The Elf King (36 page)

W
hen Qenn awoke, Kandish was sleeping at his side. He smelled
her scent deeply as her body stirred, her back pressing closer
against him for warmth. Qenn hesitated to move, not wanting to wake
her. He couldn’t see her face, but he imagined it to look peaceful.
In a better world, he thought, things would be more open between
them and he could have put his arms around her. But she had not let
him think that would be so now, and so he remained where he
was.

Qenn knew he would have a
hard time through the journey ahead without her. He was on the
mission given to him by Shadox in part because he knew he had to,
but also because he wanted to protect Kandish, as foolish as he
thought that sounded now. If he ignored the sorcerer’s warnings and
let things unfold as they would without his help, the demons would
advance on the Races and things of great beauty, such as Kandish,
would succumb to terrible nightmares. He couldn’t let that
happen.

The thin, narrow features
of his face bent and hardened. He would see the mission through to
the end. No matter what.

Qenn noticed then that
three of Kamen’s men were awake, on watch as usual, and Prevost had
taken over for Kamen at the helm. He turned his head and found the
big man sleeping under his coat at the end of the boat—a mass of
brawn and anger. Qenn gingerly stood up and quietly walked to stand
next to Prevost. The morning was early still, the sunlight
brightening the peaks of the Shard mountains next to them, though
the river was still in shadow. Animals were seen in the woods, and
birds were abundantly chirping. Overall, Qenn thought, it was
starting to feel like a good day.

Prevost greeted Qenn with a
smile upon his arrival. “You look better today, elf.”

Qenn smiled. “I feel
better. Optimistic, I guess.”

“
Just hold true to your
feelings when everything turns grey. Darkness has a way of sucking
the hope out of you, and despair is not your friend.”

Qenn nodded. “Where are we
now?”

“
The woods to the right is
called the Lyyn Forest. Home of your kin.” Prevost
pointed.

“
I’ve never been this far
north,” Qenn admitted. “I’ve never been around the
Elves.”

“
That’s a shame. You should
make it a point to get to know your people, Qenn. Know who you
are.” Prevost smiled and patted Qenn on the shoulder.

“
What about you? Where are
you from?”

“
Why, Tannindell of
course.” He winked mischievously at Qenn. “I was an orphan. Grew up
with a bunch of kids in a building owned by two couples that raised
us all. Very spiritual group, they were. Though I guess not much of
that ever stuck with me. I abandoned them when I was still young,
thinking I needed to be someplace else. But I was just a boy; I
didn’t know anything about anything. Learned a lot though, real
quick. Tannindell is a tough city, no place for a wandering boy.
There are plenty of folks out there that would take advantage of
that, as I found out quickly.”

Prevost paused long enough
for Qenn to think he was finished. Qenn wasn’t sure what to say.
But then Prevost continued, turning to Qenn with regret in his eyes
and something else that Qenn didn’t fully understand.

Prevost sighed. “Life is
too hard to think that there’s no one out there willing to help,
willing to stand against the wrongs. It’s far too often that heads
turn in the other direction.
If it’s not
my fight, then I won’t fight
attitude.”

He paused again, this time
having a genuine smile. “That’s why I am with you. All of us,
really. We’re all searching for something that is greater than
ourselves. Your fight is the most worthy cause. We’ve been against
those demons for some time now, and only now have a real idea of
how to defeat them. This, I believe, is what all of my hard years
have been spent training for. The darkest battle.”

Qenn watched Prevost turn
away and said nothing in response. He stood at Prevost’s side
feeling vulnerable and small. The men, and even Kandish, all had
such different backgrounds, ones in which they became tested and
hard. They all were fighters and tough minded, battle-scarred and
emotionally wounded: they would die hard. They all had a story to
tell. All of them, but himself. He had been through practically
nothing. His life seemed so sheltered, compared to theirs. He had
no stories of great danger or anything of that nature to relate to.
These men fought against the
Takers
; he had fled them and never
really stopped running.

As he turned away from
Prevost and sat next to Kandish, he felt like a boy. One much in
need of protection.

The sun was now high enough
in the morning sky to be visible between the breaks of the trees,
the dimness of dawn had faded away to the blue sky overhead, and
the air was getting warmer by the hour. Kamen awoke and took the
lead again, saying very little to Prevost as they stood at the
helm, as Kandish slept for a few more minutes. When she awoke, Qenn
was at her side. He smiled instantly. To his surprise, she smiled
back. She sat upright and looked around, this time she stayed where
she was.

“
You should have woke me,”
she said to Qenn, yawning.

“
You should get all the
rest you can,” he replied softly.

He was right, she knew. She
didn’t want to offend him. “I know. I just don’t want to be asleep,
when everyone else is awake.”

“
Understood.” Qenn looked
away from her, expecting her to jump up and leave. But when he
turned back to her, he caught her just then turning away from
him.

“
It’s so pretty out here.
Peaceful.” Her voice was as soft as her skin.

“
Prevost said we are at the
Lyyn Forest. I would think the Elves would keep things peaceful.”
Qenn stared off into the woods, wondering what it would be like to
have grown up there, in the midst of an Elven
civilization.

“
Hungry?” Kandish held a
handful of berries and offered some to Qenn. As he took a few, she
smiled. “There’s things about me that I never wanted people to
know. Things that have always kept people away from me.”

Qenn nodded. She was so
beautiful, he thought. How could someone even think about hurting
her. “You have to learn to take chances again. Not everyone reacts
the same way.”

He stared into her luminous
eyes and for the first time saw her as innocent. She had always
been tough and edgy, her eyes full of a bitterness that he didn’t
understand. But not now. He enjoyed the way she looked back at him.
Then she looked away, rose to her feet and walked to the edge of
the boat, staring down into the water.

