Anriel glanced at her wife. “Dwynalina, that’s not entirely true. The humans abused the Otherworlder system. The actual system itself had nothing to do with it.”
Remembering something Ayax had mentioned to her, Frances asked, “Is this about King Tagus and how the kings and queens of the human kingdoms used the threat of summoning the Otherworlders?”
Timur nodded, “That was the common story at court. Though, I never understood why some Alavari said humans caused the strife.”
“It goes back to Queen Talya’s reign. Talya was an awesome queen. She was ruthless and you couldn’t question her. But she kept the treasury full, and everybody fed. Minairen’s court at the time was grand, the envy of the continent.” Dwynalina grimaced. “We even had an heir in waiting, Princess Thalya, “The Never Queen.” She was killed at the last battle of the Great Dragon Raid. The next in line was Prince Theobald “Blackspear,” but then the Drakebridge Incident happened.”
“We have no idea what exactly occurred mind you,” said Anriel. “We only know the result. Drakebridge is a major crossing point between the Kingdom of Roranoak and the Kingdom of the Alavari. It’s a huge bridge, wider than the one in Kwent. The tariffs and fares being exacted were always in dispute, so Theobald met Princess Mel of Roranoak on the Drakebridge to negotiate a compromise.”
Anriel averted her gaze. “Something went horribly wrong. Swords were drawn. Magefire erupted. The two royal parties started fighting and by the end of it, Prince Theobald was dead and all that was left of Princess Mel were torn limbs. Roranoak accused Prince Theobald of trying to rape Princess Mel. We heard that Princess Mel had forced herself on the prince. We’ll never know for sure.”
Crossing her arms, Dwynalina fixed Frances with narrowed eyes. “We only know what happened in the aftermath. We threatened war with Roranoak and we would have, but then Archmage Star the Glimmering Light threatened to summon the Otherworlders and bring the White Order on the side of the Kingdom of Roranoak.”
“My mother’s mentor? But why?” Frances whispered.
“I’m pretty sure Star was trying to prevent a war, dear,” said Anriel.
“Perhaps, but maybe she should have thought about the precedent she was setting!” Dwynalina hissed. “Queen Talya was grief stricken and in no state to fight Roranoak and the White Order, especially since she now had to try to train Prince Tagus to be king. So she backed down. When she died two years later, we had an unprepared king on the throne and the human kingdoms now knew exactly what to do to bully us. I’m sure you know this part, Prince Timur, so why don’t you enlighten your girlfriend?”
Frances swallowed and turned to Timur. Her prince didn’t respond. He only sighed. “It’s a little more complicated than that.”
“Excuse me? Roranoak used the threat of the Otherworlders to make us cede Drakebridge and its adjoining city, driving every Alavari out of it! Lapanteria didn’t use to border Vertingen then, but then they used the Summoning System to grab several baronies and shires. Erisdale demanded the southern bank of Kwent and would have demanded more if the Fifth Lapanterian-Erisdalian warn didn’t start. What precisely is complicated about that?” Dwynalina demanded.
Timur flinched but took a deep breath and met the older woman’s glare. “Well for one, Roranoak built the Drakebridge.”
Dwynalina and Anriel blinked. “Huh?”
“Yes. Roranoak built the Drakebridge. It’s quite well documented if not popularly known. We also have records that show that Lapanterian lands did connect to Vertingen at one point. Erisdalian settlers used to live over the entirety of the Kwent valley, but Queen Talya’s father King Thengon forced Erisdale to give it up.” Timur steepled his fingers. “I don’t deny that the humans seized these lands, but after I learned the truth about my father, I went back as far as I could in the records and found that all these territories have been in dispute for centuries.”
“But the humans were using the Otherworlder system as a political tool?” Frances asked.
Timur nodded. “Yes and that did destabilise Alavaria. The monarchy was framed as weak and unable to protect the folk. So everybody started to fight one another and the crown.”
“And all the humans did was try to take more land,” said Dwynalina bitterly. “Archmage Star didn’t help things either.”
“Well you have to admit that she did try,” said Anriel.
“I know, but it didn’t stop the intercine fighting, or the House and Clan wars,” muttered Dwynalina.
Anriel patted her wife on the shoulder. “So returning to your original question about King Thorgoth. Did we like him when he was younger? Yes. We very much did. He was a charmer and not because he was particularly good with words. He was just very good at backing them up. Alavari would bluster and lie or make threats during the Strife. Words became simply words. There was no meaning to them. Prince Thorgoth on the other hand, never made a promise he couldn’t keep and he never made a threat he never carried out.”
