Chapter 7 | Corym

Chapter 7

Corym

A THRUM OF LONGING and excitement riddled my body as I walked with my hand entwined in Ravinica's. It felt right having her so close to me.

I couldn't explain the sensation, the same one I'd felt ever since first putting my hand on her face and getting that spark of enlightenment.

She was a beautiful creature. Though she lacked the refined qualities of elvenfolk, instead mixed with a muscled, thicker body than my people, there was enough elf inside her for me to recognize the finer aspects of my kind.

It was in her eyes—yellow and stark like mine. Her hair, of course, silver muddled with streaks of black. Where does the black come from? Certainly not my people. Perhaps her human parent?

The lines of her face were serene at times, fierce at others. I appreciated that she did not back down from a challenge. She did not wilt at the sight of the Ljosalfar. We were a proud, ancient people, and she had that same pride in spades.

The woman was used to adversity. She held herself to a high standard, and never seemed unable to do something. Lunis'ai never appeared flustered . . . until she wrapped her arms around me in an impromptu embrace.

During that startling moment, we'd lost ourselves. It gave me a hopeful taste of things to come, if my emotions and attraction to her continued to draw me down that path.

I would be lying if I said the thrill of that moment didn't wake something inside me, just as she had claimed her inherent magic had come alive once she met me.

I couldn't reconcile the feeling. Mingling with humans is not something I can afford to do. Not with so many elves under my charge in Midgard, untrusting of the very people who tried to destroy us.

At the same time, half-elves were not a novelty. They were rare, yet not unheard of. Though our people had been opposed for centuries now, savvy humans and elves could find ways to meet each other in the Traveler Planes or in different worlds. Not every elf left Midgard after the disaster with King Dannon a thousand years ago. Some stayed.

Thus, Ravinica was made. Somehow. A mythical creature of sorts, with the beauty of the elves and the tenacity of the humans. A true marvel to me.

I just wished my people could see it.

I was determined to learn more about her, just as I wished to give her more information about the elven side of her heritage. I was sure the humans had done a good job of breeding falsehoods and tainted opinions of my people within her. Their history books were vastly different than ours, unsurprisingly, and Ravinica had only gotten one side of the story. Until now.

I wanted Ravinica to learn about the elves firsthand, from an elf.

We walked at a leisurely pace through Delf'avernin, dodging the trees, staying quiet to listen to the gentle rhythms of the forest around us. I suspected both of us were lost in our own heads after the closeness of our bodies.

That, and Ravinica was surely exhausted from spending so much energy on her runeshaping training. She held the magic of elves inside her, and I'd finally gotten to see her capabilities for myself.

The future is as bright for Ravinica as her eyes. It's only a matter of cultivating that growth, and I foresee her becoming a legendary runeshaper.

The woman's story was only just beginning. I simply wanted to be a part of it.

Chewing the inside of my cheek as I mulled over my thoughts, we made it to my camp. Logaithn was leading in a group of men from the opposite side of camp, with a hog hauled over the shoulders of him and three other people.

My second-in-command gave me a smile as he passed, patting the stuck pig's rump. "We eat well tonight, E'tar."

I noticed the scowl he gave Ravinica once he wasn't smiling at me anymore, and that irked me.

Either from lack of confidence or shame, Ravinica removed her hand from mine. I frowned, took her by the wrist, and forced her to thread her fingers into mine.

"People are going to get the wrong idea," she whispered, head bowed as other members of camp passed us.

"Let them," I said, my voice gruff. "We need my brethren to see you are an ally. My ally."

With an audible gulp, she nodded.

I took her to a large tent—the command tent—where Deitryce and three elder statesmen sat on cushions on the ground, legs crossed as they finished a midday meal. Their elegant gowns flowed behind them, while Deitryce had on the oiled leather garb of a warrior, with her gold armor on a stand behind her.

"Brother," she said as I entered. Ravinica walked in behind me, and my sister's face twisted with contempt. "Why do you bring the half-woman into the council tent?"

I stood with my arms crossed, eyeing each seated man and my younger sister in turn. Everyone stared at the willful girl behind me. "She is not half-woman , Deitryce. She is half-elf. All woman." I would know after the way she hugged me in the clearing. "This animosity between our people and her will end now."

