Page 33 of The Daughter of the Scarred Elf

Ivar picked at another splinter on the fence, his watchful gaze on Inkeri the whole time. “Brenda overheard Lieutenant Bernsten mentioning to a soldier to get the black rank room ready since Blár will be occupying it once more. Then Herja asked the lieutenant to his face, and well, looks like he’s been stationed here.”

“Is it because of …” Inkeri didn’t finish the question, but Ivar seemed to know what she meant because he nodded.

“I think so.”

Kolfinna looked between the two of them, hoping her face showed indifference. Did they know Blár? He had once been stationed here; she remembered him mentioning that he had been stationed on the west border under Sijur, but that he didn’t like being here. And he certainly didn’t like Sijur.

Why was he coming back? She would’ve foolishly thought he was coming here for her—just like how she had foolishly and secretly hoped was the case during the West Border mission—but the way Ivar and Inkeri were exchanging glances, she wasn’t sure.

They knew something she didn’t.

Inkeri eyed Kolfinna’s cloak that was draped over the fence just a few feet away from Ivar, and then she gave Kolfinna a tight-lipped smile. “Come on, we should go inside.”

Kolfinna was happy. Nervous. Scared. Unsure. All of that swirled in her core; it felt like a nest of butterflies was caged within her, but it also felt like a pit of snakes in her stomach, twirling and twisting and brewing with venomous apprehension.

She had questions for him and she wasn’t sure if she wanted the answers.

8

Kolfinna had beenon two missions before, so she wasn’t a complete novice when it came to magical battles with impossible tasks or fighting a legion of dead magical beasts. But despite that, her nerves were rattled when she got ready that morning and marched off with an excited Inkeri and a sleepy Herja into the courtyard outside the east gate of the fortress and near the stables. The smell of earthy hay, manure, and woodchips pervaded the dry, frosty air.

Their small group consisted of only seven people. She recognized Eluf, the man with the dark circles and the feathered cloak, and Ivar, who had curved double blades that shone sinisterly in the morning light. The only person she didn’t recognize was a muscular man with dimpled cheeks and a boyish grin that looked all too similar to Eluf, but a happier, younger version of him. One that didn’t exude the vibe of smoke and shadows and raven wings. What was his name again? Gunnar?

Eluf glanced between each member of the party carefully. His eyes—which had looked black in the distance—were actually a deep brown, and beyond the hardness, she found kindness in them as he gave her a nod. “Kolfinna, was it?”

“Yes, sir.” She gave a short nod, but he was already shaking his head.

“Please, call me Eluf.”

“Are you sure?” From what Inkeri had said, he was a rank higher than her, and she knew the military was a stickler with rank.

“I am. Did Inkeri or Herja fill you in about the mission details?”

“No.” Kolfinna shot her roommates a look, but they were chatting with each other about something else, completely unaware of her annoyance. Were they supposed to tell her something? Kolfinna wasn’t foolish enough to think that Inkeri or Herja were her friends. Yes, Inkeri was civil and nice to her, but that didn’t mean much. Especially considering how Yrsa had also been kind to her, and that hadn’t worked out well.

“Hm.” Eluf frowned, turning his head just as a gust of chilly air blew through his dark locks.

“I don’t know the details either,” Ivar said, casually propping an elbow on the dimple-cheeked man. “Gunnar here didn’t fill me in about anything.”

Gunnar chuckled and shoved his arm away without malice. “Probably because you were falling asleep or not paying attention anytime I brought it up.”

“Hey now, you can’tblameme. Whenever you talk about important shit, you sound boring as hell.”

Gunnar struck him in the abdomen, but Ivar dodged just in the nick of time, snickering all the while. “You need to be faster than that, birdbrain.”

“You—”

The two exchanged mock blows, which seemed to catch Herja’s and Inkeri’s attention; neither girl looked impressed, but Herja laughed. Kolfinna didn’t know how to react. Wasn’t themilitary supposed to be … trained? Hardened? Not like … this? With laughter, with casualness?

Eluf stepped between them and smacked Gunnar in the back of the head, sending the younger man nearly faceplanting to the ground had he not righted himself on time.

“Hey—” he started, his breath steaming in the frigid air.

Ivar laughed and that earned him a smack on the back of his head as well. Inkeri grinned widely at that, and even Kolfinna had to hide her chuckle with a cough.

“We’ll have to do a team debriefing,” Eluf said while the two men rubbed the back of their heads. From what Kolfinna had gathered during the past morning practices, Eluf was an Enhancer, so she could only wonder if he had smacked them with magic or without.

“We’re traveling to Egetrae village. It’ll take four hours by horse ride. There’s been an increase of green-skins attacking the village despite the soldiers stationed there. It’s too much for them to handle and the green-skins are becoming bolder and infiltrating in the middle of the day. We think they’ve settled near a cave in that area. Our goal is to eradicate their hideout completely and to kill as many of them as we can.”

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