“It helped that he was a very good mage. He was one of those few who had talent and yet worked hard at it,” said Dwynalina, not looking up.
“He practised?” Timur asked, arching an eyebrow.
“In those days, if he wasn’t plotting the crown’s next move, he was practising with the other mages such as Archmage Zirabelle, or me,” said Dwynalina. Her eyes settled on Frances. “I can only guess how much he’s improved.”
Frances thought back to her duel with Thorgoth. “For a moment, I thought I was fighting a wall or some fortress that had magic. It was as if everything I hit him with had no effect. He occasionally moved and sometimes I budged him but it took everything I had.”
“Huh, he didn’t use to be so immobile in the past. Before he was far more flexible, more keen to employ hit and run tactics. I suppose he switched up his style,” said Dwynalina.
Frances and Timur glanced at one another as the older mage continued.
“So from a very early age, we and others saw Thorgoth as someone of great potential and lamented at the fact he had a younger brother and sister who desired the crown,” said Anriel.
“I heard that Thorgoth had an older brother, though, and doesn't the oldest child inherit the crown,” Frances asked.
“Usually, but there isn’t a requirement. Tsarmina and Thomas also weren’t exactly good prospects for the crown either.” Anriel drummed her fingers on her thigh. “Princess Tsarmina was an addict of shall we say, “bedroom activities.” Prince Thomas was nice enough but not exactly ruler material. He just didn’t have the aptitude or the interest in ruling.” The elderly ranger grimaced. “As for Thorgoth’s older brother, Prince Thenakles, he was a good prospect for king, but that fucked up bitch Princess Tellania, King Tagus’s sister, sexually assaulted him. He killed himself from the trauma and shame. We were just glad that she never sunk her claws into Thorgoth.”
Frances pursed her lips. “Which is why nobody questioned Thorgoth when Tsarmina and Thomas both died.”
Dwynalina frowned. “Why do you think he had something to do with it?”
“A troll mage called Allaniel the Valorous was investigating Thorgoth. He discovered Thorgoth killed King Tagus and suspected Thorgoth did the same to his brother and sister,” said Frances.
Dwynalina blinked. “Allaniel? How did you get in contact with him?”
“My cousin—adoptive cousin—Ayax, is Allaniel’s daughter. She… she was adopted by Edana’s extended family when Allaniel’s village was destroyed under orders from Earl Darius. We believe he was told Allaniel was a threat possibly from spies Thorgoth has planted in Earl Darius’s retinue,” said Frances.
Dwynalina’s face fell as Anriel muttered, “Damnit. Allaniel was a good man. I can’t believe Thorgoth got to him as well.”
“Speaking of, how did my father gather so much support? I understand he was talented but it sounds like he almost…knew intimately how to leverage Alavarian society onto his side,” said Timur.
“You can thank one woman for that. Queen Valya, Tagus’s wife, may not have been well-loved by the nobles. She was a common-born troll you see. However, she taught Thenakles and then Thorgoth well. She was the only reason why King Tagus wasn’t overthrown sooner. She had connections and spies everywhere, countering rival houses and making sure that King Tagus kept his head for as long as he did.”
“Why did she focus on Thenakles and Thorgoth?” Frances asked.
“She was alive for that. Valya was assassinated just as Thorgoth reached his majority and whilst Thomas and Tsarmina were still children. With Thenakles dead, Thorgoth had to step in for his mother and as heir apparent, he had the authority and responsibility to stabilise the kingdom,” said Dwynalina.
Timur frowned. “Grandmother was murdered? Why haven’t I heard about this?”
Dwynalina sighed. “Your father never wanted to talk about it. It was something that was a forbidden topic. I only know from castle rumors that she died in his arms.”
“I know. It’s a bizarre picture, but your father was kind, funny and even rather self-effacing once. He still had moments of vulnerability when he was younger, but…I think that really stopped when Queen Ulania died. She was your brother, Teutobal’s mother.”
“We never found out why she died. She came from a prestigious troll family and was the gentlest person you could ever meet. She did have a core of steel, and that was what drew Thorgoth to her. They made a good pair, even as the Strife continued. Only, then she was murdered and we…we could never pinpoint who did it but we’ve always suspected the humans.”
Timur blinked. “Why would the humans want to kill her?”
