Elantion

“They’ll talk,” said her brother.

Zund ordered his soldiers to retrieve two cages in town, to be hung from the ceiling with the two men locked inside. Having seized the palace, he deployed troops in the two cities of the Twin Liegedoms. Finding traces of the ancient artifact would take longer than expected.

The dungeons of the Palace of the High Liegedom were dead silent. Auril had made her way down into these dark corridors. She brandished no torch or brazier; only the virk crystal at her neck illuminated her path. The beast being kept in one of those rooms was a jorfang—a woman who lived in the woods, and who transformed into a wolf, appearing during times of hardship. Legends painted the she-beasts as protectors, defending any children, injured people, and the otherwise troubled who had found themselves in the woods by taking them to safe havens, pouncing on any who would do them harm. Being the personifications of the wolf of the goddess Sesta, jorfangs were considered a boon, but whenever they were torn from their mission, they became unable to turn back into women, and the beasts were beset by an uncontrollable bloodlust. With her magic, the priestess was one of the few able to control a jorfang. Having reached the beginning of the corridor that housed its prison at the other end, she could already hear its heavy breathing. She heard it groan when, now at the heavy wood-and-iron door, the light emanating from the crystal aroused the beast from its torpor. A swift lunge, and the creature was at the door; Auril felt its warm and smelly breath through the small grate. The priestess opened the door without hesitation and entered. Auril’s red eyes shining, the beast sensed her power, and stepped back, quietening down and growling lightly.

“I see it hasn’t been long since you’ve fed,” said Auril, satisfied. She knew that the more prey the jorfang received, the more ferocious and voracious it became. The stench of what remained of its meal was unbearable, the dried blood staining the beast’s fangs and mouth as well as its claws. The Priestess heard the door to the dungeons open, and saw the jorfang was getting worked up at the sight of the approaching torches and the odor of the guards. Auril left the cell and closed the heavy door behind her. The two men, terrified, hid a little girl. The priestess approached her, studying her. The little human, about seven years old, was undernourished, with blonde shoulder-length hair, blue eyes, and a pale pink complexion. She wore peasant clothes and hailed from a family of drifters.

“There’s nothing fearsome about you,” she said in disgust.

The girl did not answer, instead going toward the cell. She opened the door, and the jorfang remained crouched in a corner, its yellow eyes observing the little girl without ever losing sight of the slightest move on the part of the guards, who dragged the remains of its meal out. The little girl’s eyes wandered aimlessly in the dark in which she was always wrapped; she was blind from birth, and had been chosen for this dubious honor for that very reason.

Two floors above, Zund was organizing three patrols to comb through the territory of the Twin Liegedoms and find the crypt. After a spot of torture, Pugh and Alston had let spill a local legend that spoke of an ancient elven sanctuary dating back to before the Great Exodus, when elves dominated the entirety of Elantion. The two men, hanging inside the cages suspended from the large ceiling beam, lay motionless, moaning occasionally due to the wounds that had gotten infected after a few days.

The patrols were already out of town, headed for the orchards. Upon their arrival at the place they had been pointed toward, they found a large, doubtlessly millennium-old apple tree. The village that was situated a little further on was deserted; everyone had barricaded themselves inside their houses, but when the Captain of the battalion threatened to set the entire village on fire if they did not leave posthaste, doors swung reluctantly open, and the tulvaren soldiers fettered the inhabitants, forcing them to dig.

In the meantime, a tulvaren messenger arrived at the Palace of the High Liegedom with an order from the King, calling Auril and the General to Eyjanborg.

“At long last!” exclaimed the priestess, happy to be able to leave the city. “Have you chosen their punishment?”

“Release them,” ordered Zund.

The soldiers let the cages down, and when the cages touched the ground, the soldiers dragged the two dying nobles out of them.

“Sort them out quickly; I can’t stand to stay here any longer,” urged Auril impatiently. “Or you can leave them to me,” she said, hinting at a spell to attack the two of them.

“No, Sister!” he admonished her. “Bring the beast!”

The little girl led the jorfang to the palace hall, where the two men awaited their end. Zund, seated on Pugh’s throne, motioned for the girl to be taken away, and for the beast to be allowed to go wild. “I’d like to savor the throes of their agony,” he said, his tone harsh and base.

