A King's War

Chapter 6

VER

“She’s not coming,” Aila said as she scanned the horizon looking for Raven. The town was barely visible from where we were standing. There was nothing but endless, dried, dusty, flat ground in front of us and the Red Forest behind us.

“She said she’d be here,” I replied though even I could hear the uncertainty in my voice. My eyes strayed to the setting sun as it was getting dangerously low. In a few moments, it would be gone completely and then the dark hunters would emerge from their underground refuge.

“And in this world, people always keep their word,” Aila said mockingly.

I frowned and once again began looking for Raven, but there was no one in sight.

Galen walked up and stood by my side. “We should get back to the inn while there’s still light out.”

“She said she’d be here,” I repeated softly.

“And we were fools enough to listen to her,” Aila continued. “She’s probably waiting for a dark hunter to kill us so she can take what she wants from our bodies.”

“She’s not like that,” I muttered thoughtlessly.

“Oh?” Aila questioned. “And what is she like? Do tell. You had one conversation with her and now you’re ready to jump to her defense?”

I turned to glare at Aila. “I had to plead with her to get her to help us at all, I don’t believe she’d just leave us here to die. After all, she agreed to help us after she learned my brother’s life was at stake.”

“She only agreed to help us after learning that you are the true king of Ralorn. She wants something from you,” Aila shook her head. “I don’t trust her. Anyone who lives in The Outskirts shouldn’t be trusted.”

“Hey,” Galen interjected. “we’ve got company,” He said as he stared at the figures making their way towards us. “And I don’t think they’re the friendly sorts.”

I watched as they came toward us, four of them, all men, each with a blade in their hand. I blew out a sigh and grasped at my own sword. I left mine in the sheath but both Galen and Aila pulled theirs and stood slightly in front of me, prepared for a fight.

“Well, well, well,” One of the men said. “what are elves doing this far west?” None of us said anything, so he turned his friend standing next to him. “What do you think they’ve got in those rucksacks?” He asked him. His friend just smiled and took a step forward.

Galen held his sword up to him. “I wouldn’t,” He said.

The first man laughed. “You really think you could take us?” He questioned mockingly.

Aila brandished her sword at them. “With my eyes closed,” She said threateningly.

The man didn’t like that. His teeth clenched and he took a step toward her. “Little lady,” He said. “I wouldn’t be making threats,” His eyes strayed behind us. “Gah!” He shouted and stumbled back a step.

I whirled around to see Raven leaning against a tree trunk, arms crossed over her chest and a scowl on her face. She was still wearing the same outfit from before, but now, she had a sword strapped to her belt, a dagger strapped to her arm, two more blades sticking out of her boots, some rusted looking armor-like plating on her chest and boots, and a matching set of gauntlets. Her skin was still filthy as well as the rest of her clothes, and that strange horn was still tied to her belt.

“We’re not going to have another problem,” She spoke up. “Are we, Brissel?” She questioned. “I’d hate for this meeting to end like our last one.”

“Mark me words, wench,” Brissel hissed. “You’ll get yours.”

“I’m shaking,” She said. She nodded her head to setting sun. “I’d get gone if I were you. Unless you fancy being dark hunter bait.”

He shouted curses at her before motioning for his friends to follow him and they walked off. No one said anything until they were far enough away that they wouldn’t be a problem.

“Where did you come from?” Aila asked Raven.

Raven tilted her head to the side before pointing over her shoulder. “The Red Forest,” She replied before turning her gaze to me. “You all ready to head out?”

I nodded.

She gestured to the rucksacks we had thrown over our shoulders but hidden beneath our cloaks. “Empty those,” She said as she pulled her own rucksack out from behind the tree trunk. She dug through it and pulled out three more empty sacks and tossed them our way. “Put your things in these.”

Galen lifted one of the sacks she’d tossed our way from the floor. “Why?” He questioned as he held it up in front of him. He made a face and tried to hold it further away. “This smells awful.”

“That’s the point,” She said simply before looking us all up and down. She let out a sigh. “Remove your cloaks,” She ordered as she once again dug through her sack. She removed three cloaks from inside. “There’s nothing I can do about your clothes right now, but at least you can get rid of your cloaks.”

“What’s wrong with our clothes?” Galen questioned.

I held a hand up to her in protest. “Are you going to explain why you’re making us do this?”

She stared at me blankly for a moment before speaking. “Would you like to be killed?”

Her bluntness threw me off. “Excuse me?”

“Would you,” She repeated. “like to be killed?”

“No.”

“Then remove your cloak and put one of these on. They’ll be shorter on you than they should be, but you elves all are taller than my usual travelers.”

Galen and Aila looked to me for approval before doing anything she said. I nodded to them.

“And what are we supposed to do with our cloaks?”

Raven shrugged. “Burn them? They won’t be here when we get back and they’re not coming with us.” She watched silently as we followed her instruction, all the while I was aware that the sun had set and the sky was nearly completely dark. I shivered, but not because I was cold. My mind flew over all the possibilities of what could happen now that the sun had set and my eyes darted over every object in view expecting it to attack at any moment.

When we’d all finished repacking our sacks, she nodded and then looked over her shoulder into the forest behind her. How she saw anything I had no idea since she was obviously a daughter of man. Elves had increased vision in the dark and as such I could see just about everything that laid before us.

“Listen up,” Raven said, drawing our attention to her. “I can get you through the Red Forest and back without a problem if,” She continued. “you listen and obey everything I tell you. Should you choose not to listen to me, then you will be killed. You cannot question anything I say and must act on anything I say as soon as I say it. Are we understood?”

Again, Aila and Galen looked to me for approval. Galen with a blank look and Aila with a scowl. I nodded to Raven, thinking only of my brother and his uncertain future. “Understood.”

She nodded back to me. “I can take you to the gates of Valveronia,” She said. “but that’s as far as I go. I will not take you into the kingdom. Should you choose to continue from there you will do so without me.”

“We may not even need to go that far,” Galen told her. “Not if we can catch the convoy taking Ilrune to Valveronia.”

She was quiet for a moment, deep in thought. “How much head’s start does this convoy have?” She questioned.

“A full night’s,” I told her.

She tapped her finger against her leg before nodding slowly. “It’s possible to reach them before they get to Valveronia, but it will be close.”

“Well once he’s in the city he’s lost to us anyway,” Aila whispered. “there’s no way into Valveronia. At least, no way that wouldn’t get us caught and killed.”

“Getting killed is the least of your worries,” Raven muttered. “And besides, you should be more concerned with what’s to come from the forest that before you concern yourselves with Valveronia.”

“You mean the dark hunters,” Galen said.

She looked into the forest like she could see something no one else could. “There’s more to fear in that forest than just the dark hunters,” She said, her eyes never leaving the forest.

She finally turned back to us, grabbing hold of a staff that was slightly taller than her that had been leaning against the trunk of the tree. She nodded her head toward the forest.

“Shall we?”