“We have always believed they weren’t aiming for her but Thorgoth and they took her out instead,” said Anriel. “Ever since then, Thorgoth was never the same. He was still the same charismatic troll we always known but that was when that coldness, that ruthlessness you’ve become familiar with started to show. Maybe he’s always had it, but he had far fewer compunctions keeping it in after that.”
Frances swallowed, bowing her head. “So, that’s why you blame the humans for causing the Great Strife.”
“Yes, though, I must admit that we were also responsible,” said Dwynalina in a rueful tone. “Queen Talya might have been a magnificent queen, but she left Alavaria reliant on her to keep the kingdom united.”
“And we two were too busy slaying dragons to slay the evil lurking in our realm,” said Anriel with a sigh.
Dwynalina nudged her wife and glanced at Timur and Frances. “I think that’s enough storytime for tonight.”
Frances stood up and curtsied. Timur bowed alongside her. “Thank you, for sharing this with us,” he said.
“You’re welcome, Lady Stormcaller, Your Highness,” said Anriel.
Dwynalina managed a wan smile, before leaning against Anriel. Timur and Frances left, shoulders touching, both in silence.
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“What do you think?” Timur asked.
Frances laced her fingers with Timur’s. “I haven’t heard anything that disproves our theory that Thorgoth reincarnated with his memories.”
“But you don’t think it’s likely?” the prince asked.
Shaking her head, Frances leaned against her love’s arm. “I don’t know. I honestly hope our theory’s right because…” She swallowed and felt a shiver run over her skin. “Nevermind.”
“Frances, what’s wrong?”
“He lost his brother to suicide, his mother and his wife to assassination. He might have been a prince, but I…I’m certain he suffered. Does that mean—” Frances shook her head. “It’s silly Timur.”
The prince kissed the top of Frances’s head, smiling softly. “Doesn’t mean you can’t tell me. I’m here for you, Frances.”
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“I know. It’s just…what makes Thorgoth different from me?” Frances snorted. “I mean, it’s silly. I know I’m not perfect and I know he’s horrible, but like me, he also lost and suffered. I always thought that he was just evil because he chose to be, but what if…just what if what happened to him warped him in a way?”
She glanced up at Timur, whose brow was furrowed and his lips pressed together tightly.
“It probably did, but I don’t think you ought to be worried. He’s made his choices, just like you’ve made yours,” said the prince.
“But what if I start making wrong choices? What if I have already made wrong choices?” Frances swallowed. “I…I killed Hattie’s father. I might have done it in self defence, but how many Alavari have I killed just so I don’t see my parents?”
Timur stopped walking and faced Frances directly, his hands taking hers.
“Frances love. Are you really comparing yourself to my father? The abusive monster king who started this war?”
Shoulder sagging, Frances sighed. “I know. I know it’s silly, but I can’t stop but think about it.”
“I didn’t say I thought it was silly. I just can’t quite believe it. You and my father are nothing alike. I mean, yes, you have both suffered, but if suffering and pain made people into monsters then your mother Edana would count as a monster,” said Timur.
Frances’s mouth opened and closed. “Oh.”
“And then there’s Titania. She has a lot to work on. I haven’t forgotten what she did to you at the conference,” said Timur with a bit of a grimace.
“Thank you, dear,” said Frances.
“Mm hmm. But Whitey accepted her and she clearly plans to bring peace to the realm and war to an end, and she was basically tortured half her life.” Timur brought Frances’s hands up and kissed them gently. “So no. I don’t think your worries are silly. But I think you are irrefutably wrong to be worried.”
Frances smiled. “Well, when you put it like that, Your Highness, I think you’re probably right.”
“Only probably?” Timur asked, arching an eyebrow.
“Only probably. Which means you deserve this.” Frances leaned forward and raised herself on her tiptoes to plant a quick kiss on the trogre’s lips. “Thank you, Timur,” she whispered.
“Anytime, Mataia,” Timur replied, smiling brightly.
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To Elizabeth and Ayax’s frustration they had found nothing else of note at the Temple of the Otherworlders, which was why they were on the road when Ginger had called them.
It had prompted the pair to quickly put on their armour and prepare their weapons before getting underway in their chariot. The way both girls saw it, there was no point risking it. They didn’t know exactly where the enemy was after all.
To Elizabeth’s worry, Ayax had gone very quiet when Ginger had delivered the news and hadn’t spoken since. With part of her attention on the road and horses, Elizabeth nudged her girlfriend.
