Night Elves of Ardani by Nina K. Westra

Author:Nina K. Westra [Westra, Nina K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Nina K. Westra
Published: 2021-09-12T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

The next day, Aruna guided them toward the ruins. For Novikke.

Novikke guessed that Theros planned to have Kadaki mark the ruins somehow so they could find their way back again later without Aruna’s help.

Later. After they had killed Aruna, and maybe herself as well, when they had outlived their usefulness.

Novikke’s cuffs were hard against the bones of her wrists, bruising her. She was made to walk with Vissarion. She caught him glancing over at her once or twice, looking surprisingly guilty. Mostly he avoided looking at her.

Everyone was on edge, expecting another attack around every corner. It was not an unreasonable fear. That terrifying darkness had not returned, but other things did. That night, one of the forest’s enormous shadowy animals had attacked the camp and killed another soldier before they’d managed to put it down.

The day after that, several of them almost walked into a pool of what looked like dark water—and would have done so if Aruna had not been there to stop them. When they brushed off his warnings, he demonstrated the danger by dipping a branch into the pool. When he pulled it back out, it was coated in a sticky black substance that spontaneously caught fire.

The thing that unnerved Novikke the most was the unshakable feeling that she was being watched. Once or twice she heard the snap of a twig underfoot or the squelch of a boot in mud, but saw nothing when she turned toward the sound.

She’d heard animal sounds in the forest many times. But never the sounds of booted feet.

“This is too much,” Thala whispered to Vissarion as they walked. “We weren’t prepared for all this. We’ve got to turn back and return later with more men and more supplies. If at all.”

“Your opinion is noted, second lieutenant,” Vissarion said quietly.

“You know I’m right,” said Thala. “We’re all going to die out here if we don’t do something. How do we know the night elf is really taking us to the right place this time, anyway? He’s probably leading us to our deaths. And that business with Novikke…”

“What are you suggesting, Thala?”

She lowered her voice until it was barely audible. “You know what I’m suggesting, first lieutenant.” She glanced back at Novikke, knowing she’d overheard, but she didn’t take any of it back.

Vissarion’s eyes widened slightly. To Novikke’s surprise, he didn’t respond right away, as if he was actually considering it.

“Kadaki is with me,” Thala continued at a whisper. “Some of the others, too. And I bet we can convince the rest to follow us.”

“Absolutely not. The last thing we need is to split ourselves up and start fighting. It will weaken us, and we’re weak enough as it is. What if we run into more night elves?”

“We’ve got Kadaki.”

Vissarion stopped and whirled on her. “No, Thala,” he whispered sharply. “This isn’t the time. You’ll put us all at risk if you do this. I won’t go along with it.”

Thala scowled. “We’re already at risk,” she said, but she backed off after that.

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