Dragon Blood [Alonia's Queenslayer #2]

14

//Sorry for the late update! I've got a ton of work with Uni, and exams are coming up, so I haven't found much time to write recently. Thanks for sticking by! :)

During noon the next day, with the whole group exhausted, they finally reached their destination.

Eli was expecting a small village, but what they got was three abandoned wooden houses suspended right above an endless drop.

The cold air nipped at Eli's face, but her armour was doing a great job of keeping the rest of her warm. The Princess had been walking on her own that entire day, and Helios was still carrying his wolf in his arms. He had decided to name him Elan, which Eli found ridiculous, but since Blaed agreed, her protests remained unheard and unacknowledged.

"Are you sure this is the place?" The princess asked as the group came to a halt in front of the first house. The abandoned village was positioned on a cliffside off the side of the path which kept leading up. The view would've been magnificent if it weren't for the thick fog which had set all around them, and the fact that all Eli could see when she looked over the cliff was a mass of clouds. There was no telling how big the drop was, but Eli would prefer not to find out the hard way.

"Yup. We're here," Blaed said, tossing another look at his map before rolling it up. "Now, all that's left if for us to meet up with whatever numbskulls they've assigned us.

"Numbskulls?" a very familiar voice called out from the direction of one of the broken-down houses. To Eli's horror, none other than the red queen herself appeared behind the hole which had once log ago been a doorway. After blinking several times to confirm she wasn't seeing things, Eli took in the fact that the queen was dressed exactly like the princess: so she was a participant.

"Oh, Your Majesty! I apologise, I wasn't aware you were partaking in this event!" Blaed said quickly, and the queen waved him off.

"It's quite alright now," she replied, stepping towards them. "So I suppose we're to team up now?"

"Hey, this competition isn't set up so you win, right?" Eli asked before anyone else could open their mouths, and the queen finally looked up at her, frowning in confusion.

"Of course not! I've been a part of this competition for six years now, and I have only won once!"

"Of course, we didn't actually think it was unfair," the princess jumped to Eli's rescue with grace Eli hadn't expected from the girl. "Eli simply really wants to win. Don't mind her. Where's the remainder of your group, Your Majesty?"

Just as those words left the injured princess's mouth, more people bundled out of the house, and Eli's day just got a billion times worse.

"Ril!" the voice beckoned excitedly.

"Lyari..." Ril muttered without a hint of enthusiasm.

Eli was more than prepared to bash Lyari's face in with her shield at the slightest whiff of danger. But Lyari, now a man and also a mage, didn't approach, and he was eyeing Eli warily, as if aware of the lengths she was prepared to go to.

Eli couldn't recognise any of the other people present, and their names were forgotten as soon as they left their mouths. Ejder would've scolded her for not paying attention, and she would've reasoned that by keeping in useless information, she wouldn't have enough space left for the important bits. But the truth was, she just didn't care. The only thing that interested her was keeping the spies as far away from them as possible, keeping the princess safe, and winning this thing. And she didn't need to know anyone's name to achieve that. She didn't need anyone's help. All her life, she'd done things alone.