“Ayax, dear. You’re thinking about Earl Darius aren’t you?”
The troll’s tail stiffened and she smiled ruefully. “Yes, I’m sorry I worried you.”
“You don’t need to apologise. He…what he did to you was horrible,” said Elizabeth.
Ayax snorted. “Maybe, but well, I don’t like brooding Liz. When I do, my thoughts go to places that I don’t like.”
Elizabeth nodded. “How can I help you with that Ayax?”
The troll pursed her lips. “Just stay with me please, and um, give me a good hard nudge when I get too quiet.”
Her girlfriend chuckled. “You might regret that.”
“I won’t,” said Ayax. She nudged Elizabeth, only softly, so as to not disturb her holding onto the reins, and sat back in her seat. The moment she did she suddenly stiffened. “Hold on, I’m hearing something ahead.”
Elizabeth slowed the chariot down, narrowing her eyes ahead. They weren’t far from Lehrbech and the former castle where the Otherworlders had trained. All around them, bare fields left to fallow in the winter time lay around them. Ahead, rose a small hill, and then the mountains that surrounded Leipmont and safety.
As Ayax had said, there were cavalry riding over the hill. They weren’t carrying any banners.
“Let’s see what they do,” said Ayax.
“My thoughts exactly,” said Elizabeth. She tightened the straps of her gauntlets. “I count a half-dozen. Do they have a mage?”
“Seems so,” said Ayax, narrowing her eyes at the staff-wielder in the centre of the formation.
The horsemen, spreading into a line, trotted forward. Horse-hooves crunched over the light snow that’d fallen on the road. They drew closer and closer, and stopped.
That was because everybody had suddenly recognized the other.
“Well well, who do we have here?” hissed Leila, raising her mage’s staff.
Elizabeth eyed the other horsemen, but kept Leila in the corner of her eye. “Leila, I don’t suppose you’re going to let us go?”
Frances’s former bully grinned. “Nope. Earl Darius recognized my talent and we share a common cause.”
Ayax’s eyes were narrow and Elizabeth didn’t need to be a mage to sense the power gathering around the troll. “He’s a murderer.”
Leila shrugged. “Eh, we’ve all got blood on our hands. Now shall we do this the hard way or the easy way?”
Elizabeth slapped her visor shut in response and seized the reins. “Ayax, we’re going through them! HIYA!”
The chariot tore forward both sides bellowing and magic cracked as the battle began in earnest.
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Martin and Ginger peered at the map, their minds working overtime as they interposed what their recently dismissed scout had told them with what they knew so far.
“The hell is Earl Darius doing?” muttered Martin.
“You too, Martin?” Ginger asked her fiance. At the knight’s nod, she chuckled. “I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks something’s off about him just deciding to go after us.”
“But the fact is that he is coming after us in force. He’s even sent cavalry after Elizabeth and Ayax,” said Martin. Scratching his head, the knight put his map away and along with Ginger, re-mounted their horses. “We’re a regiment of about three thousand. Why would Earl Darius commit nine thousand of his best troops to destroy us? He could be targeting Earl Forowena’s army or take another castle, but no, he’s coming after us.”
“Hmm, well to play as Elizabeth calls it, ‘devil’s advocate,’ we are a valuable target. Taking us off the board would help his cause,” said Ginger.
“As valuable as Edana and Salpheron? As valuable as going after Earl Forowena’s smaller army?” Martin pointed out.
“Earl Forowena’s army is operating against Princess Janize’s forces in the south. We are essentially preventing him from taking Salpheron by raiding his ammunition supply trains,” said Ginger.
“He could have guarded his supply trains with more soldiers.” Martin made a face. “Then again, we are assuming he’s thinking like we do, and not like how he would.”
Ginger frowned. “Why do we need to determine his motivations, Martin? We have our own priorities.”
“We need to figure out how he’d react. He might go after us, he might break off. I don’t want to just try to fulfil our own objective without considering how Earl Darius might stop us,” said Martin.
“Hmm, then let’s assume that he’s going to come after us even as we move into Leipmont. What do we do then?” Ginger asked.
Martin pointed to the map. “Well he’s closing in on us from the west. We have the forests of Leipmont a few days to the north. We can move off the main road and into the forest.”
“That won’t stop him from coming after us. It would make it hard for him to come after us, but it won’t stop him,” said Ginger.
