Forged in Fire (The Forged Chronicles Book 3) (11 page)

“I did not know of him until recently, and not babysitting exactly.”

“Does he have your power, or can I take him too?” Denny shifted his weight from foot to foot.

“You can take him. The only way he’ll get my power is if I kill him, or he kills me.”

“Because that makes sense…”

“I never pretended any of this made sense.”

“
A
s long as
I don’t have to go through a hole with corpses again I guess I can go along with your plan.”

“There is no hole and no corpses,” Elron assured me.

“So it’s a gate?” I looked out into the woods. “I preferred that entrance.”

He shook his head. “No gate.”

“Then what is it exactly?” I wasn’t sure that I wanted to know.

“It may be better to show you.”

“Oh no.” I shook my head. “Nope. None of that.”

“What?”

“I don’t like that line. I prefer to be prepared. We’ve been over this.”

“Except you’ve been unprepared more often than not.” He raised an eyebrow.

“Still, no surprises.” I crossed my arms.

“Fine, I create the portal anywhere I want.”

“You make the portal out of thin air?” I gasped. “Right… because gates would be too boring.”

He laughed. “Passing into my land this way is painless, and the alternative is a three days ride.”

“We don’t have three days.” We had zero days. I wasn’t even sure how many hours we had, because I wasn’t sure how many hours we had wasted. And we were about to waste more, or pass more; I sure hoped we weren’t wasting more time by going to the Elf world.

“Hence the suggestion we use my portal.”

“Is this like Sci-Fi?”

“Sci-Fi?” He gave me a puzzled expression.

“Science Fiction,” I said more specifically. “You don’t know everything about the lost world.”

“Have I pretended to know everything?”

“No.” I sighed. “Sci-Fi is just a term for far out futuristic stuff. Well, sort of.”

“There is nothing futuristic about this. My people have been using the same type of portals for centuries.”

“Ok, point made.” I glanced around. “Where are you going to make this portal thingie?”

“Portal thingie?” He narrowed his eyes.

“Sorry if that is disrespectful. I’m tired and cranky, and well, not in the right state of mind to be polite.”

“Do not apologize, but I sense you lack faith in me.”

“I’ve gone along with you for this long. Why would I stop doing it now?”

“I sense you are anxious. I understand that.”

“I’m way past anxious.” I passed that point a long time before.

He pulled a black rock from his pocket and approached a large tree.

“What’s that?” I pointed to the rock.

He looked over at me. “A tool for creating the portal. Oh, and you might want to stand back.”

I backed away slowly. “I thought this was safe.”

“It is safe to travel through. The process of making the portal can be dangerous though.”

“Great.” I stepped back even further. “Is this far enough away?”

He looked at me. “Probably.”

“Ok, moving further.” I walked back a couple more feet. Things were messed up enough already without adding an injury to the list.

“You do not have to run away.”

“Then stop telling me my position is only probably safe.” Those words weren’t exactly reassuring.

“I can guarantee the spot you are in now is safe.”

“Good.” Guarantee was a word I could get behind.

He smiled before turning his attention to the tree. He took the black rock and started to rub it against the bark. I stepped closer, eager to see what he was doing. The rock left silver lines each place he touched. I didn’t see any pattern in what he was doing, but he appeared to be concentrating.

I stepped even closer. I heard him mumbling something in a language I didn’t recognize. All I could deduce was he was repeating the same words over and over. There was a beauty to the words even though I couldn’t understand them.

I was transfixed as I realized he was making the marks in time with his chanting.

He suddenly stopped making marks with the rock and instead traced each mark with his left pointer finger. His chanting changed. It was a different set of words this time, still in a language I did not understand.

Then just as suddenly as he started, he stopped, and he pressed both palms of his hands against the bark of the tree. Seconds later the woods were flooded by a bright light emanating from the tree.

I squinted my eyes.

“Come, Ainlsey. It will not last forever.” He held out his hand.

I walked the remaining distance to the tree, but the closer I walked, the brighter the light became until I had to close my eyes. I grabbed onto his outstretched hands hoping the journey would be as painless as he’d promised it would be.

