The Elf King (20 page)

Qenn almost cried. Might
have if Kandish was not there to see it. But he held his composure,
looking into the old woman’s eyes, believing what she was saying.
It was the way in which she said it that comforted him. He didn’t
fully understand what she was trying to say, but he saw hope in her
face and that eased the discomfort of losing his brother. Seers had
a great power, he knew. They could see more than just the
future.

“
It’s okay, child. You will
be fine.”

“
I’m not even sure what it
is that I’m doing,” Qenn shrugged. He watched the Seer turn away
from him quickly and look back to the door. He felt Kandish lean
into him, but he didn’t look at her to see why. He kept his focus
on the door. He could hear movements coming fast.

Bodies came rushing in
almost immediately. Several of them, moving quickly with purpose.
They ran in the room, heading right for Kandish and Qenn, who both
stood in front of the Seer, but split up. Some formed a circle
around the three, others stationed themselves at the windows. They
were armed with swords and pipes and axes, clothing dirty and
ripped, faces angry and alert. Splitting the sea was one man, who
walked right up to them and stopped.

“
They are coming,” Kamen
Ode barked. The anger on his face washed clean once he saw the old
woman step aside from her protectors. He gasped. “You!”

She stood staring at him
with a smile. “You cannot escape your destiny, Kamen Ode. All of
your running has only led you back to where you
started.”

For the first time in his
life, Kamen Ode was at a loss for words. It was the Seer he had
been looking for, standing before him like a beacon of hope. His
men grunted around him, shouting warnings, scrambling into a
defensive stance around Kamen and the Seer. But Kamen barely heard.
His eyes fixed on the old woman’s. She was right, he thought.
Things were just as she had said they would be.

“
I’m going to save you,”
Kamen promised. He shook his head as her lips parted. “No, woman.
Things will be different. I am going to save you.”

The Seer held her tongue,
changing her approach. “You will do what you can.”

Kamen moved around them,
barking orders to his men. “Attack upon sight! Do not give them a
chance!”

Men rushed here and there
frantically, weapons drawn, faces mean and sweaty.
Takers
were coming and
they had to be ready.

Qenn and Kandish looked at
each other in question. The Seer turned to them, her aged face warm
and friendly in all the chaos, her eyes sad. “Love can conquer all.
It can guide you right; it can give you strength; it can be your
greatest ally.”

She moved in close, as
Kamen’s men moved in closer to them. “When the darkness begins to
overtake you both, focus on each other. Remember your love. Love is
the key. Love is a catalyst. I want you both to remember that. Be
lights for each other.”

As they both nodded, Qenn
felt Kandish find his hand and hold it tight. He turned to stare at
her, feeling his heartbeat quicken as his eyes met hers. The look
she held was that of a promise. He squeezed her hand to confirm
that he would look after her as well. The look she gave him then
made him realize that she was thinking of something else
altogether. He began thinking that she knew something he did
not.

“
Get down!” a man screamed
seconds before a section of the wall exploded in flames. Wood and
fire shot everywhere as a group of black cloaked figures entered,
hands glowing red with magic, eyes glowing from something more
unpleasant. They attacked at once, shooting red beams of magic into
the foremost of Kamen’s men, burning them into nothing. Screams
filled the night in a terrible explosion.

“
We’re getting out of
here,” Kamen cursed to the Seer, grabbing her by the arm. Qenn and
Kandish followed, snaking their way through the fighting, staying
clear of the hooded monsters. They were met by a tall man wielding
a long sword with several daggers strapped to his waist. He
motioned for Qenn and Kandish to stay low and move quick. Bodies
were being strewn across the room all around them. Red fire burned
in streaks everywhere. Black smoke began choking the night air in
heavy clouds as the building caught fire.

Takers
overflowed into the room, too many for Kamen Ode to count.
Screams were continuous. Kamen’s men fought to the death, holding
their ground like soldiers. Bodies exploded in balls of flames. Men
were dying at a rapid pace. Kamen Ode knew he had to get his men
out, what was left of them.

