Saida
Saida was the first to wake, which wasn’t a surprise considering the late night Elmerah and Alluin had. She’d heard them whispering to each other, but had been too tired to note what was said.
She sat up and pawed at her tangled hair. Only one day back at their travels and she was an utter mess. Her parents wouldn’t even recognize her when they reached Faerune the following day.
With a groan, Elmerah sat up and rubbed her furrowed brow. “Damned sunbrew whiskey. Always a mistake.”
Saida laughed. Her parents would hardly even notice her when they had Elmerah to concern themselves with. “How was your time with Celen last night?”
Elmerah glanced at Alluin, still seemingly asleep, then back to Saida. “We can discuss that later.” She threw aside the scrap of fabric serving as her blanket and stood, stretching her arms overhead where they brushed the underside of the low thatched roof. “Let’s find a final meal then get out of this cursed forest before any more Fossegrim find us.”
She walked across the hut and let herself out the rickety door as Alluin sat up on his mat and watched her go. He gave Saida an exasperated look, got up, then followed Elmerah. Saida stared at the empty doorway. She’d hoped eventually Alluin and Elmerah would stop conflicting, but it seemed they were only getting worse.
Elmerah popped her head back into the hut. “Are you coming, princess?”
Saida rose from her mat with a scowl. She liked it better when Elmerah’s attentions were focused on Alluin.
Once she’d gotten dressed and tended to her morning needs, Saida met Alluin, Elmerah, and Celen outside the cook-hut. Celen was accompanied by Imra and Yahir, both standing with arms crossed behind him while he lounged on one of the wooden benches.
“Toward Faerune?” she heard Elmerah ask as she reached her back. “Are you sure?”
Imra nodded. “Had I known you were at odds with the Nokken, I would have mentioned it earlier.”
Elmerah glanced back from her perch across from Celen, landing her puffy-eyed gaze on Saida. “We should be on our way soon. A small party of Nokken were spotted heading toward Faerune well before we left the Capital. There’s no saying what kind of trouble they’ve caused in that time.”
A lump formed in Saida’s throat. If the Nokken went to Faerune, it was surely upon orders from the emperor. An initial strike before the larger Dreilore assault?
A young female Arthali emerged from the cook-hut, its doors open just a crack against the chilly morning air. Her nose lifted to avoid eye-contact as she offered a bowl of porridge to Saida, causing her to finally notice the empty bowl next to Elmerah, and the mostly untouched bowl next to Alluin on a separate bench.
Elmerah was still watching her, awaiting her reaction.
Saida patted her wooden spoon on the surface of her porridge, having no desire to eat it. Her stomach was already filled with knots, leaving no room for food. “I should not have delayed us so long. Any damage the Nokken have caused is my fault.”
Alluin retrieved his porridge bowl from his side. “No. If we hadn’t ended up here, we might not have known the Nokken traveled that way. They can look like anyone. At least now, we’ll be wary of any we meet.”
Saida nodded and forced a bite of her salty porridge, though Alluin’s words did little to soothe her.
Celen cleared his throat, breaking the heavy silence. “Imra and I will escort you to the edge of the forest. We know the safest paths, and can avoid any traveling Nokken. If your antlioch can carry two riders, we can likely make to the border by nightfall.”
“We appreciate the escort,” Elmerah laughed. “Elves seem to be highly susceptible to Fossegrim wiles.”
Celen smirked. “Now now, not all of us are tossed to the dangers of the wilds as soon as we can walk.”
Saida caught Alluin rolling his eyes, though he didn’t comment. Thinking of the Fossegrim and how easily it had enchanted her, she was sure Alluin was just as grateful as she for the escort.
Alluin
The antlioch lightly swayed beneath Alluin, seemingly unaffected by the extra burden. Imra rode with him, barely touching his back, and Saida with Elmerah, distributing the weight of the riders as evenly as possible. Celen, giant that he was, rode Elmerah’s antlioch on his own.
