Children of the Sun and Moon (28 page)

All of the
soldiers laughed, and their leering glances bothered Dilmek. He
couldn’t allow such a beautiful creature to be harmed by these
cutthroats. Although he wasn’t sure how he could help her escape
without them finding out he had a camp close by, Dilmek was
determined the woman wouldn’t be here long enough to come to
harm.

Dilmek watched
as a soldier put the young woman into a tent and let out a sigh of
relief when he came back out. They posted a guard in front of the
tent, but went about their business. Dilmek thought it odd seeing
they were so interested in her a moment ago, but didn’t pause long
enough to question it. It wouldn’t be long before they would again
take interest in her so he needed to act quickly. He moved over to
the tent, and drew his knife. Slowly and as quietly as possible, he
cut a small opening into the back of the tent. They hadn’t left a
lantern for her, so he had to wait a moment for his night vision to
brighten the room before he entered. The young woman was sitting to
his right, but was not huddled and crying. He had always thought
human women to be weak, but should have realized she was different.
There was an air of confidence around her, and although he couldn’t
be positive, he had a feeling she had some type of magical ability.
Slowly he pulled himself into the room. The woman turned to face
him, but didn’t appear to be startled.

“I was
wondering when you would show yourself, goblin,” she said. Again,
it had an odd effect on him.

“Hows yous
knowses?” he asked.

“I have seen
you moving about the forest. I’m not as dumb as these soldiers,”
she stated. “Will you be taking me to your camp?”

“Yeses,” he
answered, realizing it was her footprints he had seen. “Ifs
wantses.”

“That would
please me greatly,” she responded, rising and moving towards the
opening.

Dilmek pulled
the tent open and they both crept through. Keeping a very slow
pace, they both steadily moved through the camp. The young woman
was in the lead, and it appeared she knew exactly which way she
needed to go to get to his camp. Her steps were careful and precise
and it was then Dilmek realized why the soldiers had called her a
thief. Her movements were so fluid, it was clear thievery was her
profession.

Once they
cleared the guards posted their pace quickened. Getting to Dilmek’s
camp was most important now. It was obvious the girl had been to
his camp many times. It had taken her no time at all to find the
best course to get them there.

They were both
exhausted, emotionally and physically, from moving so quickly away
from the soldiers. They hadn’t heard any alarm from the camp to
show they were aware the girl was missing, but they still wanted to
make good time back to the camp. He offered her water, which she
gratefully accepted.

“My name is
Maeve,” she stated between gulps. “Thank you for helping me.”

“I’s Dilmek.
Youses welcomes,” replied Dilmek. “Youses bez safes tonights.”

“I know,” she
said and the tone in her voice confused Dilmek. He was used to
people showing nothing but distrust towards him, and her voice
showed no signs of that. It was as if she trusted him completely
without even knowing anything about him.

Maeve stood and
moved over towards him. “You don’t need to be suspicious of me,
goblin. I know your true nature and do truly trust you.”

Her voice was
so calm and soothing it made Dilmek’s apprehensive feelings
disappear, and he knew this was someone he could trust.

Not wanting to
risk a fire, they had a cold supper. Maeve had indeed stolen food
from the soldier camp, and had conveniently hidden it near Dilmek’s
camp. It was becoming more apparent their meeting was more than a
coincidence.

Their meal,
although cold, consisted of breads, cheeses and some wine. Quite a
feast for the goblin who had been living off berries, water and
whatever animal he could trap. Of course, this was better than the
food he was given during his captivity.

“You’ve been in
the forest for quite some time, Dilmek. Why is that?” she asked,
bringing him out of his reverie.

Her question,
although valid, made him nervous. Although he knew he could trust
Maeve, a part of him didn’t want to talk about it for fear of
revealing too much.

“I’s waitings
fors friendses,” he replied, hoping she would drop this line of
questioning.

“You’re a part
of a larger group,” she surmised, hoping he would continue for her.
When he stayed silent, she continued. “I think your friends are the
ones the soldiers are waiting for.”

“Don’ts knowses
thatsss. Justs knowses theyses arez comings thisis wayses.”

