The conversation paused as they began to walk the horses back to the house. “What is your father’s name?” Darci quietly asked Tallen as they came up to the building. She was beginning to have an idea. If she had the chance, she would find Tallen’s father and siblings. She would tell them what had happened and they would forget about fighting in the war so they could come home to where they were needed. It was the least she could do after Tallen had saved her. Thinking about the ominous words of Grisham, the simple acts of this young girl had probably saved more than she would ever know.
Tallen divulged that her father was called Chalier and that he was easy to recognise. He had a scar that ran down the side of his face. Falling out of a tree at a young age, part of his head had caught on a broken branch, causing a serious wound that had almost cost him an eye. As for her two brothers, they would be somewhere near their father. Their names were Patet and Beral.
As the group mounted their horses, Lisette thanked them for saving her daughter, and possibly herself as well, from the unsavoury man. Her face then reverted from the grateful woman to the sad mother. If only her husband or her sons had been home.
With impatient hoofs thumping on the dry road, they thanked Lisette and Tallen for their hospitality, Darci quietly promising Tallen she would try to find the rest of her family. Maledorian placed a handful of coins in Lisette’s hands. Darci did not know anything about the currency in Nahaba, but as she tightened the reins on her horse she glimpsed the overly grateful look on Lisette’s face; Maledorian had paid her more than enough. With some more goodbyes and thankyous, the group of refreshed travellers left for the city of Chinta.
Chapter 3
The sun was just behind the horizon ahead of them, outlining the silhouette of small buildings clustered together next to the road. They had finally reached the outskirts of Chinta. The clip clop of hooves echoed off the wooden houses that began to line the streets. Flickering lights shone from the windows as people started to light their lamps and candles.
Even though it was getting dark, it looked as if the city was just waking up. People were busy going from one place to another, conversing about the day’s events, many groups stopping at the larger buildings, which Darci assumed were pubs of some description.
Maledorian rode up next to her. “The City of Chinta is not always this busy,” he said, but she hardly heard him. She was looking at all the different kinds of people as they walked within reach of the street lanterns. There were normal men and women walking around; short, bearded persons who resembled dwarves; tall, scantly clothed people with dark tanned skin, and there were even some races that did not resemble people at all, who were covered in short grey fur with pointy ears and wings.
Taslessian noticed Darci’s astounded expression, leaning forward on his saddle. “They are Afrits,” he told her, explaining that they were winged people who lived on an island not far off the west coast of Nahaba.
Of all the varieties or people, Darci realised she had not seen any elves. “Why aren’t there any elves?” she asked, turning to Lief, who had donned a cloak and hood that neatly hid his features in the shadows of darkness.
Taslessian again answered his friend’s question. “Elves are not very welcome in this human city. In time of war they will fight for Nahaba, but they won’t fight with the humans from this area. The north will have two separate armies. There will be one army coming from Chinta and the surrounding area and there will be another coming from the assorted Elven cities around the land.”
Darci was confused about this, if they fought for the same thing, why didn’t they fight together? As if in answer to her thoughts, Taslessian then launched into a brief lesson on the history of Nahaba.
* * *
Many years ago – too many to be remembered – there had been a very remarkable child who lived in the city of Chinta. No one knew where the child had come from, or who the child had belonged to, but it had been prophesied that the child would someday end a war. The child became renowned around the land of Nahaba for his appearance as well as for the prophecy. He was loved by many of the city’s citizens, and it was said that this child’s beauty even surpassed that of the elven queen who ruled the elves so many years ago.
Elves were not known for being jealous or spiteful, however, the queen at the time had suffered many battles of magic that had left her drained and slightly deranged. Despite the protests of her advisors, she decided that a child that possessed such looks did not deserve to live. The citizens of Chinta heard of the Elven queen’s plans to have the child killed. This was seen to be such an unjust act that the people rallied, beginning the War of the Child. It was a long and bloody battle that cost many elven and human lives.
As the prophecy had foretold, the child donned personally made armour and took an entourage of warriors to end the war, but the two armies were too evenly matched. All the child saw was many good men and elves losing their lives needlessly. So, to prevent the war from continuing, the child fell on his own sword, his dying wish being that the armies return to their homes to continue their lives.
As prophesied, the child had indeed ended the war, yet most did not realise that if the child had not existed, none of it would have happened. Sadly, a rivalry brewed between the Elven Lake City and Chinta after that.
* * *
Saddened by the tragedy of the tale, Darci looked around her surroundings to try to find something to lighten her mood. The sun was no longer lighting the horizon, leaving the flickering street lamps as the only source of illumination in the city. The shadows began to play tricks on her eyes as the buildings became more dilapidated. Windows were boarded up, and more often than not, trash lay in the gutters. People walked in the shadows, giving the town an almost sinister look. Darci was glad she was not alone.
Riding closer to Taslessian, she noticed a man walking on the other side of the street. She could not tell exactly what it was that made him stand out, but there was definitely something different about him. He suddenly paused under a streetlight, staring back at her. He looked as if he was just out of his teens with intelligent, dark eyes that held her transfixed. He smiled at her, and the young girl could not help but smile shyly back. His boyish good looks and misshapen dark hair suited him and Darci almost blushed when he saw her staring. Then, with a wink, the intriguing stranger disappeared into the shadows.
