Ranger (The Dark Elf War Book 3) by William Stacey

Author:William Stacey [Stacey, William]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-02-09T22:00:00+00:00

Terlissandia watched from behind trees as the redcap youth led the manlings away. She was invisible, cloaked in a Shadow-Soul spell, but she still feared to approach the manlings. They had mages, at least three, and while she doubted a manling mage could detect her, only a fool took chances—and she hadn't earned her nickname by being a fool.

One of the manling mages, the one with the long dark hair, had been using a talisman, a glove that vastly increased her magic. Even from this far away, Terlissandia had felt it and gasped in wonder at the magic the manling mage had cast when fighting the skrell. She did not understand what kind of talisman it was, but she knew she must have it. If that damned redcap hadn't interfered, she'd have it now… well, after she had peeled it away from the manling's corpse.

The foolish redcap annoyed her and not just because he had deprived her of the glove by tricking the skrell into running away. Redcaps were supposed to know their place, not help the queen's enemies. They must have forgotten us, Terlissandia mused. For six cycles now, we've been too busy fighting among ourselves to remind the lesser races who they serve. They'll need a harsh reminder.

When the last of the manling warriors disappeared, she removed a small white pearl from a pouch, one of a handful that the queen's spymaster had entrusted to her. It was a Telling Pearl, a minor gnomish talisman but useful now that the Seeing Stones were gone. She held the pearl in her fist and cast a trace of magic into it, activating the pearl's power and telepathically recording her message to the spymaster, reporting most of what had occurred here. She made no mention of the glove. With such a talisman in her possession, anything became possible, and only a fool shared power.

When she finished, the pearl throbbed with heat. From her cloak, she removed the sleep-enchanted brood bat. With its wings wrapped around its body, the bat was the size of a clenched fist. She fitted the pearl within a pouch sewn into the flesh of the bat's torso so it wouldn't come loose in flight. Then she placed a single fingertip against the bat's head, between its long, furry ears, and cast a mind link, negating the sleep-enchantment. The bat came awake in a moment, its fangs exposed in anger. She wasn't concerned. Even if it hadn't been ensorcelled, brood bats were only dangerous in a swarm.

She threw the bat into the air, telepathically instructing it to bring her message to the spymaster. The bat vanished through the trees in a flurry of beating wings.

Terlissandia moved forward to inspect the hundreds of skrell carcasses lying submerged in the swamp waters. She examined their wounds, using her fingers to prod the flesh apart. The damage was impressive. Manling fire-weapons ripped and tore with thunder and flames. Such marvelous weapons. Of course, the dwarves had also created wonderful weapons, and they were extinct.

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