Page 74 of Light and Shadow
“My duty is to you and your safety. I swore to the oracle to bring you back.”
“You swore to bring a human back to go to some gate and find a weapon. If I die, you’ll go get another girl. If I live and these people, who have protected me and given their magic to me, die because they were with me, I will not be able to live with myself. My answer is no. So, unless you plan to drag me through a portal against my will, this conversation is over.” I keep my gaze fixed on him.
The duality of his thoughts lessens. “I’m not convinced this is the right course, Harper. But I didn’t drag you through the portal in your motor vehicle building, and I won’t force you through one now unless all hope is lost to get all of us to Tús Nua.”
“Fine. Only if it’s a last resort.” I scoot back on the mattress. “Now, you can come to bed if you want.”
The coast is beautiful from the deck of the ship. My lessons continue, with me landing on my ass more than on my feet.
Before lunch each day, Jax trains me in sword fighting. He doesn’t hold back, which I appreciate, as Venora and her soldiers, whatever form they take, will not worry about my skill level.
Jax looks fierce with narrowed eyes and tight lips. He’s as attractive as all the other elves, but there’s a hardness in him. If I had not seen him with his children, I would have thought him heartless. He brings his sword down.
I block the blow. The vibration of steel against steel jolts up my arm. My hand goes numb, and my sword clatters to the deck.
Glee shines in Jax’s eyes as he raises his sword for the kill.
Dropping to the deck, I roll out of the path of his blade.
His eyes shift to something ahead.
Whatever it is, it’s a boon to me. I sweep his leg.
The tall, proud elf falls to the hard wood with a resounding thud.
Grabbing my lost sword, I kneel on his right arm and point my blade at his exposed throat. As his eyes fill with shock at being bested by a mere human woman, joy fills me.
An instant later, he smiles. “Well won. I lost my concentration, and you did not.”
I stand and offer my hand to help him up. “It might be the only time I win one of our sessions, but I’m going to keep this feeling with me for the rest of my life.”
He looks from my face to my hand. Of course, he doesn’t need help. I haven’t injured him. Still, with a laugh, he takes my hand and rises. His attention shifts back to the distance ahead.
Gray smoke pours from the top of a large mountain.
“Is that a volcano?”
Fancor grumbles, “Bolcán.”
“It is a volcano.” Aaran’s lips are pulled into a tight line, and his jaw ticks. “It’s been dormant for hundreds of suns.”
“Going out on a limb, I’m guessing this is not a good sign.” The stench of sulfur tinges the air and I slip my sword into the sheath at my side.
Bert calls up to Beran at the helm, “Turn to starboard. Let’s give that a wide birth.”
Doing as he’s told, Beran shifts the boat to the right. “We’ve got half a day before we’ll reach Bolcán. If we go too far east, we get into dangerous waters.”
“If you’ve ever seen the sea boil, you know that’s plenty dangerous enough.” Bert goes to the upper deck and climbs the rigging to a crow’s nest. “I don’t see lava, but you can’t be too careful around an active volcano.”
With her hands fisted at her side, Nainsi watches her husband. “Bert used to make extra money fishing winters off the coast of Hawaii.”
I nod, but the others stare at her blankly. She says, “It’s a volcanic grouping of islands in the human world. He knows what he’s talking about.”
Jax grumbles, “So we have a choice between the boiling sea or the monsters of the forbidden waters.”
“You said that oracle magic keeps Venora off the western continent. Is that mountain erupting just a natural occurrence?”
Shaking his head, Aaran’s shoulders rise and fall with a deep breath. “It’s possible, but unlikely.”
