Elf Doubt

by Bryant Reil

  “I wasn’t going to relieve myself.”

  Sophrosyne looked at Kyla, Aspen, and Eunoe, and frowned. She then glanced back at Duke Ukko and his guards. “Those necklaces,” she finally said. “Where did you get them?”

  “They were given to us as part of the wedding outfit!” Aspen held hers up.

  “It’s just Aura’s family stone,” Kyla said. “All the maids get to wear one.”

  “Of course, you will be giving those back after the wedding.”

  “We’ll see.” Kyla placed the pendant back down to her chest. “I really need to speak to Duke Ukko. It’s very important.”

  “Is it more important than your friend’s wedding? Because it will come across as quite rude.”

  “Why? Calam isn’t even here yet. Now that’s rude.”

  “Just…whatever it is you need to say, it can wait.”

  Sophrosyne’s face turned red. Kyla had never imagined the goddess could become flustered. She was afraid, perhaps, of being exposed to such a powerful entity. Kyla hadn’t considered exposing the goddess of night here, but she could, and be done with her.

  Sophrosyne turned back to Zen. “We have work to do. Just hold still for a few minutes so we can talk.”

  Kyla smiled at Zen as he delivered her food. He returned the greeting and said something that she didn’t hear over the din, though she adored the awkward expression that accompanied it.

  Then it struck her: he was too good to be true. Sophrosyne had brought him here for a reason, and for that, Kyla couldn’t trust him.

  Kyla was halfway through her cheesecake – masterfully prepared by Sophrosyne, she hated to admit – when several air spirits burst into the room. They wore red and black sashes, so were not of Duke Ukko’s house. Calam, his figure gray and looming and dancing with electricity, sped into the room. The booming voice that had introduced Kyla and Aura only got so far as Calam’s title and name when Calam bowed at the Duke’s table and began to speak.

  “Duke Ukko, mighty ruler of Aeolis and Lord of Storms, I apologize deeply for my delay. Something of great importance has been stolen, and it must be recovered immediately.”

  Dark clouds gathered around Duke Ukko, and a gale blasted through the room that sent many dishes of food splattering onto the guests. Kyla managed to cram the last bit of cheesecake in her mouth as her own dish sailed over her shoulder. Duke Ukko’s voice boomed over the din, so all the crowd fell silent.

  “Calam! You are late to your own wedding, and worse, the wedding of my daughter. What trinket has been stolen that is more important than the joining of our two houses?”

  Calam spoke again, though this time his voice was noticeably weaker, and there was no thunder. In fact, he turned translucent, which Kyla interpreted as cowering. “It was an item of great power, Lord. A personal affect, and a gift for my bride. I was ashamed to come without it, yet I have not been able to locate it, or the thief.”

  “And what trinket dare you compare to the value of wedding my daughter?”

  Kyla noticed, out of the corner of her eye, that Sophrosyne looked rather alarmed. The goddess pointed at the purse.

  “You have it?” she mouthed.

  Kyla ignored her. She didn’t want to reveal where it was.

  Calam opened his mouth to speak but closed it again. “I – it’s a secret, my Lord. A surprise for you and your family. An item of great power.”

  “Tell me now!” Duke Ukko roared, sending another gale that knocked a few people over in their chairs. Calam looked at his entourage, stunned.

  Kyla decided this was her moment. She stood and opened her purse, walking forward to Duke Ukko and ignoring Sophrosyne’s frantic gestures that she should stay seated. Duke Ukko did not seem to notice her, however, until one of his guards intercepted her.

  “Kyla Nim, Chief of the Digans!” the Lord of Storms roared. “What business do you have in the conversation?”

  She bowed low before speaking, though wondered briefly if a curtsy would have been more appropriate. “I know what Calam was looking for, and it was no gift for Aura. It was this!”

  Kyla held the stone above her head. The wedding guests and Duke Ukko were silent, as was Calam’s entourage, but Calam himself trembled and turned nearly invisible. Kyla turned to check on Sophrosyne and saw her sidling to the door. She thought Sophrosyne was going to escape, but then saw a small brown head with a long nose poking into the room. Alonquis. Sophrosyne could certainly read his mind.

