Page 26 of Dark Elves of Ardani

“Hurry up,” he said.

She took a breath and slowly reached up, finding his hand outstretched on the stone. She let him curl his fingers around her wrist.

“You will want to hold on tighter than that,” he said grimly, and his tone confirmed all her fears about the likelihood of her falling to her death in the next few seconds. She grasped his wrist, but her fingers felt weak and sluggish from the cold.

“When I say so, jump,” he said.

She nodded.

“Are you ready?”

She hesitated.

“Zara?”

She glanced up, trying to find his face in the darkness. She could faintly see the glow of his eyes above her. She wondered how he knew her name, then remembered that the Paladins must have spoken it in his presence. She was surprised he remembered it.

“Ready,” she said, her voice shaking a little.

He counted off, then heaved her up. Her weight was clearly a struggle for him at this angle. Her feet scrabbled against the stone as he lifted her.

Finally she cleared the edge and collapsed onto a flat, wide patch of ground beside him. He made a pained sound, cursing under his breath. They lay there panting for a few moments, and then he got up. He shoved her walking stick back into her hand and pushed her forward.

She encountered another wall. The wind had gone quiet. She seemed to be inside an enclosed space. There were a few minutes of silence, and then there was a spark of firelight, and suddenly Zara could see. The half-elf was crouching beside a ring of stones with chopped firewood stacked beside it. A fire began to grow in the small pit.

They were inside a shallow cave in the mountain, its mouth partially covered so that it was shielded from the elements. In the back of the cave was a pile of animal skins that could be used as bedding. Zara had heard that some Varai travelers left shelters like this for people who might need them in an emergency. She’d never seen one before now.

The half-elf ignored her as he finished building his fire and then gingerly began unwrapping the bandage on his leg. Zara spotted bright red, fresh blood, and realized the wound must have ripped open again when he’d lifted her over the ledge.

She still didn’t feel guilty about it. Kashava would have been proud of her.

He pulled a bottle of wound sealer from his pocket and covered the cut before putting on a clean wrapping.

Zara ventured closer to the fire, pulling her cloak close around her as she watched him. “What about the Paladins?”

“What about them?” he said without looking up.

“They might see the firelight.”

“Then you should be pleased. Perhaps they’ll come rescue you.”

She waited a few minutes before adding, a little defensively, “I am not a Paladin.”

He barely glanced up at her, but the look in his eyes could have melted stone.

“I only met them a few days ago,” she said. “I was traveling with them temporarily.”

“You choose to travel with them, wear their symbols, fight for them, and work with them, but you are not one of them?”

She didn’t know how to answer that.

“Are you a grave robber, too?” he asked.

“What?”

He nodded toward her armor. “You took that from a dead Varai.”

“I did not. It was made for me.”

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