“But how would we ever reach Valhalla to see those who died before us?”
“What if there is no Valhalla?”
“What if there is no Sun?”
I didn’t answer. I merely looked up to it, squinting under its light.
“You know what I mean,” she began correcting herself. “No Sun where the dead go to spend eternity. And what kind of existence is that, anyway? You sit around and talk to your friends and family—forever. Talk about boring,” she expressed, rolling her eyes. “I’d much rather spend eternity in Valhalla where you go to battle with your friends and family because it’s fun. I mean, it’s not like you can die again, right? And you can eat and drink all day, and your ass never gets fat.”
I laughed. “You make it sound like such a great place. Have you been there?”
This time it was she who slapped a hand at me. “No, silly. You have to die to get there. People just talk about it.”
“Did any of those people die and come back?”
She began to answer but went quiet.
Looking around at the reds and yellows of the fall leaves and the pretty blue sky, I asked her, “Wouldn’t it be nice if we could create our own world just for the people we care about?”
“It would be nice, but I still think Valhalla would be the perfect place for me. I’m sure my girl, Piper, is there waiting for me.”
CHAPTER VII
THE GUARDIAN OF ASHWOOD
While we sat by the fire, I finally asked why she lied about how she acquired her ship.
She stood up and walked around the campfire. “I was hoping you didn’t hear that,” she began, referring to what Maddox said before trying to kill her. “If I told you the truth, I didn’t think you would trust me.”
“I trust you even less because you lied,” I explained.
She laughed. “I’m a pirate,” she announced with a bow. “It’s in my nature to lie, cheat, and steal.”
“But why?”
“Because being good is boring,” she answered bluntly, raising her hands to the dark sky. “If you don’t trust me, why didn’t you leave on your own once we docked?”
“Because we have a deal; I owe you a sword.”
Shaking her finger at me, she said, “Ah, you’re a man of your word. You’ll get nowhere in life that way.” She came to sit next to me and leaned her head against my shoulder. “But I’m glad you are.”
“So you stole that ship from Maddox?”
She lifted her head and began to explain. “Yes, but there’s more to it than that. Maddox was a crewman on the Crimson Spear when my father captained the ship. He and a handful of others returned to the restaurant late one evening with news that my father and most of the crew had been killed, claiming they were the lucky few who escaped. My father had made many enemies in his day, but Maddox’s story seemed a bit too vague for me to believe, especially with him now captaining the ship. Instead of calling him a liar outright, I volunteered to come aboard with the women who would cook and entertain the men. While at sea, I showed interest in Maddox, so he would lower his guard. When we reached port, I did some investigating. I found out that Maddox and the other men who claimed they narrowly escaped death had been paid a small fortune to betray my father and their crewmates. I informed the women of their deception, and they helped me take back my father’s ship.”
Enthralled by the story, I asked, “What did you do?”
Lorena got up to stoke the fire. “While we wined and dined at a restaurant in the city where we had docked for the evening, I had some of the women lead the trusted crewmen back to the ship. The remaining women and I seduced the men and rented rooms for the evening where we tied them to the beds. We set the place afire and returned to the ship. I believed him to be dead, but he…”
I held a hand up to quiet her, and I looked at Mariana who was standing nearby. We heard leaves being trampled in the distance.
“It sounds like horses!” Lorena said, frightened by whatever was quickly approaching.
We stood together with our backs to the fire and our swords at the ready. Mariana raised a hand to point into the darkness, but she was knocked aside by four large creatures as they burst out of the forest! They had a long body with four legs and the head and arms similar to that of a hairy man. The hair covering their bodies was short and bristly, but they had a long mane and tail like a horse. Two of the creatures drew bows and held us in their sites while the other two circled the camp.
More amazed than she was frightened, Lorena whispered, “Centaurs! I’ve heard tales of them from travelers. Lower your swords.”
I didn’t argue. If the centaurs wanted to kill us, they would have already fired their arrows. I sheathed my swords, and we held our hands up.
One stamped out our fire. Another kicked Ralph, causing him to collapse into a heap of bones. It then removed the pack on Lorena’s horse and freed it.
“Oh, come on! We need those,” I pleaded.
One of the large beasts galloped up to me, speaking in a strange, animal language composed of brays, blows, and snorts while he stamped his front hooves.
“You don’t happen to know their language, too, do you?” I asked Lorena without looking away from the seven feet tall creature.
“Call it a hunch, but I don’t think they like us setting fire in the forest or enslaving horses.”
The beast moved in close, but I didn’t back away. It snorted, and the four creatures disappeared into the forest.
“Great,” I announced dryly, peering off in the direction Lorena’s horse ran. “It looks like Ralph will have to bear us both.” Laughing, I added, “He won’t be happy.”
“But they broke him,” Lorena said, pointing at his remains before watching me resurrect him again. She then ran to check on Mariana. “Oh no!”
Upon inspecting her for myself, I saw that many of her bones were crushed. “She has sustained too much damage,” I informed Lorena. “She wouldn’t be much use to us if I were to bring her back.”
“What are we going to do about a night watchmen?”
“I’ll stay up.”
