“My thoughts exactly,” Rosalie said. “I will speak with Xander, and we will keep you and the others up-to-date. And Honor?”
I could feel a yawn coming on, but I was unable to hold it back.
“Get some rest. You look peaky.”
I knew the warning was more than just tiredness. I needed to get to the ley line soon.
“I will,” I promised.
“Take care.”
The mirror went dark, and I leaned back in the chair. Rosalie was right. I needed to get some sleep. I pulled out the worn leather map and laid it across the bench, tracing my finger along the dotted lines. I had strayed too far from the nearest ley line, and I could feel exhaustion settle into my body. And I was dangerous when exhausted. I had traveled farther west than I’d thought. The closest ley line was the Northern Woods. It was time to return home.
CHAPTER FIVE
The cold earth penetrated through my clothes as I lay prone on the ground, staring up at the black cave wall above me. Smoke from the fire burned my eyes as the pine needle kindling caught and a good size blaze erupted. I’d traveled through the day, avoiding all the main roads, heading deep into the mountains. I’d found a small cave that ran over an outlying ley line that originated from the Northern Woods. By the time I’d arrived, I was sweating, trembling, and struggling to stand upright. I’d collapsed onto my knees and pressed my forehead onto the earth, and then waited for my curse to take over.
Little by little, I could feel my soul reach deep into the ground and take strength from the earth. My sisters had learned to tap into the magic of the earth through these ley lines of power and they would use them to amplify their magic. Not me. I needed it to survive.
Trembling, I waited for my soul to fully connect. For the warmth to spread through my body as I fed on magic. I wasn’t sure what else to call the exchange my body went through. I knew it could look odd to a passerby as my body slipped into a hypothermic sleep. For at this moment, I was in my cold stage. I had to leave Rumple outside. I was scared that I’d siphon all the magic from him if I lost control. I’d hung him in a tree a good thirty paces away to keep watch.
I closed my eyes and finally let myself rest.
Rest didn’t come, for not more than a candle mark later, I was awoken by bawdy name-calling as Rumple laid into an intruder. “Back off before I cut you down into kindling.” He was better than any guard dog.
I pulled my bow out and pressed my back against the cave wall, scanning the woods. Rumple was still where I’d left him hanging from a tree, but I couldn’t see who he was talking to. But he had sensed them—which meant elves.
Two short whistles resembling a native bird pierced the air. I grinned and placed my fingers to my mouth and responded with the return call of three trills. Lowering my bow, I stepped out of the cave and waited for the scouts to materialize out of the woods. It was always a treat to watch their magic at work. An elf stepped out from behind a thin ash tree. Impossible as it may seem, they were able to cloak their bodies behind something so small. He wore the green formfitting uniform of the scouts, with feather patterns running along his arms, giving them the semblance of wings. His brown hair was braided along the sides and left long down his back. To his right, a beautiful elven woman with hair like fire appeared from the underbrush. She didn’t lower her bow and still had it trained on me. Silver tree roots ran up her legs and folded into the trunk that connected with her torso. Her affinity. Earth.
I turned back to the first scout with the feathers on his uniform. “Greetings, Captain Einan.” I nodded my head toward the beautiful red-haired elf at his side. “Rulah.”
Rulah’s eyes narrowed, and in that micro expression I could tell how much she hated me.
I took a deep breath. Glancing around the woods, I began to pick out the faint shimmer by the rocks, the second one by an evergreen, a third by the small stream, and I turned to look behind me and above the cave. I called out to each of the scouts. “Greetings to you as well; Aflin, Ardax, Corill, and Taris.”
“Greetings, Honor Eville.” Einan let out the rarest of smiles. “It seems your skills are as keen as ever. To detect an elf in hiding, but to also identify them by name . . . is quite a rare talent.”
“I was trained well,” I said, leaning my bow against the side of the cave wall. “Your brother, Lorn, spared no expense.”
“Pity he couldn’t train our other younglings as well as he trained you.” Einan waved his hand, and the four other scouts appeared, dropping their magic and revealing themselves. Ardax was the elf who had scaled the rocky outcropping, and he nimbly leapt down in close proximity in an attempt to startle me.
“We don’t need Lorn, or the girl,” Ardax snapped. He brushed past me roughly, his shoulder purposely nailing me in the back. His uniform didn’t have any markings to identify his gifts. He was one of three elves that chose not to showcase their affinity.
My anger started to rise to the surface as I bit back my irritated retort. I got along with almost all the elves in the Northern Woods except for two, and they both happened to be here. Ardax and Rulah.
Einan barked out an order in elvish and Ardax moved to stand by Rulah, his head cocked and chin raised. I had a feeling that if Ardax had the chance, he would kill me in my sleep and not get a spot of blood on his uniform.
“I’m surprised you would come this close to our home and not visit us,” Einan said.
“I wasn’t sure of my welcome since I’m not with Lorn,” I said warily, keeping an eye on Ardax.
“You, Honor, will always be welcome. Come. Rest. It is almost time for the Affinity Celebration. You can be our guest.”
I had completely forgotten about the elven ceremony. “I would enjoy that,” I said.
Einan raised his hand, and the scouts fell back, slowly disappearing into the woods behind him. He paused and studied the double-headed axe hanging from the tree. He could sense the magic emanating from it.
“What are you looking at, long-face?” Rumple spoke up.
Einan gave me a questioning look.
“It’s a long story,” I said.
“All I have is time, and I do love a good story,” he replied.
After I put out my fire, gathered my pack, and slung Rumple over my shoulder, we were off, running at a brisk pace. For most, this would be an impossible speed to keep up with, and even I was barely able to.
“So he was a dwarf?” Einan asked after I filled him in.
“Still a dwarf, you no good maggot-eater,” Rumple challenged.
“My apologies,” Einan corrected, his voice filled with regret. “It must be the lack of beard that had me confused.”
“I’ll have you know, I had one of the most glorious beards. It was long and could hold many surprises,” Rumple said.
Einan gave me a questioning look, asking me to expound.
“Apparently, their beards have pockets,” I explained.
Einan threw his head back and laughed. It was so unexpected that it caused scouts to suddenly halt. Einan leaned forward and grabbed his chest. “I like him,” Einan added as his laughter died down.
“Well, the feeling is not mutual,” Rumple grumbled. “Stupid elves. Should be out doing something useful like making shoes, not running through the woods like fairies.”