Elle wanted to scream, but she didn’t want to die. She had all the faith in her brother that he could defeat both Grevolus and Tovin, but again, she wasn’t ready for her life to end. Thran continued past, and Elle’s heart sank. At least her brother was alive. He would know she helped him and their kind that day. It would have to be enough.
When it was close to morning, Grevolus stood and motioned Elle and Tovin to do the same. “We go now.”
Elle got to her feet, but then Queen Zarina mentioned Yari, and Elle took a step toward the edge of the trees. A portal opened, and Yari walked through, along with Princess Cassiopa and then Prince Rhoan. Before she knew what was happening, Grevolus grabbed her arm and dragged her toward the portal. “Keep us cloaked,” he demanded on a whisper. Elle looked over her shoulder at her siblings, and as soon as she was pulled into the Queen’s portal, Elle dropped the shadows, praying one of the twins would notice her. The portal snapped shut, and Elle found herself in a strange realm. Something dropped at her feet, and when she saw what it was, she screamed.
“He should have kept up.” Grevolus ignored his son’s severed head. “What in Xeníus’s name is this place?”
Elle breathed deep so the bile in her throat didn’t come up. The air was different in this realm. It was tainted with something she couldn’t place. The ground wasn’t dirt, but instead, something soft and shifting. In front of them was water as far as the eye could see, lit by a single moon. Elle turned theother direction. Tall buildings spanned the area with odd lights on tall, branchless trees dotting the way. She didn’t spot any other beings, but she still pulled the faint shadows around them.
“Let’s go. We need to find shelter until we figure out a way to get back to our realm.” Grevolus started walking toward the buildings. Elle turned and looked out at the water once more. Something about it called to her. “Odette,” Grevolus snapped.
“What about…?” Elle gestured to Tovin’s head.
Huffing, Grevolus grabbed it by the hair and threw it into the water where it bobbed several times, then disappeared as it was tugged under.
The strange dirt beneath their feet sank with each step. As they neared the buildings, a walkway made of wooden planks made the trek easier, but the lights made it impossible to hide. A gate made of metal barred the way, and Grevolus pulled on it. It shook slightly but didn’t open. Elle reached past him and pushed on a latch, and the gate gave way. The ground became solid, and it surrounded a smaller body of water, wider than a stream, but it went nowhere. Strange.
When they reached the building, the see-through door was locked, but Elle couldn’t see a latch like was on the gate. Inside, a lone female stood behind a long wooden table. At least Elle thought she was female. Her hair was cut short, and her features were soft. She didn’t have pointed ears as far as Elle could see, but then neither did the dragons in their bipedal form. The female looked up when Grevolus tried the door, her eyes widening. She lifted some type of device and tapped her finger against it before placing it against her ear. She began talking even though there was no one else inside.
“I don’t think she’s going to let us in,” Elle whispered.
“She will, or I’ll gut her,” Grevolus groused, pulling his sword. The female’s skin paled, and she waved her free arm around while continuing to talk.
“She’s probably calling a guard. Look at how she’s dressed, then look at us. You have a sword, I have a bow, yet she has no weapons. It’s apparent we don’t belong here.”
Grevolus cursed, but he dragged Elle back the way they came. “Cloak us,” he demanded, and Elle did. They followed the waterline until they reached a wooden bridge that extended over the water and then stopped. Elle couldn’t imagine building a structure that spanned the vastness of the water to reach more land. Maybe someone had tried and found it impossible.
Elle and Grevolus hid beneath the bridge since the shadows were darker there. Grevolus leaned against one of the posts. “We’ll stop here until I can figure out what to do.”
Elle almost laughed, but she didn’t want to incur his wrath. She removed the arrow bag and placed it and her bow on the ground before removing her boots. Grevolus didn’t stop her from walking beneath the bridge to the water’s edge. She cupped some in her hands to take a drink. As soon as it hit her lips, she spit it out. “It’s salty.” Elle was thirsty but not so much that she would drink the odd water. She did use it to rinse the dirt off her arms, not caring that the bottom of her skirt was getting wet. While she let the coolness wash over her feet, Elle considered their options, which weren’t many. They were in a strange realm where their appearance set them apart. She doubted the beings spoke the fae language considering everything else was different. She would need a speech translator.
Returning to his side so he could hear her, she asked, “Do you have any gold on you?”
“Why? Thinking of robbing me if I close my eyes?”
