by Eric Vall
Aurora rolled her eyes and smirked. “Only a couple scrapes, actually, and they’re nearly healed. I started off a little rusty, but this one made me so angry I may have lost my temper for a moment … ”
The half-elf shifted and showed me a partially healed slit across the supple skin inside her upper arm. It looked like it must have been about eight inches long, but most of it was scar tissue by now.
“Lost your temper … ” I led as I eyed the Ignis Mage.
She shrugged. “Oh, you know.”
“How many did you set on fire over it?” I chuckled.
“Thirteen,” the half-elf said with a devilish grin. “I may have scared Rhys a bit, though. He was about a foot away from losing those braids.”
I laughed and laid a kiss on Aurora’s hand. “I miss killing shit with you,” I mused. Then I gestured to her arm. “At least Dragir’s blade served you well. Not a drop of blood.”
“Apparently it didn’t serve you well?” she asked, and her brow crinkled with concern.
I shrugged and immediately regretted it as the pain in the muscles of my shoulder spiked. “Dropped the damn sword,” I muttered. “I think the muscles are damaged.”
We spent the rest of our walk to House Quyn going over the battle, and Aurora relayed her most favorite kills for half the trip.
I told her about Bobbie’s save, and sensing the soldiers through the soil to target the right elves, but I glazed past the hitch with Dragir and the soldiers who’d torn their skin right off their own faces. I honestly wasn’t ready to go over that one yet.
Eventually, we both fell silent, and Aurora’s brow crinkled once more as she watched her boots kick up the ash.
“Mason … ” she said quietly. “There were a lot of soldiers out there.”
I’d hoped to avoid this point for a little while longer, but she wasn’t wrong, and I nodded. “I know.”
“Where did the Master manage to get so many?” Aurora asked uneasily.
I sighed and shook my head because this question had been echoing in my mind ever since the elves swarmed in on us, but the thick vines that covered the stonework of House Quyn had just come into view, and we saw Rhys’ boy limping through the haze of smoke not far ahead.
His clothes were in tatters and charred all over, and from this distance, I couldn’t tell if he was covered with soot or blood. His raspy coughs sounded like a ninety-year-old smoker’s, and he was stooped as he struggled to limp through the smoldering brush.
I quickly jogged over to the young elf and noticed he had a white-knuckled grip around the hilt of his Halcyan sword. His knee looked like it had been impaled by a dagger, but the blood all over his clothes seemed to be from his enemies rather than himself.
“Are you alright?” I asked when I reached him. “Let me help you.”
The young elf’s ruddy orange eyes looked insulted when they met mine, and he wore the same stern glower he always did. He ignored the question completely and brushed by to limp toward House Quyn, and his boots slid across the bloodied bodies of House Kylen’s soldiers without concern.
“Where’s your bow?” I called after him.
I didn’t miss the disappointed sigh.
“Lost,” the boy mumbled.
“Hold on a second,” I said, and I raised my arm toward the smoldering jungle. Swords and arrows littered the brush with several axes and glaives as well, and I decided I’d have to come out here and harvest the wares of the battle when I looked for the revolver again. My stock would triple in a single swipe, and that tungsten would be a killer addition.
After a moment, I recognized the familiar spark of the spring steel I’d used to make the magazine bows, and the young elf’s bow came to my palm.
The bowstring had burned up, and the metal was slightly distorted from the heat, so I carefully reformed the bow and checked the spring and lever mechanism of the magazine to repair the damage.
Then I brought it over to the young elf.
“Just needs a new bowstring,” I told him as I returned the bow.
The boy suddenly smiled from ear to ear, and I decided he was surprisingly likeable with a less shitty expression on his face. He clutched his bow to him like it was his most prized possession and reminded me a lot of myself when I’d gotten my first bow as a kid.
Granted, it was nowhere near as dangerous as the one he’d been given.
“I like this bow,” the boy said with a thick accent, and I grinned, but when his ruddy orange eyes flicked to Aurora behind me, I immediately became wary.