Suddenly, her horse stopped, breaking her out of her thoughts. Maledorian had dismounted his steed outside a not so friendly looking inn. As he walked inside, he had to push through a group of drunken soldiers. One of them turned to face the brazen young knight, squaring his shoulders as he lifted his chin. However, his eyes only reached the neck of the forthright stranger. He then noticed that Maledorian carried a very intimidating sword, at which point he became very quiet. Such a sword could only belong to a knight, or someone who had appropriated it from one.
From inside the inn could be heard drunken voices singing unfamiliar songs to an exotic instrument. It sounded as if everybody had decided to choose this night for a party. Darci caught sight of a sign hanging lopsided from a pole sticking out above the door. Straining to read the faded letters, she found that the inn was called the Blazing Unicorn, and looking at the variety of patrons coming and going or laying on the ground inert, it appeared to have the make of a pub that catered for all but the weakest of livers.
Maledorian soon came out of the Blazing Unicorn with a young boy at his side. “There are suitable rooms for us here,” he said out loud, and with a whisper he continued. “We shall eat, rest and then tomorrow we shall look for a boat that will take us to our next destination.” Following the lead of the knight, Darci gave her horse’s reigns to the boy and then followed the rest of the group into the rowdy inn.
Once through the door, she was bombarded with the smell of cigar smoke, strong ale and the pungent odour that you get when there are too many people in a small place. People were crowded around tables telling tall tales, while others were against
the bar drinking and laughing. At the end of the room, the more devious looking were throwing knives at a target painted on the old and scarred back wall. There were serving ladies who took drinks to each paying customer, though Darci did not think that they deserved the term lady by the way they were dressed. The more modest of those present wore long dresses with cuts along the side up to the thigh, while the tops of their dresses were so low cut that the stunned young girl was surprised that their attributes had not fallen out for all to see.
The whole hullabaloo suddenly fell silent as everybody paused, turning to look at the group of newcomers. By their dress and manner, the group of five were obviously not locals to be accepted straight away. Darci felt like hiding behind Maledorian’s muscled bulk to get away from the unwanted attention. The eyes that slid over the group were not friendly, yet most did not feel hostile, merely curious. Maledorian took one step forward, eyes meeting any brave enough to look at him openly, physically announcing that he was the one who needed to be reckoned with. Acting as if everything was pre-planned, he placed his hand on his sword, and as if on cue, everything returned to normal. Conversations continued, another drunken song started up and people began to yell for their momentarily delayed drinks.
Darci kept close to her friends, because even though the crowded room appeared to be back to normal, she could still feel the eyes of many strangers looking her up and down. Yet she was not the only one being covertly ogled. She noticed that a lot of men were stealing glances at Defyance as they began to step through the crowd. One overly drunken man became overconfident in thinking that Defyance was easy to handle. He rocked around on his chair to hit the warrior woman soundly on the bottom, grinning stupidly for all to see. Immediately, Defyance reacted, punching him solidly in the side of the head. The drunk was hit hard enough to knock him straight off his little wooden chair, falling on the dirt and sawdust-covered floor at the feet of some of his mates.
Darci got ready to run. Surely this was going to be the beginning of a fight, but to her surprise the whole room burst into laughter. Defyance along with Taslessian and Maledorian were also smiling.
“Well done,” said a tall, bearded man as he handed Defyance a mug topped to the brim with ale. Defyance took it from his hand and looked at him for a moment with a single eyebrow raised. With a defiant snort, she downed the lot in one go, grabbing the shirt of the man in front of her to delicately wipe her mouth on. This brought another wave of laughter through the Blazing Unicorn. There were even some whistles and catcalls, with the tall, bearded man slapping her heartily on the back.
Darci kept so close to the Knight Protector that she was almost stepping on him, keeping an eye out for any straying hands. She made him bend down slightly so that his head was level with hers. Even so, she had to shout at him so that she could be heard over the noise. “Is there somewhere quiet that I can go?”
“What, you want to hire a hoe?”
Before Darci could shout again she saw rather than heard the laugh on his face. He motioned for one of the serving ladies to come over.
“We have paid for two rooms. I want you to take my friends up to them.” Maledorian pointed to Darci and Lief. “Then could you get them something to eat and drink? By the way, the girl doesn’t drink ale.” With hand signals and a little more shouting he eventually got his meaning across. As the woman turned to lead them upstairs, Maledorian grabbed her firmly on the bottom. Her reaction was completely different to that of Defyance, and instead of hitting him, she smiled, winking invitingly. As she walked away, her hips seemed to wiggle even more than they had just a moment ago.
