“You are alive aren’t you?” Essdra was busy making sure that they didn’t meet anyone and wasn’t willing to waste time on conversation.
“There is that but then again I'm alive only because I defended myself.” Urake could remember that pitched battle. Essdra merely glared back at him.
“This way.” Essdra turned down a corridor but Urake paused. He was oddly compelled to take the other. When Essdra realized her charge was not following she sprang after him and seized his wrist. Urake merely shrugged her off and continued. Glancing back he saw her sitting in the hallway staring after him with a shocked expression. Turning a corner Urake saw a couple guards stationed at a hallway. Nodding to them and without missing a step he passed between and moved into the hallway that they had been guarding.
Laying on the floor in the center of the hallway was the object that had been drawing him. Ice Heart lay as if unceremoniously dropped in haste. Urake approached and picked up the sword. Giving it a couple practice swings he listened to the blade sing as it sundered the air.
“I missed you old friend.” Fastening the ancient blade to his belt he returned the way he had come. The guards at the entrance merely returned his nod and paid him no further attention. When he reached the corridor intersection that Essdra had initially wanted him to take the elf appeared with a surprised look.
“What was that about?” Essdra confronted Urake when they were safely out of earshot.
“I couldn’t leave Ice Heart behind.” Pulling the cloak back Urake revealed the sword. Essdra visibly paled as she retreated a couple steps.
“You feel nothing when you touch him?” Essdra barely whispered the question.
“It is a beautiful weapon masterfully forged. Of course I feel honored to wield it.” Urake wasn’t sure how to interpret the sudden change in the elf.
“I was allowed to carry it as far as the hallway that you found him in before I was struck with his power yet he allows you to touch him. Why?” Essdra confused Urake further with her reference to the sword as a person.
“I have carried this blade for more than twenty years. What is so special about Ice Heart?” Urake queried.
“Eld’or the Night Soul carried Skeln’den’hal. The blade is soul forged from the Dragon Lord’s essence during the millennium war. Eld’or lives on in that blade and yet he allows a human to wield him.” Essdra eyed the Skeln’den’hal with awe before they moved on and Urake covered the sword again.
“What did you mean when you said that you were struck with his power?” Urake asked as they traversed the maze of hallways.
“It was nothing.” Essdra avoided looking at Urake.
“If it is so special then I should have been able to escape your ambush then.” Urake returned to the subject after a few minutes of silent travel.
“He saved your life. Your injuries froze and stopped the bleeding. Now they are entirely healed within three weeks’ time. Hardly a scar and yet you don’t realize how incredibly grateful you should be.” Essdra had returned to her surely self.
“Mind if I get the rest of my weapons back?” Urake decided that Ice Heart was a sore subject so he changed the topic back to something else.
“I suppose it doesn’t matter anymore.” Essdra handed Urake his bow, quiver and his knives. The elves had not deprived him of his leathers and clothes so it was just the weapons that Essdra had for him. After hiding them in their traditional placed he was ready to continue. After threading the maze of corridors for what seemed forever they exited through a guard’s gate. Emeck was released by his guards who disappeared back through the door that Urake and Essdra had just exited.
“Follow me and keep out of sight.” Essdra handed Emeck a cloak and the three departed. Urake glanced around at the elven city. It was composed on the lower levels of carved stone but on the upper levels it appeared to be grown from giant trees. Urake realized that the portion of the city that he had been in had been on the lower levels. Probably even an underground level. Above that the buildings towered for hundreds of feet.
Urake and Emeck kept a low profile as Essdra led them. It wasn’t long before they had left the elven city but there were guards posted throughout the forest. Most of them simply saluted Essdra and didn’t impede them. They had almost passed the perimeter when a sentry stepped out from behind an enormous tree and challenged Essdra.
“Who goes there!” The sentry held a set of short swords.
“Ranger unit commander Essdra. I'm just taking some of my new recruits out for training. Let me pass.” Essdra stopped as the sentry raised one of his swords.
