Page 152 of Rogue Elves of Ardani

“It’s a shame you only use your abilities to seduce good men and free criminals,” he said. “You have so much potential for greater things.”

Vaara lunged. Alexei raised his sword across his body to block the attack, but Vaara wasn’t aiming for his body. Instead, he struck Alexei’s opposite wrist. Sparks flew as the blade skimmed off Alexei’s metal gauntlet. The armor protected his hand from the blade, but the impact was strong enough that it sent his mage torch flying. It landed deep in the snow a few yards away, and was reduced to a dim glowing spot.

There was a flurry of movement and flying snow and clashing of swords. In the dark, Alexei flailed wildly, and Vaara moved with deadly precision. They traded blows only a few times before Alexei was on the ground, scrambling backwards as Vaara closed in. Vaara dropped his fade, grinning as he raised his sword for a killing blow.

And then, with a loud crack, Vaara sank beneath the snow.

Crow stared, not understanding what had happened. He had disappeared.

There was a stirring of snow and dark shapes that she could hardly see. Then splashing. Gasping.

It was a pond, she realized. Now that she looked closely, she could see the outline of the body of water by the shape of the snowfall—there was a dip in the snow marking the edge of the banks. They were all standing atop a frozen pond.

Alexei was getting to his feet again, unhurried. The snow beneath his feet had been scattered in the scuffle, and now Crow could see that he was standing safely on a fallen log that was half submerged in the water. Even when he’d lost his footing, he’d been careful to make sure he wouldn’t fall from his perch onto the ice.

Vaara was standing shoulder-deep in freezing turbid water, shivering and struggling to climb back onto the surface.

Crow began to creep toward Vaara, but she felt the ice shift under her weight and she quickly stepped back onto the banks.

Already the movements of Vaara’s arms looked stiff and slow, as if they were suddenly very heavy. The cold was too much. Whether or not he managed to escape Alexei’s blade, he wouldn’t last long.

Alexei returned to the shore and started toward Crow. Fear jolted through her and all coherent thought drained from her mind. She heaved her half formed snowball at him. She had enough time to see him easily bat the snow away before she turned and ran.

The snow coating the ground pulled at her boots, weighing her down. She stumbled and struggled each step. Alexei’s footsteps crunched behind her, unhurried and still gaining on her.

She screamed when his hand closed around her arm. He yanked her backwards, and she fell back into the snow. In the distance, Vaara shouted something and water splashed.

Alexei loomed tall and broad and metallic above her. Dim light reflected off the snow, lighting his face with enough moonlight for her to see his expression. He was only a little smug—like he didn’t even care enough to feel particularly happy about killing them. Like this was a rote exercise, unremarkable and, in the greater scheme of things, unimportant. They were vermin to him, and he thought of himself as a mere exterminator, not a hero.

She thought of the hollow darkness that lurked in his mind, and she felt cold deep in her bones, in a place where the stinging cold of the snow could never have touched her. His indifference was far more terrifying than anger.

Had he always been this way? Did he ever feel anything? Or was he empty of everything but boredom and cruelty? Did he know what it felt like to fear for his life? Did he know what the pain he inflicted on others felt like? Had he ever in his life known terror, or agony, or helplessness?

She drew her knife and slashed at him. He unceremoniously kicked it away from her. With a cry, she lunged toward him, grabbing at his arm, and by some blessing of the gods managed to reach under his sleeve to find skin.

Her hand closed over his arm, and she was enveloped in the chilling dark that was his mind.

It was worse than she remembered. Or maybe it had gotten worse over the past few weeks. It was like looking into a hole that she couldn’t see the bottom of. Like looking into the mind of Death itself.

Disgusted, she focused all her energy on invading his mind.

He listened quietly. Almost curiously.

But he did not soften. He did not become malleable beneath her mind the way he was supposed to. He merely waited, with mild amusement, for her to give up. Maybe her panic was clouding her intentions and weakening her willpower. Maybe he was simply too strong to fall under her spell, as Patros had warned her that he would be.

Stop this,Crow thought, almost begging.You want to stop.

No, I don’t,he thought back.

Slowly at first, and then more firmly, he pulled his arm away from her until their connection was broken, then he drew back and struck her.

The blow sent her reeling. She didn’t feel herself falling, but suddenly her face was in the snow again.

She twisted, disoriented, until she was face up again, and was stunned to see Vaara approaching Alexei from behind. With his skin oddly pale and icicles forming in his hair, he looked like a vengeful corpse raised from the dead. Crow’s eyes widened as he threw his arms over Alexei’s neck to choke him in the crook of his elbow.

For the first time, Alexei looked caught off guard. He pulled at Vaara’s arms, but they were locked around him like iron, immovable. Alexei’s face gradually turned red, and he stumbled under Vaara’s weight.

And then Alexei switched tactics and simply bent over, flipping Vaara fully over his head. Vaara went tumbling to the ground, but he pulled Alexei with him.

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