3
The explosion boomed eerily across the vast plain, and the shockwave seemed to reach all the way here, ruffling my hair. The armies stopped fighting each other, and every single gaze turned toward the high grounds.
For a moment, it was like we were all holding our breath.
The ground began to shake.
The Glawar stream rose, and soon the river swelled, starting to overflow.
Then, with a rising roar, an avalanche of water appeared from the hills to the northeast.
In an instant, Araton charged at the witch, pressing his blade to his throat and growling in the common tongue, “Hold those damned bridges up, if you want to live.”
At the same time, I shouted in Elvish, “Fall back!”
“On the hills!” the men’s general screamed, giving a strong heel kick to his mount’s sides and riding off without worrying about his soldiers.
“ Run!” I then screamed in the common tongue.
The roar of the water wall rushing toward us was so loud that I couldn’t even hear the desperate footsteps of men, elves, and horses on the now swampy ground.
In a few moments, thanks to the elves’ innate speed, our army was once again on the other side of the river, heading toward our port.
I saw my brother tell the witch to let go of one of the two bridges, which disintegrated into the river, then to follow him on the other side, with his sword at the witch’s neck as they crossed the remaining bridge.
“Nauriel, hurry up!” Araton urged me, trying to hold back his stallion and the witch, both of whom wanted to run away.
I looked around, feeling pity for the guys lying on the ground, wounded and abandoned by their comrades. Soon, their young lives would end in one of the most terrible ways. The terror on their pleading faces made my eyes swell with tears that I let flow without shame.
I prayed for the Spirits to give them a quick death, then I was about to direct Ringil toward the bridge . . .
But I heard a groan. A female groan.
I quickly turned toward where it came from and saw an elf crushed on the ground by a horse carcass. Its knight was also trapped beneath the animal, and instead of helping her lift the beast, he was trying to stab her in the throat.
In the blink of an eye, my mare galloped toward them, spraying the water that was rising higher onto the soldiers trying to drag themselves out of the water avalanche’s path.
I flew down from Ringil and fell to my knees beside my kin, gripping the man’s wrist just before the point of his weapon cut her fair skin.
I was about to turn the dagger toward the soldier, who was pale and had ripples of blood flowing from his nose and mouth.
But a second man—whom I clearly hadn’t noticed had stayed behind—slid on his knees toward me so impetuously that, in addition to soaking me, he nearly knocked me over as he pressed a blade against my throat.
My eyes collided with his, a hypnotic pine green with lighter shades.
He was a young man in his thirties, with sun-kissed skin, thick, light-brown hair that brushed his nape, a short beard, and heavy armor covered in dark bronze scales.
For a thousandth of a second, something passed between us.
Something I couldn’t understand.
Something that lit up his eyes.
Then a gust of tiny water drops snapped me back to my senses, and I focused on the freak wave—abnormally big, I suddenly noticed—that was approaching.
He glanced at it too, then looked back at me with a determined expression. He lowered the dagger and slid it back into the sheath hanging from his right side, along with a wound-up rope.
And without even a nod of understanding, we both knew what to do.
I grabbed the cantle of the saddle, he took the pommel, and together we pushed with all our strength to lift the dead animal. My soldier crawled away wailing, while the human one stayed still, his wide-open, glazed eyes staring into nothing.
The newcomer and I exchanged a quick glance, then I released the horse carcass to look after my subject. She had a broken leg. So, amid her muffled cries, I lifted her onto my mare.
Meanwhile, the water level had reached my shins. Ringil would never be able to gallop through this swamp with twice the weight.
So, I placed one hand on her neck and looked into her big, expressive black eye. “Fly, my friend. Fly,” I whispered.
The next moment, with a quick movement, I pulled her bridle off and gave her a loud pat on her shoulder to get her away from me. With a small, shrill neigh of pain, she obeyed and rushed to the bridge.
“Princess!” the elf shouted, yanking on Ringil’s mane to try and steer her back toward me. “No!”
“ Nauriel!” Araton roared in anger.
But deep down, we both knew he would have acted the same if he were in my place.
I held his look of fear for a moment, then turned to peer over at the soldier who stayed with me.
He raised an eyebrow at the avalanche of water that was seconds away from hitting us as if to ask: Do you have any ideas?
In response, leaving the dagger alone, I untied the sheath of the sword at my side. The man immediately understood that I was doing this to remove the obstacle of the long weapon and run more easily, so he copied me, dropping his sword into the water along with mine.
Then I sprinted to the nearest tree.
Running, I placed my foot against the tree trunk and leaped up to grab one of the branches. I hoisted myself onto it and tried to climb higher when a grunt of frustration made me pause.
The human on the ground was attempting to imitate my jump, but each time he pressed his foot against the bark, it crumbled, growing ever more slippery.
I should leave him down there, since he had marched here with his comrades to break into my home, occupy it, and slaughter my people until I gave them the Crystal. Still, I felt something inside pushing me to help him.
Pushing me toward him.
With a dirty look, I reached out my hand to him. He glared at me the same way, but with a slight flicker of amusement in his eyes, then squeezed my fingers. Using my strength, I pulled him up just before the lower waves forcefully broke at the tree’s base.
We barely had time to climb a bit higher before all the tons of water from Lake Caran hit us hard, shaking the tree.
The branches grew slick under my fingers. The lush leaves started falling off and sticking to my face. The other trees began to sink into the rushing waters.
That’s when I realized the flooding wasn’t invading the part of the plain within the Kingdom of the Elves but was limited to the Kingdom of Men, almost as if an invisible barrier was blocking the water from reaching my land.
Was it the work of the witch still standing next to my brother? The water splashes, stabbing my eyes like countless pins, made it difficult for me to see clearly if he was casting a spell.
And then, amidst the roaring waters that flowed with ever-increasing fury, rather than slowing, I began to sense vibrations inside the tree.
The roots were being pulled out of the ground.
I glanced at the man beside me, who returned my look with an expression that was both questioning and worried. Then I turned toward Araton.
“ Nauriel”, he whispered in terror.
His stallion reared.
And the tree fell down.