“Damn her,” Bress whispered.
“Do you know what this is, Lord Bress?” Murdock asked urgently.
“Elf-shot,” it was Raza who answered. “Why Moire would have it in her possession is beyond me.”
“She's close with the dark elves,” Bress said.
“No,” Raza shook his head. “My people would not help her.”
“You know my mother,” Bress looked across me to Raza. “You've seen first-hand how she can manipulate people. Her allies are blindly loyal to her. As loyal as I once was. Her words are like a sickness. She infects you until she can control you.”
“Could someone please tell me what elf-shot is?” Murdock ground out.
“Yes, I'd like to know as well,” I narrowed my eyes on Raza.
“It's poison, but only to humans,” Raza's jaw clenched. “The equivalent of iron poisoning in a fairy. In fact, that was why it was created, as a way for us to fight back against the insidious, iron weapons wielded by humans.”
“Go on,” Murdock took a seat, and slid the arrowhead across the table, straight to Raza. Raza caught it with a smack of his hand, like squashing a bug. “Tell us if you recognize this one in particular.”
Cat lifted her head up briefly at the startling sound, gave me an annoyed glare, then laid back down.
“It doesn't work like that,” Raza held up the shimmering arrowhead. Now that it was closer, I could see that it wasn't metal at all, but some kind of gemstone. “There's no signature to find on elf-shot. You can't do a ballistics test on fairy ammunition.”
“I can,” Killian smirked and made a gimme gesture with his hands. Killian had psychometry, a talent he could use to sense who had handled an object, and what they were thinking at the time.
“Hold on, Killian,” I took the arrowhead from Raza. “Tell us more about this, Raza. You said it was created. When? How?”
“Elf-shot has been around for thousands of years,” Raza shrugged. “The dark elves sing the stones up from the earth, and the light elves imbue it with magic. It's a combined effort, which makes for a very powerful result.”
“Wait,” I blinked at him in shock. “You're telling me that unseelie and seelie fey work together to make elf-shot?”
“The elves were the only race of fey who remained neutral in the fairy wars. At least until Twilight was created,” Bress answered before Raza could. “Even though there are light and dark elves, and they are considered seelie and unseelie fey, they personally believe they are the same race. There is no animosity between elves.”
“That's rather enlightened of them,” I noted.
“King Raza the First once tried to make the dark elves go to war with him against the Seelie Kingdom,” Raza sighed. “He was unsuccessful.”
“Did he hurt them?” I asked.
“No. He couldn't find them,” Raza chuckled. “Elves are very good at hiding, especially the dark elves. They simply weren't around when the battle began.”
“They sound peaceful,” Councilman Karmen Simmel observed. “Maybe they just want to be left alone so they can make shoes. Maybe ifweleave them alone, they'll makeussome shoes,” he shot Raza a wink. “I could use some new dancing shoes... and a dancing partner to go with them.”
“They are peaceful with each other, yes,” Raza ignored Karmen's flirtation. “But they didn't create elf-shot to use as a weapon for hunting game. The elves were the most effective of our soldiers during the Human-Fey Wars.”
“How effective?” Karmen went serious. Seriousness was rare for him, but it did happen.
“There were no elf lives lost,” Bress smirked. “Not ever. Their archers were like modern day snipers. They'd hide among the trees, and kill whole platoons before they could be spotted.”
“As I said,” Raza grimaced, “they are very good at hiding.”
“So this is imbued with seelie magic?” I frowned at the arrowhead. “I don't sense anything.”
“It's a combination of magic. The dark elves leave behind a trace of power from their song, and then the light elves finish the spell. But there's no magic to it now. The magic was released when it hit its mark,” Raza explained. “As soon as the stone pierces flesh, the poisonous enchantment is freed, and the discharge of energy disintegrates the shaft of the arrow. Only the stone survives.”
“It's another reason they were so effective in battle,” Bress added. “The evidence disappeared so quickly, leaving only the little arrowhead behind, that half the time, the humans didn't understand why their comrades were dying.”
“Similar to a gun,” I mused, and then slid the thing over to Killian. “Alright, Snake-Eyes, go ahead and do your thing.”