I expected his usual hateful scowl, but the young elf actually looked a little torn, so I waited him out.
Then he cleared the smoke from his throat.
“You kill good,” he told the half-elf. “I like it.”
The young elf abruptly turned before she could respond, and as he limped toward the main house with a weapon in each hand, Aurora bounced to my side and let out a proud little giggle.
I shook my head. “That kid’s intense,” I mumbled.
Aurora looped her arm in mine and nodded. “He stabbed one of House Kylen’s soldiers in the groin and let the dogs eat him alive rather than slit his throat,” she informed me. “He had time to finish him, he just decided to let the pack do it slowly.”
“Are you fucking serious?” I chuckled.
The half-elf nodded once more, and a sweet smile came to her face.
“I like him,” she decided.
The young boy had made it to the clearing in front of House Quyn, and Rhys turned to clap him hard on the shoulder. He seemed to be teasing his son about the dagger wound in his knee, and when he tussled the young elf’s braids with a broad grin, the boy punched his father so hard in the gut that he stumbled back and doubled over.
Rhys worked to catch his breath as he chuckled toward the ground, and I shook my head at the pair as the boy limped off alone toward the hidden path.
Aurora and I wove our way to the crop of blue leaves that had miraculously survived the heat of the blaze, but a few shallow breaths caught my attention, and we paused to scan the bodies around us.
One of House Quyn’s warriors was strewn with both of his legs snapped sideways at the knees, and the hand that wasn’t clutched around the hilt of his glaive was severed at the wrist.
“Holy shit,” I breathed and came to kneel beside the elf.
He was pale and staring up at the canopy with stark blue serpentine eyes, and I could tell his jaw was locked against the pain as his shoulders trembled lightly.
“Hold on,” I told the elf, and I carefully hooked my arm under him to lift him from the brush.
Aurora and I quickly headed for the clearing, and Rhys furrowed his brow as he eyed the elf in my arms.
“He’s badly wounded,” I informed him. “He hasn’t bled out, but he’s in a lot of pain. Is there an infirmary?”
Rhys looked almost amused as he glanced at the elf’s wrist. “Yes, we are tending to them,” he said calmly.
I nodded impatiently. “I can bring him there myself, where is it?”
“I’m sure he’s fine,” Rhys said with half a smirk. “There are many waiting, they will survive.”
I stared, but before I could say anything, a couple warriors emerged from the fog with a makeshift stretcher held between them. Their hands were clamped around two gnarlsome branches, and the branches were tethered to suspend a plank between each one.
Two elves were stacked on the plank, and both had Halcyan blades in their grip as they jostled and gritted their teeth against the pain. They were brought to the hidden path, and once they’d disappeared, two more elves came into the clearing with an empty stretcher of the same style. Rhys motioned for them to come over, and I settled the elf on the plank of wood to be brought back to the village.
Rhys chuckled at my side, and I furrowed my brow as I looked out across the smoldering jungle and considered the many bodies littering the brush. “How many were lost?”
“Eighteen dogs, thirteen elves,
” Rhys replied. “A few of them had their swords, but their arms were ripped off unfortunately. The others didn’t keep their grip.”
“No shit?” I asked and recalled the many bodies I’d seen beneath the ferns. “That’s not nearly as bad as I thought. I could have sworn there were dozens of bodies out there.”
Rhys looked confused by my concern. “They’re trampled, but they’ll recover,” he said with a shrug. “You’re a strange guy.”
I raised my brows as he turned to speak casually with one of House Quyn’s guards, and two more stretchers came from the hidden path.
“Your healer has been very gracious,” Rhys informed me. “She’s in the village if you wish to see her.”
The elf gestured to my bloodied shoulder.
“Thank you,” I chuckled as I tried to wrap my head around the strange ways of the elves for the hundredth time. “I think I will.”
Then Rhys addressed Aurora. “Defender Solana,” he said with a small bow. “I thought we were finished when the trees began to fall. House Fehryn thanks you for your service.”
The half-elf glowed with pride. “You’re welcome,” she said with a nod.
