The Eighth Warden Bk. 02 Ch. 17-18

"I didn't feel anything," she replied.

"Let's go get my mirror, so you can see it," Katrin said. "Why did it show up already?" she asked Corec.

"I think it's because I cast it the right way this time. Yelena said the itching and the delay were never supposed to be part of it."

"Then you've skipped the worst part already," Treya told Sarette. "Let's find Katrin's mirror, and then I can teach you to hide the rune."

"Oh, yes. I don't know how I'm going to explain this to Gregor."

They led her away, leaving Corec alone with Ellerie.

"Thank you for dealing with the red-eyes," she said. "I don't think they would have listened to me."

He shrugged. "I was the one they were after, so it was my responsibility. I just don't understand why Prince Rusol would be working with a demon. There's got to be something else going on, but for now, I need to decide what to do. I'll be putting everyone in danger if I stay here."

"If you go, then you'll have to fight the next group by yourself," Ellerie pointed out. "I hate to admit it, but we're stronger together. Did you see what Shavala did? And Treya...I've never seen anything like that before. If we stay far away from Larso, this prince of yours can't send a group much larger than this one, and now we know Treya can stop them."

"What if he's smarter next time, and sends archers?"

"I can only cast my arrow shield on myself, but when we get back to Snow Crown, I'll see if there are any spell books for sale. I might be able to find a version that can cover us all. Maybe you can learn it too."

Corec nodded. It was a good idea. "Well, I suppose we should help the others finish packing."

The two of them walked back in almost-companionable silence.

#

Leena pressed on through the underbrush, following the nearly silent elves. When Dalanis, the leader of the scouts, had said she'd learn more at their camp, she'd assumed it was no more than a few hours away. That had been seven days ago, and they were still traveling east. She was supposed to be going south.

Were they spiriting her away, as the old stories suggested? She had a hard time believing that—they weren't as scary in person as they'd been in the tales she'd heard as a child. More than anything, they seemed embarrassed about not being able to speak to her in a language she could understand.

She could simply Travel elsewhere, of course, but she had no way to tell them that. They didn't know enough of the trade tongue to discuss anything more than simple concepts. On their first day together, she'd collapsed from exhaustion after only a few hours of brisk hiking through the forest, but she hadn't been able to explain why. Dalanis had understood the word magic, but he seemed to think someone else had done something to her.

They'd been concerned, and had gone at an easier pace the next day, but it hadn't been necessary. Without the fatigue that came from Seeking and Traveling, she'd been able to keep up with them easily. Or, at least, she could keep up when the ground was flat and the way was clear. The elves seemed to be picking their path at random, and they were just as likely to scramble up a brush-covered hill as they were to take an established game trail.

Each day, Leena had talked to Dalanis about letting her go south instead, preferably on her own, but he was insistent that she come back to their camp first.

"How much farther is it?" she asked him once again.

"Short," he replied, but this time he added, "Much short." That was new. Perhaps they were finally getting close.

And then, without any warning, they were there. The small but bustling village of wooden huts and log cabins wasn't what Leena had been expecting as a camp, but this was obviously the place Dalanis had been looking for. The scouts split away from the group one by one, calling out greetings to others in the camp, and soon only Dalanis was left. The elven onlookers watched Leena curiously, but without surprise, as if outsiders were a common sight.

Dalanis waved to catch someone's attention. A moment later, another elven man approached. This one was older, with graying hair, but he wore an outfit similar to the scouts. He spoke to Dalanis in Elven before turning to Leena with a smile.

"Welcome to Terril Forest and the western border camp, Leena," he said in trade tongue. "My name is Gylvaren. Dalanis tells me he found you in the dragon's territory?"

"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't know. I was told it would be safe."

"Yes, the dragon is becoming a problem. You managed to make it quite far inside its territory, so perhaps you would have remained unnoticed, but it's best to be safe."

"Are you the human talker?"

Gylvaren laughed. "I apologize. With the dragon roaming so near the forest, our rangers have been spread thin, and we haven't been able to include translators in every patrol. I speak several human languages. Not Sanvari, I'm afraid."

"You know my people?" she asked.

"When I was young, I spent four years outside the forest on my travels. I didn't stay long in Sanvar, though—I couldn't get used to the heat. But the food was...interesting."

"I'm on my way home. I've been trying to explain that I need to go south, but Dalanis insisted I come here instead."

Gylvaren spoke to Dalanis in Elven again before turning back to her. "He wanted to provide you with directions away from the dragon. He couldn't leave his patrol area, but he didn't feel he could adequately describe a safe route through the forest for you to travel on your own. He brought you here because there's a road you can follow. It leads down to the southwest border camp, and then on to South Corner."

"Oh," she said, then turned to Dalanis. "Thank you." He'd mentioned the word road several times, but she hadn't understood what he meant.

He nodded, grinning back at her.

"You're welcome to stay here for the night," Gylvaren said. "Do you need anything before you go?"

"I was planning to resupply in South Corner."

"That's still a long way from here, perhaps ten days if you make good time. Are you certain you'll have enough food?"

"I can go faster. I'm a Traveler."

"Yes?" he said, tilting his head to the side. It was obvious he didn't understand the emphasis she'd used.

"I can teleport."

"I do not know this word," Gylvaren said.

That made sense. The word teleport was Zidari in origin, and trade tongue didn't have a translation for it. Probably no trader had ever had need for one.

"It's magic," she said. "It lets me travel a long distance in an instant. That's how I ended up in the dragon's territory."

"I've never heard of that before. I didn't realize you were a mage." He said something to Dalanis, who also seemed surprised.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I tried to describe it, but I couldn't find the right words."

"And this magic will let you reach South Corner quickly?"

"Yes. I can show you if you'd like."

"Please."

Leena Traveled.

In the instant of blackness during her teleport, she realized she'd made a mistake. She'd only planned to move a few feet to demonstrate the skill, so she hadn't sought out a safe place first, but she'd become so used to Seeking a target before Traveling, she hadn't bothered to fix a firm location in her mind.

She ended up five feet above the steep, thatched roof of a cottage. She landed with a thump, but the thatching held together and she rolled down the roof. She hit the ground face-first with a louder thump, barely managing to get her arms out in time to break her fall. She lay there for a moment, trying to get her thoughts in order, then slowly climbed to her feet. Her left arm gave a jolt of pain when she used it to push herself up, and her whole body ached, but she managed to stand.

Luckily, no one had seen her fall—she'd ended up in an alley.

She trudged to the street, then stared in surprise. This wasn't part of the elven camp. It was a human town, and a big one at that, judging by how busy it was. A few buildings to the south, the street intersected with another, even larger one, full of people walking, riding, or driving wagons. There was no sign of the forest anywhere.

"Excuse me," she said in trade tongue to an elderly woman who was walking past, carrying a bucket of water from a communal well, "could you tell me what town this is?"

The woman gave her an odd look. "It's South Corner, of course," she said, before going on her way.

Leena stared after her, stunned. From what she remembered from her map, South Corner must have been at least two hundred miles away from the elven border camp. She'd Traveled farther before, of course, but never to somewhere she'd actually wanted to go. Appearing fifteen feet above the ground was hardly something to brag about, but she'd just saved herself several days of travel, making up for the time she'd lost hiking through the forest.

Then she took stock of herself. She'd left her pack and her supplies in the elven camp, and her left arm hurt too much to move it.

Her coin pouch was still safe inside her coat, at least. It might be enough to get her home—she was far enough south now that she wouldn't need as much cold weather gear.

With a sigh, she looked up and down the street for a temple. Before she did anything else, she needed to find a healer.