Inheritance

Part 2. Chapter 45: Bones

Kori and Francis continued riding toward Alanheim under a sheet of pouring rain. Kori's face was downcast and miserable as she rode at the back of a horse with her arms looped around a knight's torso. Francis' face was indignant, angry, and defiant as he rode. He was chatty and rude; he was trying to get under her skin.

"You were trying to redeem that Arrozan boy, weren't you?" Francis asked her with a sly grin. "I heard about it on the way out of Castle Maribel. You really failed, huh? He massacred the entire ballroom! I guess you just can't clean a dirty slate, huh?"

Terrance was looking at Kori in disbelief about the elf's disrespect. He waited for an order from Kori to do something about it.

Kori let the elf go on for a few moments longer, and then she could listen no more.

Kori nodded to Terrance, and he returned her nod.

All twenty soldiers came to a dead stop after Terrance shoved his hand downward with an open palm.

The only motion was Terrance dismounting and walking over to Francis' horse. "Get down, elf."

Francis was sweating despite the freezing weather. "Why?"

Terrance didn't answer. Instead, he dug his fingers into the elf's arm and dragged him down from atop the horse. Francis grunted in pain as he tumbled to the ground next to the horse.

Terrance unsheathed his blade and put it to the elf's neck. "Do not disrespect the Redeemer."

Kori used the stirrup to step down from her own horse. She straightened her clothes and approached the elf with a sneer. Francis lowered his eyes as she looked upon him with scorn, "do not ever talk about Eory like that in my presence. I swear I will order you to be killed if you do."

Francis gulped.

He cleared his throat and chuckled. "Alright, I'm sorry. I won't insult your fairy friend."

Kori smiled smugly at the trembling elf. But then she realized what an arrogant fool she was being. What am I doing? I need to make this man my friend. He has to vouch for us to his queen.

She smoothed her orange hair back and commanded Terrance, "release him."

The knight sheathed his blade and reluctantly stepped away from the elf.

Kori forced a smile and said as sweetly as she could muster, "sorry about that. I'm just... I don't like people talking about my... I don't like people talking about him like that. I promise I won't threaten you again."

Francis climbed to his feet with an indignant expression and reluctantly admitted, "yes, well... I suppose I shouldn't have been taunting you. It's just that—it's pouring like crazy and you still insist on continuing to ride!"

"We must get to Alanheim as quickly as possible." Kori replied tersely. "Suck it up. We still have to go around the Arbor mountains, and that's going to take days."

Francis puffed his cheeks out angrily. He had an angry retort ready, of course.

"Are you mad? Traveling in the freezing rain will only make us all catch cold and die! Why are all who are not elf so foolish? I swear..." Francis went on and on.

Kori listened with slow, sarcastic blinks. She tried her hardest to be polite and listen to his concerns.

She was about to interrupt when she could take no more, but something captured her attention—a distant silhouette standing in the misty, pouring rain.

Francis retreated to the background of her vision and hearing as all of her concentration was drawn to the silhouette.

This way. The silhouette was loud in her mind—overcoming Francis' voice.

Hypnotically, Kori began walking toward the shadowy figure in the distance. The knights and Francis watched her go in confusion. They all thought she had some reason for moving away from them; they waited to see what would happen.

When she had gone too far, they realized there was something wrong with her.

The knights were calling her name, but she couldn't hear them.

She began sprinting--her boots stomping through wet grass--and the knights pursued toward the unknown silhouette.

Francis followed her as well.

The knights reached out and tried to seize the tiny waif with armored gloves, but they fell away from the world before they could. The only other one who hadn't fallen away was Francis, who still pursued her.

The silhouette was coming into focus; she saw a four-eyed, yellow skinned creature which she recognized as an Antler. Her thoughts felt distant—like she had left them behind--but one pulsed clearly for a second, Antlers exist?

She came closer and closer—as did Francis, who followed inches behind her through a world which had become entirely black but for the three of them.

Kori's thoughts, which had been trailing behind her, finally caught up as she came to a halt before the odd, creature.

Francis repeated her action and came to a surprised halt just inches away from the creature.

The creature seemed to freeze them where they stood with his bottomlessly black eyes—eyes that seemed to contain infinity itself within them.

"This will not go as either of you plan." The Antler stated. "You will end up in a miserable place. But this is how it must be and how it must go. You must rattle the stars, despite feeling undeserving; you must be as bones without flesh and lay your souls bare."

Francis and Kori both had questions, but their lips were frozen, as were their bodies.

Kori felt like she couldn't breathe—like she was suffocating—but her body was not registering it.

Moments passed as the Antler gazed through them thoroughly.

The Antler blinked, and rain was in Kori's ears. He blinked again, and he disappeared.

He was replaced by the noisy, sensory world.

Kori gasped.

She and Francis were surrounded by barbaric men wearing loin cloths. They were all pointing spears at her and the elf.

Kori did a quick head count. Six.

She thought the man in front of her—the man who had a colorful, golden feather in his hair—must be the leader.

The leader demanded. "Don't move."

Kori realized who these people were when she looked at their ears. Those poor children who are a mix of elves and humans... Shunned from society.

Some of them were slim, lithe and had the thin faces of elves, others were stockier and had heavier builds like humans. All of them had ears that were only the tiniest bit of pointy at the end, unlike those who were full elf.

"Kori!" She heard the knights calling.

She almost replied, but the leader elf-human silenced her by putting a pointer finger to his lips.

Shhh.

He nodded to his men and Kori felt her wrists being tied together with ropes.

Francis was glaring at her angrily.

She knew he hated her, and that was the last thing she needed.

Kori heard heavy armor clinking nearby. Her soldiers were still close. She couldn't yell, or she was sure the elf-humans would kill her.

She had no choice but to hope the soldiers would catch up to them.

One of the barbaric men lifted her up and hoisted her over their shoulder. Another pointed a spear at Francis' back and commanded him to keep walking.