Page 150 of Rogue Elves of Ardani

I take it you don’t know where the real Alexei is?he thought.

Not a clue.

Some of the guards said they saw him heading toward the entrance. Was that you?

No.

Then I think I know where we should head next.

Chapter 41

Crow knew they were nearing the entrance to the prison before she saw it. Cold wind blew in from outside, raising goosebumps across her skin even through her thick cloak.

They rounded a corner, and there was the front door, standing wide open, the portcullis raised.

Vaara’s confused suspicion crept across her skin.

The door is open,he thought to her.

Very observant,Crow joked.

And the guards are gone.

He was almost correct. Only one man remained guarding the door, his expression taut with concern.

Wait here,Crow thought. Vaara faded into the wall as she walked ahead.

The guard looked up as she approached, and quickly straightened. He started to salute, then looked confused. He glanced out at the fields beyond the prison, then back at Crow-Alexei. He started to speak.

Crow simply reached out and took hold of the guard’s face. In a few moments, the guard was wandering off into the darkness away from the prison, and they were alone again. As the guard was walking away, Crow’s glamour flickered again. She let the spell drop.

Vaara’s hand came to rest on her shoulder. The alarm bells had stopped. In the distance, from the snowy fields beyond the prison’s outer walls, there was a series of shouts. It was too dark for Crow to see much other than the mage torches, presumably held by Alexei’s guards, waving like beacons in the night.

“What is that?” she asked Vaara.

In the darkness, his eye glowed gently yellow-green. “They’ve found Aruna.”

“Ah. I suppose you’ll want to go help him.”

“Yes.” He was already striding through the snow toward the sound. Crow followed, stepping in the holes left by his feet.

As they came closer to the commotion, Crow was able to make out a series of figures in the snow. Two guards lay dead on the ground already. There were still five guards, an armorless female-looking figure who must have been Novikke, and a dark, fast-moving shape that could only have been Aruna.

Vaara must have managed to signal him from the prison. Aruna had shown himself near the prison to draw the guards away from Vaara. In the darkness, the guards wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference between one night elf and another.

And now, Novikke and Aruna were fighting for their lives because of it. They were outnumbered, even with Vaara’s help.

As they reached the edge of the sphere of light cast by the guards’ torches, Crow paused, nervously eyeing the number of swords glinting around her. Vaara didn’t hesitate. He shrouded himself in a fade and stalked toward them, smoothly drawing his sword.

The others hadn’t noticed their approach. Three of the guards managed to surround the dark, half visible shape that was Aruna. There was a scuffle, then a suppressed cry. Aruna doubled over, hit. Vaara charged into the group. Before they could react, he had already cut down one of them.

Nearby, Novikke was sparring with another guard who was favoring one leg. Crow thought Novikke had the upper hand, but before she could finish him off, the guard managed to shove her, sending her flying. As she sprawled in the snow, the guard advanced, raising his sword.

Crow quickly scooped up a pile of snow, pressed it into an icy ball, and hurled it at the guard. He stopped short as snow splattered against the side of his head.

During the split second that he was distracted, Novikke produced a knife from somewhere and, still on her knees, jammed it into the back of his leg. As he stumbled she struck again and again, finding every gap in his armor, until the snow beneath them was soaked with blood and the man had gone still.

The entire fight was rather undignified and unglamorous. But the reality of fighting for one’s life was less glamorous than it was in books, Crow supposed.

---