The jorfang stood upright, in all its grandeur: slightly taller than Zund, massive, and muscular. Its arms, shoulders, head and back were covered in black, bristly hair, and its long hands sported sharp claws. Its greyish skin had many scars; in Zund’s eyes, it was at once monstrous and magnificent.

With a leap, it set upon Pugh, crouching to sniff at him; the man felt its breath and the bristly hairs on its face, and saw the yellowed fangs that dripped their slobber on him. The she-beast’s hands pressed him, its claws piercing clothes and flesh alike. The nobleman screamed in pain, his gaze terrified, and his endurance pushed to its limit. His eyes rolled upwards, and he lost consciousness. The jorfang bit him on the head, its jaws cracking the man’s skull. Blood spurted everywhere. Driven by bestial instinct, it reared up and vigorously shook the body of the liege who was now a tattered rag doll. Zund watched with satisfaction, sipping his keb-brew. Alston, not far from the lake of blood, tried to move, to run away. The beast pounced on him, and he flailed, crying and moaning, every part of his body aching from the torture. It jumped on his back, and the bones of his spine and neck were summarily broken. Alston was dead. The jorfang sniffed it, tearing at his back with one paw and turning over the corpse. It opened his belly and tried to partake, but found the man’s entrails unappetizing. Satiated, it squatted down in a corner of the room, sniffed the floor, and lay down.

Zund was satisfied, and rose from the throne.

“What ought we to do with the beast?” asked a tulvar.

The General glanced at the servants of the Palace, who had been forced to silently observe from the open gallery. He signaled, and the soldiers made the servants come down and stand before the General. Zund observed them all in turn, analyzing them. He brushed against them with his slender hand, lingering on a well-built young man. Though Zund’s gaze was chilling, the human stared right back, an act of audacity that surprised him. “He will remain here. Chain the others and send them to excavate,” he commanded, his eyes still on the human. “Enjoy the comforts of the Palace, and survive if you can.”

“You’ll be defeated one day! Mark my words!” the man shouted defiantly.

“We shall see,” said Zund, leaving the Palace. “Block all of the exits.”

V

Clarice and Kaj proceeded swiftly through the thick of the Shadetrail Forest toward Nidath. Five days had passed since Fenan, and when they arrived near a crossing, Clarice motioned for him to stoop down. After a moment, he could make out some chittering in the distance. Kaj leaned out of the bushes a little, and saw a gang of about ten goblins dragging a dead and partially eaten horse with ropes. The noisy and scatterbrained nature of goblins made them easy to identify, especially for those who, like Clarice, had traveled extensively. The barefoot, olive-skinned things were small and skeletal, with long arms and large hands. Their elongated heads were sprinkled with a few bristly hairs, and their hirsuteness varied. Their prominent eyes were large and yellow, their noses wide and flattened, and their mouths wide with thin lips that hid sharp teeth, perfect for biting and tearing. They wore only light shirts, often full of holes, and trousers in leather or wool, frayed and dirty. They did not suffer from the cold, having always lived in harsh climates. Armed with daggers, they were very fast and sneaky. They could jump on the shoulders of an unfortunate soul and start biting until their prey breathed its last.

“Come here, Kaj!” she scolded him softly. “We don’t need them spotting us. We’ll take them by surprise.”

He squinted, thinking. “It can be done…”

“At my nod, we attack. Wait here.”

The Vagabond waited for the last goblin to pass their hiding place, strung her bow, and killed two in rapid succession. The creatures, alarmed, threw themselves at Kaj, who had emerged from the bushes in the meantime. He stabbed the first one that stood before him, and narrowly dodged another’s blade, lunging to the side and wounding that goblin, which collapsed. The elf struck them with arrows as Kaj engaged them. By the end, only one was left, and it was in the throes of death; Clarice strode toward it with an arrow in her hand, and stuck said arrow in its throat. With a pained grimace, the goblin was killed outright.

Cold and deadly, Kaj thought.

“Nice work,” nodded the elf.

“I haven’t held this sword in such a long time! I had forgotten how well-balanced it is,” he exclaimed, slicing the air with it some. Kaj’s eyes glimmered with a young boy’s enthusiasm.

“That’s good to hear. You’ll be forced to use it often,” said the nalnir.

