by Eric Vall
“Rhys and I were discussing the battle,” he told me. “He’s worried for House Fehryn and thinks the Elven Council ought to call another meeting to discuss this Master of yours.”
I couldn’t help but snort. “You think that’ll do much good?”
Dragir sent me a wry smile. “No, I do not.”
I nodded. “There were nearly two hundred soldiers out there,” I said in a low voice.
“I estimate the same,” he replied. “We were fortunate, but we cannot rely on only a few mages to save our nation.”
“I agree,” I said. “We need to adjust our tactics as well. The Master managed to form that army in a matter of weeks. He’ll do it again, and we need to be ready.”
The elf furrowed his brow. “What did you have in mind?”
“Well, for starters, it’s difficult to use our magic once the armies are enmeshed,” I explained. “Your army is swift and well-armed, but the Master’s army is incredibly strong, and they’re relentless. We need to get ahead of the game.”
Dragir nodded his agreement. “You’re saying we need to deliver a stronger initial attack,” he guessed.
I grinned. “I’m saying we need a more long-range approach, yes.”
The elf looked intrigued, and he leaned in a little. “A weapon?”
“Damn straight,” I replied. “I’ve got something in mind, but I’ll need some time to build it and figure out how to provide the ammunition.”
“What is this weapon?” he asked eagerly. “Similar to the rifle?”
“Much more powerful,” I assured him. “It’s called a bazooka.”
“And we can use this bazooka to deliver a long-range attack?”
“Oh, we’ll have more than one,” I told him. “I figure a troop with at least ten bazookas would give us a firm upper hand. If we line the jungle with them even half a league from the Master’s next target, we could take down a sizeable portion before they’ve arrived.”
A sinister grin came to Dragir’s face. “I would like to see these bazookas.”
“You’re gonna like them,” I chuckled. “They’ll handle the long-range attack, but I think I should be further ahead of the troops next time. Without having to avoid injuring the wrong elves, I could disarm more at once, and use my Terra Magic more effectively. The same goes for Aurora, and I wanna bring Shoshanne to the front line, but she’ll need to be concealed. Maybe in the canopy.”
Dragir furrowed his brow. “What will Shoshanne do?”
“She can take the air from a man’s lungs in less than two seconds,” I told him, and his eyes went wide. “You wanna talk about effective?”
“Is this what you meant,” Dragir asked, “when you told her to suffocate as many as possible?”
I nodded. “But she needs to be able to focus on her target. If she’s well concealed and not worrying about weaponry, she could take down dozens within a few minutes.”
Dragir shook his head as he considered this, and we walked on as the ground became steep, and the jungle took on a new sort of terrain.
The air began to smell slightly of salt, and the plants grew broad leaves in pale greens. Exotic flowers with lethal looking thorns bloomed all around us as we climbed, and they hung from the trees and curled in vines over every rock and decaying log. Dark green and spongy moss replaced any glimpse of soil, and when the incline leveled off, it was as if we were in an entirely different jungle even though we’d only traveled less than a league from House Quyn.
“I think your plan is a good one,” Dragir told me after he’d thought for a while. “This Master has clearly targeted our race, as well as your own. House Quyn will stand behind you in this. You have my word, but I cannot speak for Rhys. I do think he will likely prefer to handle things without the need of gathering the Houses, though. It is too irritating, and he despises the Elite.”
“Thank you,” I replied in earnest. “It’d be an honor to fight alongside House Quyn. But this is only a plan of attack, not a means of saving Nalnora from the Master entirely. He’s the one pulling the strings. If we’re going to ensure the safety of the nations, we have to destroy more than just his army.”
Dragir nodded and gestured to a large blue thorn coming up. “By the way, these will make you foam at the mouth for several days,” he warned.
I wove around the stocky vine and pointed to another thorn to my left that was an angry orange. The elf nodded, and I stepped carefully around this one, too.
“What do you plan to do about this Master of yours, then?” Dragir asked as we picked our way through the thorny grove.
I slowed my pace and eyed the elf through the vines. “Depends.”
Dragir let out a sigh, and I could tell he knew where I was going, so I waited for him to do more than sigh or shrug.
When we’d made it to a less dangerous area, he finally said, “No.”
“You’re joking, right?” I asked him. “You saw those soldiers. You’ve seen the Master’s rune.”
“No,” he said again. “I know nothing of rune magic. Do not ask.”
I stopped and crossed my arms. “What’s the rune on your leg do?” I challenged.
Dragir started and was visibly caught off guard, but his expression quickly darkened.
“Deya … ” he growled.
“Yeah, but I think the part where you made those soldiers tear their own skin off would’ve given me a bit of a hint,” I shot back. “What the fuck was that?”
Dragir continued through the jungle without responding and wove around a putrid green thorn as big as my hand.
“I am not discussing this,” the elf finally mumbled. “It was a long time ago.”
“It was hours ago,” I corrected.
“What I meant is that it was a long time ago that I put the rune on my leg,” he replied. “I regret it, it was a bad idea, and we will leave it at that.”