She opened her mouth to object, but I assured her it would be okay and that humans needed more sleep than elves, anyway.
We located our satchels where the centaur dropped them and rested at the foot of a tree. Without a warm fire to sleep by, Lorena slept huddled up next to me. I remained awake, listening to the wind and her snoring.
Lorena awoke before dawn, so we rode on to Ashwood, arriving just after noon. Too faint for human ears, I heard, “Ambros returns! Ambros returns!”
Lorena stayed closer to me upon seeing Dark Elves step out of the shadows of trees. Unlike me, who learned to weave clothing from magic during my time with the Light Elves, my Dark Elf kin wore the furs of animals and pieces of tree bark to aid them in blending with the forest. By the time we reached the obsidian doors, many elves were already there to welcome me.
The doors opened, and Torvin stepped out to see me again after a century and a half. I gasped at the sight of him. His right hand was completely gone. His arm had healed over at the wrist where his hand should’ve been. He also had a terrible scar running from his left eye down his face. The eye was still in its socket but milky white.
I was in disbelief at the horrible wounds he had suffered. “Torvin, old friend, what happened?”
“Who is this human you’ve brought with you?” Torvin asked suspiciously, ignoring my question.
“This is Captain Lorena,” I answered, and she removed her hat to take a bow. “I was on my way here from the council Palace when I was struck down. Lorena was kind enough to help me on my journey.”
“Welcome, Captain,” he said before turning back to me. Placing a hand on my shoulder, he said, “Come with me. I fear Ashwood is in great danger, my friend.”
Leaving Ralph outside, we followed Torvin, but he led us into a side tunnel to speak to me in private. “I wish I had better news for you, but if your father foresaw what would happe
n after his departure, he didn’t warn any of us.”
“Why? What’s happened?”
Torvin was a master swordsman and hunter. He had been training our people since before I was born. I had never known him to fear anything, but I could hear in his voice now that he was afraid, and that terrified me.
He took a moment to see who may be within listening distance before he filled me in on the details. “Your father was a great leader, Ambros, and we all miss him dearly, more now than ever. He served on the Council of Dragons for centuries, quietly protecting us from their devious talons. We were under the impression that Magnus would do the same in Ambrosius’ absence, but Magnus didn’t stay to protect us from the dragon menace that continues to grow in the east. He left to pursue his own crusade, leaving a child vampire among us. I caught the girl feeding on Takarha while, at the same time, giving her blood. When I intervened, she attacked me. I was caught off guard by her speed and magical aptitude. I lost my hand, and my eye was damaged before I could restrain her.”
“What happened to her?” I asked anxiously. “Where is she, now?”
“Takarha died from blood loss,” he answered sadly. “Without Magnus here to determine a proper punishment, I took the vampire to the Council Palace myself. It was there I found Grimlash the Hydra Lord had already captured and was interrogating Magnus, the one called Dirk, and a necromancer I did not know. There was nothing I could do for them. Before leaving the palace to come home, I was informed that Grimlash destroyed the vampire.”
“Oh, Eve,” I exhaled, looking down as tears threatened to break, remembering my first real friend. I felt Lorena’s hand close over mine to console me.
“I’m sorry,” Torvin apologized.
“I don’t blame you,” I told him, wiping my eyes. “You did what you must for the city.”
Torvin shook his head. “But that was just the beginning of our problems. It wasn’t long before the council sent a real dragon to rule over us. She informed us that Grimlash had perished and Elsbareth the White had taken over as head of the World Council. She took up residence at your home and has continued the experiments your father logged in his notes.”
“Oh no!”
“What? What kind of experiments?” Lorena asked.
“I need to get over there. I need to see what she’s done,” I said, beginning to leave the tunnel we had been quietly talking in.
Torvin grabbed my shoulder to stop me. “I must warn you: Yndra is very powerful. She has a deceptive tongue. Don’t let her words twist your beliefs.”
I nodded that I understood before leading Lorena through the illuminated tunnels to Ashwood. The sun was still shining through the obsidian roof, casting an otherworldly blue light over the city. Standing atop the stone steps, I breathed deeply the earthy rich air and smiled, forgetting for a moment the gravity of the situation. I remembered gathering animals from my traps in the forest and walking down these ancient stone steps to carry them home to experiment on. While the other children learned to fashion obsidian into arrowheads and jewelry, I was preoccupied with learning the anatomy of different animals. If all creatures go to the sun after they die, I wondered if they could be brought back just the way they were. I still wondered.
Lorena was in awe of the view. “In all my years of travel, I have never seen such beauty.” She then quickly turned and kissed my lips, catching me by surprise.
“You little sneak,” I laughed.
“I suppose you could say I pirated that kiss.” She smacked my butt and skipped down the stairs. “Now let’s go meet this Yndra; I’m dying to see my first dragon.”
“And you just might,” I warned.
She waited at the bottom of the stairs for me to catch up. She then wrapped her arm around mine, and we walked through the city. Ashwood looked the same as I remembered it. Houses were built around trees. Mushrooms and molds grew along the forest floor and even on homes. I don’t believe a human could live in those conditions for very long before getting sick.