  “Calam, is this little stone the reason you are late to my daughter’s wedding?”

  “No, my Lord. Of course not. The girl is mad!”

  Kyla looked up at Calam. “Oh, really? So, you won’t mind if I toss it from Aeolis? Perhaps into an ocean?”

  “No. Of course not. Why would I be interested in this little stone?”

  “Yeah, you say that, but really you’d just send someone to look for it. Duke Ukko, this is one of the stones that Erebus was seeking. I heard Calam speaking to that guy over there in the doorway, with the long nose. Then I stole it so I could tell you. I would have told you right away but then I was told to sit down because it would be rude to interrupt you.”

  Kyla looked to see the little man with the long nose, who appeared to be waffling between running at her and bolting.

  “Lies!” Calam cried, his body opaque again and twisting with wind as lightning sparked around him. “Lunatic. I am no Avowed!”

  “Well, you aren’t keeping good company. I took this from that guy over there, and you were talking to him about the stone last night. How do you think I found it?”

  “Your story is preposterous!” Calam roared. “How would a puny elf know anything about Erebus?”

  Duke Ukko waved at Calam to be silent. He shot Kyla a stern look. “Kyla Nim, you accuse one of the great families of Aeolis of treason? I can forgive you this once, for I know your mind has been addled over the loss of your father. But return to your seat and be silent.”

  Kyla stood, frozen, and could hear whispers picking up among the crowd. Eunoe briskly strode to her and grabbed her by the shoulder, pulling her back toward the table, but Kyla yanked herself free.

  “Ask Queen Titania! She’ll recognize the stone. The King and Queen have one of the other pieces. I know because I’m the one who gave it to them!”

  “Kyla!” Sophrosyne’s voice broke through the chatter and thunder. “Shut up!”

  “What? You still think this should be a secret?”

  Duke Ukko roared. “Don’t talk to me about the Queen. Aeolis is my Kingdom, and here I am judge. You are a traitor, Kyla Nim. I invited you into my home and you dare accuse the honor of my son-to-be?”

  “I’m not challenging your authority! I’m just saying she can tell you what the stone is! And I can prove it! Because Sophrosyne, the caterer, she can read minds! And…uh…”

  “Kyla! Shut up!” Sophrosyne was walking toward her now. Kyla was grateful she was wearing the necklace, because she was rather certain Sophrosyne would wipe her mind right now if she could. Still, Kyla didn’t want to reveal anything more. Calling out Sophrosyne’s identity would be a death sentence for both of them.

  Thunder clapped, and a great wind whipped through the room. “You know her?” Duke Ukko boomed. “You came together, then, to conspire against me? And so shortly after your visit to the Royal Palace. The Queen plans my overthrow. You have chosen the wrong side, Kyla Nim. Guards!”

  Several large air spirits swooped down at Kyla, and she reflexively held up her hand to block them. It was luck, rather than wits, that caused Kyla to raise her ring-hand. The guards shouted and dissipated into small cyclones, swirling about until they reformed some distance away.

  “Dark magic! The power of the Avowed!” screamed someone from one of the tables. This was followed by further cries calling for her capture, imprisonment, and even death.

  “Oh, crab-apples,” Kyla muttered. She kicked off her horrid shoes and bolted for the door. One of Calam’s guards cut her off, but s
he held up her hand and he dissipated. She was grateful that the ring would do no permanent damage, but also found it inconvenient that the guards could simply re-form and continue their pursuit. They were fast, and could fly, where she was limited to the walkways and would easily be surrounded. A wind blasted her from behind and threw her off her feet. She fell, and rolled, but quickly looked back up to see Calam’s guard gusting toward her, and then stop and look confused. Calam’s house did not wear the stones of Ukko’s house. They were not protected from Sophrosyne. Some fewer guards to worry about.

  Not few enough, as Kyla saw several coming at her from the front. Word had spread quickly. She ran down a side corridor, to get them all behind her. If they came at her from the same direction, she could hold them off with the ring.

  “Stop her!” one of the guards at her rear cried to those in front. “She is one of the Avowed!”