"Is that so?" Deitryce put her bowl down, uncrossed her legs, and sat back on her palms. She studied me curiously, a smug smirk close to her lips.

If there was anyone out of the sixteen Ljosalfar elves in this camp most human-like, it was my sun-haired sister. She held sway with the three statesmen and other women in camp. While I controlled the men, the hunts, and the strategizing, Deitryce handled the camp in my absence.

I valued her opinions, yet she had a mean streak about her, which was why I related her to humans at times. She didn't carry herself with the same decorum and elegance other elves did. She'd seen enough death and battle in life to become disenchanted with our way of life and our people. Jaded. We all had, though it affected Deitryce the most.

"Ravinica has been a peaceful member of this camp for nearly three weeks," I said. "Staying out of trouble, showing us respect, not asking questions. Keeping herself occupied in the corral, which is an affront to her humanity."

"We owe humanity nothing here," Deitryce pointed out.

"I disagree. If our mission is to be successful, we must learn to work with the humans. Eventually."

Ravinica cocked her head, curious.

"We killed half a dozen humans, lest you forget, brother." Deitryce's face scrunched with distaste. "We saved this one because of her ears and hair. Not because of her humanity."

"Aye, and perhaps it was a mistake slaughtering those soldiers. When we saw this woman held captive by them, we did not see a human . Am I wrong?"

Slowly, Deitryce's face sank, and she shook her head.

"We saw one of our people being held against her will," I continued, trying to ease my sister into acceptance. "So, now, we will tell her the bare necessities of why we are here."

I motioned to the ground next to one of the elders, across from Deitryce. "Ravinica? If you please."

"Right," she choked out, hurrying to sit. Her leather hide creaked as she made herself comfortable.

I took my seat next to her, completing the circle on the rug, and stared across at my sister. Her scowl was present, but it was directed at me now.

"If we tell her things, what is stopping her from spilling our motives to her war-thirsty brethren?" Deitryce asked.

"Trust," I said simply. "We will honor her with our trust in her. I have gotten to know Ravinica well in the short time she's been here—"

"Maybe too well," Deitryce cut in snidely.

I sighed, ignoring my sister's barbs. "She is not our enemy." With a shrug, I added, "Besides, by the time she could relay pertinent information to her people, we will be gone."

"Gone?" Ravinica chirped, surprise in her voice.

I glanced over at her with a nod.

"Where are you going?"

"Back to Alfheim, of course, lunis'ai. "

A flash of disappointment crossed her face as her eyes cast downward, though I tried to ignore it.

"Why do you continue to call her that?" Deitryce interjected again. "It is dishonorable."

I stared across at my sister.

Ravinica said, "What does it mean? No one has told me."

"It translates to ‘streaked silver' in your tongue," Deitryce answered. "A term of endearment."

I caught Ravinica's eyes, a new note of respect and admiration in them. She tried to hide her smile, and the slight flush of her pale cheeks, but I was observant enough to know when she felt touched.

I cleared my throat, wanting to seem proper and diligent, rather than desirous and flustered by Ravinica's golden gaze.

I said, "Ask your questions, Ravinica."

The three elders remained quiet, watching us while they finished their meals. They would continue to stay silent until I told them to speak, because that was our way. Their advice was only uttered when it was sought after. They were more ceremonial than anything else.

Whether it was wrong or right, I was the leader of this vanguard unit from Alfheim.

"How did you get here?" Ravinica began.

I rested my palms on the knees of my crossed legs, sitting straight-backed. Turning my head to face her, I mulled that over and tried to put it into terms she would understand.

"A portal," I said. "Similar to the portals you use to summon runes to Shape from different realms. Only bigger."

Ravinica nodded, her brow furrowed. "I thought King Dannon and Lord Talasin blocked the portals from Alfheim to Midgard, and vice versa. So neither race could travel to the others' homeland."

At mention of the supposed "King Who Saw," who we rather thought of as the King-Who-Misconstrued-and-Destroyed, Deitryce hissed.