“
Fall back!”

But before he could do
anything further, a glowing red hand appeared in front of him.
Immediately his sword came up, slicing the hand clean off before he
even saw the rest of the
Taker
. With his back to the Seer,
Kamen began a series of swinging strides into the black monster,
almost faster than Qenn could follow. In a terrible howl,
the
Taker
went
down. Almost instantly two more took its place. Kamen’s sword never
slowed. Two of his men joined him, striking the
Takers
from behind like men chopping
down trees. With his strength feeding off of his anger, Kamen Ode
swung hard and fast, decapitating the
Takers
before they could ignite
their magic.

Kandish could feel her
heart pounding in her chest. She was struggling to breathe, and
Qenn was helping her move. She was sweating freely, her hands were
cold and tingling. She felt as if the enormity of it all was going
to make her explode. She knew what was coming, what was happening
to her. She saw Qenn look at her, then quickly look away. She
swallowed hard, pushing back her fears, looking to the Seer for
direction. But instead she witnessed the man next to them
disintegrate. She had barely seen the red magic burst into him
before it was too late. Qenn screamed and threw himself across her,
protecting her as he could, yelling to Kamen for help.

“
Prevost!” Kamen yelled
into the sea of chaos. In seconds a gangly man appeared at his
side, clean face sweaty, hands holding two bloody swords. Words
were exchanged between them, then Prevost was fighting next to Qenn
and Kandish. Kamen pointed to a section of the wall where the
support beams were cracked leaving a narrow gap outside. “Get them
out of here!”

Prevost nodded, seeing the
opening. The building was burning heavily now, smoke rolling
freely, twisting upwards in cyclone shapes. The fire was roaring up
the walls and into the ceiling, and still the
Takers
rampaged.

“
Kandish? Are you okay?”
Qenn asked, his eyes full of worry.

Kandish looked sick. “I
need away from here!”

A section of the ceiling
collapsed then, smashing wood and fiery embers in a thunderous
splash next to them, knocking them off their feet. As Prevost
yanked Qenn to his feet, he saw Kamen and the Seer sneaking away.
Kandish followed.

“
Let’s go, elf!” Prevost
yelled.

In all the commotion, all
of the burning magic searing past them, all the bodies rushing this
way and that, all the clouds of smoke and the waves of horrible
screaming, Qenn became disoriented. His eyes lost focus for a
second. As Prevost pulled him out of harm’s way, he looked for
Kandish again. But she was gone.

“
Take
this!” Prevost thrust a long sword he picked up off the floor into
Qenn’s hand. It was bloodied. Not from
Takers
. “Swing, elf! Don’t stop! We
have to make it across the room!”

Qenn looked in the
direction that the man pointed. Across the room, there was the
door. Open and waiting. But in between them and it was a pool of
black cloaked demons and only a few of Kamen’s men still lived to
fight. Fire was everywhere. Clouds of smoke wisped past them like
ghosts. Qenn gripped his sword tight and prepared to
die.

Suddenly a
Taker
swept in between
him and Prevost. Its hands were glowing red, reaching for Prevost’s
head. Qenn reacted out of fear, striking the monster with fluent
strokes, hard and fast. The
Taker
turned then and focused on him. He saw into the
cowl a set of red eyes and a face wrinkled with lines of hate. He
froze. Its hands stretched towards Qenn’s head. As its hands began
to form a ball of red magic, Qenn saw Prevost lunge into the
Taker
, knocking it to
the floor. In one quick motion, Prevost swung his blade down across
its neck as its hands released the magic, shooting into the sea
of
Takers
,
knocking two into the far wall, burning them to ash.

Qenn helped Prevost to his
feet. As soon as he stood, Prevost took hold of the elf’s arm and
raced him across the room for the door. They moved into a line of
smoke and used it for a screen, racing for the exit with their
heads down and their blades out. If something were to step into
their way, Prevost was ready to barrel into it. But the smoke hid
them, and nothing challenged them save for a small fire that they
ran right through. Once to the door, Prevost and Qenn ran through,
out into the night, keeping their stride down the sidewalk into the
city. They never slowed. They never looked back.

