23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Elessan

E lessan's head slammed against a hard surface as the world jostled. He opened his eyes with a groan. The pounding between his temples became knives as sunlight flooded his vision. He lifted his arm to shield his face, only to cause a whole new explosion of pain across his chest and in his shoulder joint.

By Abaddon…

He was so thirsty. His cracked lips split as he opened his mouth. Hopefully Brooks intended to give him some water soon…it must be days since he drank anything.

Wheels creaked around him as wooden planks slammed against his head again. He was in a wagon, lying on the floor while the driver steered them over what was undoubtedly the road with the deepest ruts in the realm.

He took a deep breath. Aliya's faint floral scent filled his nostrils.

Aliya!

He opened his eyes and fought to sit up. "Agh!" Fire exploded from his stomach.

His head smashed back into the floor, sending a burst of light across his vision.

Valek. Aliya wasn't here. The windows were up near the roof and covered in bars. This had to be the prison transport Brooks had been hauling her in. Which meant he was now the Arcane Inquisitor's prisoner.

What had happened to Zadé? Hopefully she was alive, and Brooks had let her be.

As long as he was dreaming, he'd like one million gold crowns and Aliya's ability to shapeshift. He sighed.

The first thing to do was take stock of his injuries. Then figure out an escape plan.

Taking two deep breaths, he centered himself. His collarbone stung from the cut he'd received. His right shoulder ached, like it had been dislocated at one point. Rotating the joint, he frowned. Sore yes, but not currently out of place. His stomach…

Carefully poking and prodding, he found the edges of the gaping hole the sword had torn when Brooks stabbed him. The wound had been sutured together in what felt like a relatively straight line.

Interesting. His captors would hardly bother with that…unless the purpose was to keep him alive long enough to deliver him to Malkov.

He curled his fingers into fists. He'd kill himself before he gave the human king the satisfaction of doing so. He knew too much, was too valuable to be tortured, or it could undo all the elves had achieved in the war.

He couldn't sit up. At least, not without risking tearing his stitches and falling unconscious from pain. But he needed to come up with a plan to escape, and that started with figuring out where he was and how long he'd been out.

Rolling onto his stomach with a suppressed groan, he raised himself onto his hands and shifted his legs until he was on all fours.

The transport shook again, nearly upending his balance. He grunted as his muscles protested.

Grabbing the bench with one hand, he heaved himself to his knees and then on to his feet.

Clinging to the bars, he peeked through to get his first glimpse of the front of the wagon.

His legs went weak.

"Zadé?"

The moon elf spun around in the driver's seat, a smile bursting across her face. "Elsan! Iz about darned time yeh woke up. I was startin' ta think yeh were a goner!" She pulled back on the reins, bringing them to a halt.

"You threw me back here?"

She shrugged. "‘Twas faster than carryin' ya, or figurin' out how ta tie ya t' the front."

Fair. "So let me out."

"‘S not even locked." She waved toward the side of the carriage. "Get out yerself."

Oh. He hadn't even considered trying the door. His chest tightened as his face flooded with heat. What an embarrassing oversight.

Making his way to the exit, he limped down the stairs.

Zadé grabbed his hand and pulled him onto the driver's bench alongside her.

"You stitched me up?"

"No need ta' look so su'prised. I seen my share of battlefield medicine, ya know."

As the foremost general in the combined elven army, he had no doubt.

"Fixed yer shoulder ‘n nose, too."

That explained the sore joint and splitting headache. "Thank you."

"Welcome." She eyed him. "How ya feelin'? Yer lookin' a little peaked."

His stomach spasmed with a grumble. A wave of nausea, which may have been from hunger or pain, threatened to overwhelm him. "How long was I out?"

"Almost a full week." She handed him her wineskin. "We're nearly to Westcliff."

Raising an eyebrow, he studied the contents. "I don't know that alcohol is the best option for me right now."