“Like hell we will,” I countered. “I had to watch those guys eat their own fucking tongues.”
Dragir snorted, but his expression looked regretful all of a sudden. “I don’t enjoy it either,” he admitted. “But at the time … there were a few elves who I can assure you deserved what they got.”
I recognized the distant cast of his eyes from our conversation the night before.
“Eluna?” I asked.
Dragir gave a curt nod, and I considered the gory and torturous end the soldiers from House Kylen had met with.
“That’s fair,” I allowed, “but you still have to tell me what it does.”
Dragir sighed and glanced up to be sure no one was too close to hear. The guards and their dogs were far enough ahead now that they were out of our range of sight, and after we’d slowed our pace a bit more, the women were pretty long gone with Ruela as well.
Then Dragir stopped and studied me for a moment.
“Don’t tell Deya,” he ordered. “I am very serious about that. If she knew I created this rune, she would … ”
“Go pale,” I offered with a chuckle. “Or no … the one where she starts shaking like a damn leaf.”
Dragir rolled his eyes. “She gasps over everything.”
“Right? It can be a clean bullet to the head or even just a little arrow in the heart, and she almost keels over.”
“Precisely,” he said wryly. “So, you cannot tell Deya about this.”
“Deal,” I agreed.
The elf looked like he already regretted what he was about to say, but after he’d shifted uncomfortably and rubbed his neck a bit, he finally addressed the few thorns to my right.
“Have you ever boiled water?”
I furrowed my brow. “Of course.”
Dragir shrugged. “Like that, but with blood.”
“You … boiled their fucking blood?” I clarified.
Dragir nodded.
“Blood runs all over your body,” I said blankly.
“Yes, it starts slowly, though,” the elf explained. “The brain begins to boil in it, and the veins as well.” He gestured along h
is inner arms. “The heart was difficult to manage, but I worked it out so it would withstand until the last moments. It would all end too quickly otherwise. So, the blood is still pumping as it should, only it is boiling now, and the systems of the body are gradually scalded through. I believe hallucination is probably involved, given the boiling of the brain, but I’m not entirely sure.”
“Holy shit … ” I breathed. “That’s dark.”
“Don’t tell Deya,” Dragir said once more and continued walking.
I realized I’d forgotten how to blink as I blindly followed along, and after a long moment of reflection, I cleared my throat.
“Do you think--”
Dragir cut me off with a firm, “No.”
“Hey,” I tried, “I know at least one guy who deserves to get his blood boiled. And I’m gonna have to face off against the Master somehow if this is ever going to end. The head of House Syru taught him about rune magic, and for all I know, he’s seen more of the elven scrolls than either of us ever will. I need a fighting chance.”
Dragir sighed with irritation. “Were you not listening at all?” he asked. “I said I regret it. You do not want this rune, believe me, it is hell to live with. Every time I am even slightly irritated, do you know what I think?”
I shook my head, but I was a little afraid to find out.
“I think, ‘I should just boil your blood and be done with it,’” he told me, and his tone assured me that he meant this wholeheartedly as he continued. “For any reason. Wake me up too early, let my sister get kidnapped. Bother me with too many questions … boil your blood. It’s the easiest, quickest solution to everything, and the rune never lets me forget that.”
Dragir was fuming by the time he’d finished, and his pace had quickened as he worked to reign in his frustration.
I thought of the many times Dragir had silently glared from the sidelines, or abruptly disappeared, and I wondered how often the elf had considered boiling my own blood since we’d met.
At this point, I honestly couldn’t believe I’d gotten away with punching him in the face.
“That’s worrisome,” I muttered.
“Yes,” he hissed.
“So … I won’t brand it,” I tried. “Your only mistake was branding it. If I do a pendant or a coin, then it’s fine, right?”
Dragir snorted. “Unless you lose it,” he pointed out. “What would you do if the Master took it from you? Ripped the chain right off your neck? Would you want him to boil your blood?”
“No fucking way,” I said without pause.
Dragir nodded. “See? You need to consider these things before you ever start playing with rune magic. Don’t ever create something others can wield against you too easily, unless you’re prepared to counter it yourself.”
I grinned as I filed this away, and Dragir continued.
“Also … don’t ever brand anything with a violent nature,” he warned. “ Just look at this Master’s rune. Those soldiers were lost to it. A rune can consume you if you do not keep your wits.”
I grinned wider, and when Dragir glanced over, he halted.
“This is not something to smile about,” the elf said flatly.
“This is why you should teach me,” I pointed out. “Look how much trouble I just dodged. You know more about rune magic than anyone I’ve met. I’ll provide the long-range attack and the magery. You provide your army and help me counter this bastard’s rune. Deal?”
I held out my hand to shake on it, but Dragir only narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. Eventually, he sighed.
“I will consider it,” he muttered and continued through the ferns and thorns.
I couldn’t resist a solid fist pump as I silently thanked the gods.