“No, Grevolus. I’m thinking that if we are to survive in this strange place, we need coin to purchase food until we find somewhere to hunt. We can use glamour to hide our appearance, but we must figure out a way to survive. Unless you know how to open a portal to Evyndral, we’re stuck here. Wherever this is. I’msure you are thinking of stealing food, but what if we are caught? What if these beings have weapons of their own? It is two of us against however many live in this realm.”
“The royals and your sister came back through the portal from this place, so there must be someone who was helping them. All we have to do is find them, and you can be your charming self and convince them to help you as well.”
“Nothing like asking for the impossible. How will whoever this is recognize me while I wear glamour? And why would they help me since we are the royals’ sworn enemy?” Elle tugged on her dark braid.
“You have my permission to remove your glamour while speaking to them, and you will hide me in the shadows while doing so. As for finding them, you will figure out a way if you want to live. I have no issue with killing my way through this realm to survive. Can you say the same?”
Elle could kill Grevolus, no problem, then find her own way. She stalked away from the male, stopping at the water’s edge. She needed a plan. One that would ensure their survival in this strange realm. Spotting a small piece of wood, Elle picked it up and imbued it with a speech translator. She couldn’t rely on the beings of this place to detain Grevolus, giving her a chance to escape without him, so she located a second piece of wood and made another one. After, she stared out over the water, admiring the single moon shining across the surface as the water rushed in, then receded. She prayed to the goddess that Thran and Yari would come for her. Prayed that Novus found happiness with his fellow raven.
The water came closer to where she was standing, and eventually, Elle retreated. She handed Grevolus the piece of wood, explaining what it was.
He stared at the voice translator. “It appears I chose the right D?nthúlú chínt to bear me a child,” he muttered.
“How did you know what my mother could do?”
“I spied on her. I cloaked myself and watched all the pretty chínts, but she was the only one stupid enough to show her abilities out in the open.”
Anger started in Elle’s chest at the mention of her mother and made its way to her hands where purple fireballs erupted. Grevolus took a step back. “I see you’ve been hiding other powers from me,” he seethed, pulling his dagger. The flames sputtered and died as Elle stared at her hands. She wasn’t aware she was able to conjure flame. Grevolus took advantage of the moment and grabbed her arm, his grip unforgivable. As he carved a sigil into her skin, Elle bit back a scream.
“There. Now you cannot escape me, Odette. Your life is tied to mine. If you run, I can find you. If I die, so do you.” He released her arm, and Elle stared at the blood dripping onto the ground. She took several steps away, cursing him in her mind. She ripped the bottom of her dress until she had enough material that wasn’t damp from the water and wrapped it around the bloody wound. She didn’t dare rinse it off in the water since it was filled with salt and D?nthú knew what else. She did silently speak an incantation as she wrapped it, taking away the pain. She didn’t want Grevolus to know that was another of her abilities.
Grevolus remained silent until the sun peeked over the horizon. It wasn’t the pink of home, but a bright yellowish orange. With not enough shadows to hide behind, they called on a glamour to hide their weapons and pointed ears, then set out.
Elle never found whoever helped the royals and Yari, and the twins never came for her. The first few days were a learning curve of how to hide, where to find food, where to rest for the night, and how to fit in, considering all the strange things they encountered. There was no Queen handing out coin. The first time Elle tried to pay for something with gold, she wasthreatened. Grevolus was little help in learning the ways of these people. It was up to Elle. Lucky for them both, she was smart as well as gifted.
They remained in the land known as South Carolina for several full moons. Begging the goddess’s forgiveness, Elle stole clothes and food. She listened in on conversations, learning as much of the new language as she could. She observed as these people bought things with a small card instead of using gold. Grevolus did find a small, abandoned shack where they slept each night. It was no larger than the main room of their cottage in Winterhaven, but it allowed them a place to remain dry when the sky opened and poured water – rain – on the land. Evyndral had rain, but it was nothing like that of South Carolina, which was often accompanied by flashes of light in the sky and booming noises.
When Grevolus announced it was time to move on to a new town, Elle excused herself to walk down to the ocean one last time. She closed her eyes and sent up another prayer to the goddess as the wind whipped her long hair around her shoulders. When she returned to the shack, Elle packed her meager belongings, braided her hair, then declared herself ready. If she left behind a small stone spelled with a message for her siblings, should they ever find their way back to this realm, that was her business.
To Be Continued
