The Hexhunt

Intent on the consummation of its vengeance, the Winnower did not notice Elemiel's approach until it was too late. It turned its ruined visage towards her just in time to witness the glittering half-moon of the axe blade descending towards its neck. Elemiel swung the weapon with all of her might, which honestly wasn't all that substantial. Luckily, the keen edge of the axe and the weight of the thing did most of the work.

The Winnower's head left the silver spinal column of its bony neck, and its body dropped to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. The creature gave no final cry or wail of despair. It simply collapsed onto the iced loam, inert.

"Is it dead?" Talina asked, rising to her feet on shaky legs. She prodded the half-melted skull of the Winnower with her toe.

"For good, this time," the Queen confirmed.

Elemiel dropped the axe and offered the Queen her hand, who accepted. Annabelle winced and rubbed her back, rolling her neck and wiggling her shoulders. "Ouch. The little fucker almost had me there. Good show, you two."

Elemiel and Talina shared a look. Yes, they had just helped to vanquish an ancient evil. But the oddest thing was perhaps hearing the Queen of Divony refer to the monster as a 'little fucker.'

"Elemiel!"

The elf turned at Asper's panicked voice. The knight burst through the woods, sword in hand, the blade dripping thick green blood.

"There you are," he said, but the relief on his face was short-lived when he saw the horror of metal and tattered flesh lying on the ground. "Gods cock!" he exclaimed, "are you injured?"

Elemiel looked down at herself. "I think I'm alright," she said, then turned to Talina. "You?"

"Yeah," the Sunlander said, "I'm good."

The elf grinned, despite herself. She was alive, the foe was vanquished, and her handsome reward was standing there in front of her, steel bared. "We're really going to have to work on your timing, darling," she said with a disapproving little tut.

Asper strode closer and pulled her into a kiss, and for a long moment the only thing Elemiel could focus on was the heavy weight of his hand on the small of her back. The smell of him, all leather and steel and battle, made her pulse dip and rise. She melted against him, fitting her body against the shape of his.

Someone cleared their throat, and Elemiel reluctantly stopped trying to shove her tongue down her lover's throat. They pulled apart, but not very far, just in time to witness a curious sight.

A woman with braided red hair piled on her head walked into the clearing. She was carrying a wicked, single-bladed axe in one hand, and the ichor-dripping head of the ouphe in the other. A smattering of freckles was splashed across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose, and her eyes were bright and blue and exceedingly clever.

"Wait--Queen Annabelle?" Elemiel said, her expression one of pure perplexion. She turned from the newcomer to look over her shoulder, and sure enough, the Queen was there as well.

"Auntie," Asper said, "why are there two of you?"

The Queen--the one carrying the axe and the decapitated monster's head--ignored the question. The two paladins in their golden armor stomped into the clearing after her, and Annabelle addressed them instead.

"There you two are. All is well?"

Loche nodded, wiping a bit of green blood from his forehead. "Aye. Asper killed the monster--bloody nice work, by the way, Sunstriker. You too miss Talina. We just finished mopping up the rest of the brigands."

The Queen received the news with a nod, then walked over to what remained of Ditherington's corpse. "I see you took care of the Duke," she said, speaking to her double. "Although this all seems a little more bloody than your usual style."

The Queen's doppelganger sighed, wiggled her fingers in a complicated pattern, and began to transform in front of Elemiel's eyes. The shape of her nose shifted, her hair grew darker, and the color of her skin changed. In a handful of moments, Foxglove stood where before the redheaded ruler of Divony had been.

"It was the elf who did this, actually," the sorceress said, waving at the dead duke. "The creature manifested just like we expected, but it was a little stronger than anticipated. It almost had me, but Elemiel and her musclebound friend here stepped in. Many thanks," the mage said, nodding respectfully at the two women.

"Not a problem," Elemiel replied, unable to come up with anything better to say at the moment. Having the legendary Foxglove herself thank you for saving her life wasn't something Elemiel had mentally prepared herself to deal with that morning.

"Any time," put in Talina.

"Well done indeed," the Queen said--the real one, apparently.

"I'm sorry. You were Foxglove this whole time?" Asper said, blinking at his aunt. "Or I suppose, Foxglove was you?"

"Very canny," Elemiel was forced to admit. "The Winnower would only manifest to kill the Queen, so you provided it with a false one as a target. But Your Majesty... where did you get the head?" She pointed at the ouphe dripping gore onto Queen Annabelle's boots.

"Oh yes," the Queen said absently, tossing the head aside. "I had to find something to occupy myself with while you all sprang Ditherington's trap didn't I?"

Foxglove sighed. "The point of me standing in as your double was to keep you out of danger, not so that you could hurl yourself into it."

The Queen shrugged. "In any case, the hunt is over now. Loche, be a peach, and help round up the dispersed nobles. We're going to take tea on the southeast terrace, I think. Now walk with me, Elemiel. I want to hear what your intentions are for my nephew."

Epilogue

Elemiel and Asper stood on the balcony of her bedroom, leaning against the balustrade and sipping champagne. Yvlynes spread out before the two of them, its sharp edges smoothed out by a fresh layer of moonstruck snow and the velvet blanket of the night. The Emerald Palace rose from the center of the capital, majestic and glittering with light like a jewel in a diadem.

The bubbles tickled Elemiel's nose as she sipped from her glass, and her eyes moved from the Palace down to something a bit nearer; the ivy-wrapped wall surrounding her yard.

"I'm glad you didn't have me thrown out," Asper said, intuiting her train of thought.

"It was a near thing," Elemiel replied. "Talina wanted to do it herself."

"And why didn't you let her?" the knight asked curiously.

Elemiel set her glass down, the crystal flute making a gentle chime on the stonework of the balcony's banister. "Why else," she replied, "but the promise of adventure." She bit her lip, then shrugged. "Also, I liked the way your bottom looked in your suit pants."

Asper laughed, and the warmth of the sound was more comforting than the fire crackling in the hearth inside.

"You fascinate me," he declared, his gray eyes sparkling with starlight.

The elf lowered her lashes, but the grin on her face was anything but demure.

"Elemiel," Asper warned, "if you keep staring at me like that, this'll be over before it starts."

"Oh, is that all it takes?" the elven woman purred, tracing her fingers along the bulge which had formed at Asper's groin. "One little look from me, and the mighty Sunstroker is undone? "

Asper wrapped his hands around the dip of her waist and drew Elemiel to him. "It's Sunstriker," he growled with false fierceness, "you vexing woman. And yes," he said, leaning in until his breath warmed the elf's cheek, "that's all it's ever taken."

Elemiel's heart fluttered in her breast at his words. It was the same feeling that set her blood to singing when she stepped up on stage, or when she drew a blade to face down an enemy on the trail. The spice of life itself; adventure.

The elf encircled the lean hardness of Asper's body with her arms. Her lips sought his, and the knight met her passion with his own. They kissed until they were breathless, then kissed a little more for good measure.

Wordlessly, Elemiel took Asper by the hand and led him towards the bed, shedding her shimmering nightgown as she walked. The elf smiled at the awestruck look on Asper's face. Some things never got old.

Adventure.

Elemiel had the wonderful feeling theirs had just begun.

~