Qenn didn’t move. He
understood to give her time, give her space. Eventually she would
speak to him again. It must be hard for her, he thought, to let
someone in, to fully be able to trust someone again after shutting
so many out for so long. She wasn’t used to it, he could tell. Time
would change that. He hoped so anyway.

He sighed inwardly. The
magic she was born with was terrible for her, he thought. He was
happy then that he had no magic himself.

The sun drifted high
overhead when the group decided to put the boat on shore again and
eat. The meal was the same, fruits and fish, fresh water from the
cold Spira, and they sat around a small fire. Conversations were
light, far and few between. Kamen offered them some insight as to
their whereabouts, telling them they had a few more days adrift
before they would reach the city of Tannindell where they would
cross and head west. He spoke of the rumors that circled the areas
thereafter. The Pikes, as he put it flatly, was inhabited by a
Faerie creature. Anyone who came in contact with it, was never seen
again. Prevost confirmed the rumor with a telling of a story he had
heard while living in the city. This stole everyone’s attention, as
Kamen had said after the story, because this was the place that
they were headed to find a talisman.

The story left them all in
a funk of despair.

Maybe Kamen was right, and
they were all headed to their deaths, Qenn thought.

They put the fire out and
set off again up the mighty river. It was not long after that when
Qenn felt a sense of being watched. He couldn’t explain it at
first; he said nothing for a few minutes until he realized what it
was that he was feeling. His Elven senses were alarming him. He
moved to the side of the boat, facing the woods, listening
intently, straining his focus to see anything moving. The others
began to take notice right away, joining him, concern mirrored on
their faces.

“
What is it?” Kamen asked
first.

“
Did you see something?”
Kandish added quickly. All of them were staring into the woods now,
seeing nothing.

“
No, I didn’t see anything.
But I feel it. We’re being watched.” Qenn kept his face towards the
trees, his focus was deep, his pointed ears were bent back, his
long eyebrows slanted down to the corners of his eyes. “We’re not
alone.”

“
I see nothing.” Kamen was
growing angry. “If it were the demons, we would have seen them by
now.”

“
What else could it be? Who
else would be tracking us?” Kandish wondered aloud.

“
The Elves.” Qenn said it
as a matter-of-fact. The others turned to him in question, but his
conviction was enough. “I see them.”

But no one else could. They
all strained their sight, blocking the sun as they could with their
hands, asking Qenn to point them out so they could make sure. But
Qenn simply replied that they were there, blending into the woods
as much as the bark on the trees.

“
Why can’t I see them?” one
of Kamen’s men barked in frustration.

“
Because you’re not an
elf.” Prevost said with a half-smile. He gave up the quest to find
what was not his to see, then walked to the head of the boat and
stared up river. “If they don’t want to be seen, you’ll never see
them.”

Qenn was given dirty looks
by Kamen’s men, as they walked away mumbling to themselves. Kandish
and Kamen remained at his side, staring back into the trees as if
to make a statement. Kamen didn’t like not being able to see who
was watching him, but he handled it better than Qenn would have
thought.

“
Prevost is right,” Kamen
said almost to himself. “They’ll show if they want to. We have
nothing they want, I suppose.”

Kandish put a hand on
Qenn’s shoulder. “You okay?”

Qenn nodded. “I’ve never
seen another elf.”

“
They look like you. Just
not as flimsy.” She joked. A broad smile flashed across her face
before she broke out in laughter as he quickly turned his head
towards her with a crushed look.

“
What?” Qenn could only
laugh. It was nice to see her smile, he thought. A second later, he
told her as much.

“
Qenn!” Prevost pointed
ahead and everyone ran to the front of the boat.

As the boat was coming
around a bend in the river, a tall figure dressed in a blue silky
gown stood on shore. He made no attempt to disguise himself from
them, he didn’t even move as their boat came into view. Instead, he
turned his head and watched them approach. As they came near, his
hands lifted and motioned gently for them to move towards
him.

“
Who is it?” growled Kamen
Ode. His men were ready to fight, already moving Qenn and Kandish
behind them.

“
Stay away from the shore,”
Prevost offered. But the boat was drifting towards the man and no
matter what they did, they could not regain course. “We’ve lost
control.”

“
He’s using magic!” cursed
one of Kamen’s men.

“
Steady yourselves,” Kamen
whispered, one hand gripping a dagger at his waist.

As their boat reached a
sandy shore, the man waiting for them smiled. One hand lifted and
motioned for them to come ashore.

“
Greetings. I am Terill
Estrial of the Forest Elves. I am a friend; do not be alarmed. I
have waited for you to pass this way. I have something for you.
Please, come.” Terill’s plea could not be argued with. One by one
they exited the boat. Qenn made his way to the front of the group
with a twinkle in his eyes.

“
What do you want with us?”
Kamen Ode asked right away.

“
I wish
you peace, all of you.” Terill began, his smile fading gently.
Terill turned to Qenn and Kandish, staring at them for a few
seconds. Then he spoke to their minds.
You two are the saviors of us all.
When he spoke out loud, it was only directed to them. “What
are your names?”

Qenn smiled in return. “I
am Qenn. This is Kandish.”

Terill smiled again. “An
elf to replenish what other elves destroyed.”

Qenn introduced the rest of
his company, but Lord Estrial didn’t seem to care as much. He
merely nodded to them in a friendly fashion, saying nothing.
Instead, he moved closer to Qenn and Kandish, placing his arms on
their shoulders, escorting them away from their group. “I am a
friend, an ally in the war which is coming.”