Page 93 of Blood of Ancients

For me, it was home.

We came to the edge of a forested cliffside and perched on the edge, gazing down at the deep valley below. Twin statues a hundred feet high stood in the valley across from each other in Norrin’s Pass.

Ravinica gawked next to me. “Those statues are massive,” she said. “And beautiful.”

The Twins’ arms were extended toward each other, as if reaching across worlds for an embrace. They were sculpted inthe shape of crowned elven kings and queens, with goldstone robes reflecting emerald sunshine from the sky above.

“The Twins of Norrin’s Pass,” I explained. “A landmark all in Heira know well.”

Ravinica looked down the cliff, a long way down. “So you know where we are now?”

I nodded. “I can get us out of the forest. We must hurry. Being this close to the northern border of Kiir’luri is a dangerous gambit.”

“Why is that?”

“Because—”

“Halt!”

I frowned, staring over Ravinica’s shoulders with my face falling. “. . . Because ofthat.”

The elf calling out to us spoke in a harsh dialect of my tongue, yet I understood him well enough. The Kiir-dwellers emerged from the trees like wraiths, dressed in their breechcloths and nothing else.

The wood elves, or Skogalfar, were a wiry bunch, skin darkened to a bronze hue, swirling green tattoos along their skin and faces. They wore fetishes and ornaments in their hair, noses, piercings—tribal in their appearance and dialect—and wielded spears and stone-tipped weapons.

Our group spun around as one, to face the twelve elves that stalked out of the forest and circled us.

I sighed, understanding the predicament we were in far better than my comrades. Behind us was a drop of hundreds of feet, certain death. In front were mean-looking, snarling Skogalfar that were more animals than soldiers.

The wood elves hadn’t chosen Kiir’luri as their homes out of preference. They had moved here out of necessity, hundreds of years ago, and had adopted customs and rituals I wasn’t familiar with.

I was also the only one who could speak with them.

As my comrades moved their hands closer to their weapons, eyes narrowing dangerously, I recognized this could get ugly fast.

Elves were powerful. Kiir-dwellers could harness the forest against us, and they commanded the pollen and trees nearby. Yet Ravinica and her crew were trained warriors as well, with runeshaping magic of their own.

The elves leveled their spears, taking in the intruders.

I waded through my group, pushing to the front and raising my hands. “Wait, brethren!”

I stepped between the two groups, five feet in front of my comrades and twenty feet from the half-circle of wood elves.

The elves looked confused that I accompanied round-ears.

My words came out fast, as the elven tongue danced from my lips and confused my allies because they couldn’t understand it. “We come to Kiir’luri in peace, Skogalfar. We do not mean to bring harm to your honorable home.”

“You are Ljosalfar,” said the front man, the hunter-leader of the pack. His eyes narrowed suspiciously. He was tall like me, bulkier in muscle, with his golden hair darkened copper by years under the forest’s canopies.

“I am. These are my friends.” I gestured behind me with a sweeping hand. “Enemies of Dokkalfar, visitors to Alfheim.”

“Humans,” the man spat through bared teeth. “We do not accept ‘visitors,’ noble. We acceptno one.”

Well, that’s not very accommodating. Or hopeful.I frowned, my shoulders and hands dropping. “Then we will leave.”

“Bringing humans to Alfheim is not done. How are you here?”

“The wards have fallen, brethren. I’m sure your wardtracers have noticed. The portals are open.”

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