  She saw a railing ahead, and open air beyond. She stopped and turned. Five of Ukko’s guards were closing in, followed closely by screams for her capture. Three more rose from below, blocking the dead-end.

  A thunder-clap preceded a burning jolt in her back. Kyla rolled toward the railing. She dropped the stone and watched it skitter along the glass floor. She jumped up and grabbed it, shoving it back into her purse as she gritted her teeth from the pain. Another blast clapped just behind her, causing the hairs on her body to tickle. She ran for the three air spirits at the railing, ring hand up, and charged.

  As another blast of lightning whizzed over her head, Kyla decided to jump. It seemed the end for her, either way. At least she could get the stone away from Calam, and perhaps join her father. Perhaps there was a life beyond, or perhaps their souls would float together and watch the world. If not, if it was only darkness and oblivion, then at least she would be free of all this sorrow and confusion.

  The three air spirits dissipated as she ran through them with her ring-hand extended, and she dove over the railing. Only as she began her fall did she notice the seared flesh around the ring on her finger and feel the sharp pain in her side. The burns from the lightning blast were a minor inconvenience, as she was now plummeting to the earth. There was no way even Sophrosyne could save her, now. Kyla closed her eyes and decided to enjoy the rush of air through her hair and the rustle of her dress flapping in the wind as she awaited her meeting with the ground below.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  The Fall

  Kyla struggled to breathe at first, but momentarily closed her eyes and focused on short, simple breaths and began to enjoy the descent. She opened her eyes again and looked about the terrain below. She was heading for a region of low rolling hills, with clusters of trees dotting the brownish landscape. There was a lake, but she wasn’t going to land anywhere near it.

  She twisted to face Aeolis, the wind blasting into her back. There were guards flying after her, fully visible, their blue and gold sashes whipping in the wind. They were perhaps a hundred yards back and gaining slowly. Two were holding their hands in front of them, lightning sparking between their fingers. Kyla touched her left side, where she had been struck. It was sticky, and hurt to touch, but there was no blood.

  The towers of Aeolis shrank into the sky. It was a beautiful city, and she thought she might prefer to die looking up, but the angry faces on the elemental guards ruined the otherwise picturesque scene. She turned again to face the ground, the wind blowing her hair back over her head.

  Her dress pressed against her legs in the front, and flapped in the back, pulling so hard from the wind she worried it might tear off. Why was she worried about that? She’d be nothing but paste when she landed.

  She wasn’t as afraid to die as she ought, and this frightened her.

  A trail of dust rose along the ground. It was too distant to see the cause, but it looked like it was heading for her landing point. If it was a person, or animal, she hoped she didn’t crush them.

  As she drew closer to the ground she could see it was a man on a horse. Did the rider see her? She shouted, but the words carried back over her shoulder with the rush of air. She clutched the purse to her chest, curled into a ball, and closed her eyes once she realized the rider wasn’t stopping. But what were the odds they’d collide? He seemed to be slowing and looking up. Had he spotted her?

  Whoever it was stopped, and Kyla felt relieved, for she didn’t want to take anyone with her. She hoped to see her father again in five…four…three…two…

  The wind stopped. There was a clatter from the ground, and a whinny. It was hard to tell, with her eyes closed, if she was a spirit now, or reborn in some other body, or carried into a life beyond. Being dead didn’t feel much different than being alive. She opened her eyes.

  She was looking down at the ground: rocky earth, sparsely covered in long brown grass. Was she now a spirit, looking down at her corpse? No. There was no blood or guts splattered on the ground. And she felt the purse against her chest.

  Footsteps. Kyla took her first look at the rider as he hopped from his horse. He was familiar, somehow. An elf, but with gray skin. He was…he was…

  Kyla looked skyward and yelped. Duke Ukko’s guards were only a few feet away, but frozen in pose with arms stretched toward her. A stilled flash of lightning almost touched her shoulder, looking like a bright jagged tube. She stretched out a hand to touch it, only to notice the skin around the iron ring on her finger was cracked and charred.

  Wait—was that Aura floating up there behind the guards?

  A voice interrupted her thought. “Don’t touch that. The ring finger or the lightning bolt. Here, let me help you down. Hmm. Looks like you were hit pretty hard.”

