“I will return as soon as I am finished here, Chosen one,” said Strang. “You may return to your post now.”
“My orders are to escort you to safety, High Priest,” Kane insisted. “Please come with me now. Your life may be in danger.”
He turned and walked away from Strang, leading the way. Glissa tensed, watching for the troll’s reaction. He’d killed once already. He might do it again to cover his tracks.
Strang hesitated. Glissa saw him reach into his robes. Then the old troll followed Kane, who had stopped to wait for him. The pair came right toward her.
Come on, Kane, thought Glissa. Just a little bit farther.
As Kane passed, Glissa dropped off the spire, landing on Strang’s hunched back, knocking him to the ground. She rolled to the side, jumped to her feet, and drew her sword, but Strang was just as fast. He regained his footing and sprang back a step. Glissa moved in on him, but the old troll surprised her again. With a quick swipe of his claws, he knocked the sword from her hand.
“Don’t just stand there, Chosen one!” he shouted to Kane. “Defend your elder against this rogue elf!”
Kane jumped forward to cut off Glissa, pulling out his own blade as he moved in front of Strang. “I don’t want to hurt you, Glissa,” he said, “but you must be brought to the council to pay for your crimes.”
Momentarily taken aback, Glissa saw him wink at her. “You know you’re no match for me, Kane,” she shouted at him. “Even without my sword I could always kick your Tel-Jilad Chosen face across the Tangle. Get out of my way.”
Glissa lunged for Kane, and he brought his sword arm up to block her. She batted aside the arm and barreled into him. Kane staggered backward. He slammed the hilt of his sword into Strang’s face, knocking the old troll back to the ground.
The troll assassin grabbed for the sword, but Kane rolled off just as Glissa dived on top of the elder, pinning him to the ground.
“Hold his arms down, Kane.”
Strang clawed at Glissa’s face and neck, but she held him down between her knees while she slapped away his attacks.
Kane grabbed for the elder’s arms. He finally caught them both and slammed them onto the ground. Glissa reached inside the troll’s robes and found the vial, still full of blue liquid, as well as the blue orb.
She brandished her find before the troll’s staring eyes. “I don’t need vedalken magic to kill, Strang,” she said.
Fear and recognition sprang into Strang’s eyes as she said the name. She had been right about where the troll had gotten his little toy. It was a blue globe, just like the heads of the silver birds that had attacked Taj Nar, like the birds she had seen with the robed vedalken at the Vault of Whispers.
“Nothing would make me happier than to snap your neck with my bare hands,” she growled. “But I’ve promised your Chosen guard here to turn you over to the council. It’s up to you: You can walk back to the Tree of Tales peacefully or die at my hands here in the Tangle. Which is it?”
“I am dead either way,” said Strang finally.
“Fine by me,” said the elf, reaching for his neck.
“No!” he cried.
Glissa rested her palms on either side of the troll’s thick neck. “Tell me who paid you to kill me, and I might ask the council to let you live in exile.”
There was another long pause before he said, “You were right. It was the vedalken.”
“I want a name,” snapped Glissa.
“He never said his name,” muttered Strang.
“Then you can draw me a picture when we get back to Tel-Jilad. Now get up.”
She climbed off the elder troll, making sure to kick him in the ribs as she rose. He’d be doubled over in pain all the way back to the Tree.
Kane pulled Strang to his feet, his sword pressed against the elder’s back while Glissa retrieved her sword. “Why, Strang?” Kane asked as they moved through the Tangle.
“Chunth was too old to lead us anymore,” said Strang. “He thought he could insulate the elves and the trolls from the entire world, but the world has much to offer to those willing to take a chance. What was one dead elf compared to a new golden age of power for the Tangle?”
“Their power comes at too high a price,” said Glissa. “Chunth knew that.”
“I don’t understand,” said Kane. “You were trying to kill Glissa? Why kill her if Chunth was the one in your way?”
“The vedalken said that she is a problem,” said Strang. “She came too early. He needs more ti-”
The hair on the back of Glissa’s neck began to tingle. She dived, knocking Kane over with her, just as a bolt of blue lightning shot across the Tangle. It streaked right through where she had been standing. Strang dropped to the ground beside them a moment later. A charred stump smoldered between his shoulders where his head used to be.
CHAPTER 14
“What the flare was that?” shouted Kane.
“Don’t talk!” replied Glissa. “Just run.” She jumped up and pulled Kane to his feet.
The two elves raced into the Tangle. Rounding the next tree, they came face-to-globe with four of the flying constructs that had attacked Taj Nar.
“Split,” shouted Glissa. She broke to the right. The tingling came again, and she dived to ground and rolled. Two blasts singed the ground next to her. Glissa came up, sword in hand, and swung at the first movement she saw. Her blade caught the silvery tail of one beast, slicing off the barbed end. The second creature banked left to avoid a Tangle tree and come back around, but the one she had cut couldn’t make the sharp turn. It flipped its shortened tail to the left and lifted its right wing, but that wasn’t enough. The beast smashed globe-first into the tree. An azure explosion nearly drove Glissa to the ground.
She turned to see how Kane was faring against the other two. He had dodged behind a tree. Glissa could see two scorch marks on the trunk but couldn’t see the metallic birds anywhere.
“If you feel a tingle on your neck, dodge!” she shouted as she scanned for the returning flyer.
“Got it!” he called back. “More friends of yours come calling?”
“Just watch yourself,” she replied. “This isn’t a game. It’s a hunt, and we’re the prey.”
The all-too-familiar tingling returned. Glissa dropped and rolled around the trunk, but the bolt didn’t come. She heard two loud cracks from the other tree and knew the flyers had gone after Kane. The elf jumped to her feet and scrambled up the tree to the lowest spire. She crouched there and surveyed the forest again.
The the two flyers that had strafed Kane disappeared around another tree. He was still on the ground. Glissa scanned the trees and found the third flyer. It was heading straight for Kane. She screamed and launched from the spire toward the flying beast as it flew past her, but the silver-winged creature was faster than she realized. She had hoped to drive it to the ground, but instead she fell past. Desperate, she stretched out a hand and caught the beast by the tip of its tail.
Elf and flyer slammed into the ground. The creature’s tail slipped from her grasp as she hit, so she dropped her sword and caught it with her other hand. Glissa rolled over with the beast and got both hands on it. It flailed in her grasp, flapping its wings and flipping its tail, trying to wriggle free. She wanted to slam it into the ground but was afraid it would explode. Instead, she fought to get to her feet while controlling the creature.
When she got to one knee, the beast flipped its tail again. Glissa lost her balance and stumbled back to the ground. When she looked up, Kane was standing beside her. His sword was raised, ready to stab the beast.
“Not the head,” she screamed, but she was too late. Kane’s sword slammed down into the beast’s bulbous head. Glissa rolled to the side and covered her face as the globe exploded in a shower of electric energy.
She was spared the brunt of the blast, though her arms and legs were bloody from shards of glass. The elf scrambled to her feet and searched for her friend. She found him sprawled beneath a nearby tree, his sword lying in pieces nearby.