I noticed a leather satchel she had slung over her shoulder, hanging down between us. Curious, I asked, “What do you carry in your bag?”
Politely, she answered, “Oh, a woman never knows when she may need a brush, hair ribbons, or perhaps a vial of poison.”
“HA! Sounds like you came prepared.”
Batting her lashes at me, she responded, “I’m always prepared.”
Elves sat outside their homes smoking pipes after a hard night’s work in the mines. They nodded to us as we passed. Fairies flew down from their lofty, treetop dwellings to welcome me back with their sweet voices and ask who my lovely friend was.
“I can’t get over how simply wondrous this place is,” Lorena commented.
“Then you should see Lylandria, the city of the Light Elves. If you worship the Sun, that’s the place to live.”
“I thought the Dark Elves worshiped the Sun, too. Why do they live down here in this cavern?”
“They do. As far as I know, all elves worship the Sun. The Dark Elves live down here because they fear the rest of the world. They want no part of the wars and conflicts of other races.”
“Fear?” Lorena repeated. “But there’s so much to learn from all life,” she argued.
“I know that, but the rest of my kin don’t care. They don’t care what happens outside their hunting grounds that surround the city.”
Upon reaching the place I once lived, there was nothing left of it to remember. Both the tree and the house were gone! In its place was a tower built of black obsidian as wide as the surrounding homes and as tall as the trees.
“Was this where you lived?” Lorena asked, looking up at the dark tower.
“This is the place but not the house.”
“Well, this house is amazing!”
“Pfft! Come on,” I told her, stepping up to the door to enter.
Inside, the first floor of the tower was one big room. There were three tables with books and scrolls scattered about them. To our left was a staircase leading down, and to our right, stairs leading up. Above us, there was a large, green obsidian egg protruding from the middle of the floor above us. The silhouette of a dark, serpentine shape could be seen within the glowing egg.
“What is that?” Lorena asked me.
Before I could answer, a voice interrupted. “Magnificent, isn’t she?”
We turned to see a devilish woman coming down the stairs to meet us. She wore a sultry red dress with a bleached bone belt and matching necklace. She was as curvaceous as Lorena but had soft black skin, a crown of black horns, and a sharp tail.
“Ambros, I am overjoyed to see you’ve come home,” she said to me with a bow. Her voice was smooth and soulful. “And who is this beautiful woman that you’ve brought with you?”
Lorena removed her hat and bowed graciously. “I am Captain Eleanor Lorena of the Crimson Spear and owner of the Legs & Tail: Lobster Barrel Buffet and Brothel, the hottest restaurant on the Mediterranean.”
“Eleanor?” I repeated, thinking Lorena was her only name.
“Oh, I love her,” the strange woman said to me before hugging Lorena. Looking her over, the dark woman said, “I could just eat you up.”
“Believe me, I’d let you,” Lorena teased the woman with a wink.
“Where are my manners,” another voice with the same soulful tone said from behind us, and an identical woman wearing an identical red dress came from downstairs. “My name is Yndra the Black,” she announced with a bow. She then removed a dark gauntlet from her hand and placed it on the table.
Looking from one to the other, Lorena announced, excitedly, “Twins! I like where this is going.”
I shook my head and rolled my eyes at her comment. “Which one of you were the first?” I asked seriously, knowing what experiments Yndra had been conducting. “And are there anymore of you?”
The Yndra that just walked into the room from downstairs raised her hand and smiled. “I am the first, and it’s just the two of us for now.”<
br />
“I suppose that will make me Yndra the Second,” the woman that we met first announced.
Looking to the egg suspended above us, I asked, “And how long before Yndra the Third hatches?”
Leaning against the edge of a table, Yndra the First answered, “About a month.”
“How many more do you plan to create?”
“However many more it takes,” Yndra the Second answered.
Before I could ask the next logical question, Yndra the First stood from the table and motioned for us to follow her. I began following the two women upstairs before noticing that Lorena wasn’t behind me. She was still looking around at things on the tables. “Would you feel better waiting outside?” I asked her, the three of us stopping on the stairs to look down at her.
“No, I’m coming,” she said, adjusting her hat before following us upstairs to another laboratory where we could view the top half of the glowing obsidian egg.
I stepped up close to the egg and peered in to see the Black Dragon forming within the magical elixir. “So what body part did you use to copy yourself?”
“Oh, I used an eye just like your father. Dragons are blessed with regeneration,” one of the Yndra’s explained while they brought chairs over for us to sit in.
I turned away from the egg and noticed through the open windows of the tower that the daylight hours of Ashwood had already ended. This may be another long night, I thought to myself.
We were invited to sit near the obsidian egg which gave off a soothing warmth. I motioned for Lorena to sit in the chair closest to the stairs leading down, and I sat next to her.
“Would you like a drink?” Yndra asked, filling a mug from a barrel she had at the end of a table.
“No, thank you,” I answered. “I don’t drink anything that a serpent poured.”
“I would,” Lorena raised her hand. “I’ll drink his, too.” She removed her hat and hung it over the corner of her chair.
I shook my head and struggled to contain my laughter. “Of course you would.”
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