Alluin shifted, bumping Imra with his back. He tensed as she jerked away from the added touch, then let out a huff. He was hardly concerned with her at this point. He was more focused on the occasional tracks he’d spotted along their path, along with snapped twigs and trampled grass. A larger party had passed this way, hopefully more of Celen’s clan, but it was impossible to say for sure.
Celen muttered something in a language Alluin didn’t recognize, then to his surprise, Elmerah replied in the same language, perhaps one of the ancient dialects of the Northwestern Isles. As far as he knew, most Arthali only spoke the common tongue.
Elmerah leaned forward to peer at the ground ahead of her antlioch. “Alluin, did you notice the tracks?”
“Yes, but I assumed they were left behind by Celen’s people.”
Celen said something else in that strange language.
Elmerah snorted. “He says Arthali would never be foolish enough to leave such blatant signs of their passing.”
Were all Arthali like this? “The Nokken then?” he questioned.
“The Nokken are deeply connected to the forest,” Celen said in the common tongue. “This is something else. Are not Valeroot hunters among the finest trackers?” He said the latter with a bucket of sarcasm.
Refusing to acknowledge the implication that he was a lackluster hunter, he climbed down from the antlioch, leaving Imra to scoot forward in his place. The three antlioch halted as he leaned near the ground, running his nimble fingers across broken blades of grass, and measuring bootprints with his hand.
“Humans,” he said as he walked along, keeping an eye out for any broken branches higher up that would imply the greater height of some Arthali. A few were broken. The travelers were tall, but that didn’t really mean much. He peered back down at the prints. “Their boots are of similar design. All seem to be men, or women with particularly large feet. The depth of the indentations implies they are weighed down. Armor, extra supplies, or weaponry. They’re tall. Definitely not Akkeri.”
Celen said something else to Elmerah in that language, drawing Alluin’s eye as her cheeks went pale.
“What is it?”
She glanced at Celen, then to Imra. “He says the only well-armed humans that would travel through these parts are witch hunters.”
He walked back toward his antlioch. “But don’t they keep to the borders of the province?”
“Most of the time,” Celen explained, “unless they are hunting a particular witch.”
“The prints are facing away from your settlement. Did anyone travel this way recently who the witch hunters might have tracked?”
Celen’s eyes were dark with simmering rage. “Many travel to the smaller villages for supplies. It could be anyone.”
Elmerah spat on the ground. “Or they could be looking for me . . . or Rissine. If Egrin has been visiting the Nokken in these parts, he could have easily paid a visit to the witch hunters.”
She didn’t explain further, but Alluin knew what she meant. Egrin had wanted to test her magic, to find its source. He had not likely been pleased about losing both her and Rissine.
Elmerah looked to Celen. “You should return to your clan. If we run into these witch hunters now, they may suspect there are more Arthali in the forest. If it’s just me, and Egrin really did send them, they will know I came from elsewhere.”
Celen shook his head and rubbed his brow. “Yes, they will have that knowledge right before they kill you. You don’t want to face the witch hunters in these parts, Elmerah. They’ve grown far more clever than any we faced in the North. They have enchanted Dreilore weapons, and alchemic potions that can do as much damage as any natural magic. Some of the potions they drink to give them stren
gth, and it eventually mutates both body and mind.”
She shrugged. “I can handle them. Your duty is to those you’ve sworn to keep safe. I’m not the confused little girl you once knew.”
Celen frowned. “You know that is not what I meant.”
Imra watched the argument warily, clinging to the wool of Alluin’s antlioch. By his estimation, they’d traveled half the distance to the border. She and Celen would barely make it back to the settlement by nightfall as it was.
“I will walk ahead on foot,” Alluin offered. “If the tracks grow too fresh, we will take another route. I see no reason to confront the witch hunters. They are not our priority.”
Celen watched him steadily for a long moment. His shoulders rose and fell with a heavy sigh. “You keep her safe. If the hunters take her, I will lay the blame upon your shoulders.”
Alluin resisted the urge to laugh. “I’m quite sure Elmerah can take care of herself, but I’ll watch her back none-the-less.”
