Page 17 of There’s an Elf in My Cockpit

Chapter 13

Vi

Being out on the ice plains again after the warm safety of the ice castle was a little jarring but I felt lighter, less encumbered this time around. I was actually relieved to leave that place after I’d caught a second glimpse of a giant shadow along one wall. Oliver just missed it when I tried to point it out and it was hard to describe what I’d seen.

Was it a creature on four legs or two? It looked so big but shadows were always misleading. Whatever it was, I was sure it was our host and it had left me feeling like I was being watched from the shadows by a deadly predator. Something like that ice beast that we’d fought the day before whichalready felt like a lifetime ago.

Our beastly host couldn’t be all bad though despite the grumpy voice. A second backpack had been waiting for us by the door, a new set of snow goggles dangling from the strap that was identical to the single pair we had left. That was thoughtful because we definitely needed a second pair to help against the glare of the sunlight on our nearly entirely white surroundings.

Oliver was carrying the pack gifted to us by our host, it was heavier than the one we had left, and he was wielding a new pair of ice axes, also a gift. The rope between us was slack, our distance a good two dozen feet as we traversed the plain side by side. I was keen not to repeat a second fall down a hidden crevice in the ice so I was holding my own pair. One of them the slightly scratched-up ax that had somehow survived our adventure so far. The other was identical but pristine, almost as if our host had made copies of the things we might need. I knew there were alien races in the Zeta-Quadrant that could do that, but so casually?

Whoever lived in that mysterious, towering castle of ice was in command of technology so far superior to that of my own species, that it was a little daunting. When I looked back to gaze at the castle it was just as shocking to realize that it had already disappeared from the horizon, like it wasn’t even there. But stealth technology? I had never heard of anyone truly succeeding in creating that. I thought it was proven impossible.

“Too bad Kitan couldn’t pick us up,” Oliver said, raising one hand over his eyes to gaze back just like I was. “They would have gotten a kick out of seeing that place.” I wasn’t sure why he thought his friend would get kicked if he saw the castle, but I did agree. Each time the ice creaked or groaned beneath our feet, even if it was just the crunch of fresh snow, I felt a deep sense of unease. I couldn’t look at the pristine landscape with the same wonder as before, not when I knew that we were so close to plummeting to our deaths if we weren’t careful.

My eyes lingered on Oliver, his proud form was magnificent. The thick coat just made his shoulders seem even more wide and I loved how different his hair was. Most Elrohirians kept their hair long, and thick curls were extremely common, though my hair was sadly as straight as could be. Oliver’s hair was longer on top, just long enough to fall adorably in his eyes, but shaven on the sides in swirling patterns that kept drawing my eye. It made the very square shape of his head, and the masculine jut of his jaw, very pronounced.

He grinned, the corner of his mouth turning up on one side more than the other and his neatly trimmed beard glowing faintly red. “Like what you see, sweetheart?” he said, all cocky and smug. He wasn’t wearing a hat right now and I couldn’t understand how he wasn’t freezing his strangely round ears off.

“Yeah,” I said truthfully, “I do, but watch the ice, please.” I wasn’t going to breathe easy until we were back down in the crater with the teens. And I was never going to come near any ice ever again, screw ice skating, I could do without that.

His smile lingered a moment longer before it turned serious and he obeyed, his focus on the walk just like me. I wanted to get back as soon as possible, and I really hoped that Elpherian had given up by now but I sincerely doubted that. That close brush we’d had the day before had only left me with the feeling that he was far more determined than I’d thought.

A good hour into our walk we’d made it to the spot where we’d fallen in the ice. It was impossible to miss the location because big blocks of ice and piles of snow circled the place, drawing your eye to the spot from miles away. When we got closer it was even more obvious that Elpherian’s men had dug a huge crater in an effort to find us. No, me; this was about finding me and I shivered as that realization sunk in once more.

Oliver took one long look at the mess in the otherwise pristine landscape, his face drawn into the deepest frown I’d ever seen. Without a word, he jerked his chin in the direction we had to go and just kept on walking. I didn’t need to be a genius to know that he was raging mad, and I felt warmth fill me in response. I wasn’t used to having someone in my camp, but at this point, it was obvious that no matter what was happening, Oliver was going to have my back. I hoped I was worth that kind of loyalty because so far, most people in my life hadn’t thought so.

I needed to think about it while we continued our long trek back to the teens and the shuttle. I ran all my life because I simply didn’t fit the standard Elrohirian mold; I wasn’t the quiet, sweet daughter of a minor lord. I was that kid who liked to climb trees and get their clothes muddy at every chance. The girl that smiled too hugely, that laughed too loud, and that couldn’t sit still even if they tied her down. I tried to fit the role they wanted me to fill when I was a preteen and I’d been so deeply miserable that I’d ended up rebelling by doing things like dating guys like Elpherian.

As I watched Oliver walk ahead and to my left, I had to conclude that maybe he was like that too. Loud, always laughing, filled with a sense of adventure. He wouldn’t fit as the son of an Elrohirian noble either, but as a male, he’d get away with far more than I had. Maybe it wasn’t me, maybe it was them. The thought washed over me, making me feel lighter than I had in years.

Yeah, it wasn’t me that wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t that I couldn’t inspire loyalty. I was a good person, I mattered, and it was on them for not seeing that. Oliver had, he’d seen it the moment we met, which made him a far better person than my oh-so-noble father of the great honor. A male didn’t have honor if he couldn’t even love his own daughter for who she was and see how hard she was trying.

It was a good thing I was wearing the snow goggles over my eyes or the sudden rush of tears would have frozen on my lashes. Funny how just that little show of anger on my behalf had made me realize all of this. And for the first time in years, I felt like maybe I didn’t need to run any longer.