The elf princess Éadra burst out of the hidden passageway in the wall, stumbled, and fell. She smiled as she picked herself up, brushing her long black hair out of her green eyes. For the first time in ages, she felt a sense of hope. It was small, true, but it was there. She glanced out of the window and saw the sun creeping up from the trees of the forest below her. She had to find Learé.
Her twin was in the armory practicing with her sword. Hair pulled up in a tight black bun and green eyes flashing, she shot around the room, double-edged sword slicing through the air like a beam of light. To Éadra, Learé seemed to be doing some sort of deadly dance. She had a practiced grace and dexterity that Éadra could only dream of. She stood there a few moments admiring her twin before calling out her name.
On hearing her name, the warrior princess turned on a dime, bringing her sword down to her side and letting her shield drop. “Where have you been?” she said. “Erron’s men attacked again while you were gone. Seven hundred dead, six hundred more wounded, and you weren’t here.” She threw her sword down to emphasize her point.
Éadra held up her hand and looked up into her sister’s eyes. Seven hundred dead, she thought. She writhed inside, and for a moment questioned the wisdom of leaving so suddenly. No, she told herself, it’s okay. I did what I needed to do. I hope. Still, she could not shake the feeling that her twin's criticisms were warranted, and her stomach twisted. But she refused to show it. “I’m sorry, Learé,” she finally said. “I hadn’t meant to be gone so long, but I’ve found something that will turn the tide of the war.” She smiled, but Learé said nothing, her face a mask. So Éadra continued.
“I found unicorns,” she said.
Finally the mask broke, and Learé's eyes widened.“What are you talking about? The unicorns died out long before we were born.”
“The ones that lived in the forest did.”
“Which is all there ever were.”
“Come with me,” Éadra said, grabbing her sister's hand and dragging her out of the armory.
They made their way back through the castle and into Éadra's chambers, where the bed was shoved away from the wall. The hole that Éadra had come through was gone, replaced with a mural of a unicorn on solid wall. Up until last week, it had been hidden by the canopy of Éadra’s bed.
“That's just a painting,” Learé said.
“Not quite,” said Éadra. She took off her necklace and tossed it to Learé. “I dropped that behind the bed last week, and when I moved it I found the mural.”
“You should be more careful with mom’s necklace.”
“Look carefully at the gem.”
Learé rolled the star-shaped diamond around in her hand. “I don’t see anything.” Éadra took it back, flipped it over, and pointed to an engraving in the bottom right ray.
“Heloth Uniqa,” Learé read. “So you spent the past week trying to hike an unclimbable peak?” Then she noticed that the wall had opened.
“No, I spent it finding my way through the tunnel that leads to the top. Not all the unicorns died when the flarefoxes attacked. Some of them found a new home on the highest peak in the Hemya mountain range.”
Learé studied her twin as though looking for some sort of sign that she was lying. Then she said carefully, “You realize what you are saying, don't you? Unicorns are supposed to be violent creatures. If you've found some, if we could enlist their help...that would change everything.”
There was an underlying tension to her voice, Éadra thought. It was as though she was pleading for it to be true. They needed good news, after all the horror they'd been through together. And so Éadra hesitated, knowing Learé wouldn’t like what she had to say next. “They have agreed to help us, and this could change the tide, but not in the way you’re thinking. The unicorns were warriors, once. They were violent and bloodthirsty. In fact, they provoked the flarefoxes. But that went horribly wrong, and those who survived vowed never to fight again. Their descendents on the mountain have never had any training. They would be butchered in a fight. What they’ve agreed to do, though, is just shelter us for now. They’ll let our people hide there while we recover our strength, but they won’t fight for us.”
Learé glared. “I want a way to win, Éadra. I don't want a place to cower in defeat.”
Éadra glared right back, “It's not cowering in defeat. It's giving our tired, wounded soldiers a chance to rest and recuperate. We can't just keep sending them out until they drop dead from exhaustion. It's giving you a break from leading them. And it's giving the civilians a chance to get away from this war-torn forest.”