“How should I send word to you?” Elmerah interrupted. “I don’t want to send a messenger only to lead witch hunters right to you.”
Celen’s scarred brow furrowed in thought. “Send someone to the border of the forest,” he decided. “We will find them.”
Alluin didn’t question what the need for a messenger was about. His skin prickled with unease despite his assurances. He’d never encountered witch hunters before. The idea that small clans of humans could hunt down Arthali was absurd, and yet, the Arthali feared them.
Celen slid from his mount, as did Elmerah, Saida, and Imra. Celen and Elmerah embraced, and Celen whispered something in Elmerah’s ear that Alluin’s keen hearing couldn’t quite pick up.
Elmerah nodded, then pulled away, her hands sliding down Celen’s arms to linger at his elbows. “I look forward to seeing you again, we have much to catch up on.”
“That we do, Ellie.”
Alluin shifted uncomfortably. “We should go if we want to make it to the border by nightfall. Avoiding the witch hunters is sure to delay us.”
With a final long look at Celen, Elmerah climbed atop her antlioch. “You won’t have any issues reaching the settlement on foot?”
Celen laughed. “We’ve been in this forest a long time, girl. We’ll be fine.”
With a final nod, Elmerah gestured for Alluin to lead the way. He felt he could almost see her re-shielding herself behind her layers of sarcasm and disdain for others. Celen had brought something out in her, perhaps a hint of a younger Elmerah that hadn’t existed for a long time.
He watched Celen and Imra depart, not surprised that Imra had remained silent. Once Saida and Elmerah were both situated on their original antlioch, with Elmerah leading his mount behind hers, he began his tracking, his eyes glued to the ground. He focused his senses on the forest, ready to catch any slight shifts in sound or smell. If he could get a good idea of where the witch hunters were heading, they should be easy enough to avoid.
Aways behind him, he heard Saida whisper to Elmerah. “Are you sad to leave him?”
He could imagine Elmerah’s glare as she replied, “He is a remnant of my past, nothing more.”
He would have called her a liar, but knew her aim with her lightning was always true.
Elmerah
Elmerah huddled with her knees drawn to her chest, her bedroll wrapped around her shoulders. Saida sat next to her in the same position, close enough to steal a bit of warmth in the chilly night.
Stupid witch hunters, Elmerah thought, robbing them of the opportunity for a fire. They’d seen many tracks throughout the day, but had avoided any conflict thanks to Alluin. What unnerved her was that there were so many. What were all these witch hunters doing in the Illuvian forests, so close to Faerune? By Saida’s estimations, they would reach the crystal walls by midday tomorrow. What were the chances they’d see the witch hunters at the walls when they arrived, or even inside them? With how the elves felt about Arthali, she wouldn’t put it past them to work with the hunters.
Soil crunched almost inaudibly beneath a boot nearby. Elmerah and Saida both whipped their heads toward the sound, but it was only Alluin, returning from scouting the area, though Saida’s night vision would have likely proven more fitting for the task.
“There is no one nearby,” he explained. “You two should be safe to rest.”
Saida glanced around doubtfully, then up to Alluin. “You need rest as well.”
“I’ll rest tomorrow.”
Elmerah thought Alluin seemed rather crabbish since they first reached the Arthali settlement. Stupid elf probably hadn’t liked being around so many of her kind, though she’d been forced to endure countless days at the Valeroot settlement.
She reluctantly removed her bedroll from her shoulders, releasing the bit of warmth she’d built up. She spread it on the ground right where she’d been sitting, then climbed in and rebundled herself, shifting uncomfortably as jagged rocks poked her shoulder and hip. She could feel Saida’s eyes on her, but didn’t look up. “Go to bed, princess. You have a big day tomorrow.”
She imagined Saida was glaring at her, but her eyes were already closed, and she was quickly falling into a dark, still sleep. In her dreams she saw visions of witch hunters from tales her mother had told her when she was young.
Her body flinched often with faint utterances of concern because deep down, way deep down, she feared those tales were true.