Rhys grinned. “You’re terrifying, by the way,” he told her bluntly. “Truly … terrifying.”
Aurora blushed a shade deeper and shrugged. “Thanks.”
I looped my arm around the half-elf’s waist. “One of my favorite things about her.”
We ducked under the covering of the dense leaves to enter the hidden path, and the sunrise took on an amber glow as it filtered through the trees. A few more stretchers passed by, and when we came to the warrior’s village, the atmosphere had completely changed. The wolfish dogs gnawed hungrily on raw lumps of meat and bones beside the huts, and a few elves patted them or worked to scrub the blood from their coats.
The wounded lay on their front porches and drank from goblets while they waited for their injuries to be tended, and I shook my head as I eyed an elf who drained his cup while the tendons in his bicep hung down like gnarled yarn.
Still, he hadn’t lost his grip.
Those who weren’t wounded carted pails of water around to the pack, while others refilled goblets and brought platters heaped with exotic fruits. Warriors from each house talked amicably amongst each other, but I noticed they still tended to remain in groups no smaller than three.
The most distinct difference, though, was not one of them glared at Aurora. We walked amongst the elves in the village as if we’d always been there, and the warriors nodded their greetings as they passed.
Aurora’s cheeks were a beautiful pink as she smiled, and I chuckled and pulled her close to tuck a kiss in her blue braids.
We found Shoshanne in a large hut with nearly twenty elves laid out on the barren floor, and I saw Rhys’ son laid out in the far corner beside the elf with the missing hand.
The healer worked quickly to check the wounds of the warriors as she made her way around the room, and two guards from House Quyn assisted her by bringing whatever she needed from the back wall of the infirmary.
I grinned as I came to crouch at the healer’s side.
“Angel,” I murmured against her ear, and Shoshanne gasped as she turned to throw her arms around me.
Her elbow dug into my spliced shoulder in her excitement, and I winced as my arm fell limp from around her waist.
Shoshanne blushed as she pulled away. “Sorry!” she groaned. “Let me see it.”
She moved to get a closer look at my wound, but I was already distracted by the bandage on her own shoulder and the cast around her wrist.
“What happened?” I asked and gently grazed Shoshanne’s arm.
Cayla answered for her as she sauntered into the infirmary.
“Our little angel is still getting used to the rifle,” the princess chided, and Shoshanne giggled.
I tried to reign in the smirk on my face. “You injured yourself in battle?” I clarified.
The healer sighed when a few nearby elves snorted, and she brushed off the topic as she began to thread a needle.
Cayla squatted at my back to lay a soft kiss on my swollen cheek, and she left a slow trail of kisses from the gouge on my face, down my neck, and across my shoulder as she shifted my shirt aside.
I let out a long breath and eyed the porcelain beauty over my shoulder.
“You’re first,” I told her with a roguish grin, and Cayla cocked a brow.
“I better be,” she replied. “Deya and her father are safe at the coast, and I shot twenty-three elves in the dark.”
I raised my brows. “Seriously?”
“Cayla had a lot of fun tonight,” Shoshanne informed me.
“It seems Aurora did, too,” the princess pointed out and looked up at the Ignis Mage. “You’re sexy when you do that little flip. The one-handed one with the flames … ”
Aurora furrowed her brow. “Which one?”
I chuckled. “The one where you kick your leg up,” I muttered.
“That’s the one,” Cayla laughed.
“Ooo, I like that one, too,” Shoshanne agreed. Then she sent me an apologetic smile. “Ready?”
My grin fell as I eyed the needle in the healer’s hand. “That’s for me, isn’t it?”
Shoshanne nodded. “Unfortunately, but I’ve used the last of my poultice on the warriors so … ”
I sighed. “So, this is gonna be no fun.”
Cayla slipped her legs around me, and I felt her breasts press against my shoulder blades as I sat back. “I’ll distract you,” she purred.
I was just warming to the idea, when an elf with a dagger wound between his ribs shifted uncomfortably beside us.
