Page 21 of Dark Elves of Ardani

“I do not have many things to pack. I, um, still have your cloak.”

“Please keep it. I have another.”

“Thank you.”

“If it turns out you’ve forgotten anything important, we’ll be back in a few days, anyway.” He looked down at her hands. She was holding a paintbrush and a small bowl filled with a mixture of egg and charcoal. “What’s that?”

“Paint,” she said, gesturing to one of the small symbols she’d already painted neatly on the wall beside the hearth: a crescent moon with a flower beside it.

“It’s pretty,” Theron said.

“Thank you. It is Ravi’s symbol.”

Theron frowned. “Ravi?” he asked warily. “Is this another night elf custom?”

She dipped the brush in the paint, then raised it to the wall on the other side of the hearth. “I suppose. Ravi is the night goddess. They say her symbol gives protection. I do not know if it really does anything, but it cannot hurt—”

Theron caught her wrist, stopping her before the brush met wood. She looked up at him, startled.

“You would invite a dark god into this place?” he asked.

Zara blinked. “Of course not. You misunderstand. She is not dark in the way that you mean. She is the goddess of night, not a goddess of evil.”

“They are the same thing.”

“Night in itself is not evil.”

“The goddess of the night elves is undoubtedly evil.”

Zara pulled away from him, defensively bringing her little bowl of paint close to her chest. “Do you think you know more about these things than I do?” she said, laughing a little in disbelief. “I thought you said I was the expert on Varai. You did not even know her name.”

“I know much about the gods, Zara. Evil symbols attract demonic entities. You are involving yourself in things you don’t understand. Moratha is wily and wicked, and—”

“Moratha is not Ravi. Moratha is a human goddess.”

“That’s what she would like you to think. Moratha hides in plain sight to seduce the ignorant. The night elves may have given her a different name, but evil is evil. She is the goddess of death and all the hells, the mother of demons, the source of all evil and darkness in the world.”

“Ravi has nothing to do with demons.”

“You’re wrong,” he said simply. “Did you know that demons are known to travel to our plane, Zara? They find people with evil in their hearts—thieves, murderers, madmen, mages, and the like—and then possess them to feed on their hatred and arrogance in exchange for unnatural power.”

Zara frowned. Avan had told her stories about demons—hideous, powerful beings who occasionally escaped their hells and roamed Heilune in search of mortal victims to use or abuse at their whims. She, too, had heard that it was possible for mortals to be possessed by demonic spirits, but she’d never seen it happen. She had thought it was merely the Varai way of threatening children and slaves into obedience—Don’t misbehave, or the demons will come for you.The revelation that Ardanians also believed in demonic possession sent a chill through her. Perhaps it was not all made up after all.

“You should not worry so much over rumors, Theron. I have never seen a demon, and you probably never will, either.”

“It is exactly that kind of complacency that led to the fall of the night elves,” Theron said sharply. “You cannot let down your guard. Do not let yourself be guided by dark hands.”

Zara shook her head. “This is silly. You do not know anything about the Goddess. How can I help you if you will not listen to me?”

Theron slammed his hand against the wall. “I know the difference between good and evil!” he snapped, raising his voice.

Zara flinched. The shouting triggered a nervous thrum in her chest.

“It is not a thing you learn. It’s something you feel in your gut. It’s something you just know. And this,” he said, pointing to the symbol she’d painted, “is evil. You must trust me on this.”

She’d never seen Theron angry before. He was certainly angry now.

She glanced up at the grayish paint on the wall. What a silly thing to have caused such anger. “We always do this at home. Where I lived in Kuda Varai, I mean. I did not think it would cause offense. It seemed a small thing.”

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