Page 54 of Light and Shadow
A day and a half totally exposed. If the witch has a dragon, she could wipe us all out in a heartbeat.
Chapter Fourteen
Aaran
Thirty yards from the shipyard, we’ve been silently waiting for an hour. A dune meant to prevent rising seas from flooding the nearby villages keeps us hidden. The houses behind us are long abandoned. Lesser elves who look as if they haven’t eaten for days, maybe weeks, guard the ship. Dawn hasn’t yet broken. So, it’s better to wait for the darkest hour to attack. Then we can set sail in daylight.
When my mother led our people across the sea, we abandoned this port. Those who stayed were either conscripted by Venora or turned into her shadow demons. Moored to the stone bulkhead with thick ropes, two ships float at the wooden docks. Buildings that used to be for storage and port offices stand against the moonlit sky.
The acridness of sea and rotting fish fills the air, along with the undertone of putrefaction. Nothing is as it should be. None of this should have happened. My family failed this continent. Far too late for blame, I banish the thoughts and keep my attention on the larger of the ships and the movement aboard.
“Why didn’t she kill me?” Harper whispers from where we lie watching.
“Can we talk about this later?”
She blinks. “We may be dead later.”
“Then it probably won’t matter.” At least not to us.
Jax has taken half of our numbers and gone to the northern end of the port. Splitting our forces may give us an advantage. I can barely make out the silhouette of them hiding behind the old port master’s house.
Narrowing her eyes at me, she changes the subject. “Those people on the ship are what you call lesser elves?”
“Yes.”
“And you’re going to kill them?” Disappointment laces her questions.
Looking into those perfect green eyes surrounded by dark full lashes, I want to tell her it will all be alright. I want to lie and say I won’t kill anyone. “If I must. We will try to fool them and hope they run away.”
“It’s not their fault that Venora put them under a spell or infected them or whatever it is she does.” A crease forms between her eyes. “And why are they lesser exactly?”
“Because they don’t have written language yet and no magic.” I’ve never particularly liked the term either. “I know it’s not their fault, but they may give us no choice.”
She crosses her arms over her chest. “There’s always a choice. Humans have no magic. Do you consider us lesser as well?”
“I didn’t see you defending the wolves or the shadow demons.” My temper is rising. I want to calm myself and tell her all the things she wants to hear, but the truth is, I may have to kill those poor elves.
“The wolves attacked us, as did the shadow demons.” Conflict flickers in her eyes, and she bites her bottom lip.
I lean over her so that she’s flat on her back. I wish she didn’t have to be any part of this, and at the same time, I want her to be here with me. “They have another name. Aracan elves. They are not less, but they are different. Humans have magic, but they have forgotten. Many elves will see you as less. I hope you know how I see you. I will do my best not to kill, but they are controlled by dark magic and may make it impossible, so I will not promise.” I take a deep breath. “She didn’t kill you because she fears killing you would only produce another chosen from your world to take your place.”
Eyes as big as saucers, she stares, blinks, and looks away. She rolls out from under me.
A high-pitched screech of a seabird pierces the air.
“That’s our signal.” I cast a spell of mirrors and hope it holds long enough. When we rise from behind the embankment, we look like hundreds of armed and armored elves marching into battle.
The ship is long with tall masts. Hopefully, it’s as good as it looks bobbing on its moorings. There are no goods at the port as there once were when trades were made between villages and cities. Only the rubbish remains, when once this was a bustling center of commerce.
A head lifts above the ship’s rail, and then another. A loud cry in an old elvish tongue sounds the warning.
If they knew we were a band of mostly injured and weak, magicless slaves, what would they do?
More heads and yelling.
“Hold.” I lift my fist to stop our progress fifty feet from the forward end of the ship.
Jax does the same from aft.