My stomach dropped as I was hit by a sensation of weightlessness that lasted a few seconds. Then it stopped.

“You can open your eyes now,” Elron said from beside me.

I blinked a few times until my eyes adjusted to daylight. “Are we there?” I gazed around at the forest. Other than the change in light it could have been the same forest we’d just left.

“Yes. It was painless just as I said.” He smiled.

“Tell my eyes that.” I rubbed them, wondering when the tiny circles that danced in front of them would fade away. Sunglasses would have come in handy.

“I should have warned you to close them right away.” He blinked a few times. Maybe his own eyes were affected by the light.

“I’ll remember to do that next time.”

“If you are joking about returning, it could not have been all that bad.”

“As long as you don’t actually make me go near dead people we’ll be fine.” My corpse experience had been enough. Elron could go to the realm of the dead himself.

“I will not promise you, but that is not where we are starting.”

“Where are we starting?” I knew it was unlikely I would like any answer he gave.

“At my mother’s cottage.”

“Your mom?” I froze. I never liked meeting moms. I knew Elron wasn’t a boyfriend or anything, but it didn’t matter. Mothers were intimidating. It always felt like they were judging you in some way.

“She is pleasant and will know what direction to lead us in.”

“And she won’t freak out about the mark?” I reached around and touched my shirt above it.

“I already told you, Elves can tell if your heart is light or dark.”

“Is their sense ever wrong?”

“Not that I know of.”

“I really hope you are right.” At least he wasn’t using the word probably.

“For both of our sakes I need to be.”

“For both of our sakes?” I glanced around the woods apprehensively. I had once again entered a new world without really thinking through the consequences.

“I brought you here.” His expression turned stony. “If I brought someone dangerous in, I would be facing the consequences as much as you.”

“As much as me?” I narrowed my eyes. “I kind of doubt that.”

“You do not know the way of Elves.”

“There is a lot I don’t know.” And I was discovering that more and more each day. “But to be fair I didn’t think Elves actually existed until I met you last night.” It felt longer though. Time felt completely different now.

“I did not mean that as a criticism. I am trying to put you at ease.”

“Which you may be doing to make it easier to lure me into trouble.” I sincerely hoped that wasn’t the case. Then I’d not only be in trouble myself, but pretty much everyone I knew and loved would be too—including my family. And James.

“Do you believe I would have gone through such lengths to bring you here just to kill you?”

“Who said anything about kill?” Danger came in all sorts of shapes and sizes.

“You will remain unharmed. I cannot promise this will be enjoyable, but somehow I do not think most of your time in Energo would qualify as enjoyable either. Well, aside from certain activities.” He reddened.

“Yeah, let’s not discuss that.” I was sure my cheeks matched the red shade in his. I’d never been comfortable discussing sex, and it was even worse discussing it with a non-human male.

“We will have to be honest about that because it relates to the poison.”

I groaned. “I suppose that’s technically true.”

“That is why you told me.”

“True. I certainly wouldn’t have brought it up otherwise.” Sex was one of those conversations best saved for your partner or your best friends.

“Are you calm enough for us to continue?” He gestured to a well-worn path that wove through the woods.

Every poem I had ever read about paths in the woods flew through my head as I contemplated his question. “I think so. We don’t have time to waste either way.”

“No, we do not.” His face grew serious again, and I decided I didn’t like when Elron was tense. He was far more pleasant when he was relaxed. I was pretty sure people would say the same thing about me.

I stayed close to his side as we followed the path. I was tired of spending time in woods. I was forever paranoid about trees trying to kill me, not to mention the other dangers that likely lurked behind the trees. I had enjoyed some light hiking before, but I wasn’t so sure I would ever want to do it again. Everywhere I went seemed to be wooded now.

“Hello, Elron.” An Elf with long blond hair seemed to appear out of thin air. He was dressed in a light green tunic and pants. He bowed slightly.

Elron didn’t bow in return which made me wonder if he was more important than he made it sound, but then why was he the one living alone in Energo? “Hello, Arlo.”

“Who is the human?” Arlo looked me over in a non-sexual way. Platonic interest or not, it made me uncomfortable.

