The Elvin Chronicles, Book 1: Retreat ♛

Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

~Rose~

I raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Nice bonuses." I said dryly. "But I think I can handle a few orcs better than I can a war with the Fire Dwarves. And the mountain territory, I can handle that too, though I won't like it."

~Delanie~

Fezec broke in."You know, if the Fire Dwarves are under the control of the Dark King, or Conton and Beyur, whichever one, They are powerless to stop us. But, Delanie, with you looking so much like the elf princess, the Dark King and company would arrest you."

I took a deep breath. "Fezec, I am the elf princess. But I will have you executed if you tell anyone about it. Understand?"

He gulped, then nodded, wary of the small dagger at my side, and the quiver of arrows slung across my back.

Zimrith eyed Fezec with suspicion, then shrugged. "So Fezec, which do you prefer: Orcs or Fire Dwarves?"

~Rose~

I held my breath. What would this human say. We had just met him, and yet we were putting one of the greatest decisions of our mission on his shoulders. I wasn't sure what the others were thinking, but I thought it was kind of silly.

"Orcs." Fezec replied and I exhaled. He chose right.

~Delanie~

I looked at Rose in relief. Fezec had chosen right! Not like we would have gone into Fire Dwarf territory anyway, but it was nice to know we weren't lugging him around against his will. "So orcs it is!" Said emerging from his tent, a grin across his face. I smiled at Zimrith's enthusiasm.

~Rose~

I packed my spell books into my satchel, and strapped my staff on my shoulder. I was nervous. First about Fezec, whom we just met and could very likely kill us in our sleep and second our rocky climb, and third the orcs. With all that in our way of Fervhan, I was pretty edgy.

~Zimrith~

I was a little nervous as I packed my bags and loaded them on to my horse, Hecate, a black white spotted mare. My cheerfulness, just like my hope, was short lived when Delanie made a certain annoucment.

~Delanie~

I stuffed my belongings into my satchel, knowing that the climb up the mountain could very well be the end of all four of us. I had a feeling that everyone else knew it, too.

Fezec couldn't stand the silence anymore. "How long do you think it'll take?"

Rose sighed. "Depending on how long we survive, about a week or two." When she finished, Zimrith gulped. He didn't like long trips. Not like any of us did, but he absolutely despised them. "Two weeks?! Are you kidding me? Two whole weeks of trudging in knee-deep snow? I'd rather die than do that!"

Sarcastically, I said, "Yeah, me too, and doom the rest of us all!" then I got serious. "Really, Zimrith-you'd rather die than help defeat Conton, Beyour and the Dark King?" I smiled." And if you die, you'd at least die with honor, not cowerdice."

Rose knew what I was trying to do. "And if we succeed, you'd get medals of valor and bravery! Think about it!"

Zimrith was quiet for a minute then said, "I know what you guys ar playing at. But I'll do it, if we get rid of that dark scum that's taking everything away from us!"