“Yes, though I’ll have to practice. I’m a bit rusty…”

They began to collect whatever might come in handy, and they found themselves staring at the dead horse with a certain craving. One shared glance, and they knew what needed to be done.

Late that night, the fire was still burning merrily before their eyes. The bits of horse had made for the perfect dinner; the meat cooked over the fire had become tender and juicy, and they ate it all up in in next to no time. Kaj, leaning against a rock and wrapped in a bear’s fur, was enjoying the heat of the fire; Clarice was lying down a little further on, covered by her cloak and sleeping soundly. Kaj felt snowflakes on his face.

“Clarice.”

“What is it?” she asked, immediately alert.

“Sorry to wake you up, but we have a problem.”

She looked up, and understood. “Snow. Just what we needed. I was hoping it at least wouldn’t snow tonight. We’d better get moving.”

“I can hear lalks in the distance,” Kaj said, concerned.

“I hear them, too…” she said, sharing his worry.

They gathered their belongings, donned their furs, and continued down the path, each wielding a torch. Traversing the forest was going to prove much more difficult than expected.

The light snowfall soon took a turn for the stormy. The freezing winds, and the snowflakes, which had become little pellets of ice, made the path slippery and their footing uncertain. More and more, they could feel the cold creeping through the leather of the boots. The hours before the dawn seemed to stretch on for an eternity. Eventually, they were forced to leave the path to seek shelter. Not far away, they found a rocky ledge that formed a kind of roof. With some not-too-damp brushwood that they found in the clefts of the rocks, they created a beautiful fire, somewhat brightening the otherwise sad dawn that awaited them. The sky was gloomy, the clouds low and full. In the distance, they could still hear the chilling howls of the lalks that were stalking them relentlessly.

“You haven’t slept a single wink,” said the elf. “We have a few hours; try to rest. I’ll stand guard.” Clarice’s tone revealed her concern. She placed a hand on the man’s shoulder, and motioned for him to lie down. Kaj thanked her, and as soon as he lay down, he felt all his muscles relax. The heat of the fire and the fur were invigorating, and before he knew it, he was asleep.

He woke up to a gloomy morning, but at least the forest was less scary. The snow was abating, and when he got up, he saw that Clarice was not there. He stirred, turning around to look for her. She came out from behind a tree.

She stood in front of him, staring. “Take it.” She tossed him some bread and cheese from the bag, and then started stoking the fire.

Kaj looked at her. “Thank you.”

It was too wet out, and Clarice’s efforts to light the fire were in vain.

“Ugh! Damn snow!” she exclaimed, chucking a piece of wood into the distance. “Let’s get going. We should take advantage of the distance between us and the lalks. The closer we get to Nidath, the safer we ought to be.” She looked around, carefully inspecting their forest environs.

The snows turned heavier and heavier as the storms raged. The trees looked like skeletons, their bare branches unable to beat back the snow’s invasion of the forest floor. On the contrary, the pines and firs bore branches full of snow, which, by falling, threatened to bury Clarice and Kaj a couple of times. The air was cold, and felt like a hundred blades nicking their faces. The bitter chill exhausted them to the bone. Kaj turned his gaze to Clarice from time to time, and noticed that she kept bringing a hand to the thigh which had been injured by the lalks, pressing and rubbing it.

A few days passed. The winds were domineering, icy, and incredibly strong, penetrating even the smallest crevices of their clothes. They skirted along a rock face in the hopes of finding a cave or other ledge that could help them get through the night. “It looks like we’re not going to have as much luck this time,” said Kaj, utterly worn out and breathing heavily.

“But I remember there being a cave around here.” Clarice examined the rock. “Maybe we’re there already. Aha! Here it is!”

Kaj heaved a sigh of relief, happy to finally escape the elements. They gathered as much wood as possible, hoping to be able to light a fire.

“Hurry up,” said the elf. “There are lalks…”

“Where?” Kaj asked worriedly.

“Hidden among the trees. We’re talking at least a dozen.” Clarice was not okay. Her hands were trembling. Her last misadventure with lalks was fresh in her mind. As she tried to light the fire, she looked around non-stop, nervous and frightened. It was the first time Kaj had seen her this way.

“Let me do it.” The man enclosed the nalnir’s hands in his, trying to calm her down. He looked her in the eyes. They were deep, magnetic. For a moment, he stayed like that, enchanted. “We’ll face them if have to. We’ll make it.”

