The Elf King (21 page)

“
You don’t know what to
think of me now.” Prevost made it a statement. He slowed and
stopped, staring at Qenn like a child that had just been scolded.
“I had the wrong idea about life, about what a man’s life was
worth, back then. I had no respect for anyone, even myself. So when
two men came along one night, who had lives that I thought were
better than my mine, I allowed my jealousy to act, and thought
nothing of it. I harassed them, hoping they would fight me. But
they were real men, not anything like I was. I became enraged. I
struck them both, killing them cold-heartedly.”

Prevost spit, his eyes
enraged in bitterness and remorse. “I went to prison then. For a
long time I was left alone with my conscious. And it was only then,
in the depths of Tannindell’s pit, where I discovered life and what
it meant.” Prevost paused, straightening himself, regaining his
composure.

Qenn was sorry for asking.
“It’s none of my business, Prevost.”

“
I want you to know, Qenn.
I want everyone I meet to know. I am not the same person. Going to
Tannindell allowed me to find myself, to discover what I knew
nothing about. And how important life is. When I left there, I left
with a purpose. I left to make a difference. To gain back something
I had lost. To give, when all I ever did was take. I was a killer,
Qenn. Now, thanks to Kamen, I am a savior.”

Prevost smiled in spite of
himself. “Now you really don’t know what to think of
me.”

Qenn realized that the look
on his face revealed too much. “It’s a lot to take in, I guess. But
from what I know of you, I believe you. You saved me back there.
That’s enough for me.”

Prevost smiled. “Life is
full of choices, Qenn. Learn to follow your heart.”

Prevost walked away then,
Qenn hurried to stay at his side. The story that Prevost told him
was still running through his mind, over and over, when they came
to an intersection and Prevost stopped him. They stayed close to
the building, looking around cautiously. Then Prevost began to
whistle like a bird. Qenn thought it was odd at first, but then a
whistling came back.

“
Let’s go.”

Prevost motioned with his
head to move forward across the street to a large building. Once
there, they looked around again to make certain that they were not
being watched or followed, then they entered.

Qenn followed Prevost
inside the building to find a slew of hard-faced men, and sitting
on a bucket away from everyone was a sour looking Kandish.
Greetings were dispersed immediately, smiles of relief abroad.
Prevost began telling them about his escape from the building. Qenn
worked his way over to Kandish, who rose to greet him with a quick
hug.

“
I was worried sick about
you!”

Qenn was surprised, and it
showed. “How are you?”

Kandish only nodded. “We’ve
been here for a while, waiting. Kamen said you guys would meet up
with us, but it didn’t look like anyone was going to ever show
up.”

“
Where is
Kamen?”

Kandish pointed to the far
end of the room. Kamen stood next to the Seer, talking privately.
“When we arrived, Kamen’s men said that there were
Takers
moving in swarms,
looking for the Seer. Kamen started cursing, breaking everything in
sight, swearing that nothing was going to happen to
her.”

Kandish looked at Qenn with
sadness. “I think he’s wrong. Something is going to happen. And
none of us will be able to protect her.”

“
I don’t know. These men
will fight to the death.” Qenn looked around the room, then back to
Kandish. The look she gave him made him feel small. It was as if he
was completely missing what she was saying.

Just as Qenn was about to
ask Kandish to elaborate, a gruff looking man charged into the
room, his face flush with fear. “They’re here! Legions of them!”
The man screamed and pointed behind him to the door.

Kamen Ode moved at once,
rushing to the center of his men, looking past them into the street
where swarms of glowing red eyes moved for them. “Break up! We need
to flank—”

“
You stand no chance if you
separate!” The Seer yelled at Kamen, her eyes vivid. “You must stay
together!”

Kamen grunted. Another man
yelled that the
Takers
were reaching the building and that they had better act fast
if they wanted to escape. Kamen snatched the Seer by the arm and
ran. “Run!”

Kamen ran through the
building, Kandish and Qenn at his heels, Kamen’s men drawing
weapons as they followed. The building was full of broken walls and
gaping holes in the wooden floors. It was empty of furniture and of
anything else but dust. Windows were broken and cracked, or not
there at all. It appeared as if it used to be a type of
manufacturing building, now long absent of use.

A thunderous crash
startled the group as they ran in a line, entering the building’s
largest room, where the ceiling was over thirty feet high and the
walls were mostly small square windows. From the back of the group,
a man screamed that the
Takers
had entered, and everyone ran a little faster.
The next time they heard the man scream, it was terrifying. Red
lights glowed in the darkness behind them, followed by more
screams.

Qenn ran next to Kandish,
who looked pale and sweaty. She was ill, he thought. Whatever it
was, it wasn’t good. “Kandish?”

He squeezed her hand and
when she turned to stare at him, his stomach turned in knots. Her
face was stricken with a terrible fear and she was ready to burst
into tears. She said nothing to him; she simply shook her head so
he would leave her alone.

“
Duck!” a
voice yelled as a section of a wall came bursting open, red fire
blazing from the hands of dozens of
Takers
outside, working their way
in.

Kamen yelled and turned
direction, heading away from the
Takers
, running his group hard
towards a small door at the far left of the building. He still had
the Seer in his possession, half-dragging her along at his rapid
pace, not really certain if anyone else was following save for the
elf and the girl. He knew a few of his men stopped to fight the
demons, but he didn’t expect any of them to live. He knew they had
meant to only buy them some time to get the Seer out safely.
Sacrifices, he thought. He had seen enough of them.

“
They’re right behind us,”
Prevost said to Qenn, only an arm’s length behind him. “Once we
make it to the street, run straight for the boat. Don’t
stop.”

