Tales of Fire and Ruin

Oleander

I was convinced I'd roll the man over and find a stiff, frozen corpse.

The only corpse I'd wanted to handle today was a dragon's, but unfortunately, we couldn't always get what we wanted. This poor bastard in the snow sure didn't.

During our trek up the mountains, Endris had told me of a peculiar phenomenon that made victims of the cold take off their clothes in their confusion, believing they were burning instead of freezing. This wouldn't be the first person found stark naked in the snowy valley if I could believe Endris. Obviously, I hadn't believed him. I'd laughed at him. Should've known he was serious because he always was.

I trudged through the snow towards the man. When I reached his side, I hooked my arms under his armpits and pulled until his legs were out of the lake. The man wasn't stiff yet, but his skin was icy-cold to the touch. When I pressed my fingers to his neck, I felt a faint pulse.

I raised a brow. "Really? You're not dead?"

Well, shit. This highly complicated matters. If he was dead, that'd be it. I'd done everything I could by dragging him out of the water, and I'd be free to hunt my dragon and fetch the body after. Now, I was in a moral predicament. Depending on who you asked, either risking letting the dragon go or not helping this man was the wrong choice.

I stared off into the distance. No dragon in sight. Perhaps I'd been wrong and it could fly even with tears in its wing's membrane. I could try to find my way back to its nest and wait for it to return there.

I was obligated to try. If I lost my dragon now, it could be months before I had saved enough coin for another attempt. I'd make my entire family homeless if my sisters twirling their hair and batting their eyelashes was no longer enough to keep debt collectors patient. A lot to risk for one stranger who was likely to die.

I stood and turned away from all-but-corpse in the snow. I took exactly two steps before guilt, as if tethering me to this man, made me stop. With a deep sigh, I turned back.

"Guess the dragon's long gone now, and all the other people I have to save are far away. You're in luck."

The man wasn't heavy, so I hoisted him on to my shoulder. His arms flopped against my back, while I made an eye sweep of the rock walls. There were plenty of caves embedded in the weather-worn stone. I picked one at random. I could only hope the one I chose wasn't owned by wild animals whose mother had never taught them to share.

The cave I entered smelled musty, but not animal-musty. I noticed ash scars on the stone from past fires, which meant I wasn't the first one here. It looked good enough. I unclasped my cloak and carefully wrapped it around the man. When I lifted his head to put the hood on, his long hair shifted to the side. I dropped him when I saw his ears. 

Pointed ears.

I reached for my bow and readied an arrow. With a drumming heart, I aimed the arrowhead at the man's forehead.

I had read books about the war between humans and elves. 

Ages ago, the Starcross woods, far north of the Serpentine mountains, were the largest and bloodiest battlefield known to humankind. Elves were monsters who had started attacking travellers unprovoked, using them as blood sacrifices in their rituals. They relished in leading lost human children into the swamp with pretty lights and watching them drown. King Bertram the third picked up his sword, gathered his soldiers, and put an end to their reign of terror. Ever since the war ended and humans won, the elves had vanished like nightmares of an age long past. They only existed in cautionary tales of a weary father to his children now: 'quiet or the elves will find you and carve your heart out'