Page 20 of The Oracle's Journey

Lobikno slowly positioned himself with his back against the carriage, picking up a fallen shield. Lhoris gave his brother a grim look and flicked his eyes at the doorway. Lobikno slipped inside the coach, and held the shield across the battered door frame, like a trapdoor spider.

One of the wicked elves shouted, then the handful of them scattered. Their sudden movement triggered the wolves to attack. I snagged a sword from the ground and set to stand against the second circle of attackers, but Lhoris scooped me up, again, and leapt atop the coach. The dire wolves blew past the carriage and fell upon the other elves.

Just like the wasps.

The elves’ obfuscation magic didn’t seem to work as well on the wolves. The beasts could still use their noses to help find their prey.

“Huh,” Lhoris said with his hands on his hips, catching his breath and taking in the scene unfolding before us.

Wide-eyed, I watched the snarling wolves rend, wrench, and kill the wicked elves. One of the elves made it to a tree, but a wolf leapt and ripped a leg right off him. He screamed and fell back to the ground.

Lhoris crouched and knocked on the roof beneath our feet. “How’s everyone there?”

“Alive,” answered Lobikno, his voice grim. “But the princess is missing.”

Of course she was. And probably behind the wolf attack.

I scanned the clearing and tree line for her small form, calling out for her. “Emmelina!! Emmelina, where are you?!”

Then Lhoris pointed with the tip of his bloodied sword. As I followed his direction, a small form in the tatters of a pale blue dress emerged from the trees. It was covered in fur, the same gray-brown of the wolves with soft brown feathers dispersed within. As if sensing the pressure of our attention, the creature turned to look back. Emmelina! Her hazel eyes were massive, twice their usual size, flickers of campfire shone within the pupils. The lines of her face had become lupine, lips pulled back in a snarl.

“Oh, oh, dear princess,” Lhoris murmured, his voice seemingly caught between fear and grief.

The creature bolted into the woods, the dire wolves following on her heels, yipping after her like pups to their mother. I gasped and covered my mouth with both hands, feeling as though my feet were nailed in place. I dropped one hand to reach for Lhoris’ and squeezed tight.

“What do we do?” I asked numbly.

Lhoris

I stared up at the red sail that would eventually summon my oldest brother, contemplating my next move. There was no way of knowing if Dulanzo’s lookouts had seen it. If I left it up, he would exercise his power to leave us waiting, giving the crew ample time to get bored and kill Lobikno and I. But if I took the signal down, it might make Dulanzo curious and bring him sooner. I decided to leave it up. It almost guaranteed us one more night to find our wayward princess.

I turned away from the sail. There was much to do before we could start running. Perhaps we could make it to the woodland community I knew would accept at least myself—possibly Lobikno if I claimed responsibility for him. But Dulanzo would know to look for us there. It would be all too easy for the warlord to overtake us on that journey. It made more sense to go to Dophesan for the time being. As long as the ladies allowed us to travel with them. Dulanzo would find the journey more troublesome without surface dwellers in his party to vouch for them. It was the one advantage Lobikno and I had. Though we’d have to find the girl first.

We spent an hour doing a rough patch job on our battle wounds. The rabble we held off for those minutes was not nearly as well trained as Lobikno and I. Their numbers were what kept them from being slaughtered, but they did manage to break some skin. Ozanna had the worst injury though. Rhyfon nearly dug a hole in her arm, and I had to flush it out with a solution from my healing kit before covering it. There were a lot of stitches to go around.

Once the women had enough daylight, we washed up in the stream. I showed the maids how to suture on some of Ozanna’s wounds—the long cuts on her left forearm. They were already skilled sewists and took to the task quickly.

I had just enough salve to cover all our wounds.

I argued with Lobikno for a little while about whether we should head out to look for the princess or get some rest.

Lobikno rolled his eyes at me. “We won’t do any good wandering out into a dense forest full of dire fucking wolves if we are too tired and get eaten for being sloppy. The girl was fine with the beasts last night; she should be fine with them now.”

And that was that.

We all settled in to get some rest. Lobikno propped the shield against the inside of the carriage’s broken door frame and leaned against it. He said he would protect the maids while he tried to trance. But when I peeked into the carriage, I found he’d fallen fully asleep, sitting between the benches, back against the shield. Lobikno wasn’t a young elf anymore, and the trance wouldn’t be adequate for his exhaustion.

I moved my bedroll to the top of the carriage, in the shade cast by the massive trees, and told Ozanna to get a head start on sleep. It had been a gamble to untie her before we went to sleep, but it paid off. She stepped in to fight as I’d hoped. Once the healing supplies were cleaned and put away, I could go lay back down beside her.

Too tired to be anything but grateful for the comforting brush of Ozanna’s slight elven aura, I moved to settle beside her. I admired her delicate facial features, free of the exhaustion and stress I’d put upon her. Sleep relaxed her brows, usually drawn together in thought, her full lips soft instead of pressed in a hard line. I almost couldn’t breathe; she was heart-stoppingly lovely. I wondered how she was even allowing me to bed down with her after all the shit I’d put her through, put all of them through. For a moment I hesitated to settle in, the unworthiness sticking in my throat as I tried to swallow my guilt. Then I thought about how she’d been pleased by my meager offerings of companionship, accepting them as eagerly as my desire to offer them. It wouldn’t be right to back away now.

I moved a lock of her hair aside so I wouldn’t lay on it and noticed some of my own hair still tangled within. I’d almost forgotten those awkward few moments before the fighting began. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was knotted in a pattern. Like a chess board. And it had stayed nice and tidy, weave unfrayed, despite being cut and put through the rigors of combat. I searched for the knot in my own hair and examined it. It was the same, her dark brown strands mixed in with my silver.

I brought it to my nose and inhaled, hoping to get the scent of Emmelina’s magic, but the stench of Lobikno’s murderous light show was still too overpowering. Without thinking, I licked the plait. A jolt of energy shot through me, leaving me momentarily stunned. The magic was raw perfection and beauty. It was holy. Unlike any magic I’d experienced before, my soul recognized it for what it was: a blessing. One so pure that I felt dirty and flawed in its presence.

Unable to hold back the overwhelming emotion roiling within, I wrapped my arms around Ozanna and sighed as her aura blended with mine. It had been years since I’d been permitted to enjoy that comfort with another elf. Yet another basic necessity denied in the culture of my people. Ozanna wouldn’t have the capability to sense such a thing, not being entirely elven, but she still draped her injured arm over me and squeezed.

“Everything ok?” she murmured into my chest.

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