“New recruits? Your unit is one of the elite ranger units. You only take the best of the best. You don’t train anyone in your unit. Your rangers train everyone else.” The ranger held up the other sword threateningly.
“I have my orders. Let me pass.” Essdra ordered the sentry who didn’t move.
“I tried getting in your unit a few decades ago and you said I wasn’t good enough. I think that you are up to something. Maybe I can get your position if I turn you in.” Urake saw Essdra’s hands clench at the sentry's words. Her hands began moving towards her swords as she eyed the soldier.
Urake drew Ice Heart and smashed its pommel into the back of Essdra’s head then spun and caught the surprised sentry’s sword with a jarring blow. He was able to knock one of the blades to the ground before the sentry managed to recover himself. Now only armed with one short sword the sentry was unable to defend himself adequately. Urake armed with the longer sword was able to match the elf swing for swing with ease. Essdra had made the right choice when she had refused this elf. With a feint on one side Urake caught the helmet and sent it flying. Disoriented by the crack to the helmet the sentry was finished off with a smashing blow with the flat of Urake’s blade over his head. The sentry crumpled to the ground. Turning Urake saw Essdra stirring from her stunned state. Emeck was still staring at Urake with surprise.
“Why?” Essdra looked up with a confused look. “I was trying to help you. Why?”
“Tell them that I broke out and stole Skeln’den’hal. Tell them that you caught me and tried to apprehend me but that I overpowered you and forced you to help me escape. I don’t want you to be blamed for helping me.” Urake explained as he removed the sentry’s weapons and handed them to Emeck.
“Very well. Perhaps you should take mine as well.” Essdra removed her exquisitely crafted weapons and presented them to Urake.
“Fine weapons but they won’t do me any good. If you want them back follow me and you will find them discarded along the way.” Urake slipped them into his belt and stepped into the woods.
“Be careful with them. They have been in my family for a thousand years.” Essdra admonished as Urake disappeared.
“Keep your mind hidden until we are out of the Elder Forest.” Urake warned Emeck.
“Essdra taught me a few tricks. Not that I need to try. Or you for that matter. Since you found Skeln’den’hal none of them have been able to detect you. They are afraid of accidentally connected connecting with me so they won’t be looking” Emeck explained. Urake didn’t respond. He had a lot to think about. Knowing that he didn’t have to be worried about being detected by searching telepaths made it easier but it still didn’t make it effortless. The rangers were by far the more familiar with the ways of the Elder Forest. Utilizing his every skill while retaining his speed was taxing. It would take everything he had if he had a hope of escaping with their lives.
“Where are we going?” Emeck inquired after a couple hours had passed.
“North. At least until you can get in contact with Brounn again. Perhaps he has information about Skeln.” They made good time and had reached the edge of the Elder Forest by the next morning. Surprisingly they had not met any elves on their way. Taking one last look at the impressive forest Urake stepped into the brush with Emeck close behind.
*****
“It is done my lord.” Es
sdra stepped into a room and bowed to the elf who stood gazing out a window.
“You did well Essdra. The council doesn’t hardly suspect our hand at all. They attribute the Asgare’s escape to his corruption of Skeln’den’hal.” The elf turned from the window. He was like most any other elf you might see accept for the golden crown woven through his hair.
“My lord... Do you think it was worth it?” Essdra questioned.
“I hope so. His mind is remarkably well fortified for a human. It was only while he was sleeping that I was able to glean any fragments of his memories without alerting him to my intrusions.” The elf king turned back to the window.
“I was only able to follow him for a few measures before I lost track.”
“He is fine. Once he picked up the sword no one else was able to follow him either. It was all I could do to keep tracking him. That and trying to arrange the patrols so they avoided him.”
“If his son really is a Dragon Lord, why doesn't the council want to help him?” Essdra respectfully asked.
