Page 5 of The Oracle's Journey

In our absence, Eve and Judith started breaking down the camp. They were packing away blankets when I stumbled back onto the road.

“Good gods, girl, what happened?” blurted Judith as I set Emmelina on her feet. Eve rushed to bring me a waterskin.

I guzzled the water and then sat down on the carriage step, trying to catch my breath. I needed my pounding heart and burning lungs to settle before I could even think about explaining.

“Wyvern,” I gasped when I could speak. “Emmelina found a nest and made friends, but they didn’t like anyone else. Guards tried to fight them. I ran her to safety. The guards are probably dead. Did any of them stay here?”

“No,” said Judith, her face paling. “I told them not to worry about us.”

Tears welled in Eve’s eyes, no doubt thinking of the young man she’d been flirting with over the past week.

“Oh … well.” I took another pull from the waterskin. “That’s great.”

It was well past noon, and if we wanted to make it to some semblance of safety before dark, we needed to get moving soon.

“We have to wait at least a little while,” Eve said tearfully, still holding onto hope. “Just give them a chance to come back.”

Emmelina looked at me with a similar expression, though I could see in the girl’s eyes that she knew, really knew, that none of them would be coming back. But could I trust that?

“All right,” I agreed, hoping extra time might help relieve some of the uncertainty and guilt weighing on my heart. “I’ll give them an hour.” That would give us time to look through the guards’ things and consolidate anything worth keeping. I wondered if I could get the guards’ horses to stay with us but dismissed the thought. If I set them free, one might make it back to Kasta and alert someone there.

With our tasks completed, I studied maps while we waited the final few minutes for someone to come stumbling out of the woods. I ended up cutting loose all but one of the riderless horses and the four pulling the carriage. The maids didn’t argue when I told them to pile in with Emmelina. I don’t think any of us felt good about abandoning the guards, but we didn’t really have other options. The inn would be safe enough for the night if we could make it. Then we’d stop at the manor house a few hours beyond the inn once we got off the country road. I fought the suspicion that my luck wouldn’t improve and reassured myself that we had a plan. Something had to work out.

But that turned out to be overly optimistic.

We came to a narrow point in the road at dusk only to find it blocked off with a “fallen” tree. Whoever cut it down didn’t even bother trying to make it look accidental. I groaned miserably.

Slowing the carriage to a stop, I squinted into the growing shadows around me. Judith popped her head out of a window. “What’s happening?”

“I think we are going to be robbed,” I warned. “Keep everyone in the carriage and lock up.”

Judith’s eyes went wide when she spotted the first shape to emerge from the shadows. She gasped and slammed the window shutters closed.

I watched as a dozen figures revealed themselves. Too many to take on by myself. The light was fading fast, but I still should have been able to see their features. All I could make out was their pale hair until the first lean, broad shouldered figure reached the carriage. He had dark, slate colored skin, long straight silver hair, high cheekbones, gracefully arched silver brows, a predatory smile, and long pointed ears; a dark elf. A being so well adapted to the darkness that they were rumored to be become shadow at will.

Mother help me, why hadn’t I gone over the guard captain’s head when he shot down my suggestion to take the other road?

“Good evening,” said the elf as he came closer, surprising me by speaking in the trade language used across the southern continent. He held his hands where I could see they were empty, though there was a sword at his hip. His companions, though, were armed to the teeth. All but one wore similar black leathers, in varied levels of wear. The exception was a red eyed elf in nearly full plate armor. I glared down at the unarmed elf for a moment before scanning over the group again. Some human men came out of the woods behind the carriage, startling the horse we’d hitched loosely to the back. I counted seven. So that was nineteen highwaymen. Far too many to take on alone.

I sighed in resignation, deciding that I’d just have to hear what this elf had to say. If they had armed humans in their company, they were less likely to be in the slave trade. I hoped we could just hand over our valuables and move on, but all of this was overkill for random robbery. I had a cold, sinking feeling they were looking for a dowry.

“What do you want?” I demanded with a partial sneer.

The elf placed a hand over his heart and feigned hurt with a sneaky dimpled smile. “No time for social niceties?”

The truth was that after the wyvern attack, and abandoning the guardsmen, I just didn’t have it in me to play games. I felt hollowed out and my nerves jangled. All I had offer now was a bitchy façade. “No. Just get on with it,” I snapped.

He dropped the friendly act and tried to climb up next to me. I slammed a foot on his chest and scowled. With a glint of anger in his ice-blue eyes, he knocked my foot aside and launched himself up to the driver’s bench. He was quite tall, and I had to work not to shrink away. I decided that if I could stand my ground against a dragon, I wouldn’t be cowed by an elf, dark or otherwise.

“Will you move over, or do I have to ruffle your skirts?” he asked with an impatient smirk.

I rolled my eyes and snorted in disgust before moving down the bench and slapping the reins into his waiting palm. With a flick of his boot, he launched the sword and scabbard at my feet up and into the air. It disappeared over the side, whisked away by shadowy hands.

“And the vest.” He arched a brow and gestured at the garment. “I’m sure there is at least one knife hidden in there.”

I was somewhat taken aback by his civility. The dark elves were rumored to be malicious and pathologically cruel. I had to wonder if his approach was a calculated attempt to lull me. If so, he needn’t have bothered. The sheer number of highwaymen was deterrent enough. I couldn’t protect anyone if I was dead.

I narrowed my gaze at him, watched his reaction closely as I popped the first button, then the next. His eyes didn’t glaze over or fix on my cleavage, he just continued to look impatient.

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