"‘S all I got, and it'll help yeh feel better." Leaning toward him with a conspiratorial glint in her eye, she whispered, "Don't worry. It's the good stuff."

He smelled it. A flowery bouquet mixed with strawberries tickled his nose. Well, at least it was elven wine and not something harder. A week of drinking a beverage that was more fruit juice than alcohol explained the lack of slurring in Zadé's speech. With a sigh, he took two large mouthfuls before handing it back. "Thanks. So…want to tell me what happened? I thought we were both dead."

"Yeh nearly were." She frowned at him. "If it hadn't been fer me…"

He nodded. "That was a pretty hard blow you took to the head. I was worried it cracked your skull open."

"Bah!" She rapped the side of her head with her knuckles. "It takes a worse hit than that ta rattle these brains. I opened my eyes just as the human stabbed ye. He glanced around, then took off across th' road and into th' forest. Prob'ly after Princess."

Elessan tilted his head and shrugged. "Makes sense." If Aliya was on foot and traveling through the wilds, Brooks could hardly take the wagon after her. "I just hope she's fast enough to evade him."

Zadé waved him off. "Yeh worry too much, Elsan. Yeh taught her all about trackin'. She'll be long gone afore he finds her."

He shook his head. "No…that jewel in his head acts like a magical compass. He told me he could feel her no matter where she went, and he'd keep chasing her until he dumped her at Malkov's feet." Elessan shuddered. "We can't let him do that." He went to get up, but his ab muscles spasmed, slamming him back into the chair.

Zadé frowned. "We need ta find yeh a healer first. Yer practically dead, and'll be no good ta Princess if'n we do catch her."

He opened his mouth to argue but paused. She was right. He was hardly in any shape to stand, much less fight off Brooks and Malkov.

Zadé grinned as she gestured over her shoulder with her thumb. "Now that yer awake, mayhaps yeh can take a look at what th' human left us?"

Following her gesture, Elssan glanced at the small shelf behind them that he hadn't noticed before.

Stephen's pack sat like she'd just picked it off the ground and tossed it there as an afterthought. He grabbed it, upending the contents into his lap. Two more of the metal canisters tumbled out, along with a wooden box that flew open, throwing several silver balls across the bench.

Picking up one of the metallic spheres, he rolled it between his thumb and index finger. "These are the same things we dug out of Cressida. They killed her."

Turning his attention to the tubes, he glanced at Zadé. "What do they do, you think?"

She shrugged. "I s'pose we could twist the end cap and find out."

Shaking his head, he stuffed the cannisters back into the pack. Maybe the gnomes, the race of master tinkerers, would be able to tell him how to disarm one without setting it off.

Zadé frowned and picked up one of the metallic spheres. "Do you think these are worth anything?"

He collected the remaining balls and added them to the box. "Silver isn't cheap. If the metal's pure enough, it's probably valuable to a metalsmith." But they'd be heavy to carry in the meantime.

"Against weapons like these, we're gunna to need a lot more than th' sun elf army."

Elessan thought for a moment. "The mages. They promised Aliya aid in eliminating Malkov."

Zadé peered at him. "There aren't many magic users left in th' human realm, I don't think. The king's killed ‘em all. You ‘n Princess'll need more help."

She was right. Aliya would require all the allies she could find. "What about the dwarves?"

Zadé choked. "They ain't come out o' their mountains in…" She studied her fingers, counting for several seconds before shrugging and dropping her hands. "At least a few centuries. They're even more antisocial than you mountain elves."

"Unlike us," Elessan mumbled, half to himself, "they still have decent numbers." And rumors claimed they were formidable fighters. "A dwarven city used to exist near Aeth Esari, when it still stood. Vagkuldir. If they're still in the area, they might be willing to hear us out."

She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Elves and dwarves? Working together?"

Elessan bit his cheek and nodded. There had been a time, when he was a small child, when their two cities had maintained strong trade relations. "Give me the box."

She held it out to him. "Fer why?"

"I think we may have use for the silver after all."