Stranger (The Aevyanthis Chronicles, Book One)

Chapter Five

Chanting. She could hear chanting. There were a hundred gatherers, cloaked in shadow as thick as night. Their voices spoke in unison, all repeating the same words over and over again.

"A'eth daa strithe takkalla, Belial."

Those words bore their way painfully through her mind, burrowing deep inside her until she heard them even when she covered her ears. In the middle of the circle they formed, she could see death.

***

The next day was spent travelling in silence. Emm had no desire to converse with her mysterious companion, who flew through the trees above her in raven form. After last night, he was doing everything he could to avoid her; his gaze never strayed too close to her, and whatever conversation they shared was small and forced.

Instead, she focused on Luke and Sara. She had spent the night studying the map, memorizing the name of every village and town, every forest and mountain. But in the back of her mind, Emm couldn't help but think of what fate awaited her in the Citadel. What made Yasashiku so desperate to get her to the sage? She heard the pain in his voice, the look in those dark eyes. Did he really hate his own kind that much, to hate himself?

"Wait."

Yasashiku's voice broke through the music of the forest.

Emm faltered mid step. "What is it?"

"Someone is coming. I can feel it."

She glanced around. The swaying branches and rustling shrubs filled her with a sudden dread; the birds had fallen silent around them, their songs now hushed.

"Hello?" she called. "Who's out there?"

As Emm turned around, she noticed something glint in the sun. Standing before her was a man. Underneath his thick cloak, she could see that he was dressed in a simple leather tunic. In one hand he gripped polished yew, the other, a nocked arrow. She took a step back, breath caught in her throat, ice in her veins. The arrow was readied and pointing at her heart.

"You are trespassing," he stated. "Answer me truthfully, lest my arrow find its home in your chest. How did you come into my forest without my knowing?"

"What will you have me do?" Yasashiku's voice was in her ear. "Shall I kill him?"

"No!" she gasped.

"No?" The man repeated, narrowing his eyes.

"I'm lost," she said quickly. "I have no idea how to find my way home. I didn't realize I was trespassing!"

"Lies. Everyone in your man village knows not to venture into the forest. To have travelled this far, and without my consent-"

"I'm not lying," she insisted. "And I'm not from your 'man' village."

As soon as the words left her mouth, she cursed herself.

"It is not my village..."

The man took a step closer, throwing off his hood. Emm caught her breath; his wavy brown hair was tied in a ponytail that exposed his long, slender, pointed ears.

"Need I say anything else?" he challenged.

"You're... an elf?" she breathed.

"And you're a human," he replied bluntly, pulling the hood back up.

"I didn't realize," she explained, thinking quickly. "Where I come from, you're very... rare."

He scoffed. "I'm sure that the late king of Agon had seen to that."