The Elven Queen

CHAPTER 7

Eztli’s POV

With a swing, blood flies

Swing and bodies fall

Swing and the rustic smell of earth and copper fill the air giving the whole area a sense of foreboding as death hangs from above, sword in my hand and beasts beneath my feet, I missed this.

I couldn’t help but lament as I drove my sword through the skull of an arachna, I’ve spent so long coped up in that dingy office, on that desolate chair, I can’t remember the last time I was on the front line, I really needed this

“That’s quite an expression you have their Your Grace” jeered my uncle playfully, I looked at the pool of blood at my feet left from the mountain of magibeast corpses I threw to the side, I saw my reflection in the murky pool of blood and mud and he was right, a bloody sword in my hand, already having chipped here and there, dark stains on my once pristine battle attire, blood across my face and in my hair, on my face, bloodthirsty eyes and jester of a grin, for the first time in a while, I felt free

“You’re one to talk” I retorted, because on his face was an expression that mirrored mine perfectly, he bellowed out a laughter so loud I’m sure he scared off what was left of the beasts in the areas

“I think we’re all but done here” he said while surveying the area, he might be right, we arrived at Raiens a week ago, after the council with the elders we immediately began the purge, had our men take positions all over the forest and had arranged the training regimen for the Gnomes, everything was already in motion and we had mostly finished the purge, there were more than I expected which gave me an immense amount of joy, all the skin, teeth, blood for magic, and of course flesh for food “I think it’s time we round up don’t you?”

Hearing those words made my heart sink a little,

“You can never be too sure, it be best if I take another lap round the clearing, we might’ve missed a nest or two”

“Let the scouts handle it”

“Nonsense, everyone is already so busy, I’ll be back before you know it” with that I leapt off into the trees not even waiting for his response, I did manage to catch him shaking his head at my antics, he clearly saw through me but oh well,

Jumping from branch to branch I catch the occasional movement at the corner of my eye, the twins really didn’t engage us all week long, they could’ve at least said hello, I went about my rounds making sure no nests were left behind when suddenly I felt a pair of eyes on me and a whirlwind of emotions, sadness, jealousy, pain, ANGER

I had no idea where all this murderous intent was coming from and I stood powerless against it, frozen in the center of the forest as this heinous aura threatened to engulf me, a single droplet of sweat ran down my cheek, this feeling, something I haven’t felt in a while, this was fear, with shaky hands I tried to reach for the weapon at my side when suddenly, red eyes, a black cloud and blood red eyes appeared before me causing me to jump back, eyes that caged a typhoon as if looking right through me, then as soon as it appeared it disappeared along with that ominous aura, immediately air assaulted my lungs, did I hold my breath this entire time?, my vision was hazy, I was trembling and drenched In sweat, I put my head in my hand trying to collect my thoughts, what just happened?

I heard a pair of foot steps rushing to my side then felt a small hand tap my shoulder, I looked up and met 4 eyes, the twins, eyes filled with worry, “Did you see it too?” I asked and was met with silence, their worried expressions slowly morphing into caution, I can’t blame them, I looked at my hands, my ivory blue arms now looking an ashy grey and trembling, I don’t even want to imagine the look on my face, showing my subjects such an unsightly state, how pathetic

I opened my palms wide then slapped my face to wake me, hard, I took in a deep breath then stood up, giving them a curt nod, which must’ve worked cause they both let out a sigh of relief “Let’s head back and rejoin the group I need to speak with my uncle” I turned to jump into the nearest tree when a blood curdling scream filled the forest causing all my hairs to stand on end, I immediately dashed in the direction of the scream the twins following me from behind, something wasn’t right

Arriving at the source of the scream, far off in the outskirt of the forest, at the very edge, I walked up to the balled up figure of a Sylphorren warrior, one of the warriors that came with me, I remember him, what is he doing out here so far from his platoon?, getting closer, I noticed he was trembling and murmuring something incomprehensible, he was clawing at this armor with his bare hands tearing open his fingertips, I could clearly see bone,

“Are you alright?” I asked while approaching slowly, “We’re here to help you”

As if finally noticing he wasn’t alone he turned to face us with bloodshot and sunken eyes, eyes that pierced my soul, I knew those eyes, I had seen before, those eyes robed me hours of sleep and plague me to this day, those eyes that haunt me

“Help ME?” he asked followed by a dry chuckle “Help ME? You want to hel….p me…?” he said his dry chuckling turning into a full blown maniacal laughter devoid of any emotion, louder and louder, till tears started trickling down his cheeks his expression morphing from amusement to pain to fear, “HELP ME? Help me? Help me? HELP MEE?” I watched this madness unfold unable to do anything for him, this powerlessness, I hated it, so I stood there and burned this image into my head so I never forget that my weakness caused this, in the midst of his laughter, he finally raised his head and looked me dead in the eye “Help me” he pleaded before he fell unconscious and I intended to,

“Gabor” I said to the older twin on my right “carry him back, Tinka inform everyone to be on their guard” the unease stirring a pit in my stomach, my biggest fear was not that this happened under my nose, miles away from Durhgan, it was the ominous feeling in the air, faint but still there, that disgusting aura