Qenn nodded, looking over
to Kandish to be certain she knew as well. They were closing in on
the doorway, dodging piles of ceiling debris and other scrap used
only to slow them down now. Once to the door, the elf watched Kamen
Ode throw it open without hesitation, barreling into the night like
a train.

They ran outside the
building and onto the street smelling the lake air right away.
Kamen took them down the block, and then turned left down a wide
street. The sounds of the waves on Lower Krune were close, another
block or so away. Still they ran hard, knowing what was
coming.

“
There!” Prevost yelled,
pointing to a mass of shadow stretching down the street a few
intersections ahead of them.

“
No!” Kamen growled,
“Faster!”

They continued forward,
watching the swarm of
Takers
close the distance between them. They raced for
the first intersection and turned left down the street, the lake
now visible, with a long dock stretching away at the end of the
street. Tied to the end of the dock was a long wooden boat. Heavy
breathing and pounding footsteps filled the night around them as
they pushed for hope. A block behind them, the
Takers
turned to follow, red eyes
and inhuman sounds giving chase.

“
Get to the boat!” Kamen
barked, looking behind him angrily.

Qenn stared straight
ahead, eyes focused on the boat, his Elven senses screaming in
warning. The lake was getting closer. One last intersection right
at the lake. Then everything fell into slow motion for Qenn.
Darkness swept in on both sides of his vision—clouds of
Takers
ahead of them. He
felt Kandish squeeze his hand hard just before she pulled him down
to the street with her, one of Kamen’s men flying into her back,
his head glowing red with dark magic just before it
exploded.

“
Up!” Prevost yelled,
pulling Qenn to his feet.

“
Qenn, help me!” Kandish
groaned. She was lying on her side, underneath a dead
body.

As the group stopped,
and
Takers
began
to form a wall around them, Qenn helped the red-haired girl stand.
Kamen and the Seer, Prevost and six other men, all formed a tight
circle together, staring down the mass of demons surrounding them.
The Seer reached behind her and found Kandish’s hand, holding it
close, she began to talk to her with her mind.

-Be strong, child. Be what
you are and do not worry. Let it go. Accept-

Kandish looked deep into
the old woman’s eyes, then began crying. She blocked out all that
was happening around her: the screaming cries of the demons as they
saw their victory, the barking of Kamen Ode to his last soldiers,
the concern from the elf next to her, the coolness of the wind off
the lake, and the feeling of the need to escape. Kandish remembered
what the Seer had told her. Even so, she thought, she was
struggling to let it come.

“
We need to get the Seer to
the boat,” Kamen was saying out loud. “She must not die here. She
cannot!

The circling demons were
within twenty yards of them now. Besieged on all sides, it appeared
to Qenn that there was no escape. Even with the boat so close to
them, they would never reach it before the
Takers
fired upon them. And there
were so many of them, he thought. With his sword in one hand, he
reached over to find Kandish’s slender fingers with his
other.

“
Qenn, don’t look at me,”
she cried.

Qenn didn’t understand.
But the desperation in her voice was enough for him to obey her
plea. Whatever was wrong with her, he decided that in a few moments
it wouldn’t matter. The
Takers
would finish their worries quickly.

Then three of Kamen’s men
charged away screaming, swords slicing through the night with
vengeance. Each of them went in different directions; it was the
best distraction that they could think of. Kamen used that small
amount of time to run the Seer closer to the dock. Prevost, Qenn,
and Kandish followed, three of Kamen’s men remained for a moment,
then retreated as well.

But they failed to reach
the dock, so far still from the boat.

The ground exploded
underneath them from a fire ball thrown by the
Takers
. The group went sprawling
across the pavement. Bits of gravel and rock rained down on them
for a few seconds. As quickly as they could, they rose to their
feet, only to find the black cloaked monsters slowly advancing. The
group huddled around one another again, weapons drawn in
vain.

-Child, do not be afraid.
It is time-

Kandish turned to face the
old woman. The Seer’s face was wet with her own tears, her eyes
filled with a deep sorrow. Again she encouraged Kandish, nodding
her head. Kandish swallowed hard, then nodded as well.

“
I am not a monster,” she
whispered.

“
No, child. You are a
savior.” The Seer smiled faintly. “It is time.”

Demons howled all around
them. Red eyes began glowing, clawed hands the same. Together the
small group watched helplessly as
Takers
closed in to finish them
off.

“
We will fight!” Kamen Ode
cursed furiously. “You will not have her!”

Kamen and his men screamed
in response, weapons ready, eyes mean with un-acceptance. The mass
of
Takers
were
mere feet from them when they began to fire their burning red
magic.

“
No!” Kandish screamed, her
body glowing with a bluish hue. Her body lifted off the ground,
drawing the red fire onto her like a magnet.

The shock on Qenn’s face
could only be matched by that of Kamen’s and his men as they
watched Kandish absorb the burning fire. Her body rose into the
air, towering above them now, the blue magic growing like a shroud
until little of her was seen at all.
Takers
screamed angrily, flooding
the night with their magic. Qenn knelt down, shielding his eyes
from the brightness, while trying to see what was happening. Kamen
and his men did the same. The howls grew deafening; the blue light
blinding.

Then it
exploded.

Qenn peeked through the
cracks of his fingers to see Kamen diving across the Seer as the
explosion sent everyone skidding away. The light flashed for a
second, then disappeared. When Qenn opened his eyes again, Kandish
was lying on the street next to him. Smoking piles of ash and
charred blackened earth littered the area around them. Qenn reached
Kandish, rolling her over gently onto her back. Her face still
white, pale and cool. But she was breathing.