Learé folded her arms against her chest. Her tone was clipped as she spoke. “This is hardly the time for an extended vacation.”
Éadra sighed inside. She knew Learé would react like this, and she hadn't even reached the worst part yet. “I haven’t finished yet. We aren't going to just be hiding. I want you to take our people to Heloth to recover, yes. But while you do that, I’m going to find Erron’s fortress.”
Learé sat down on the bed in surprise. “Are you out of your mind? Nobody who tries to do that ever comes back.”
Good, Éadra thought. She's sitting down. “Not when they try to just follow the soldiers home, no. But we’ve never sent anyone to find it through being captured now, have we?”
“What? No. You’re not going to get captured.”
Éadra sighed again, this time out loud. How was she supposed to convince Learé of this when she was uncertain it was a good idea herself? But the fact remained: they were desperate. They'd been on the defensive far too long, and it was costing them. And that, perhaps, was her selling point. Out loud she said,
“We can’t stay on the defensive forever. We’re losing. Besides, there was one exception to the unicorns’ refusal.”
Learé laughed bitterly. “What, sacrifice one of your princesses to the enemy, and then we’ll help you? Otherwise too bad, guess you’ll just have to spend the rest of your days hiding on a mountain.”
Éadra clenched her fists, biting back frustration. “No, they said they would help us if we found the fortress. Then we can lay siege on it or something. I’ll get captured, scout out his fortress, and find a way to escape. In the meantime, you'll be teaching the unicorns how to fight. Then once I escape and meet you there, we can lay out battle plans; exploit his weaknesses, instead of him always exploiting ours.”
“And you plan to get out how? Walk up to the guards and say ‘Excuse me, but I was just dropping in for a visit. Do you think I could go now? I need to go home to my people so that we can conquer your castle.”
Éadra knew Learé was right, but she had one small hope she clung to. She sat down on the bed by her twin. “I’ll find a way, Learé. Remember the stories Mom used to tell us about the Aquinix? How he's always helps the elves in their hour of need? Well, the unicorns have a similar tale, about how a great bird came to their ancestors in the aftermath of the battle with the flarefoxes and led them to the mountains. They said he looked like a cross between an eagle and a swan, and was as blue as the sea. He sounds just like Mom described him. I think he's real, Learé. I just need to find a way to contact him, to convince him we need his help.”
“And the perfect place to do that from is a dungeon in Erron's fortress.”
Éadra shrugged. “Maybe he'll see me there and realize just how great our need is. Or maybe I'll try praying to him—Mom said he was some kind of messenger from our Creator. Maybe he can hear prayers. Anyway, if that doesn't work, if I can't find a way out, I’ll find a way to poison Erron himself. I’m not going to let Mom’s deaths be in vain. And it will be, if we lose to Erron. She died protecting us from him.”
“And the perfect way to honor her death is to send one of us into his hands to be killed, just like he killed Mother when he caught her. Éadra, your plan is ridiculous. You're relying on fantasies. You sound like some kind of tragic hero, running off into the hands of a murderer to die for your country. Well I hate to break it to you, but the world doesn't work that way. Your little plan isn't going to work.”
For one small second, Éadra lowered her eyes. Her insides writhed in a combination of anger, embarrassment, and pain. But she couldn't let Learé break her yet. She had one last card to play.
“If you don’t want to take our people to Heloth Uniqa that’s fine, but you can’t stop me from finding Erron. I loved mother just as much as you did, and I promised her that I would protect our people. I’m tired of watching you lead them out to battle, tired of waiting inside to heal the wounded. I’m tired of being helpless to save so many of them, just as I couldn’t save mother. And most of all, I’m tired of fearing that one of these days I’m going to lose you, too. As I was looking for you earlier a scout found me and informed me that more of Erron’s men are on their way. They’ll be here within a week. What you do is up to you, but I’m going to make sure that I get captured, even if I have to walk out and hand myself over. I’m tired of this. I’m going to make certain that this war ends, one way or another.”
This is sooo good! I am anxious to read more!
ReplyDeleteI love it! It captures my attention, and just like your mom, I want to read more! :D
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