“The problem is that we don’t know that. What if he does stop? What if no matter what we do next he won’t stop? That’s why I want to know why he is coming after us now of all times,” said Martin.
Ginger nodded slowly. “Alright you got me there dear, but I can’t see how we’d find out what Darius is thinking. I mean…” The flame-haired teen suddenly blinked and smiled. “Hold up…” Without another word, she touched her ankles to the sides of her horse and urged it forward.
“Wait, dear? What’s going on? Dear!” Martin cried out, trying to keep up.
“Just got a brilliant idea!” Ginger exclaimed.
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“You want me to do what?” Jessica asked.
“Well can you?” Ginger replied, practically grinning ear to ear.
Jessica turned to Martin, hoping the knight would back her up. Unfortunately for her, Martin was grinning just as widely as his fiance.
“So to make this clear, you want me to disguise myself and some soldiers and sneak into the enemy camp, so we can find out what Darius is up to?” Jessica asked slowly.
Ginger bobbed her head and so did Martin.
Jessica put her head in her hands and groaned. “What makes you think it’ll work?”
“You’ll have the best of our rogues and stealthy types. They’ll be thieves, murderers, and actors,” said Ginger.
Martin glanced at his fiance. “Actors?”
“They are going to disguise themselves after all,” said Ginger.
“If this works, which I can’t imagine it working, how would I and my group even approach them?” Jessica asked.
“Their army is nine-thousand strong. They won’t be able to keep track of everybody there,” said Ginger.
“But to add to the illusion of normalcy, we can set you up with a supply wagon and you can say you were ordered to deliver some food to the army, and that the rest of your convoy got raided by the Lightning Battalion,” said Martin.
“Capital idea my knight! They’d let you in none the wiser and even let you go to return to your depot,” said Ginger.
Jessica still was looking at the pair with narrowed eyes, but now she seemed far more intrigued than sceptical.
“How would we get clothing that looks like—Oh wait, right, we’ve captured a bunch of their uniforms from all those supply convoys we’ve raided,” said Jessica.
“So? You up for it?” Ginger leaned forward, hands on her hips. “You can say that you’ve done something Frances has never done before.”
The former bully’s eyebrows knit together. “Why would I be concerned about what Frances did?”
Ginger shrugged, flipping her hands up. “I mean she did kick your ass twice and save your life so I’ve heard and everybody loves her. So aren’t you interested in doing something that could prove you’re just as good as she is? Cause like I’m going to be honest with you Jessica, you’ve been doing us a solid so far and you’re getting our soldiers respect. Doing this could get you some of that fame and fortune you want.”
Jessica, arms now crossed, looked Ginger in the eye, her expression stoney.
Until she smirked.
“Can I take Noff and Columbae?” Jessica asked.
It was now Ginger’s turn to frown. “Why those two?”
“I think I am just about to get those two to confess to one another. An adventure like this might do the trick,” said Jessica. She cracked her knuckles. “So, when do I get going?”
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After days of travel through the Greenway, Frances, Timur and the refugees started to smell something they hadn’t for some time.
Fresh winter air.
It was cold, crisp and it leant a haste to their steps. Soon, they found the source of it. The Greenway had stopped and they could see a crumbling wall.
Set into the wall, made of limestone, it’s battlements long collapsed from time, was an opening where a gate would have stood. It had once reached two stories high, halfway up the wall. Now it was empty.
Wordlessly, Frances and Timur walked through the gate and the sight that awaited them made their mouths fall open.
“Athelda Aoun. Queen Athelda’s city,” whispered Timur.
For above their heads, letting in the light of the cold winter sun, was a massive crevasse. It left a bright scar atop of the cavernous space that they stood under. Thick stone columns reached down from the ceiling to push against the ground, which dipped down toward the centre of the great city. Frances followed one of these columns to find that it ended in the middle of a long lake stretching across the middle of the cavern, at its lowest point. Only a venerable looking causeway, with a bridge in the centre, connected the two halves of the city that surrounded the lake.
And what a city it was. It had been dense once upon a time, with buildings that seemed to be neatly packed together in blocks. At regular intervals, Frances could see empty spaces Timur had told her were squares built into the different districts. All of the buildings were old and run down. Many of the walls had fallen in. Some of them even looked crushed.
It was still the most beautiful sight Frances had ever seen and this gave her a sudden, insane idea.
Turning to the awestruck prince, Frances asked. “Timur, what if we used the city?”
