Page 41 of Captive

“Yes.”

After a long pause, he growled something under his breath. He went to her.

He bent behind her, and there was a flash of orange light. She winced when she felt heat, but he took care not to burn her. He pulled at the ropes, and they loosened enough for her to get free.

She rubbed her wrists, checking for damage. “Thank you,” she said, not politely.

He watched her suspiciously, like he was already waiting for betrayal. He listened at the door a moment longer, then opened it an inch.

“We should try to head east, toward Valtos,” Novikke said, pointing in the direction opposite the door.

He shot her a challenging look. “We should go west, toward Tal-Vreth.”

“Valtos is leagues closer. Don’t be stupid. You know I’m right.”

He made an irritated sound. “Fine.” He peered out the crack in the door, watching for something, then opened it a little farther. He motioned for her to follow, then slipped outside. She hurried after him.

As soon as they exited, they were visible to a large portion of the outpost. Novikke’s eyes darted to the several figures she could see. None of them were looking in her direction. Everyone except for the reverse-graveyard shift would be asleep. It was morning now, with brilliant sun slanting through the trees and between buildings—which would be a boon. The night elves’ eyes weren’t as good with the light or with the contrast of light and shadow.

They passed side of the hut and around the corner to the back. The sound of voices nearby stopped them in their tracks. They were still and silent for a few seconds, and then the voices faded as they moved away.

Neiryn summoned a flickering flame in one hand, then dragged it along the base of the building. The wood blackened and then caught fire.

“What are you doing?” Novikke hissed.

He ran the fire along the wood until it was glowing red and there was no question that it would not die out. Novikke edged away from the flames, which were growing hotter by the second.

“Kuda Varai is more important than we are,” Neiryn said. “The Varai will drop everything to make sure it doesn’t burn. They’ll come here before they look for us.” He listened for more voices, then darted across the path to the next building.

After a few more frantic leaps from hiding place to hiding place, they’d reached the wall surrounding the outpost. There was no gate here, but that wasn’t a deterrent for someone who could blast fire out of his hands. Novikke watched as Neiryn raised his hands to the timber. A concentrated stream of flame jetted from his palms. The wood began dissolving into smoke and ash, and slowly he started to carve out an opening. The wood was thick. It took time.

There was a burst of shouting from somewhere inside the camp.

“You’d better hurry,” Novikke whispered.

“Shut up.” There was sweat on his brow, and he was grimacing with effort. Finally he broke through to the other side. When the wood had thinned, he punched away the remaining bits of it to make a hole big enough for them to climb through. The wood surrounding the hole had caught, and flame was licking up the wall above them, drawing a line that pointed directly to their location.

There was more shouting. Novikke turned, and there were three night elves running toward them. One of them stopped and drew a bow.

“Go,” Neiryn said. With a jerk of his arm, he flung a wide swathe of flame at the Varai.

She didn’t need to be told twice. She dove through the fence. On the other side was the forest. Kuda Varai. Huge and wild and dangerous.

Her legs itched to run. She waited, instead. Neiryn tumbled through the hole after her. He made a pained sound, clutching his leg. Novikke took his arm and helped pull him to his feet. He looked confused to find her still there.

Somewhere, a horn sounded an alarm. They ran, and within steps Neiryn was lagging behind. Behind him, black smoke billowed up from behind the fence. Their mages would be occupied with putting the fires out, but that didn’t help with the archers and swordsmen who were climbing through the fence after them.

Novikke leapt to cover behind a tree. Neiryn dove after her just as an arrow shot past his head.

“You can’t outrun them,” Novikke observed.

“No,” he said, without his customary venom. He rested his hand gingerly on his wounded leg, wincing. “I will have to outfight them and then outrun them after.” He glanced up at her uncertainly. “Will you help me?”

She bit her lip. Another arrow dug into the other side of the tree. “I’ll try, but I can’t do much to help fight.”

“I thought you were in the army.”

“Not as a fighter.”

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