Page 126 of The Daughter of the Scarred Elf

“There you are,” a smooth, familiar voice lilted over the screams and explosions of battle.

Kolfinna struggled to sit up, but the shadows holding her in place like a giant hand didn’t relent their grasp. A few feet away from her, Rakel stood with her staff in one hand and a bloodied sword in the other. Her dark skin melded into the darkness of the night, but her white hair and red eyes stood out vividly. Black shadows danced around her and protectively snaked over her arms.

Rakel smiled and waved her staff toward her, and Kolfinna’s body jerked forward. The shadows holding her tightened until stars danced in the corners of her vision. Rakel’s hand reached forward and took ahold of Kolfinna’s jaw. Her fingers dug into her skin, and something flashed in her red eyes.

“I’ve been looking all over for you,” Rakel said with a grin, “Your Highness.”

Kolfinna continuedto struggle against Rakel’s shadows as the elf woman dragged her across the battlefield and into a quickly erected tent. She shouldn’t have been surprised to see a tent at the edge of the battlefield—after all, even the fae and the elves needed a space to place their wounded—but she was. Because even though she was a fae, she regarded this army almost like they were an ethereal, unstoppable force that didn’t need to rest or sleep or heal.

Wounded fae and elves lay on blood-stained bedrolls. Broken wings, mangled limbs, and grunts and wails of pain filled the tent. Rakel appeared unfazed by it and continued to pull Kolfinna forward with the shadows that acted like a leash.

Kolfinna tried manipulating the stones in the ground, but she found it hard to focus beyond the injured people all around her. She couldn’t, in good conscience, cause collateral damage to them. It was one thing to fight a soldier head-on during the battle and another to attack the injured who were bedridden.

But the enemy had captured her. If she didn’t do something fast, then … then the half-elf would use her to free the fae queen, and then Ragnarök would win. She had to find a way to escape.

“That was impressive out there.” Rakel’s shadows yanked her through the back end of the tent and into another section of the tent, this time a room. Fire danced on torches and illuminated the room in waves of orange light. But even with the small fires, the cold was all-encompassing. Blár was still fighting out there. “I didn’t think you’d be able to pull off something like that. I should’ve expected as much, considering you’re Commander Alfaer’s daughter?—”

“Let me go,” Kolfinna ground out.

“And why would I do that?” Rakel laughed and slid her sword into its scabbard. She curled her fingers in front of Kolfinna, and the shadowy tendrils holding her tightened enough that it was hard to breathe. “You are invaluable, Kolfinna Viðarsdóttir. Why don’t you stop this nonsense with siding with the humans and join us? Your father will forgive your transgressions here.”

Her father.

Even hearing those words aloud sounded wrong, foreign, andunnatural.

That monster out there wasn’t her father.

Kolfinna’s teeth began chattering together, and the wintry chill seemed to finally settle in her bones. It was downrightfrigid. Rakel seemed to notice too because she tilted her head to the side and frowned deeply.

“That man,” she asked slowly, “who is he?”

Kolfinna stared at her.

“The ice soldier.”

Blár.

“He is strong,” the elf said with a hint of unease. “But not as strong as Commander Alfaer.”

Kolfinna shivered. If Rakel was here, then was Blár fighting the half-elf commander right now? Was that why he was using his powers to the extent that it wasthiscold?

A knot of anxiety twisted in her belly.

“Let me go,” Kolfinna whispered.

“You will stay here until this battle is won,” Rakel said with a shrug.

Kolfinna had to do something.

She latched onto the rocks beneath the ground and launched them toward Rakel, but the elf woman dodged them and was in front of Kolfinna in seconds, the shadows holding her so tightly that she couldn’t breathe. Her control on the rocks slipped and her vision blurred. Rakel touched Kolfinna’s shoulder.

“Do not test me,” she murmured, and all at once, Kolfinna’s mana began to drain.

The edges of her vision darkened as Rakel stole her mana. The shadows were holding her so firmly that she was sure she’d be cleaved in half. Rakel was speaking, but Kolfinna could barely make it out.

The only thing on her mind was that she was captured, and there was nothing she could do about it.

The half-elf would eventually come here, take her away, and force her to free the ruthless, evil queen. And then all hell would break loose over Rosain. The fae would still be seen as monsters, and the humans would be enslaved.

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