Epilogue
EPILOGUE
ROWAN
“Greetings, friend.”
Unfortunately, these were not my friends at all. I smiled at the travelers anyway, glad at least they were human. Against my own kind, I had no worries. Against magic, I was always at a disadvantage.
“Greetings,” I said, wishing now I’d stopped at the inn. What had I been thinking to push on, when no good was to be found riding this road in the dark? Getting as quickly as possible to the queen was important, but remaining alive in the meantime was just as so.
“Alone on an abandoned road in Southern Aetheria, friend?”
There were three of them. The kind of humans that gave us a bad name. Mercenaries, most likely. All three carried swords, but their armor was old, consisting of padded gambesons and helms, but not much else.
“Heading home,” I said, when in truth my home was north of here.
“That is a fine-looking horse.” Their leader rode toward me.
My father once said I could charm my way out of any predicament, and it was true, my inclination was usually to do so. To make friends, as these men called me, and not enemies. But I also knew the type of men I was dealing with. They were intent on robbing me, and nothing would stop them.
Nothing short of force.
Sighing, I tried to head off the inevitable.
“He is a fine horse, but also mine. Attempting to claim him, or any other of my possessions, will see this night as your last. So if you would allow me to pass?—”
The first man who had spoken laughed, a cruel and overly loud sound. I didn’t need to be close enough to him to sense his emotions. He was scared. Rightly so.
“Get off the horse.”
The leader was, not surprisingly, the largest of the three men. By the way the others looked to him, it was clear he would have to be my first target.
I had no wish to spill blood this night and tried one last time.
“I have no quarrel with you. But if you do not allow me to pass, none in your party will be left alive to follow me and slit my throat in my sleep.” The man closest to me gave pause for the first time, glancing nervously behind him.
The leader shook his head.
Dammit to hell. I hadn’t been lying. The first time I’d shown mercy in a similar situation, the men who’d attempted to rob us later followed my mentor and me. If not for his keen senses, we may have indeed died in that roadside camp. Instead, it had been a hard lesson. Honor was indeed a virtue, but not as coveted as remaining alive. When the two could not be balanced, the latter took priority.
When the man closest to me reached for his sword, a flick of my wrist sent my dagger slicing across the throat of their leader. Clutching his neck, blood spilling between his fingers, he fell from his mount.
The second man was slower to react, fumbling for his sword. I dismounted and was at him in two steps, pulling him down and, aware the third man had also dismounted, dispensing him with one thrust. He crumpled at my feet as my new attacker tried to send me to my maker from behind.
I swerved my body out of the way, side-stepping his swing and driving my knee into his gut. He gasped, doubling over, and I brought my fist down hard on the back of his neck, having no wish to clean more blood than was necessary from my tunic.
He dropped.
All three were dead. An unfortunate circumstance, but an unavoidable one.
Wiping my blade clean, I muttered, “Should have let me pass.”
Burying the men, without the aid of a Gyorian or even a shovel, stole precious time from my journey. By the time I did so, and rode off-course to send the men’s horses into a small village for safe-keeping, it was nearly dawn.
Finding a place to clean and rest was now my new goal. Reminding myself it would likely take Adren weeks, if not longer, to learn the location of the Wind Crystal, I vowed to rest at dusk and travel only by day even though a pit-stop was necessary before I headed to Thalassaria. One that would give Adren an advantage in his quest.
I needed to see my mentor.
I needed to speak with the Keeper.