  Kyla looked back at the rider as he cocked his head while looking at her side. “Herleif?”

  ***

  Eunoe wiped stray hairs from her eyes as she marched to Sophrosyne. She was standing over the little man with the brown nose. One of Calam’s guards had nabbed him, but subsequently let go and began looking stupidly about the room. Calam’s other guards drifted aimlessly, though Duke Ukko and his guards were in a frenzy, and several flew out the door.

  The little brown man, his face marked in surprise and relief, bolted. Sophrosyne ran after him. Eunoe followed.

  Aspen gave chase and shouted. “Don’t worry about her! We need to help Kyla!”

  “You can’t stop them,” Aura whispered as she flew after the guards. “Leave the guards to me.” The Daughter of the Air turned left out the door, and Eunoe followed Sophrosyne to the right.

  “She’ll be fine,” Eunoe shouted back at Aspen. “They won’t kill her.”

  Sophrosyne took a right corner ahead and Eunoe followed her into a small room. She was on one knee holding the little man by his long nose, her nails digging into his flesh. He squirmed, but his efforts seemed half-hearted. He looked frightened, and Eunoe grabbed Sophrosyne by the arm and yanked her back. Yet the little man didn’t run away, and all fear disappeared from his face. He stood, looking around at the three women surrounding him, puzzled.

  Sophrosyne turned to Eunoe and Aspen. “He is an Avowed. Was. The stone Kyla had in her purse was his. Calam was in league, which Kyla discovered, and she stole the stone.”

  “Is that why you’re here? Dragging Kyla into another mess?” Eunoe crossed her arms and dug her nails into her palms to hold back from punching Sophrosyne.

  “I came to see Kyla. I did not know the stone was here until I arrived.”

  “And you sent Kyla after it. After you nearly got her killed in two previous missions, and now with her dealing with the death of her father. How dare you?”

  “There are more important things at play. Kyla is doing great things to prevent disaster, and even she doesn’t know the extent of her actions.”

  Eunoe raised her hand, but Aspen grabbed her wrist before she struck. She shook it free and stepped within a thumb’s breadth of Sophrosyne’s face. “I expect you to fix this, and then that’s it. No more missions, no more stones, no more crap.”

  �
�Why don’t we worry about Kyla’s life first, and then we can discuss what she needs?”

  Eunoe bit her lip.

  Aspen, she caught in the corner of her eye, was kneeling in front of the little man and explaining his fingers. “Yes! They move! See? Wiggle them, like this!” The man held his hands to his face and laughed. Aspen looked up at Eunoe. “What do we do with him?”

  Sophrosyne shook her head. “I wiped his mind back to infancy. You can pitch him over the side of the walkway.”

  “No!” Aspen gasped, wrapping a protective arm around his shoulder. “He’s certainly not evil now. He’s like a baby.”

  Sophrosyne sighed. “We don’t have time to fawn over him. Just shove him in a safe place and we’ll figure out what to do with him later.”

  ***

  “Stop squirming! The fibers from your dress are fused into your skin.”

  Herleif swept the long gray hair from his eyes, leaned forward, and dug his knife into the dress fibres stuck to her skin. The charred flesh couldn’t feel the knife blade, but the pressure was hurting the parts underneath.

  “It’s fine!” Kyla growled. “It barely hurts, if you leave it alone.”

  The gray elf swept his eyes through the surrounding trees before responding.

  “The nerve endings are dead. It’s a severe burn.” He gave a final twist and a yank as he ripped out a section of Kyla’s dress. “I can clean it so you don’t get infected. And stop doing that to your finger!”

  Kyla hadn’t noticed she was drawing her thumb across her ring. The finger was cracked and charred and swollen. Herleif tried to grab it, but she yanked it away.

  “Leave me alone! It’s just a little swollen.”

  “You need to get that ring off or you’ll lose the whole finger.”

  Kyla gave a gentle tug on the ring and clenched her teeth from the pain. “It won’t come off. We can take care of that later. I need to talk to Eunoe. Or Sophrosyne. Or the Queen, maybe.”

  “Sophrosyne it’ll be, but I don’t know how long it might take to finish her business in Aeolis.”