Upstairs, above the bar, there was a narrow hallway that led past many closed doors. The wooden floor felt as if it was creaking beneath every step, yet through the cracks, the noise from below seeped through to mask their footsteps. The only lighting came from a single candle the serving lady held, flickering over the wooden walls. Finally they reached their rooms at the end of the hall. Opening the doors, both Lief and Darci were glad to see the small straw beds adorning the almost empty floor. They were not much, but they were first class compared to the hard ground they had stayed on the previous night. The only other furniture in the rooms included a small wooden table and a small wooden chair.
“The two ladies will be sleeping in here,” the serving lady informed them as she motioned at the two beds. Then she pointed behind her, through the open door directly across the hallway. “The lads will be in that room. I’ll go downstairs now so that I can get you the dinner the knight paid for.” With that, Darci and Lief were left alone.
“So what do you think of Chinta?” Lief asked her from under his hood. Not knowing exactly when the lady would return, he had decided not to take off his cloak until she had been and gone with their meal. He lifted his arm to direct Darci into the room, closing the door behind himself as he followed her in.
“It’s a lot different from the cities in my world,” she said after a slight hesitation. “For one thing, the people are very different. Defyance acted as if she was expecting someone to hit her on the arse. If someone had done that to me, I don’t know what I would have done, as such things in my world can be considered an offence by law. It’s generally not acceptable on my world… not at all really.” She sat down on one of the beds, her feet glad for the rest despite the fact they had been riding, not walking. The straw made the room smell like a barn, but the soft feel of it underneath and the thought of sleeping on it made the smell almost comforting.
“It’s very different from the way elves live also,” Lief said as he sat down next to her. She noticed that he sat a bit closer to her than was necessary, but perhaps it was simply his way.
“We’re almost in the same tree, as my people would say, both being in a city that we’ve never been in before.” He took a deep breath as his hand searched for Darci’s, caressing it once with his soft elven fingers before enveloping her hands in his. He looked deep into her eyes. “You know, I’m here for you if you need me… for anything.”
Darci withdrew her hand and coughed uncomfortably. She was not sure if the elf was coming on to her or not, and it was not that she did not like Lief, but just not in that way; she hardly knew him really. Yet, the land of Nahaba was very strange, perhaps their customs concerning love and relationships were different and he was just being polite.
Brushing a lock of blond hair out of his face Lief began to move his head closer to hers. There was no mistaking his intentions this time. He was going to try to kiss her. Just as she felt his hot breath on her face she turned to look down at the floor, avoiding his gaze. Realising he had been turned down, he sighed, pausing for a second while he compiled his thoughts.
“What is wrong?” he asked with concern in his voice. He did not know why, but he felt a strange attraction to this human, unlike any he had felt before. He had not known her for long, yet he knew his heart, despite any hesitation he felt, that he would gladly give his life to her. He slid his hand under her chin to bring her eyes back up to his, searching them for an answer.
“It’s not that I don’t like you, Lief,” she replied eventually. Her face had gone bright red but she forced herself to continue. “It’s just that I am so confused. I’ve been thrown into this world without any kind of warning, being told that I have a prophesied destiny…”
The young elf placed a finger on her lips to stop her from talking. He liked to think that he understood her situation better than anyone. Even if their circumstances had been different, he too had been thrown out of his home into a world that he barely knew.
“I understand… and I’ll wait,” he said. Instead of being saddened by the news, the elf seemed surprisingly happy, reaching his arms around her to give her a friendly hug. He brushed some loose hair back under his hood as he whispered. “I understand better than you know. Perhaps one day I’ll tell you about it.” He squeezed her tight just before letting her go, touching his soft lips on her forehead before standing up to look down at her fon
dly.
Suddenly the door was pushed open, hitting the wall. Taslessian was standing in the doorway with the serving lady who was struggling to carry three plates of food stacked up on one arm and three mugs of drink in the other hand. He stood for a moment, looking at the reddened cheeks on Darci’s face. The young wizard’s broad smile lessened, but if he was overly upset, he hid it well.
Carefully, he took one of the plates off the serving lady, handing Darci a dish full of meat and vegetables covered in some kind of sauce. He smiled again as he carefully chose the mug filled with water, spilling a couple of drips on the dusty wooden floor as he wobbled it towards his friend.
Taslessian had the smell of ale on him – something that explained his unsteady behaviour. As he handed Lief his plate of food, he stumbled, upending the saucy contents all over the front of the unsuspecting elf’s shirt.
“Oh, I am sorry,” he slurred slightly. “I’ll help you clean it up.” Taslessian’s clumsy efforts at cleaning up the spilt food only resulted in making the mess worse.
Lief sighed with resignation. “Thank you,” he said, without even a hint of annoyance in his voice. “I’ll go into our room so that I can clean it up whilst the lady here gets me another meal.” He turned to Darci. “I shall see you in the morning; sleep well,” Lief pushed past Taslessian, smiling under his hood as he shut the door behind him.
Before leaving to get Lief’s new meal, the lady produced a bottle from the belt behind her back. She gave it to Taslessian with a wink. He burst into a fit of giggles when she left, closing the door behind her with a smile. Darci had to admit that although Lief’s situation was not humorous, Taslessian’s giggling was contagious. Soon they were both rolling around the floor, clutching their aching stomachs.