“It is complicated. During the war we were allied with them, the dragons and the dwarves against the dark elves and the wraith and their creations. After the war the dragons were almost wiped out and the Dragon Lords died. The dwarves went underground leaving us. The humans recovered from the aftermath of the war and began fighting with themselves. They even had the audacity to attack the dragons and us once they were united. The new Dragon Lords are supposed to be at least part human. The council is afraid that if they gain their powers that they will lead the humans against us.”
“Are you worried that might happen?” Essdra queried.
“There is always that risk. The council knows that eleven of the twelve soul forged weapons are on Den’dra. Nine of them are in Reign’s hands who is adamantly trying to kill everyone who is Gifted. We have one and the Asgare has the other. They hoped to prevent fate by preventing the soul forged weapons from meeting the Dragon Lords. I however believe that fate was set into motion long ago and we aren’t meant to get in its way.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Inadar had been walking the streets in Cercha for nearly a week now. She could picture in her head the map of the city. She had been up nearly every alley and back street. She had talked to more people than she cared to admit. None of them had been any kind of help. It might have helped if Torroth had not admonished her to avoid actually saying that she was looking for a Gifted young man. In these parts it was dangerous to be associated with anyone suspected of being Gifted. She was fast despairing of finding who she was looking for. She hadn’t had a single tingle. Nothing like what she felt when a dragon was near.
Inadar was beginning to despair that her task would ever be successful. Den’dra was a large continent where a person had a huge array of choices for hiding places. There was also the chance that who she was looking for didn’t even know who he was. If that was the case then he could be anyone. A simple villager in the hills, a fisherman in the outlands or a farmer in the midlands. He could even be a thug living in the criminal underworld. There was even a chance that he could have been born and died years ago. That or not yet. Far too many possibilities for any one person to look into. For that matter it would take ten people lifetimes to even cover a part of Den’dra.
Inadar had been absently wandering through the alleyways in the hopes that she might sense something. Not paying attention she found herself in a blind alley. Turning around she discovered that a couple rather disreputable looking individuals had followed her into the alley. They both were dressed in rags. One had a hefty looking stick in his hand and the other had a jug of alcohol in hand. Inadar figured that her odds were not that bad. She didn’t even bother warning her adversaries. Instead she waited for them to approach. Feigning fear she backed up to the wall. This charade made the one drop his stick while the other hugged the jug closer and gave her a smile filled with broken rotting teeth. When they were a couple arm lengths away Inadar made her move.
Coming in low she gave a sound kick to the knee of the one with the jug. He crumbled with a yell while Inadar drove the handle of one of her hidden knives into the other’s rib cage. He was left gasping for air while the first tried to struggle to his feet. Leaning heavily on his good leg he staggered towards Inadar muttering threats best not committed to writing. Inadar waited until he was taking a step before she charged and drop kicked his good knee. Now completely disabled Inadar returned to the one just now regaining his breath. Before he had completely covered Inadar retrieved the cudgel that the man had originally been carrying. As he stagger to his feet Inadar came up behind him and swung the club up between his legs. It must have been a good strike because he only gave a high pitched moan before collapsing.
“Sorry boys. I'm just not that kind of girl.” Inadar brushed back her hair and dropped the club. Leaving the alley she glanced around and noted that the people milling about had noticed nothing. Deciding that Cercha was a dead end Inadar made her way back to the inn where she and Torroth were staying.
“Anything?” Torroth asked as soon as Inadar entered the room.
“No. Nothing at all. I think we should go some other place and look.” Inadar flopped down on the bed. Torroth had insisted on sleeping on the floor.
“I was thinking that also. We have been here for about as long as we can risk.”
“Oh I did meet a couple guys today.” Inadar stretched and sat up.
“Did they bother you? Do I need to find them?” Torroth always over reacted whenever he thought Inadar might have been in danger.
