Page 57 of The Daughter of the Scarred Elf

Was it a magic beast attack?

Blár’s expression stilled. “I heard about that.”

“About what?” Kolfinna looked between the two men. “What did you guys hear?”

“Four soldiers were found yesterday,” Gunnar said, his voice suddenly taking on a serious note. He nibbled on a hunk of white, cratered cheese. “Dead soldiers, mind you. And they had these”—he motioned to his body—“these giant pits in them. Like something blasted holes through their bodies. Like they were”—he raised the cheese and poked one of the dents in it—“like, well, I guess you get the picture.”

“Are we going to investigate?” Kolfinna asked.

“We sure will.” Gunnar chowed down on the cheese and grabbed a handful of nuts. He spoke while chewing. “We’ll be going out pretty soon. There might be some new kind of magic beast that’s cropping up in the area. One that can blast magic or whatever.”

Kolfinna ate her porridge in silence after that. Her appetite slowly left her as she imagined the corpses of the soldiers. What creature was capable of doing that?

When Kolfinna raised her head, she noticed Blár’s eyes on her wrist, at the edge of the crescent moon rune that was partially covered by the cuff of her sleeve. She didn’t meet his gaze and turned back to her food. Her heart raced from their conversation, and she couldn’t stop replaying it in her mind.

13

Kolfinna wason high alert when their party—Blár, Gunnar, Eluf, Herja, Inkeri, and Ivar—left Fort Løveslot soon after breakfast. The only thing she could think about was what had killed the soldiers. What creature was out there that could cause giant holes in the body? She thought back to the Nuckelavee and how horrifying of a creature it was to face. If this creature also had properties of being able to render them magicless, they’d be in trouble.

She had no idea what to expect, which made the whole prospect even more terrifying.

When they reached the area where the bodies had been found, they explored the surroundings by foot, keeping a watchful eye on the trees and the ground. Usually, Eluf had told them, magic beasts liked to dwell in their territories and had their own hunting grounds. Chances were high that this creature was still nearby.

Inkeri shivered as a powerful gust of wind ripped through her hair. “What do you we know about this thing, other than that it killed four soldiers?”

“They had gaping wounds in their flesh,” Eluf said, turning in a slow circle to peer among the many trees. “The wounds were slightly burnt.”

“Hm. Strange,” Herja said. “Fire isn’t accurate enough to burn a hole.”

“Exactly. Whatever we’re dealing with, it’s using strange magic.”

Kolfinna swallowed. “But there are no reports of this happening before, correct?”

“Correct,” Ivar said.

A part of her wanted to be fearless and not worry about whatever was out there because their entire party was powerful, but the bigger part of her couldn’t stop her anxiety from gnawing at her subconscious. She was too careful of a woman to fall back onto arrogance.

Kolfinna walked over fallen branches. The harshness of winter was ebbing away, so there wasn’t any snow on the ground, but the breeze was still chilly. Or maybe that was Blár’s effect. She wasn’t entirely sure.

Closing her eyes, she felt for the mana around the area. She had been feeling a powerful surge of mana ever since they started traveling, but she couldn’t pinpoint it anywhere, which might’ve explained the nauseating anxiety in her stomach. The whole forest was drenched in powerful mana.

“Is something wrong?” Inkeri placed a hand on Kolfinna’s bicep gently.

“I’m just trying to feel the mana in the air.”

“You can do that?” Ivar asked incredulously from his position in the vanguard.

Gunnar grinned. “Dang. You fae sure have a lot of tricks up your sleeves.”

Herja’s eyebrows rose, curiosity flashing over her bright blue eyes. “I thought you guys could only do runes and stone stuff?”

“Nature too,” Blár chimed in.

“Ooh, I forgot about that one,” Gunnar said. “So is your magic?—”

All at once, Kolfinna heard movement from the ground, rushing in on them from every direction. And then there was a flurry of movement up in the sky. Zeroing in on them.

She snapped her attention to the ground and then up in the air. There was nothing?—

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