Page 5 of Invocation

“Hello!” said the boy loudly, grinning at her reaction to his sudden appearance.

She exhaled sharply. She really shouldn’t be annoyed, she supposed. It was her own fault if she let herself be startled by a child. “Hello,” she said, staring. She’d never seen a night elf child. She didn’t know why it felt like such a strange sight—every race had children, obviously. Why hadn’t she ever thought about what Varai looked like when they were young?

He carefully leaned forward from her side to stare at her, afraid of getting too close. He was clutching a black kitten to his chest with one hand and was ignoring its squirming. He peeked up at Aruna, as if making sure he wasn’t going to be reprimanded.

“Hello,” he said again.

Novikke smiled, sensing that it was the only Ardanian word he knew. “Hello,” she said again.

Aruna held up the notebook. “My cousin,” he’d written. “Sorry.”

A taller shadow appeared at the boy’s side, and then a young girl popped into existence.

“Hello,” the girl said quietly, staring with large eyes. She looked more nervous than the boy.

“Hello,” Novikke said.

More shadows came, and soon there was a small cluster of them—most too shy to show themselves. There was a chorus of hellos, and then laughter when Novikke responded. Eventually Aruna shooed them away with a few words and a wave of his hand. They all giggled, and one by one they ran off.

Novikke thought of Zaiur suddenly. She imagined Ardanian soldiers sweeping through the village, killing everyone in their path, like he’d said.

She caught Aruna’s eye, feeling guilty again. He looked confused by her expression, not knowing what she was thinking of.

“This is weird,” Novikke said quietly.

“Isn’t it awful?” Neiryn said. “I told you they lived in huts. I don’t know how anyone can live like this. It’s like we’re still camping. Everything is so dirty. I’ve been here less than a day and it feels like weeks.”

“It looks a lot like the village where I grew up in Ardani, actually.”

He looked taken aback, and then uncomfortable. “Oh.”

She crossed her arms on her knees, leaning toward the warmth of the fire. “So what do we do now?” she asked. No one answered.

She’d killed Theros. Vissarion and Aleka and Thala had all seen it. She couldn’t go back to the army.

They were back to where they’d been before the Ardanians had captured them. There was nowhere in particular to go. No future that seemed promising. Everything was open-ended and uncertain.

They certainly couldn’t stay in the forest forever.

She sighed. “Say, Kadaki. Maybe you could magic us up some wine?”

Kadaki slowly looked up, giving her a withering look. “Sure, I suppose I didn’t do enough already. It’s not like I’ve already overdrawn my magic twice over and almost killed myself in the process of single-handedly saving all of Kuda Varai, and then saving you as well since you decided it would be a good idea to stab yourself with a sword. All that’s not enough, I guess. Mages are just an endless supply of free miracles, aren’t they? Of course. Just keep asking for more. It’s no trouble.”

Novikke raised her hands in surrender. “All right! Sorry.”

Neiryn put a hand on Kadaki’s shoulder. “We can leave soon, now that you’re finally awake,” he said to Novikke. Over his shoulder, Novikke caught sight of a pair of Varai watching them. Each wore a sword on their hip.

“That would probably be for the best,” she said.

“We should stay a little longer,” Kadaki said quickly. When the others gave her questioning looks, she added, “I’m still not feeling well. And I need to spend some more time on Novikke.”

“I feel okay,” Novikke said with a shrug.

“One more day,” Kadaki insisted.

Novikke gave Neiryn a questioning look. He shrugged.

“If that’s what you think is best,” Novikke said. “Maybe we should try to make ourselves less obtrusive, in that case.”

“We came outside because we were trying to make ourselves less obtrusive to Shadri,” Neiryn said. “But with the way the other villagers have been looking at us out here, I’m beginning to think that was a mistake.”

“Shadri?”

“Our host. I gather she’s not thrilled with our presence.”

“Well, she’ll probably be even less pleased if her guests end up causing a scene in the middle of the village.”

Neiryn considered that for a moment. He shot another glance at a group of Varai who had stopped nearby to glower at them. “You have a point,” he said. “All right. Let’s go.”

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