The Elf Thief

Chapter 52: A New Beginning

Chapter 53

A New Beginning

With Dearekk’s arm slung around her shoulder, Sonya managed to help her friend out of the courtyard and into the field. Bodies lay strew everywhere, and in the distance, several wooden carts were being pulled. They seemed to be picking up injured soldiers, humans and elves alike.

“Sonya! Dearekk!” a voiced called out, drawing the elf’s attention away from the battlefield. Cormack and Tatiana were approaching them, a smile on their faces despite the bandages wrapped around their limbs and heads.

“We won, Sonya!” Cormack declared, beaming. A white bandage was wrapped around his head and right eye. “We won! The King’s men were winning for a while, one of them cut Tatiana’s leg and she went down.” He gestured to the bandage on Sonya’s best friend’s leg and the crutch she was leaning on. Blood was already seeping through the white linen, but she had a smile on her pale face despite her obvious fatigue.

“And then, your manticore friends swooped in and started picking off soldiers. Literally just lifting them up into the air and dropping them! And then the dwarves came! Then the Seer began to talk and the entire battle went silent. He said if they laid down their weapons they wouldn’t be harmed and most of them did! It was amazing!”

Dearekk was the one who responded. “Good,” he said. “The King is dead.”

Sonya suddenly felt very small. She had killed him. She had killed an unarmed man. Sure, he had been evil and would have died anyway. But did she really have the right to be the judge, jury and executioner all at once? And did she want her friends to know that she was the one who had killed him? The answer came to her at once. She didn’t. She didn’t want anyone to know. She didn’t want to go down in history as the elf who killed the King.

She was trying to think of what to say when something Dearekk said interrupted her thoughts.

“Fell on his own sword, straight through his throat. Kind of ironic, right? In the end, no one really got revenge.”

Her head jerked up and her eyes met his. In that moment, she realized that he knew. He knew that she had killed his father, but he also knew her well enough to understand that she wouldn’t want anyone else to know. And for that, she silently thanked him.

Her friends looked skeptical, but took the information without question. Tatiana finally spoke up. “There were heavy casualties on both sides,” she said, her voice soft and weak.

A sharp breath came in from Dearekk. “Who did we lose?” he asked quietly.

“Jehue. And Zabin.”

Sonya couldn’t hold back the choked sob that was caught in her chest. Zabin. Kind, bright Zabin. Gone forever. He knew. He’d known that she was in love with Dearekk before she did.

Nodding shortly, Dearekk opened his mouth to speak and the closed it again. After clearing his throat, he tried again. “Did they die bravely?” Sonya noticed the tears in his eyes.

“Very,” Cormack responded. Very gently, he looked from Dearekk to Sonya and then to Tatiana. “There’s a medical tent at the edge of the forest, I think we should all make our way there soon.”

Sonya found her voice. “You head over. We’ll catch up.”

Nodding, Cormack didn’t wait a moment before scooping Tatiana up in his arms, a small shriek coming from the blonde elf. As they walked off, Sonya could hear her telling him to put her down and him adamantly refusing.

“They’ll be married before next spring,” Dearekk muttered, pulling a slightly surprised laugh from Sonya.

The sound of someone clearing their throat behind them caused both the half-elf and the elf the whirl around. There stood the Seer, a soft smile on his face. “Hello,” he said.