Maeve moved
closer to the goblin. He was uncomfortable with this closeness, but
didn’t let it show. “You're waiting for the twins to arrive to help
them complete the prophecy.”

It was not a
guess; her tone showed she knew this as fact.

Dilmek was
asonished by her revelation. “Howses doz youses knowses
thisis?”

“I have a
magical ability, as I'm sure you have sensed. It allows me to see
the truth behind one’s words. It makes life a lot easier for
someone in my profession when you know whether or not someone is
lying.”

“Whenses Izes
speaks, yous seeses truths?”

“Yes, and to
answer your next question, I knew exactly what those soldiers
planned for me. It was a lot more than to just have fun with me. I
was going to be taken to the castle and tortured until I admitted I
had magical abilities.” She paused and saw the horrified look on
Dilmek’s face. “They’ve been after me for some time. Apparently,
they were told I may be hiding out in this forest and used it as an
excuse to set up camp here. Their real purpose is to capture the
twins.”

“Whenses lasts
withs myz friendses, weses wereses justs withs princes.”

“You must not
have seen them for quite some time. The twins are together, and
according to the intelligence the soldiers are getting, they're
almost here.”

Dilmek had
purposely tried to block his true thoughts from her, and had found
a weakness in her abilities. Vernia had informed him there was a
larger group now. It was clear if you knew about Maeve’s gift you
could block it.

“There's
something you aren’t telling me,” she stated, somewhat annoyed.
Never before had someone been able to hide things from her.
“There's a magic surrounding you, that's not of your own design.
Why is that?”

Dilmek did not
answer right away, and it bothered her. She was so used to seeing
the truth in everyone that being denied it was unnerving. Her first
thought was someone had placed the spell on him to find her, but
she quickly dismissed the thought. He may be hiding something, but
it wasn’t something malevolent. Whatever it was, made him worry,
and it centred around his friends.

“Perhaps this
discussion is best kept for another day,” she announced, when it
had become clear Dilmek wasn’t going to answer.

“Yeses, weses
restses.”

Maeve agreed
and they both settled down for the night. They heard no signs of
pursuing soldiers and so neither one had any trouble falling
asleep.

Vernia stepped
away from the scrying device and sat down. The young woman was
indeed of interest to her. Never had she seen someone with such a
power. If Lakin ever found out about this girl, there was no
telling what he could accomplish. The very idea of Lakin knowing
her every thought frightened Vernia. She was going to have to keep
a very close eye on this young lady. With any luck, she would move
off tomorrow and Dilmek would again be on his own. She got up and
made her way to Lakin’s rooms. He had ordered a report to be given
immediately and Vernia didn’t want to keep him waiting. She knew
Lakin wouldn’t be pleased the group had not yet reached Keenley,
but she didn’t care. Her only concern right now was keeping Lakin
from finding out about this girl. For some reason, Vernia knew this
girl would spell the doom of all things on Melarandra if she fell
into Lakin’s hands.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Koral was
frustrated. Seeing the utter devastation in the dwarf town had
bothered her, but the fact they were now travelling so slowly was
making this trip unbearable. The longer they took, the greater
chance they wouldn’t be able to find out what happened to the
dwarves who were taken. The oddest thing was, it was the dwarves
leading, and they had slowed down the pace. She was also annoyed
with Glavlin. He and Gillock had decided that since people may be
looking for elves, they should change their look. Now they just
looked like thin, tall humans. No more angular features or pointy
ears. She did not approve of this new look, especially on
Glavlin.

Their first day
travelling they had made unbelievable time. Grund was determined to
get the missing dwarves back. This day, however, they had changed
their pace. She had seen Gillock and Glavlin talking to them
earlier that morning, and figured they must have said something.
She did not understand why they would have the group slow. After
brooding on it, she decided to ask Gillock about it. She quickened
her pace to catch up to the wizard. “Why are we going so slow?” she
asked the moment she had pulled in line with him.

“I was
wondering when you were going to ask me about that. You appeared to
be quite frustrated this morning.”

“So answer me
then,” she snapped.