Back at the cottage the people of Raeins had given me I couldn’t begin to comprehends the things that conspired today, my uncle, Arya and some of the elders were in my room, I had told them what I saw because they deserved to know, Gabor and Tinka were right outside my window, since this afternoon they haven’t left my side even once, another issue was that we were scheduled to leave tomorrow, I can’t just leave them like this

“Your Grace, if I may, you’ve already done so much for us already we can’t expect you to stay here, please return to your kingdom tomorrow, if this is as dire a situation as you suppose, then your people need you now more than ever” Gracephine had always been so kind to me, that’s all the more reason why her words only made me want to stay more

“As of 1 week ago, the people of Raiens became my people....,” I retorted, yet still I can’t afford to be selfish “...But your words hold truth, we ride home tomorrow as planned, I will send a council member to come over see that happenings of this village in my stead” I took Gracephine’s hands and placed the back of it to my forehead, a Raeins custom to show love and respect “....Please be careful” I said, with that she stood up and bowed, then left the room along with Ozzy who had been surprisingly quiet all evening and Andros who left after giving a bow of his own, leaving only me, my uncle and Arya in the room “You’re all dismissed,” I waved them off, Arya left after a bow, my uncles stood up and lingered as if contemplating whether or not to say something, his anxiety was filling up the entire room "...I’m going to be alright, go rest up, we have an early departure tomorrow and a meeting as soon as we arrive” I think that calmed him down he bowed then left me alone with my thoughts, I knew I wouldn’t be getting much sleep tonight.

Morning came and true to our schedule, we were ready at the crack of dawn, the sun still hidden behind the mountain giving barely enough light to see the road in front of you, unlike the arrival, Gabor and Tinka will be riding on top of my carriage instead of following us in the trees and another different thing was that the Gnomes came out to see us off, gone were the scorn filled faces that welcomed us now replaced with longing and even slight admiration, such cheery folk, no words were said as the elders each brought us baskets filled with a range of things from herbs to medicine to gems, even Ozzy gave me a bouquet of flowers, wild orvas, very brightly colored, I remember Gracephine telling me that Ozzy had a garden where he liked to grow wild flowers, I hugged the flowers to me and gave him a bow, soon we were moving, our road illuminated by Gnomes holding up ember crystals stretching all the way to the Gnomes at the gate, that was quite a sendoff ever had I seen one.

The ride back was uneventful, we got to the gate, got back to the capital, arrived at the palace, the gates flung open revealing all the servants, guards and my best friend, my Uncle stepped out and opened that door for me, immediately everyone in the yard got down on their knees, Raiens was a lovely place, filled with beauty and splendor, but there is truly no place like home.

An entire feast was prepared despite my protest, the guards were dismissed then council members and I, made our way to the conference room, we clearly had a lot to talk about.

I sat on to the throne at the head of the table, everyone else followed after, Arya took her place by my side and brought out her quill, then the meeting began, I didn’t waste time with pleasantries “Durhgan party what do you have to report?” with that Shya rose to her feet, gave a bow the spoke, she brought out a bunch of binders and documents as she retold what happened in Durhgan, the ordeal with the elves, the investigation and the creature they found under the city, quick and precise as always, it’s to be expected of Shya, a woman my mother respected after all, her personality could come off a bit much to others but she was as capable as anyone else in this room maybe even more than most, what I wouldn’t give to see how Itotia reacted when she found out who her partner was, at the thought a wisp of a smile came to my lips before I covered it up “What about the creature? what do we know about it?”

Itotia stood up this time “we took the creature into the dungeons to see if we could extract any information out of it but we came up with nothing, whenever we cut off his limbs, they would grow back, we tried to bleed him out but the blood was black as tar and it kept flowing, it has a high tolerance to pain, we used lighting, fire and even boiling rocks, he wouldn’t talk, we brought a Faye to look into his mind for information but nothing, in fact, the Faye ran terrified saying that he had never seen a mind filled with so much madness so in the end we decided to starve him and see what happens”

That was quite the sequence of events, could the appearance of this creature and my run in with that aura be connected? best not to jump to conclusions, either way, I told what happened in the woods and about the warrior who is currently under observation, we were all at a loss for words and this meeting wasn't taking us anywhere so we stopped and they all filed out leaving me alone in the room, the more I heard, the less things made sense, I hung my head low feeling a little defeated when a single drop of cold water landed on my head, I looked up and saw Itotia offering me a glass containing some chilled dark purple colored liquid and a smile

”Isn’t it a little early to be drinking?” I questioned her but took the glass none the less,

“It’s 10pm somewhere” she retorted and clinked our glasses, I drank the beverage, it was delicious and a little spicy, I had never seen or tasted this before

“What is this?” I asked very much impressed

“This is a drink made from fruits handed picked from his Royal highness’s personal garden” she said while downing her glass, Itotia drank behind enemy lines?, this girl right here accepted an odd colored liquid from the enemy? ogres none the less, and even brought some back? Itotia? The world must be going mad

“How was Dimitri?” I asked while giving her a knowing smile

“He’s fine, emphasis on FINE “she blurted confidently

“Gabor is not going to like that” I said while swirling my drink and eyeing her playfully, it’s almost insane how quickly this girl can melt away all my worries

“Well, he…….”

knock knock knock

Itotia was interrupted by a wrap at the conference room door,

“Come in” I said, and in walked Arya “Is something wrong?” I asked her

“You have a letter Your Grace, from Lumeris”