The elf withdrew her hands, leaving the flint in Kaj’s. The man gave a sharp blow with the dagger, and the spark set the tinder on fire. Clarice stood brandishing a torch, lighting two fires at the threshold of the cave to create a safe perimeter. In front of the second fire, a lalk’s eyes shone. They were terribly close, much more than usual.

Clarice put down her torch and walked slowly away, without turning her back on it. “Looks like the fire isn’t scaring them this time…”

“That’s just great,” said Kaj, worried. “Do you have a real plan?”

Clarice’s response was not what he was expecting. “Not really, but they’ll soon get tired of waiting… we ought to wait for them to make the first move.”

Several hours passed. The Vagabond’s prediction hadn’t been very accurate, and the wait was unnerving. Kaj was crouched by the fire. He wanted to keep the movements of those beasts under control; they were in position all around, watching. The man saw the sheen of their fur under the moonlight, and heard their wound-up nervous panting. Suddenly, they both heard a noise from very close by. Kaj saw one of the lalks advancing, and Clarice quickly took up the bow.

“Scare it with the torch!” she screamed.

“It doesn’t seem to work!” he retorted.

“Move that damned torch!” the elf repeated again, this time with more conviction.

Kaj waved the torch vigorously, but the beast did not retreat. In fact, it had now crossed over into their perimeter. Clarice walked over to Kaj and set the arrowhead on fire. Other lalks approached from the center—they were surrounded. Suddenly, they heard a threatening growl; the others stopped as a huge one appeared in the center.

“Oh, fantastic,” Kaj exclaimed sarcastically. He thought for a moment, and came up with an idea. He lowered himself, grabbed another burning stick and, without taking his eyes off the lalks, threw it toward one of the beasts. The animal avoided it and fled, frightened. They were all baring their teeth. Kaj and Clarice had started to back away, as the lalks got closer and closer. Clarice aimed her bow and shot an arrow, which pierced a neck. The animal staggered for a second, before collapsing. At that point, the largest of the lalks backed away, leaving the battlefield to the others, who were determined to tear them apart.

“Well, now what?” asked Kaj, frightened.

“Now we entrap them,” said Clarice confidently.

“What do you have in mind?”

“Something stupid…”

Clarice took up the bow and killed two beasts, while Kaj wounded the lalk that pounced on him, forcing it to flee. With incredible aim, Clarice dropped the bow to the ground and threw a dagger at the last lalk. The animal avoided the blow, so she stunned it with a punch on the muzzle and then slit its throat.

“Well done!” said Kaj.

Clarice did not reply; she closely examined the forest. “We can rest tonight; we’ll use their bodies as a warning.”

Dawn came, and it was time to set off. Clarice was still sleeping, so Kaj walked over to her and woke her up. That morning, the clouds had given way to blue skies, and the snow glimmered in the light of the new day as it filtered through the branches of the pine trees. The winds had subsided, and there seemed to be nothing nearby that could pose a danger and spoil the day’s beauty. They passed a clearing, almost slipping on several sheets of ice in the process, and reached a small stream that disappeared underneath the rocks, only to reappear much further down in the plains. The shore was dangerously slippery with all the snow that covered it, but strangely, the water was not frozen.

Kaj saw Clarice approach the water. If she fell into it, she could catch something. “Clarice! You could slip!” he exclaimed, too forcefully.

“Dammit, are you mad!?” The elf glared at him. She bent down to fill the bottle, then threw it to the man with a defiant look. “How caring of you, Kaj. Up until a few days ago, I was the one who had to babysit you…” she said self-importantly.

“Babysit me?” he asked incredulously.

She stared at him intently for a moment. “You bet!”

Kaj returned her gaze without replying. Eventually, he tossed his backpack at her to provoke her, but Clarice elegantly ignored his provocation and resumed her march.

For a good hour, they continued apace along the stream, until they reached the point where it sank under the rocks. The path was impassable in places; the cliffs and the ups and downs forced them to take detour after detour. The time needed to reach Nidath was getting longer. They had to take advantage of the good weather and cover as much distance as they could.

