Dragon Blood [Alonia's Queenslayer #2]

17

About two hours in, the snow storm had finally subsided, leaving behind beautiful snow-covered terrain. The mist was all but gone, so Eli could see the land stretching below and around them. They were facing the capital now, and only from such a distance could she see how big it actually was.

"Eli, we're almost there. Follow me now, and try to make as little noise as possible. I'll get rid of our footprints in the snow with magic."

Eli hurried up so that she was right behind Lyari, close enough to smell his perfume. His smell had a tinge of blood to it, making Eli scrunch up her nose.

Her feet were getting colder and colder by the minute, and she wasn't sure whether that was due to Lyari's magic wearing off, or spending so much time ankle-deep in snow. She ignored the uncomfortable sting of the icy cold and followed close behind Lyari, looking back every now and then and marveling at how their footsteps faded away after mere moments.

The three hours spent travelling in mostly pain and silence had given her quite a bit of time to think. She hadn't had much time to think since their arrival, since she was focused on either Ril or making sure the princess didn't get her head cut off. Which she wasn't all too successful at... Apart from reliving her failures over and over again, she thought about her apparent magic powers. The priestess back at the temple did mention that dragons were more than glorified horses. Eli had to admit that Avilith really was used as a mode of transportation more than anything. So Eli could only assume that her powers came from Avilith. When that thought entered her mind, she could feel Avilith's approval, so she knew she was right.

But what did it all mean? What did that mean for Eli specifically? It made her a lot stronger, that was certain. She did bond with Lyari a bit, but could she trust them enough to learn from them? Ril's experience with learning from Lyari wasn't at all positive, so it was doubtful. Did she even want to learn these powers? In all honesty, she was perfectly content with wielding a sword for the rest of her life. But Ejder would tell her to learn any skill which might be useful, so there was that. And she was just a little bit curious. Who wouldn't be? She could just suddenly slow her fall and light her hand on fire.

Eli's moments of reminiscing were swayed away when Lyari and her saw the tip of a snow-covered temple appear up on top of the slope they were climbing. Lyari slowed his footsteps, and Eli quietly followed him to an icy boulder some 50 meters away from the temple. There was a priestess standing at the entrance, waving to someone Eli couldn't see, facing away from Lyari and her. After a few moments, Eli could see a group coming up a slope, so her and Lyari quickly pulled back behind the boulder, out of their sight.

Both of them stayed perfectly still and perfectly quiet, and just listened.

"Welcome! Please, come in, and we will get you started on completing your mission. Only one remains after this, and so far, you've been the first to reach this step!" Eli assumed this was the priestess speaking.

"Really? That's amazing!" an excited male voice replied.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. We need to stay sharp," a female voice said. Afterwards, Eli heard retreating footsteps. A while after that, she dared to peak from their hiding place, to see that they had likely gone inside.

"Alright, what's the plan now?" Eli asked, looking at Lyari. Lyari either ignored her or didn't seem to have heard her in the first place – he was looking off at the slope the group had come from, mumbling something under his breath and doing some complex-looking hand motions. Eli really hoped she wouldn't have to do any of that with her magic.

"Alright. I've set the trap. Follow me, and be quick, I don't know how long they'll be in there."

Eli nodded and rushed behind Lyari without a word, noticing that her boots were now completely gone. The snow and ice below her feet send painful pangs for a while, but after several more steps her feet were completely numb.