Page 38 of The Daughter of the Scarred Elf

Herja grinned. “I am too good.”

“Save that for when we’re done with this mission.” Water twirled around Ivar’s hands. Water he had probably pulled from the dew drops on the stalactites above their heads.

“Three for me, and zero for all of you.” She grinned even wider. “Thanks for the heads-up, fairy girl.”

Kolfinna frowned. Maybe she should’ve taken care of the goblins herself and not warned the others. But no, she couldn’t think like that. This was supposed to be a team effort. Even if there seemed to be a competitive streak between everyone.

“How many missions have you been on before?” Gunnar asked as they moved forward.

“Two.” Kolfinna kept her ears open for any more noises, but it was hard to cancel out the miscellaneous sounds—of mice, of insects, and of the wind blowing against the tiny crevices all along the cave.

“You’re … better than I thought you’d be,” he said. “Ivar said you were lousy—I mean,untrainedin a swordfight.”

Kolfinna shot Ivar a look, but he either didn’t see or ignored her. “I’m decent with my magic.”

“And your reflexes,” Gunnar said. “You notice?—”

“Shouldn’t we be focusing?” Kolfinna quirked an eyebrow. “Instead of trying to get to know one another?”

Gunnar chuckled as he stepped over the burned bodies of the goblins. “Huh, is that how you work? I’m better at taking things easy. I work better than way.”

“We should be prepared for—” Kolfinna started.

He groaned, “You sound like my brother.”

Inkeri moved up beside Kolfinna, her hands raised for an attack as she watched her surroundings. “I agree with Gunnar. You’re better in action than you are when you’re training. I mean that as a compliment, by the way.”

“Some people are great at practicing with their fancy swords, but when it comes down to actually killing and doing something”—Ivar glanced at Inkeri—“they fail.”

Despite the dim lighting, Kolfinna could make out the redness of Inkeri’s cheeks. “Screw off, Ivar. It wasonetime.”

“One time that almost cost us?—”

He didn’t get to finish because four more goblins appeared at the end of the hallway. Inkeri pushed past him and sent a powerful blast of air to shove the goblins off their feet and slam into the wall. Dents formed along the wall and they fell in a heap on the ground. Blue blood spotted the ground, but two struggled back onto their feet, their murderous red eyes focused on them. Kolfinna lifted a hand, her mana moving quick as lightning across the distance between herself and the wall behind the goblins. They moved forward, but not before a chunk of the stone wall lurched forward and grabbed each one by the midsection. Kolfinna flicked her wrist and the goblins became one with the wall. She covered their mouths with stone to keep their screams muffled, crushed their bodies with the stone, and then had the stones spit them out onto the ground.

Gunnar lowered his fists. “Impressive. Brutal, but impressive.”

“And you puked your guts when you can dothat?” Ivar laughed while waving to the blue-blood-drenched corpses.

Kolfinna grimaced. It was probably a bit hypocritical to think his magic use was vicious while she did something similar with her stones. Though she did think there was a difference in the level of brutality between crushing something to death and imploding something to death.

“Look, your magic … literally burst those goblins up from the inside out,” Kolfinna countered, her stomach clenching uncomfortably as that memory resurfaced. “This is a bit brutal, yes, but it’s a lot more …”

Ivar quirked an eyebrow, waiting for her to finish.

She wasn’t sure how to finish. “Humane?”

“Fairy girl, I’m pretty sure yours are just as dead,” Herja said with a grin that showed a hint of respect—but it morphed into grimness much too quickly.

Eluf stepped toward the corpses quietly. His footsteps were light and featherlike, despite his tall and muscular frame. He touched one of the crumbling pieces of the wall she had used. “Can all fae use earth like this?”

“We have the ability to, yes.” It all came down to proficiency and skill after that.

“What did you call that thing?” Gunnar asked as they continued down the hallway.

“A goblin,” Kolfinna said. “I’ve read about it in old fae texts. It’s a creature from the Mistlands.”

“What’s it doing all the way here?” Inkeri asked, confused.

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