I was still grinning when I jogged to catch up with Dragir, but when we brushed the next ferns aside and came to the edge of a cliff, my face went slack.
The salty breeze off the ocean kicked up, and I hungrily filled my lungs with it as I looked down on the waves that crashed violently below. Then I trailed my gaze along the jagged cliff face as it curved into a cove, and where the shadows darkened at the far end, I could just make out a dim and gaping entrance with ornately carved pillars of stone at the mouth of a cave.
The wave-battered rocks in front of the hidden fortress were worn sleek and dotted with tidal pools, and they led down to a jetty of jagged boulders that stretched out into the sea.
Far out near the end of this rocky embankment, I saw Deya’s soft pink hair whipping wildly in the wind, and she looked out toward the horizon without seeming to notice the relentless waves crashing around her.
I thought of Nemris standing in the same place some thousands and thousands of years ago, and the rocky hideout within the cove somehow began to feel more like home than anywhere I’d ever been.
Everywhere I looked, the ocean rolled with deep blues and grays, and the moss and vines of the jungle spilled down from the edge of the cliff as far as I could see.
Then Ruela padded over with the women close behind, and I patted the dog numbly while a lopsided grin spread across my face.
Cayla stood at my side as she admired the view, and I was finally distracted from the beauty of the coastline.
With the sky reflecting in her icy eyes, they took on a hue that was even starker against her porcelain skin, and as she let out a soft sigh, a smile curled at the corner of her supple lips.
Beside her, Aurora’s hair rippled gently in the breeze, and I realized she must have untied her braids while they waited for us to arrive. For the first time in ages, the half-elf’s hair tumbled free in waves, and I’d never noticed how much she looked like the mermaids I’d read about in books.
I was just imagining Aurora laid out on the sleek rocks with her blue hair strewn around her, and salt-water dripping down her slender neck, when she caught me staring.
Aurora smiled and shook her head. “All of this … ” she laughed, “and you’re staring at me?”
I laughed as well and sent her a sly wink.
Then I glanced to see Dragir’s own expression was completely clear for once as he looked down on the fortress. He seemed calm and almost happy, as if he’d been wanting to see the place very badly, but when he turned to me, he didn’t speak about the home of his mother’s ancestors.
“My father will likely have much to say about what to do with the elven scrolls,” he told me with half a smirk.
“His guess is as good as mine,” I chuckled.
Dragir furrowed his brow thoughtfully. “It might be wise to take them to House Orrel,” he suggested. “At the very least, this could be a good way to gain some allegiance with their leader. Their army is unparalleled. If this Master does gain another army as quickly as you expect, his soldiers will only become more lethal as the rune continues to overpower them.”
“House Orrel … ” Cayla mused. “They’re Elite right?”
Dragir nodded. “Yes, but House Orrel are different than the other Elite,” he explained. “They are wealthy of course, but this is not where their interests lie. They are a very powerful house. This is how they managed to recruit the Wendigo.”
My pulse quickened, and my grip tightened on Ruela’s thick fur.
“What about Wendigo?” I asked uneasily.
Dragir chuckled “As I said, they are unparalleled.”
“Are you telling me House Orrel’s army is made up of fucking Wendigo?”
“Of course.” The elf shrugged, then he narrowed his eyes and pointed out toward the sea. “There they are … ”
The two women gasped beside me, and I turned to see something breeching the surface of the water.
At first, I only caught a brief and iridescent glint, but then the crest of a jagged fin sliced through the waves, and its pearly sheen glistened in the sunlight like nothing I’d ever seen in my life.
Several others just like it pierced the water’s surface next, and I counted eight iridescent fins threading their way toward the shore. Only the upper p
eak of each fin was visible, but as they drew closer, I realized they looked larger than any of the massive boulders below.
Then the frontmost crest disappeared beneath the surface, and a moment later, the great head of the dragon shot up from the sea with its jaws parted to let out a long and haunting call.
It reminded me of the whales I’d heard back on Earth, but it was lower and somehow sadder, and it resounded in a clear note that reached all the way up to the cliff where we stood.
The dragon’s scales glimmered with colors that never seemed to settle, and one moment they looked purple, only to fade to blue and then green as it swam amongst the swell of waves.
The others dove and rose to answer the strange call, and when I looked to where Deya had stood, I saw her settle herself at the edge of the rocky embankment to watch the pod of dragons swim and sing.
They sent more waves rolling with every movement, and as the dragons slid gracefully through the water, they slowly came closer and closer to the beautiful elf sitting on the rocks.
“They must have missed her,” Dragir mused, and he turned to make his way down the slender path that clung to the cliff face.
I glanced at my women, and their eyes glittered as they took in the beauty of the Nalnoran coast and the sea dragons swimming below.
Then they each looped their arms in mine and turned toward the path, and we headed for the edge of the cliff with Deya’s wolf leading the way.
“Fuck the Master,” Aurora sighed as she clutched my arm closer. “Let’s stay here and swim with the dragons.”
I grinned. “I love the way your mind works.”
End of book 6
End Notes
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