Elmerah
Elmerah stood atop the grassy hill, peering up at the crystalline walls of Faerune. She couldn’t help but let her jaw fall slightly agape. They really were . . . crystal. She’d heard numerous accounts over the years, but nothing could compare to the massive crystals jutting up out of the earth to form walls that would be impossible to scale. While the crystals were clear with faint hues of gray, blue, and purple, they were so thick one could only see hazy shadows where architecture spanned on the other side.
Alluin stepped up beside her. “They really are . . . crystal.”
She quickly closed her hanging jaw and rolled her eyes. “Of course they’re crystal. They’re not called the crystalline walls of Faerune because they’re made of glass.” She glanced over her shoulder at Saida, standing aways off with the three antlioch while they grazed, her back turned toward the looming crystal walls in the distance. “She’s really not looking forward to this,” she whispered.
Alluin turned to stand shoulder to shoulder with her. He shook his head, bringing to her nose the faint smell of dirt, sweat, and the mysterious scent of pine and vanilla that all Valeroot elves seemed to have. “Do we know why she ran away to begin with?”
Elmerah shrugged. “I never asked.”
“You never asked? You’re supposed to be her friend.”
“Well she never asked why I ran away from home,” she retorted without thinking.
“And why did you?”
She sucked her teeth. “Because Arthali are almost as annoying as elves.” She walked away before he could ask any more questions, approaching Saida and the antlioch.
Alluin followed silently behind her.
Saida turned as they reached her.
Elmerah looked Saida up and down, noting her slumped shoulders and cowed expression. “Are you ready to go, princess?”
Saida seemed to force her gaze up from her feet, though it didn’t quite meet Elmerah’s eyes. “Yes. I should approach ahead of you. I do not want the guards to be startled.” She turned away and pulled herself atop her antlioch, then started toward the city.
Elmerah gave Alluin a knowing look as Saida passed, then hurried up onto her antlioch to follow.
Soon Alluin’s mount trotted to catch up to her side. “You should probably pull up your hood,” he commented, “lest one of the guards atop the walls signal for arrows to rain down upon us.”
She glared at him, but pulled up the hood of her black coat.
Saida was halfway to the gates ahead of them when the guards outside the walls started shouting, seeming to recogni
ze her.
Alluin and Elmerah both watched as three guards rushed on foot toward Saida atop the antlioch, shouting things like, “Welcome home, priestess!” and, “Your mother will be thrilled to see you!”
Elmerah frowned, thinking what her homecoming would be like if she ever returned to Shadowmarsh. Probably something like, “Kill her!” or, “Curse the day she ever existed!”
Alluin cleared his throat to get her attention. She’d allowed her antlioch to halt while she watched the elven guards swarming Saida. “We should hurry,” he pressed. “I don’t want them to drag her in and leave us out here for the wolves.”
She pulled her hood a little lower, then urged her antlioch forward. Saida had dismounted ahead and now conversed with three male elven guards wearing silver breastplates over charcoal gray tunics and breeches. All hair in varying shades of blond matched their alabaster skin.
She tucked a strand of dark hair into her hood. She was going to stick out like an eel in a nest of silverfish.
The guards parted as Elmerah and Alluin reached them. Alluin dismounted, but Elmerah thought it better she remain in a position to flee.
Speaking to the guards, Saida looked up to Elmerah, her eyes pleading for salvation. “These are the friends I mentioned.” She flicked her gaze to the guards, then back to Elmerah. “We must go to see my mother at once.”
“Lady Solana is not well,” the youngest guard cautioned. “We should not overwhelm her.”
Another guard, around Alluin’s age with icy blond hair, stared up at Elmerah. His silvery gray eyes narrowed. “Kindly remove your hood, my lady.”
She shifted uncomfortably.
Saida stepped toward him. “Malon, leave her alone. She is the only reason I am alive today.”
The elf, Malon, shook his head. “Forgive me my lady, but we cannot just let anyone into the city, especially in times like these.”
Curse of the Akkeri Page 4