They walked all night. The moonlight accompanied them faithfully, but by the crack of dawn, the clouds had returned, low and gloomy, a portent of fresh new storms. Clarice looked up at the sky. The tops of the tallest trees were swaying in the winds, which were once again strong and freezing. Suddenly, they heard something from behind. Clarice stopped, stretching out an arm to stop Kaj and gesturing for him to keep silent. The man knew what was following them; he sensed the same stench: lalks.

“They’re tailing us,” Clarice said softly.

The man did not lose heart. “Seeing how they screwed us over the other day, I’d say it’s better to attack first, so we can take them by surprise.”

“That’s just what I was thinking. Let’s let them get close.” The elf rose slowly, peering into the forest. Suddenly, the pack leader came forward, and two other lalks flanked it. Clarice had her bow in hand, and Kaj drew his sword. Two arrows were enough to kill the two lalks at the sides. But the largest remained. The beast avoided Clarice’s arrow, thereby yielding its side, and Kaj quickly lunged, managing to score a hit. The lalk turned quickly, growling and baring its teeth. Then Clarice laid down the bow and drew her daggers, before leaping forward for the strike. The animal knocked the elf down, and she lost her blades. The beast was close, and she managed to injure it in on one leg with the dagger that she had fastened to her leg, hidden by her tunic. The animal whined and bled profusely as it fled back into the forest.

Clarice was sitting on the ground. Kaj held out a hand to help her up.

“You were great back there,” he said.

She gave Kaj a satisfied look, accepted his hand, and got to her feet. “I know,” replied the elf.

The man shook his head in amusement, feeling the traces of blood left by the animal. “It’s losing a lot of blood. We should give chase and finish the job.”

“Agreed,” she nodded.

Trying not to make noise, they followed the lalk’s trail of blood into the undergrowth, weapons in hand to avoid surprises. Little by little, the size of the pools of blood was increasing, and the footprints were getting irregular—the animal was slowing down. They found it a little further on in a huge pool of blood, completely resigned to its fate. Clarice approached, and the beast did not attempt to attack. It only emitted a short growl. The elf took out the dagger, and when she was about to stab it in the heart, she saw that the animal had a collar. She moved its hair and discovered the stone attached to its hide. Kaj came closer to get a better look. The two exchanged a surprised look, and then the elf cut the collar. Suddenly, the animal stirred, frightening them both. It raised its head, looking at Clarice and breathing heavily, then expired.

They both stood there, speechless. Clarice looked at the collar: the stone, which until recently had been shining, was now dull and opaque.

“What do you think?” asked the man.

“Do you want to know what I think, Kaj?” the elf put forward a hypothesis: “The collar was controlling it, but when it looked at me before it died, it seemed to be nothing more than a normal wolf…”

Kaj chewed over her words. “If it’s the collar that makes it a ‘lalk,’ as you elves call it, that means it’s the work of necromancers.”

“They can probably see through the eyes of the wolf, and the stone influences the wolves that are close to it, inducing them to form a pack…” she said, searching for an explanation.

“It almost seemed like it wanted to tell you something,” hazarded Kaj.

“Without the collar, it had reverted to being under the influence of the goddess Efabi, and stopped being my enemy,” she noted, feeling for the beast. “It was my duty to free it from the pain I had caused it, and to send its soul to the Goddess.” Angry, the elf’s fist tightened around the collar. “I’ll have to make amends.”

*

Another two days’ walk brought them closer to the innermost area of the forest. The elven magic was so powerful that, despite it being winter, the vegetation was green and lush. Only in that area of Elelreel could one almost breathe in the power of ancient magic—the magic surrounding the creation of the first elves Nariel and Fayriss. They proceeded rapidly despite the shifting terrain. The elf’s purposeful steps served as a guide for Kaj. Suddenly, Clarice stopped to listen.

“What?” asked Kaj, surprised.

“Follow me!”

Clarice ran through the vegetation with such agility that Kaj could not keep up; he kept getting caught in branches. Going past the last shrubs, she spotted with great surprise a group of elves that had recently killed four lalks. When Kaj arrived, he was out of breath and exhausted. He tried to recover by resting his hands on his knees.

“They dead?” asked Clarice, checking the bodies.

“Of course!” replied an irritated elf.

Clarice found another collar at the neck of one of the animals. She cut it off, and shoved it in the elf’s face. “These collars are controlling the wolves! You don’t have to kill them!”

“They attacked us and we defended ourselves,” replied another member of the group.