Chapter 68
Kezra should be back.
I’ve been crying for an hour, it feels like.
The tears have finally dried, and I used what little magic I have left to do a lethargic rinse of my face and arms. My outfit that’s more blood than anything else will have to wait.
Our horses that we left at the edge of the forest, which I left my larger bag of clothes and other items with, are long gone.
Finally, just as I begin to consider marching back onto the battlefield, Kezra appears from behind me, startling me to my feet with one quick motion, snapping me out of my stupor.
She’s alone.
My heart sinks.
“Did you find them?”
“No.”
My shoulders drop.
“However… that is not bad news.”
I look up, meeting her eyes, allowing myself to feel the faintest bit of hope as I wait for her to continue.
“Maethrel’s wraiths plus the gilded-winged ones helped clear out most of the army, and what was left retreated into the castle walls, like scurrying little toads.
I suspect that was only a taste of the elven army, though.
They will be regrouping. They are not yet finished with their worthless cause.
” She pauses to push a particularly bouncy curl out of her face with a puff of air, taking her time.
“Anyway. I scoured the grounds. There are no signs of your comrades. Besides the fiery-haired one, may she rest in a peaceful eternal sleep. May her part in this brave endeavor not easily be forgotten.”
It’s a bittersweet feeling as Kezra informs me that there’s still hope for Daegan and Raef, while also twisting the knife by bringing up Rhydra so soon.
“You think they got away?”
“A few small troops of elves remain lurking through the shadows, as if searching for someone.”
“They could be looking for me.”
Kezra begins to look impatient. “They are looking for all three of you. Of this, I am certain. And I am not certain of many things in life.”
I want to argue with her on the last point, but I don’t have the energy. My body is exhausted and my soul is drained. “What do we do now, then?”
“We continue to Morne.”
“But what if they’re still—”
“Honestly, Elysande. A flintworm listens better than you.” She widens her eyes and points behind me with her tiny fingers. “They are not back there.”
“Okay. Okay.” I don’t have the energy to ask what a flintworm is.
It’s a lot easier to walk now that Kezra is leading the way, casting a faint light on the ground in front of me. I’ve pulled out my light orb since she irritably assured me that there was no one anywhere near our vicinity anymore. We lost the ones who chased us into the forest.
We walk in silence for a long time, not encountering a single living thing. Good fortune is finally on my side in this. I don’t have the energy to fight an unnatural creature of the dark. Or a fucking plant spider.
By now, I’m guessing it’s morning, but it’s so dark in this dense forest you can’t tell. I keep hoping I’ll run into them at any moment. They have to be walking in the same direction as us. They could be anywhere in this vast forest, though.
We walk and walk, my mind mostly blank, numb. Finally, I stop to take a drink and immediately feel something climb up my leg. I shake it off, weirdly unphased by it, then look down, casting my light.
A strange blue critter almost the size of my foot with a pointed, sharp, curved tail and too many legs to count scuttles toward me again, and I lift my foot, stomp on it, and continue walking.
At last, we reach the edge of the forest, emerging into the faint gray light of daytime.
It feels like a temporary relief, though we still have a long way to go.
It didn’t make sense to make the closest village our meet-up point.
Knowing that if this plan was ever needed it would be because we’d been caught and on the run, we had to pick somewhere farther from the castle.
Outside of Ellyar. Which means it could take me days upon days to get there if I can’t find a horse or something faster soon.
“I think I’m going to risk stopping in town. I need to steal a horse.”
“It will be crawling with guards. Of that, you can be certain.”
“I’m feeling lucky today.”
“Luck is a made-up concept that only diminishes one’s accomplishments.”
“I don’t believe that’s true.”
“I don’t either. Sometimes I just say things out of boredom.”
An unexpected cackle escapes me. I look at Kezra with shock and a little respect. “Are you serious?”
She winks at me and then flips her turquoise curls, which are loose and bouncing after the battle.
“I feel like I don’t know you at all,” I mumble, smiling and shaking my head.
“We are not meant to be known. Fairies are very reclusive beings. Mysterious. And we like it that way.”
I nod thoughtfully. “I get that. I think, in another lifetime, I could’ve lived a similar way.”
We continue on, sticking toward the edge of the forest, moving faster when we’re in wide-open clearings, and stopping only when absolutely necessary.
Normally, I’ve always traveled on the established dirt trails between villages, but today, we’re out in the wild.
We’re likely walking a path few have traveled before.
Something about it feels freeing, but I can’t enjoy it when I’m putting all my effort into pushing down the dread that keeps threatening to rise and consume me.
We don’t talk much after our brief conversation, and that’s okay. Before nightfall, a small border village of Ellyar comes into view. We look down upon the town from a small hilltop.
“This should be fun,” Kezra sings.