Koral’s
forcefulness shocked Gillock. Everyday Koral appeared to be turning
into someone else. “The elves have spotted soldier footprints, and
they are only a day old. Someone is waiting for us.”

Koral felt
foolish. It was obvious to her the dwarves wouldn’t have slowed
down unless they had a good reason, but for some reason she
couldn’t see it earlier. Instead of apologizing to Gillock, she
turned her horse around and went back to her place in line.

Gillock sat in
a state of awe. He was bothered by the princess' attitude of late.
Gillock had been certain Eric was going to be the problem on this
quest, and he was the one who had actually been acting like
royalty. Eric’s dealings with the goblins had amazed Gillock. He
approached every situation with tact instead of his usual head
strong and emotional ways. Something odd was happening with the
twins, and Gillock wasn’t certain if it was going to help them or
cause more problems. Shouts from ahead caused him to push the
matter aside.

The group
immediately stopped and everyone prepared for an attack. The elves
moved into the bushes and out of sight. The dwarves moved to be
behind Koral, Eric, Adora and the goblins. Gillock moved into the
lead. They had practised this many times on their trip so far, but
it still unnerved Eric and Koral to have to put it into practice.
Both were aware any attack would be directed at them, not their
companions, which is why everyone moved off. With the main attack
aimed at the twins, no one would expect dwarves in the back to
attack, or elves to come flying out of the trees.

Days of
preparation and practice did not prepare them for what happened.
They had expected an army to come crashing through the bushes.
Instead, they got a beautiful young woman.

“Quickly!,” she
shouted. “Dilmek needs you!”

Koral and
Gillock just stared at the young woman. Eric and the goblins, on
the other hand, began to move.

“Where is he?”
asked Eric.

“Through the
tree line. He's fighting off four soldiers from Keenley. Be
careful, prince. They’ve been expecting you.”

Her tone had
gone from frantic, to composed and thoughtful in a moment. Gillock
was intrigued by this but pushed it aside. “We must help your
friend, Eric,” Gillock started to say, but Eric didn’t hear him, he
and the goblins were already off.

Glavlin was
also intrigued by the young woman, but moved off to follow
Eric.

Koral was
stunned no one had even questioned this woman as to how it was she
knew Dilmek. This all may have been a trap for them, but everyone
moved off without hesitation. As if sensing her thoughts, the young
woman moved towards Koral. “My name is Maeve,” she stated. “Maybe
it’s time you told the wizard everything.” Maeve did not wait for a
response from the princess, instead moved off back into the
forest.

Maeve slowly
made her way back to the fighting. Her goal was to meet up with the
prince and his goblins, but was stopped when a figure leapt from
the trees.

“Who are you?”
asked a fair haired, purple-eyed man.

“I am Maeve, a
friend of the goblin Dilmek,” she responded. Her features changed
and she reached for Glavlin’s face. “Why do you hide your true
self? You really are quite a handsome elf.”

Glavlin was
taken aback. No magic should have been able to penetrate his
glamour disguise. “I do not know what you mean,” he answered.

Maeve smiled.
“Don’t worry, no one in Keenley will see your true self. if you
ever get there.”

The final
remark was lost on Glavlin; he had already started to run away from
the unusual girl. His ears told him which way the battle laid, but
something else in the forest intrigued him. He had thought Koral
would run off with Eric, but was surprised to see her slowly moving
through the forest, around the fighting. His first instinct was to
follow her, but he pushed the thought aside. Eric and his friends
may need him.

He quickly made
his way towards Eric, following the sounds of swords clashing. When
he burst through the trees, a soldier quickly engaged him. The
young woman had told them four soldiers were fighting with the
goblin, but now there were eight. They were obviously not well
trained, and the elf had no problem dispelling them. He went into
the elven battle dance and easily killed three soldiers. Within
moments, all of the soldiers lay dead, and Glavlin was happy to see
his friends had only suffered minor injuries. He started to move
off towards Eric and the goblins when something caught his eye.
Koral was making her way among the dead soldiers, and had the most
peculiar expression on her face.