Horn

Chapter 2. Elis

"Hey, Horn, it's only thirty yards away. Thirty yards! What happened to you?"

Elis' silver hair was a mess because of the wind, but it didn't affect his annoyingly joyous mood one bit. The bull's eye looked like a red spot from where we stood. It was laughing at me.

I could easily hit a target twice as far while riding a horse. Normally. Today, my body was just not in tune with my mind. Maybe it was the wind.

"Lowri's mead must not agree with me..." I mumbled an excuse and lowered the bow.

My performance got worse and worse with each shot. Elis shook his head. His dimples deepened with another smile.

"Forget it. Why don't we stop practicing and do something more fun?"

"Something like what?"

"You know Adelmo will be back today right? I heard they have formed a new team to retrieve the Frost Shield, and they need volunteers."

"Again with that?" I groaned. "I thought Adelmo has given up? We have no idea where Odreagor and his harpy are. We're just wasting time and momentum by staying here for too long..."

"Hey, don't get mad at me. I'm not the one who makes the decision." Elis raised his hands in a feigned surrender.

"He is your brother, isn't he? Why don't you give him some advice?"

"Me? Advice?" Elis doubled over as if it was the funniest thing he had ever heard. "You think Adelmo, the pride of House Salazar, the Golden Lion, would listen to me? Come on, you must admit it sounds funny."

I huffed without an answer. I was still not familiar with what Elis and the elves considered funny. I didn't even know elves had a sense of humor, but who was I to say?

Nyana, or Horn, as Elis had insisted on calling me didn't know humor. What did a creature like me need it for? I was created, in the most basic sense of the word, by the enchantress Cia of Nueleth. Her name spelled death and destruction to a lot of people. No one knew where she came from, how old she was, or what she was exactly. They just told each other to stay away from Nueleth.

That place suited her, I must admit, with all the swarms and lurking creatures. It used to be my home.

I didn't have a childhood, not really, and Cia was not much of a mother...

I stood in the middle of the field with Elis when a group of riders approached us. Adelmo was in front with his golden armor, looking like the sun itself. He was our great leader, the young Elf King who had taken back Elunore—the first elven capital—from the wraiths after a war between the two kinds about three centuries ago. The city was nothing but ruins now, but Elunore's history and what it symbolized still made it the most sacred place to the elves.

Adelmo's ambition didn't stop there. He had planned to capture the wraith king and conquer his kingdom for quite some time. It would be sweet revenge, but on top of everything, it would clear Adelmo's path down south, straight into the heart of Maana Thalor—the Shadow Walker's nest.

Adelmo stopped in front of us. His horse jumped on its hind legs, creating a cloud of dust that covered Elis and me.

"Your grace." I bent my back to the elf king while Elis was busy coughing his lungs out.

"What an entrance..." He spoke through the tears.

Adelmo's eyes were on his brother for a minute before going back to the sun. I believed the man knew how majestic he looked.

"We have located where the Frost Shield was. Old Odreagor couldn't run this time..." He proudly stated.

"Your Grace," I cut him off, "If you allow me..."

"No, Nyana, I know what you're about to say, but the Shield is important. I would not allow it to slip through my hands again. Elis, I need you to lead a team for me."

"Your Grace," I sighed and glanced back at Elis. "If that is your decision, of course, I couldn't disobey it, but I would like to accompany Elis."

"This mission would be Elis' alone. He needs to learn how to be a leader. You, on the other hand, need to go through the plans for the new Eastern Quarter with me."

"Sire, the rebuilding surely can wait a few more months. We are still in the middle of a war..."

"It cannot wait."

That ended the conversation. Just as suddenly as when he had appeared, Adelmo turned his horse around and left. I looked at Elis. His mouth slowly spread into a wide grin.

It was not that I didn't trust him. Elis was very gifted with combat skills, but he didn't like to use his brain often, even when he was blessed with a great one.

"Elis..."

"Oh, don't worry about me, Horn. Didn't you see that? My brother trusted me. He would not give me that important mission if he didn't think I could handle it."

"Sure, you could handle it, but you're careless, and in battles, being careless means..."

"Death, ya, I know... Could you just have a little faith in me?" His eyes pleaded and I found my heart softened a little.

"I have faith in you."

It was not very convincing but Elis didn't care.