“Please do not.”
Cayla giggled, and I remembered the wounded elves could hear everything we said and did, including the young elf in the corner.
I cleared my throat. “Sorry guys,” I mumbled to the room.
Then I gritted my teeth and turned so the healer could tend to the gash on my shoulder, and Cayla traced circles along my arm while the needle pierced my flesh methodically for the next ten minutes. Between this and the little smile that still hadn’t left Aurora’s face, it wasn’t so bad, but I decided not to mention my cracked ribs. They’d probably heal up alright without any poking or prodding.
My neck and shoulder pulsed angrily by the time Shoshanne was done, and she slipped two Tiorlin berries into my mouth. The silvery trickle of energy seeped into my veins and down my limbs, and within a minute I didn’t care much about the injuries at all.
Aurora leaned in and parted her lips for the healer, and Shoshanne gladly slipped a couple berries into the half-elf’s mouth as well.
In the meantime, the elf beside us with the dagger wound was already half healed, and a few warriors came in to check on their comrades and bring them sustenance.
Dragir had been amongst them, and he entered the infirmary completely unscathed with only a tattered tunic to show for the hefty axe that had been inches from crushing his spine for him. He took a moment to speak with a few of the warriors on the floor, and then he helped them stand before he called out the door to bring four more elves in.
Shoshanne quickly picked up her bag to head over and check their wounds.
“Thank you, Shoshanne,” Dragir said as she came over. “We will bring our healers from the coast to help you soon, do not worry.”
Shoshanne smiled. “Your family’s weapons are amazing,” she told him as she knelt to inspect the elf with the shredded bicep. “I’ve never seen anything like this, there’s no blood to staunch at all. It’s like the injuries have been frozen in time. It’s really incredible.”
Dragir raised his brows. “You’re not far off from the truth,” he admitted. “My grandfather was certainly a visionary. Much like this mage of yours.”
Dragir gestured to where Cayla, Aurora, and I sat against the wall, and when he came over to crouch beside us, he reached out to shake my hand.
“I believe my men saw your Mustang tr
ample ten soldiers in only a few seconds,” he informed me. “Although some have said it was twenty.”
“Twenty-five,” a random elf corrected.
I chuckled. “Yeah, she saved my ass as well,” I told him. “Hell of a car.”
Dragir cocked a brow. “I thought you said it was a Mustang.”
“It is,” I assured him.
The elf looked deeply confused, but in true form, he only shrugged. “We are leaving for the coast,” he continued. “Will you be joining us?”
“Hell yeah,” I replied, and I made sure Shoshanne wasn’t watching as I stood and winced against the pain in my ribs, but Aurora’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.
“Good,” Dragir said. “You will like it there, I think. My mother’s ancestors resided in the caves by the sea for thousands of years. It’s a remarkable area.”
I raised my brows innocently as I brushed past Aurora’s sharp gaze, and we followed Dragir out of the infirmary and toward the back corner of the village.
“I’d like to see the place in the daytime,” Cayla said as we went. “Even in the moonlight, it was like nothing I’ve ever seen.”
Dragir grinned and turned. “Were the sea dragons singing?”
Chapter 22
Four guards from House Quyn joined us as we left the village, and a few rogue dogs cocked their heads as we passed before they decided to trot along.
Ruela knocked my leg as she fell in at my side, and her sable fur was crusted all over with dried blood. Her snout had what looked like claw marks ripped across it, and her lower eyelid was torn open on one side, but I could tell by the deep red stains all down her chin and chest that she’d done more damage than she’d suffered.
“Good dog,” I chuckled, and I scruffed the thick fur around the wolfish beast’s neck.
Ruela sent me a gaping smile with what looked like a chunk of flesh wedged behind her canine tooth, and then she trotted off to push her way into a spot between Cayla and Aurora.
They were several paces ahead and laughing over Aurora’s stint with the thirteen elves, and the four guards from House Quyn led the way further on.
Dragir had fallen behind to join me at the back, and he gestured over his shoulder with a sober expression.