Three blocks away they
stopped for air. Qenn could see the fire behind a few buildings,
the black smoke rising into the air darker than the night. He could
still hear screams from within. A second later, they heard an
enormous crash as the building collapsed in flames.

“
My name is Prevost, by the
way.” He smiled and patted Qenn’s shoulder. “Beautiful night for a
fire, eh?”

“
I’m Qenn. And I never want
to see a fire again.” Qenn held his smile in check as Prevost
chuckled. They stared down the street for a few moments longer,
expecting to see one of the black monsters following, hoping that
someone else had escaped as well.

“
Those were my friends,”
Prevost said quietly, seemingly to himself. He sighed. “We have to
find Kamen and the others. Let’s go, elf.”

They walked away from the
burning building with the chill of death still clinging to them.
They hung to the shadows, moving down the alleys, not lingering
anywhere for long. They were moving in a zigzag line across the
city, turning at each intersection, heading towards the bay.
Prevost told Qenn that Kamen would be taking the Seer there to
transport her out of the city. He wouldn’t risk her capture, now
that they had finally found her. When Qenn had asked why they had
been looking for her, Prevost shrugged and simply stated that he
only understood that Kamen and the Seer were friends a long time
ago. The fact that she was a Seer was enough for him to rescue
her.

“
I’m sorry for your friends
back there,” Qenn said quietly, not expecting a reply. None was
given, though he thought he saw the other nod. Gangly and tall,
Prevost had a way about him that Qenn liked. He was easy to talk
to, and genuine. He smiled easy, but was also very quick and deadly
when he had to be.

“
Water?”

Qenn looked over to
Prevost, who was offering a small pouch. Qenn drank eagerly, then
thanked him. They stopped walking for a few minutes, checking out
their surroundings, checking to see if they were being followed.
People filled the streets, mostly drunks staggering home, or just
finding someplace to sleep for the night. But everyone was alive,
and no one was running from demons, so Qenn didn’t mind their
presence.

“
How do you know Kamen
Ode?” Qenn wanted to ask the question for a time now, and decided
that now would be just as good a time as any.

Prevost smiled, looked to
the stars overhead for a second, then motioned for them to continue
walking while he talked. “I met Kamen in prison, actually.
Tannindell. Far north, next to the Upper Krune. I was in my fifth
year of a life sentence when Kamen arrived. He was young, brash.
Reckless as he is now, I guess. Tough though; you could tell just
by looking at him that he was all business.”

They came to an
intersection and they slowed to check things out before turning
right and walking down an alley. Prevost waited a few moments
before continuing. “He was in the cell next to mine. We chatted for
a while, bonding I guess. We had a lot in common: we both shared
the same dreams for the future and wanted to help them to fruition.
Mostly, we both just wanted out of Tannindell.”

Prevost gave Qenn a
half-smile. “We’re brothers now. We’d give our lives for one
another.”

Without thinking it
through, Qenn blurted out, “Why were you in prison?”

Prevost didn’t look at him.
“I killed a man.” He paused as if he was reconsidering his answer,
then added, “And then another.”

Qenn had no more questions.
He wondered if his quietness made Prevost feel awkward now. He
guessed it did, by the way that he too had nothing further to say.
They walked in silence for a while, working their way towards the
fresh air blowing in from the Lower Krune. The port was not far;
still there was no sign of Kamen.

“
Life is full of choices,
Qenn.” Prevost began suddenly, still not looking at the elf. Qenn
snuck a quick look at Prevost when the other wasn’t aware, not
fully understanding why he chose to speak as he did. Qenn wanted to
believe it had something to do with the reason why he went to
prison, but he wasn’t sure. Nonetheless, Qenn didn’t want to ask
any more questions.