Timur blinked several times before he finally turned to her. “Pardon?”
“What if we can settle the refugees here, in Athelda Aoun. Look at it all. There’s so much space. There’s water, and we can demolish some of the buildings near the crevasse for fields,” she stammered.
“We don’t even have to do that. Above the crevasse, Athelda Aoun had farming terraces and rock farms. We’d have to restore the ancient lift that got people up to the farms, but a team of good mages could do so in a pinch…” Timur’s eyes widened. “By Galena. We could do it. No. It may even be our best option.”
“We’d just need to fortify that gate, assuming that’s the only entrance,” said Aloudin, looking back at the wall.
“It is. The royal family wanted to control people’s access to the Greenway from the south so they made sure that this was the only way,” said Timur.
“You think we should settle in a ruined city?” asked Olgakaren, the harpy turning her head around and around to take in the cavern.
“I mean, there is plenty of shelter and what other choices do we have?” Epomonia asked.
“Erlenberg, which has no space in its walls left thanks to the refugees that are flooding it, Erisdale or Alavaria, both which are undergoing civil wars. Lapanteria’s too far and it’s mainly human-populated,” said Frances.
Timur nodded, and Frances could see him looking back, taking in the refugees. Following his eyes, she could see him not just looking at their awestruck faces, but at the dust on their clothing, their worn shoes and the exhaustion in their steps.
“Frances, can you amplify my voice?”
Frances nodded and cast a Word of Power. With a nod, Timur raced through the crowd of refugees and clambered up on a cart.
“Everybody listen to me!” he called out.
Wide eyes looked at the prince who gestured to the city ahead. “We’re going to see if Athelda-Aoun will be a good place to settle and build a new home. I know it won’t be perfect. I know we’ll have to work to turn this place into something that we can live in. But our road has been long and now we have shelter and water. What say you all?”
There were a lot of murmurs, but as Frances listened, they soon began to turn to excited whispering and she soon found people nodding.
“Worth checking out Your Highness. What are your orders?” Dayren asked.
Timur grinned. “Aloudin can you and some volunteers barricade the gate with some rubble? We’ll set up in the northwestern market square. If I remember what I’ve read right, it’ll just be ahead and we can park the carts there. There should be plenty of buildings there to shelter in.”
“Yessir,” said Aloudin, saluting smartly.
“Everybody else, keep together. The city’s a maze. Maybe in time, it’ll be less one of one. Come on! Let’s get to work!” Timur leapt down and Frances, sensing he had to talk normally, cancelled her spell. Soon, the refugees were moving, a new spring in their step and an eagerness driven by curiosity. For they were in a city they’d only heard about in bedtime stories. A place where age and the weight of a fallen empire was evident. A place lit by an almost ethereal light from the ceiling, which seemed to welcome them in, and whose crystal-blue lake drew them forward.
While the refugees started to move forward, Dwynalina noticed Anriel crouching down by the side of the road, by a collapsed house. Her eyes were narrowed.
“My precious thorn, what’s the matter?” Dwynalina asked, bending down and wincing at the effort. It appeared her wife was examining the collapsed house. No, she was intently examining a dug-out hole in the centre of what had once been a beautifully patterned ceramic-tiled floor. The hole looked odd, and yet familiar to Dwynalina’s long memory.
The ranger reached forward and picked up a piece of ceramic tile that had come from the hole, showing it to her wife. It was scoured by a deep scratch.
“Dwyni, does this remind you of anything?” Anriel asked.
The elderly half-goblin mage narrowed her eyes and blinked. “Ah, yes. Yes it does. Doesn’t surprise me that one would have visited this place, though.”
“No, and this one was dug a long time ago. Probably would have left after it found nothing of note,” said Anriel. With some effort, she stood up, her back cracking softly. “If we find any more, though…”
“We’ll let the prince know and get everybody out in a hurry. No need to alarm anybody, at least not yet. This isn’t a good climate for them anyway,” said Dwynalina.
Anriel shook her head. “Not all of those bastards like the cold, Dwynalina. We just killed most of those that prefer the warmer climates.”
Dwynalina’s hand clamped down on Anriel’s shoulder. “And like you said, we killed them.”
“Most of them, dear,” said the ranger.
“What are you saying, Anriel?” Dwynalina asked.
Anriel took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “I’m saying we ought to keep a sharp lookout and listen. I hope we hear its breathing first.”
Dwynalina nodded. “And not its wingbeats.”