she hissed, and he turned and looked at her, then followed her gaze into the trees. Faron, his eyes wide and mouth slightly open, grabbed Oly before the dog had a chance to run off.

  “Hello?” Kyla stepped forward and motioned for her light orb, which Eunoe placed in her palm.

  There were some more calls, and footsteps. Kyla stood tall. She placed the light orb in the air and released it, letting it hover as she held her palms outward to show she was unarmed.

  A woman stepped from the darkness. Her skin was brown and her hair long and black. She was lean and so tall Kyla’s head only came up to her chest. Her feet, true to Faron’s description, were backwards, and Kyla heard Faron emit an excited gasp. She carried three javelins on her back, though bore no weapons in her hand. She was thin, yet ripples of muscle defined her arms and legs, and she wore little clothing except a jet-black fur wrapped around her torso and an apron of bark and leaves.

  “You seek us in the company of scoundrels, yet you claim to come in peace?” The woman bared her teeth as her eyes burned into Kyla’s face.

  Kyla extended her arm to greet the woman in the Elvish fashion. “I’m Kyla. I’ve been sent to recover a stone. A black stone, with ancient writing.”

  The woman circled Kyla, looking her up and down, and then cast her eyes at the rest. She then stepped up to Handrin. “You are not welcome here.”

  “I am only here to voice a concern with the Queen. You may tell her Ceiba, the true killer of your kin, has been killed.”

  “How?”

  “By my hand.”

  The woman looked back at Kyla. “And who are you?”

  Kyla nodded, and lowered her arm as she realized she wasn’t to be properly greeted. “I’m not really with Handrin. Or those bandits. I mean, obviously I’m with them now. I came with the blonde one, the green-haired one, and the tiger. They came to help me recover the stone.”

  “Our Queen will not suffer these bandits to live. And the stone you seek is not yours to take.”

  “Well, I guess the bandits can just go back.” She turned to address them. “You guys have all been a great help. Thanks. I’m sorry, Handrin, but I don’t want to make trouble.”

  Handrin wrung both sets of hands. “I came to see the Queen, and I shall.” He turned to the ciguapa. “Take me prisoner, if you must, and let the rest return to their camp.”

  Kyla raised her hand. “Except my friends! Please. I need to see the Queen as well.”

  “What about me?” Faron whined. “I’m coming with you.”

  Kyla sighed. “We hired him as a guide,” she said to the ciguapa, “though he did betray us. He’s not a bandit, anyway.”

  The ciguapa frowned. “You allowed the betrayer to live?”

  “Well, he’s just so pathetic. Even Ceiba couldn’t bring himself to kill him.”

  Faron stomped his foot and pointed at the bandages on his chest. “Excuse me, but he did try!”

  The ciguapa held up her spear. “I see, but do not care. You are all prisoners now. We shall escort your two groups separately, and the Queen shall judge your fate.”

  They were quickly surrounded by a score of ciguapa bearing spears and spiked clubs. There was some grumbling among the bandits as their own weapons were taken, until Handrin silenced them.

  “You seem to be taking this well, Kyla,” Eunoe grimaced as she was pushed forward.

  Kyla raised an eyebrow. “Yeah. This is my third time being taken prisoner since I came back to school. I guess I’m getting used to it.”

  ***

  The march was a contest of wills as Eunoe argued with Aias over control of her body. She worried he would do something rash, like start a fight. In fact, from the images in his mind, that was exactly his intent.

  No, she thought firmly. You’ll get us killed.

  He had, in a moment of control, snatched the gun from her bag and tucked it into the back of her pants. It was only luck that none of the ciguapa saw, though Eunoe felt it was likely they would be searched and stripped of their weapons anyway.

  They came to the ciguapa settlement as the sun rose. Long wooden huts circled a great stone pyramid. Atop the pyramid was a statue of a well-adorned woman which loomed over an altar. The structure was black and polished. Even the dirt p
aths that led from the temple to the wooden buildings looked manicured and topped with soft soil. The trees had been cleared here, and Eunoe forgot her troubles for a moment to bask under the open sky.

  All the males of the group, excluding Castor and Oly, were placed in a circle about a hundred paces away with their hands tied. Kyla, Eunoe, and Aspen were kept under a small guard of three soldiers who spoke to each other in soft tones, and even laughed, as the guards over the men barked at their captives for making the smallest movement or sound.

  Aspen put her hand on Eunoe’s knee. The dryad was shaken, and rightly so, but tried to put forward a show of courage.

  There was a trumpet, and the jangling of bells, and the ciguapa ordered everyone to stand. As soon as they were on their feet they were ordered to lower their eyes. Eunoe peeked up, and could see so did everyone else, as a procession came around the temple. Guards wearing colorful plumes and carrying long spears marched in pairs along the road. Behind them followed a woman bedecked in gold and bright jewelry.

  Eunoe glanced about for Castor. The tiger had been moody since killing Juak. He was leashed to a tree, pacing back and forth, seeming unaware of the current predicament.

  The procession passed by the male prisoners and came straight for Eunoe, Kyla, and Aspen. Their guards kneeled as the decorated woman approached. Her own guards raised their spears and placed them on each of the girls’ shoulders, pressing down for them to kneel as well.

  Kyla knelt, and being the captive closest to the ciguapa Queen, grinned and extended her arm, only to have it slapped away.

  The Queen, who towered over the elf, frowned. “What brings you to my jungle?”

  “I’m looking for something. That little guy over there, with the red hair, led us into a trap and those guys kidnapped us. Then Handrin, the one with the four arms—"

  “What is it you seek?” The Queen’s voice was deep.

  “It’s a stone, about this big. Black, with writing in a strange language. My patron said you would have it.”

  The Queen waved her hand, and several guards stepped forward. “She seeks the sacred stone. She is another disciple of Erebus!”