I feel a mix of relief and anticipation. The Fuegorras glow brighter in the dim light, illuminating the faces of my newfound allies.
“Our time draws short. Tell me, does anyone know of the Elvish Artifact?” I call out.
The ground shifts, and Si’Kirin stands. He flashes me a smile. “Do you mean theCumhacht na Cruinne?”
Thorne, who has been a silent onlooker, steps forward. “Yes. That is what we seek.”
He smirks. “It was my job to tend to the artifact from time to time. I haven’t checked on it in months. Not since this.” He gestures to his twisted leg.
“Were you attacked?” I ask.
“As I am sure you've seen, there are a great many creatures in the sea. Not all love us trolls.”
“But, how far away is this artifact?" Vann interjects, concern etching his usually stoic features.
He purses his lips. “Come, My King, it is nearly what you might consider nighttime. I am sure you are all tired. Rest—eat—while I explain.”
We are guided back to a set of tables, where filets of fish and small squids are roasting over a bubbling pocket of lava near the temple. It is nothing short of miraculous to see something so hot exist in a place deep into the world’s hidden places.
“Sit,” the man says as he hobbles over to tend to the food. I try not to look back at the group of men who have followed us. Among them is Ka’Prinn, who watches Estela with eyeballs so wide that they look as though they might fall right out of his face.
I growl at him when he gets close to her. “Touch her, and I’ll slice your tail right off,” I threaten in Enduar. “Get out of here.”
He turns back to me, bows, and then leaves.
“Why do you want the artifact?” Si’Kirin asks.
“I will give it back to the elves,” I say without hesitation.
The man purses his lips, considering my words. “Are you sure that is a good idea?”
“Perhaps it wasn’t so wise to steal it from its owners in the first place,” Thorne hisses, no longer silent.
Si’Kirin fixes him with a hard stare penetrative enough to cut through crystal. “It wasn’t stolen entirely—it was given. And your king hungered for power just as much as Teo’Lihk. You would be a fool to think otherwise.”
Thorne doesn’t respond, which I find odd, considering he has consistently corrected others about his affiliation to the elven throne. The degrees of separation between the sisterhood and the royal court aren’t wide, but they are significant—to him, at least.
“Something tells me it was destroyed inthat damned volcano. Is that why you feed us stinking fish and pacify us with your old words?” Thorne spits.
Si’Kirin tilts his head to the side. “The artifact wasn’t destroyed in the eruption, thank the gods, but it did… sink. It is beyond the city, in the depths of the cavern. It used to take me nearly a day to check on its evergreen glow. It has been a few years since I have gone to look at it.”
Thorne looks like he’d slice the man’s throat open. “Then how do you know it is still there?”
He looks unamused. “This ocean is large and hard to navigate. There is more water than land in this world. If someone had come to claim it, I would know. It has a way of making its presence known. ”
Thorne insists. “When you say you tended to it, that means… what?”
“After the eruption, the underground vault where it was stored was cracked. We found it had sunken deep into a crevasse. It was nearly impossible to get close to it, but, like I said, you can feel it. You will know for yourself when you go for it,” Si’Kirin says.
Estela lets out a scared little yelp from my side, and I turn to find one of the Enduares dropping her braid.
The braid that I wove this morning.
I see red, grabbing another Enduar’s hand and slamming it into one of the stones above his head. “What the hell do you think you are doing?”
His eyes are wide, more shocked than in pain. “Her hair… It is not like an Enduar’s. I wanted to see if it was soft like our females, if this is what we are meant to mate with.”
I grit my teeth. “Don’t ever touch my queen again. And if you speak like that in front of the humans, I doubt even your mate would want to touch you.”