Ravinica did not know it was ill-advised and discourteous to mention Dannon in an elven council chamber.

"Your histories are incorrect," I told her. "The portal-blocking was a one-way ward. Our ancestors cast it to keep humans out of Alfheim. Humans did not possess the power to keep elves out of Midgard."

Ravinica's eyes widened. "Really? Damn. All these years I thought . . ." She trailed off and arched her brow. "Then why are the elves only here now ? Nearly a thousand years later?"

I shrugged simply. "It has always been possible for elves to reach Midgard, though in the past it was more difficult, and we had no reason to. We saw no point in injecting ourselves in human conflicts, when we have plenty of our own in Alfheim. Humans put up some weak defensive enchantments to keep our people out, and there was a small risk of getting lost forever in the Traveler Planes.

"Now, however, the flimsy wards of the runeshaping humans have weakened. We do not know why. Along with that, we have stopped caring about the dangers, because we learned of . . . her existence."

"Careful, brother," Deitryce said in a low tone. "You say too much. Do not spill what you cannot put back into the bucket."

I understood my sister's meaning. I wasn't about to give Ravinica our deepest secrets—the meanings of our prophecies and the underlying reasons for our arrival. But I could certainly give her enough to satiate her curiosity with a harmless history lesson.

" Her ?" Ravinica asked.

"The Ancient One. Kin locked away in Midgard for hundreds of years. The Ljosalfar only recently learned she still remains in this realm. We're unsure if she's alive or dead."

Ravinica sat up, shoulders stiffening, as if she had heard this part of the story before.

" Lunis'ai ?" I asked. "What is it?"

"I met someone recently. You said the person you're looking for is an elf?"

"Partly."

"Then it must be her. She was a half-elf, like me. A bog-blood crone."

At this information, the elders looked directly at her. They tried to hide the eagerness from their eyes, but their simple acknowledgement of Ravinica was enough for her to shrink within herself and become smaller from the scrutinizing. Even Deitryce stared at my sister, slightly aghast.

"What is the name of this crone?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.

"The man you found me with—the one who betrayed me—called her Elayina."

I inhaled sharply.

Deitryce swallowed her gasp. "That's Lady Elayina to you, half-blood."

Ravinica blinked at everyone surrounding her. "Then that is who you are looking for? The Niflbog seer?"

Niflbog seer? What is that? What name have the humans latched onto our Ancient One? What disrespect have they shown her in the eons we've been absent from Midgard?

"Yes," I said. "Lady Elayina and the Ancient One are one and the same."

"Well, shit, why didn't you tell me before?" Ravinica slapped her knee. When I tilted my head curiously at her, our eyes locking, she smiled. "I can bring you to her."

I clenched my jaw to keep it from falling open.

Deitryce's eyes darted from me to Ravinica to the elders, then back to me. "Seems she's more useful than I imagined, brother. Let us be wary it's not a trap."

"A trap?" Ravinica said with a scoff. "Why would I wait so long to set up an ambush? I've been here weeks. You've seen no one looking for me. You already killed the men who abducted me."

Deitryce leaned forward. "Aye, but you could lead us out of the camp to somewhere of your choosing, where you may outnumber us."

"I've seen the way you fight, Lady Deitryce," Ravinica said. "I'm not about to submit the people I know to that kind of danger."

Deitryce crossed her arms and sat back with a pouting frown. She seemed content with that answer, and I was impressed by Ravinica's acumen: laying compliments at my sister's feet to satiate her antagonistic whims.

"Regardless, we will not go to Lady Elayina yet," I announced, "whether you can take us to her or not, lunis'ai. In time, that may change."

Her brow creased. "Why not?"

I glanced over at Deitryce, the glint in her eye—the warning—before I faced Ravinica once more.

"Because we are in Midgard for another reason," I said. "As a vanguard on a scouting expedition for our nation in Alfheim."

Ravinica's eyes narrowed with suspicion. "A scouting expedition? What are you looking for?"

"We are here to ascertain and establish defensive measures."

Her head lurched. "Speak plainly, please," she said in frustration.

I firmed my lips. Stared at her. "We are here to discover how strong the defenses are at Vikingrune Academy."