Way of Tyrants and Snakes

X | Cobalt

     "How far away is the capital again?" Lyrael inquired, looking over at Tsarra, who had dropped from her horse a bit ago to stretch her legs.
Tsarra chewed on her lip as she thought. "If I remember, it takes a couple weeks on foot from Allsgorath, so maybe a week and a half on horseback?"
     Wynn chimed, "The next stop on our path is Steelcoast."
     Lyrael searched the forest around them. Around the time Tsarra had slid from her horse, the forest changed. Fog had creeped in to cover the forest floor and sunlight didn't penetrate the trees above them as much, which made it difficult to see. Unlike before, however, there were no animals. No birds chirping, no critters scavenging around the forest floor. There was, however, a slight, magical hum to the air around them. Besides that, it was eerily silent.
     "Do you guys feel that?" Lyrael asked suddenly, looking between her friends. Her eyes swept around the forest again. It was difficult for her to consider herself a member of their group now, as she was still slightly leery of them.
     "Feel what?" Soni glanced at her with a brow raised.
     Lyrael looked at Soni, and then at Wynn, who shook his head as a response.
     Tsarra shrugged, looking around. "I don't feel anything."
She eyed the trees again and murmured beneath her breath. "Okay... guess I'm the only one." Something is off. Why am I the only one noticing?
     After about ten minutes of riding, the group came to an abrupt halt when they heard voices in the distance. Exchanging alarmed looks, Lyrael wrapped them in her magic and they blinked from sight, horses and all.
     Tsarra looked over at her, a single question in her eyes, and Lyrael nodded. She slid from her horse, handing Tsarra Nightheart's lead rope as she motioned in the direction of the voices. She pulled her bow from her shoulder and wrapped herself in her magic as she stepped from the bubble she concealed them with.
     With a quick glance over her shoulder, she stepped off the path and smiled when she didn't see her friends behind her. She didn't often get to see her own illusion magic at work.
It took about five minutes of walking to find the source. She crouched at the edge of a cliff, peering through some bushes at what looked like to be a ruin. There was a dilapidated stone tower to her left, looking too deteriorated to even be around. It looked like it would go crumbling if there was even one strong gust of wind.
     To the right was another large building, a story or two smaller than the tower, and was nearly in the same state. However, it looked stable enough to use as a base, which was exactly what it was being used as. Peppered around the ruin were tents, horses, and campfires. Then there were soldiers, and based on the flags around the ruin, they were the royal army, Zaos' men, to be sure.
     "Intriguing. Very... intriguing."
     Lyrael froze, the hair on the back of her neck raising as she turned her head, seeing a man standing about ten feet to her right. He had shoulder length black-red hair, dark green eyes, and a flowing red and green cloak.
     She stayed silent, pressing her lips together. He can't see me.
     The man dug his hand into the collar of his cloak, withdrawing a golden locket. Despite the distance between them, she could easily make out the wolf on the front, with tiny green jewels for eyes. For a moment, she thought it looked quite similar to her own locket. He smiled widely, his green eyes glittering.
     "See this? This is imbued with a powerful spell, one that lets me see the unseen."
Panic tore through her and she turned, darting away from him. She made it only five paces before something snapped around her wrist, her magic instantly fading away like the tide receding.
     Something clamped her other wrist and she cried out when hot-white pain flashed up her arms. Weakness flowed through her and her legs suddenly felt like jelly. Dropping to the ground, her vision blurred as she tried to make out what was clamped on her wrists.
     "Cobalt. An Elves' only weakness."
     The edges of her vision darkened and as she crumpled to the forest floor, she watched him crouch before her. Her eyes fell on the clasp that kept his cloak on, choking when she recognized it.
     It was a dragon.
     The symbol of the royal family.
     Her brother.