“This is Ainsley.” Elron pointed to me. “She needs my help.”

“Are you headed to your mother’s?” Arlo nodded toward a path in the woods.

“Yes.”Elron nodded. “I believe she is the best source of assistance at the moment.”

“You should be aware that Malton is going to want to speak with you. He was getting ready to send someone to retrieve you.”

“Why?” Elron tensed. “I had months left of my mission.”

“Because he needs you for a special assignment.” Arlo watched me warily. “Is she urgent business, or should I take her to your mother to wait?”

I exhaled loudly. He was talking about me as if I was a thing. Urgent business? I bit my tongue to stop myself from saying something to get myself in trouble.

Elron nodded. “Very. I will find Malton later.”

“If you are sure.” Arlo bowed slightly again.

“Very sure. If you see him assure him I will speak with him as soon as possible.”

“If you wish.” Arlo bowed for the third time before hurrying down another path in the woods I hadn’t noticed.

I waited until we were far out of earshot before voicing my questions. “Who is Malton?”

Elron rested his chin in his hands and said nothing at first. I was about to repeat my question when he finally replied, “Our king.”

“Oh.” I wasn’t sure what to make of it. All this royalty stuff was really foreign to me.

“And my dad.”

“Oh.” That changed things. “Your dad is the king?” My sense that Elron was important hadn’t been wrong.

“Yes.” Elron shrugged. “He is.”

“But your mom lives in a cottage. Does that mean she isn’t the queen?”

“She chose not to follow him to the castle.”

“It was a choice? Or they aren’t together still?” I tried to be tactful. Family dynamics were delicate things.

“They are very much together, but she refused to move into the castle. She prefers her cottage.”

“Oh, ok.” Maybe his mom wasn’t quite as scary as I feared. But I thought of something else. “But you’re a prince.”

“Yes.” He nodded. “I suppose I could have rejected the position when I came of age, but I saw no reason to. If I have the means to help lead my people, why not take the opportunity?”

“So why is the price working as a watcher?”

“Being royal does not mean others do the hard work for you.” As if to prove his point he held back a branch for me.

I nodded in thanks. “I wasn’t implying that. Just that it seemed odd you’d be living alone.”

“If it makes it easier for you to understand, I selected the duty.”

“Oh.” It didn’t make it easier to understand, but that ruled out it being a punishment or anything. “Why?”

He laughed. “Why not? It was a chance to help my people and get a break.”

“Life as a prince gets tiring?”

“You could say that.” His lips twisted into a faint smile. “I craved a change in scenery and some time for reflection. I cannot get either of those things when I am here.”

I understood the whole wanting a change in life thing. “On some level I get that, but it’s still surprising.”

“There is nothing wrong with doing things that are surprising. I am sure your current predicament is not something you could have predicted.”

“But as you said, it is a predicament. Not a choice.”

“Yet getting involved with James was a choice. I know you are his kindred, but on some level there was a choice to be made, and you made it.”

“Do you always make things sound so wise?”

He chuckled. “I am not sure too many people would agree with you on that. I am only trying to show you that we are not as different as you think.”

“Does it matter to you what I think?” The question wasn’t fair in that the answer didn’t matter, but I wanted to hear it.

“It matters. Your opinion matters very much.” He stopped short.

I stopped next to him. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes. I only. I wanted to express my gratitude that you trusted me.”

“You are the one doing me the favor. At least that’s what I thought.”

“Dragging you here against your will would have been possible, but it would have been unpleasant. I am glad it did not come to that.”

“You and me both.”

“It would not have been as bad as the corpses.”

I shivered remembering the cold, hard hands. “No, very little could be.”

We arrived in what appeared to be a small bustling village—but not like one I’d never seen. Buildings were built into trees—like intricate and permanent tree houses. Some of the wood buildings were several stories high, but they appeared completely sturdy and secure. They were made from a dark wood that if I had to guess was mahogany. They were the most beautiful homes I had ever seen. “You live in the trees.”

Elron gazed up in the direction of the houses. “Mostly.”

“That’s cool.” I looked up again to take in the architecture. “Really cool. I’ve never seen anything quite like it.”