Page 20 of Sun Elves of Ardani

Kadaki grimaced. Her hands burned. Energy shivered through her, pins and needles sparking on every part of her. And already, she was drained. The spell had sucked the breath out of her, sapping her strength, and suddenly it was a struggle to even stand.

The elves were already getting up. The one who’d been holding her was shaking his head as if to brush off dizziness. He looked up at her, fury etched in his face. Fear gripping her, she turned and ran.

She heard their feet pounding behind her before she’d even turned the corner. Flames flared bright behind her—they weren’t throwing them at her yet, but they would.

She turned around another corner, then another, trying to soften her steps and quiet her panting breaths so she could find a place to hide. Hoping they wouldn’t expect her to go back to where they’d started, she circled back to the lounge. But as she turned into the dark alley behind it, she slammed into a tall body. Immediately, strong hands gripped her arms.

“Let go of me!” she hissed between breaths. Then her other pursuers closed in behind her. The flames in their hands lit the alley. She looked up at her attacker—

It was Neiryn. His eyes were dilated so wide that his irises were reduced to thin rings. That uncomfortably manic dream-smile tugged at his lips. Kadaki stared at him in shock. He stared back—stared straight through her, raising the hairs on the back of her neck.

“Stupid Ardanian whore,” said one of the elves behind her.

Neiryn’s head jerked up. He stared at them, unblinking. “Caradoc,” he said, his voice oddly hollow.

Kadaki remembered that name: the commander currently in charge of the soldiers in town. She shifted to get a better look at him. He was younger than Rhian, perhaps even younger than Neiryn, with deeper skin and darker hair. His accent was stronger than Neiryn’s, his words pulling a little too high in his mouth.

Commander Caradoc narrowed his eyes. “Neiryn, was it?”

“Yes,” Neiryn said. He pulled Kadaki against him. “This one is mine.”

Caradoc replied in Ysuran. Kadaki couldn’t understand it, but it was obvious he disagreed with Neiryn’s statement.

To Kadaki’s alarm, Neiryn held out one hand, still holding her with the other, and an enormous jet of fire burst from his palm straight into the air. All of them flinched.

“How badly do you want her?” he asked. The flame radiated waves of heat.

“Take it easy, sair,” said Caradoc, eyeing him carefully. Clearly Neiryn was unhinged, even for someone on dream. Kadaki wondered how much he’d taken. “Perhaps it’s best if we all forget about this.”

Neiryn just smiled at them. Caradoc and the other two elves disappeared around the corner. Neiryn’s fire dwindled to the size of a torch flame. His smile faded. After a moment of staring at the space where they’d stood, he looked down at her, as if he’d just remembered she was still there. His eyes were still disturbingly distant and inhuman.

She tried to tear her arm from his grasp and run, and his grip tightened on her.

“Don’t,” he said, and his voice had gone surprisingly soft, imploring. “That’s how you got into this mess. You were alone. Stay with me.” Slowly, as if it were an effort to coordinate the motions of his own body, his grip on her loosened. He tore his gaze away from hers. “Let’s go,” he said, gently pulling her. She didn’t resist.

He took her down a side road into a field, lighting the way with his flame. He didn’t speak again, and he didn’t look at her.

“Neiryn.” Tall grass brushed her knees, pulling at her cloak. “Where are you going?”

He didn’t reply. They walked farther from the town. Farther from people, from civilization. The torches in the distance grew smaller. Her legs were weak, and she kept thinking her knees were going to buckle.

“Neiryn,” she said, her voice shaking slightly.

His steps slowed as he looked down at her, his wide eyes searching her face. That smile pulled incessantly at his lips. Just from looking at him she could see how his thoughts wandered, how much difficulty he had focusing on the real world in front of him and not whatever else he was dreaming of.

“Do you trust me?” he said.

She didn’t know what to say. “I don’t know how much dream you’ve had,” she said quietly.

His eyebrows went up slightly. His smile wavered. “I would never hurt you, Kadaki.”

“No, you’d only invade my house, take my land by force, and threaten me and my household and my friends.”

His answer came slowly. “Maybe,” he admitted. “But I would never hurt you.”

“I want to go home,” she said.

“No,” he said quickly. “I can’t go back like this. Not yet.” He gave her a look that was almost apologetic. And she understood. Either he was forbidden from using dream, or he was just embarrassed. He was going off the road to hide from the men she’d been running from, but also to hide from Rhian and the others.

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