“No no. I made a mean face and scared them away. Anyways, I was thinking that we should get moving now and save ourselves another night’s rent.” Inadar leaned down to adjust a strap on her shoe.
“Makes no difference to me. The ground is often softer than these floors.”
“You are the one to complain. I offered you the other side of the bed.” Inadar laughed and began gathering her possessions into her pack.
“You aren’t the one with dragons threatening to roast you. I can’t shake the feeling that Iradaemi somehow followed us out here and is watching.” Torroth joked as he followed Inadar’s example. They made short work of packing and left the inn.
“So where do you want to go next?” Torroth stood at the edge of the street and looked both ways. A few ox carts were rumbling past along with a few afternoon travelers.
“Well, if you were to find out that you are Gifted and wanted to hide where would you go?” Inadar looked over at Torroth with a smile.
“I hunted enough of them. They usually try to go someplace secluded. Someplace where people don’t care. Someplace the chancellor can’t reach. Come to think of it, the outlands would be where I would go. It is sparsely populated and you hardly ever hear about that region.”
“Sounds good. Which way?” Inadar waited for Torroth to respond. Looking across the street she noticed that her acquaintances from the alley earlier were limping along. This time both cradling jugs of strong drink. Inadar chose that moment to step behind Torroth and readjust her shoe.
“A mean face?” Inadar glance up and saw Torroth with one of his crooked grins.
“A mean face, a couple kicks, punches and a sturdy club.” Inadar straightened up and grinned back as he rolled his eyes.
“I don’t recall having taught you how to use a club.”
“Really the theory of operation is fairly simple. All you have to do is swing up right between the legs and the guy stops bothering you.” Inadar laughed as Torroth cringed.
“Ouch. That hurts just thinking about it. You really can be quite violent.” Torroth made a point of protecting his more sensitive organs.
“I can’t help it. Must be my draconic ancestry resting just below the surface. I can’t control it sometimes.” Inadar looked Torroth up and down with half lidded eyes while adjusting her posture to accentuate certain curves. If there was a faster way of making Torroth uncomfortable she hadn’t found it yet.
&nb
sp; “I... Uh... Will you stop that! People might be listening or even worse, they might be watching."
“Whatever dragon pet. So which way to the outlands?” Inadar giggled as she changed the subject. Torroth flushed a shade of red before responding.
“North. We will stick to the main roads then cut east before reaching Shienhin. We should be there within a few weeks.” Torroth stepped into the street and stepped around a slow moving ox cart. Inadar followed without saying anything else. It wasn’t until they had reached the edge of Cercha that Torroth felt free to breathe easy. He had no interest in getting caught up in any suspicion as to his presence. Already he had been forced to explain their presence to a few inquisitive people. It wouldn’t have been long before someone would have begun asking questions that couldn’t be as easily answered. Often a person had been turned out of a town or worse for the simple crime of having no good reason for tarrying. Sometimes the chancellor’s men would grow suspicious. People tended to disappear when those men began asking questions.
“Why so glum?” Inadar pierced Torroth’s pondering with her question.
“I'm not glum. Just relieved. I think we might have been pushing our luck by staying in Cercha so long. Now was a good time to leave.”
“You think so? Probably right. I think I saw those two thugs following me the other day as well. Should have known that something was going to happen. I don’t think that they would admit to having been beat up by a girl. Not that anyone is likely to take their word for it. They were both nearly pickled in the stuff they were pouring down their gullets. People can be interesting. Intentionally poisoning themselves. Do you suppose that they do it to drown out their sorrows or just for fun? As bad as that stuff smells, I can’t think someone would just drink it without having to have a good reason.” Torroth smiled and occasionally interjected a few words every now and then.
Inadar could chatter for hours when she felt so inclined. He didn’t mind it so much. She often had insights into things that for one as young as her surprised him. It helped pass the time spent traveling. Often though he would tune it out and either grunt in disapproval or murmur agreement depending on the tone of Inadar’s comment.