Pushed against a wall toward the back of the room, was the body of a Wood Elf.
Whoever this WaldFae was, he had been executed. The crossbow bolts that had been used to slay him still protruded from his back and his head. Whoever did this didn’t even bother to clean up afterward, they merely shoved him to the side like discarded rubble.
As he continued his search, the enchantment of revealing on the goat-headed pendant around his neck, began to vibrate gently. Telling him, there was at least some element of magic present here.
He reached up and took hold of the pendant, letting its subtle change in vibrations guide him as he moved cautiously through the house.
He had been grateful for the enchantment many times since his first mage hunt. The spellcaster had only been an apprentice, but Allister learned quickly that a person needs any advantage they can get where a magic-user is involved.
He had only been hunting the mage for a few days when, by sheer luck, he happened to stumble across her in the back of house De’Arne’s family stronghold.
Being young and still inexperienced in the ways of assassination, Allister simply rushed at the girl. Thinking it would be easy just to overpower her. His poor judgment nearly cost him an eye.
As he recalled that encounter, Allister ran his finger along the jagged scar on his cheek, it didn’t take long after that, for him to decide he never again wanted to be caught off guard by a mage.
As he neared a doorway in the back of the house, the pendant began to vibrate even more. This told Allister the source of whatever magic was here, originated from within. He drew his blade and cautiously pushed open the door, stepping inside.
As his eyes adjusted to the dimly lit room, he could tell it had been unoccupied for some time. Its interior was simple, a well-made bed sitting against the window in the rear of the room. Along with a reading table and a small nightstand. There was nothing extraordinary or magical about it. Still, something had to be here, because his pendant was now thrumming violently against his chest.
It only ever vibrated this way when a powerful mage was nearby, or an equally powerful spell had been placed on something.
As his eyes scanned the room carefully, he finally found what he was looking for. On the ceiling drawn in what appeared to be coal from the fireplace, was the rune for hysteria.
While he, unfortunately, had no talent for magic himself, Allister had learned to recognize many of the runes and words of power that were common among the mages of Luna’Dwell.
After all, when the time to strike arrives. Knowledge of one’s prey is what makes all the difference between life and death.
Upon inspecting the rune, Allister instantly knew who was to blame. He recognized the exiled prince’s distinct flair for extravagant calligraphy, from old family letters he had found at Miriam’s home. Messages that had been written between siblings as children before the need for power or lust for control could taint them.
Perhaps she kept them as hope that she may someday return to her family. Or maybe they were to remind her why she did not want to. As many of the letters spoke in detail about their mother’s cruelty towards them.
Either way, Allister now knew he would find nothing here that would aid him with the HoloFae. Zannith Daltorea may be a power-hungry maniac, but he was no fool.
If there was anything to use against the HoloFae in this village, Zannith would have either taken it or seen it destroyed.
As Allister made his way back through the house, he glanced at the corpse of the wood elf one last time. Seems destroyed was the most rational choice he thought, as he stepped outside and headed back into the forest.
He considered returning to Luna’Dwell, as the HoloFae would have to travel through the badlands. It’s the only way to reach the caverns where the heart is supposed to be kept.
It would be easy for Allister to use his contacts among the exiles that lived there. Having them grab the Thorn Caller before he could leave their lands would be smart.
But that would also mean the loss of such a grand challenge. No, he would wait until the HoloFae had made it back here, then take the heart from both him and the exiled prince. Now that would make a story worthy of the world’s greatest assassin, he thought with a smile.
31
Rone and his companions had been out of Katrina’s village for nearly two days now. Thankfully, with Katrina’s help, they had also managed so far to avoid the rover bands and Hobspawn raiding parties as well. A fact Rone was quick to point out a few times when Trisha’s attitude needed to be checked.
But, for the most part, the companions were holding together well. Rone was particularly happy to have Fang back among them. And the big wolf seemed in brighter spirits as well, once they had been reunited outside the sight of the village.
Now that they could see the Voidspine mountains jutting up towards the sky on the horizon. They knew they were getting closer to their goal, a fact that both excited Rone and gave him a sense of dread.
He couldn’t get Lunarie’s words out of his head. What if the SkyFae did decide to kill them outright? How could he protect his friends from something like that?
He shook the thought from his head and decided he would be better off to just focus on getting there first.
After a couple hours of walking, Rone asked Kat if there were any water sources nearby. The harsh dryness of the badland’s climate mixed with constant dust clouds that quickly sprang up out of nowhere was causing them to run low.
She surveyed their surroundings for a moment, then headed off in the direction of a distant hill.
“We can find water there, but we need to be careful. It’s the only source around for at least another day’s hike.” She said as she walked.
“Meaning there could be others there getting water as well,” Traijen added as he moved up next to Rone.
“Rone, it’s your business brother, but when’s the last time you heard anything about max? I haven’t seen you do the whole tree whisper thing since we started.”
It was a question Rone had been asking himself a lot lately. For some reason, over the last few days, the urge to commune had been much stronger than normal.
But fear had kept him from doing so. He didn’t want to know if Max had taken a turn for the worse, but not knowing only served to fuel the urge even more.
“I plan to when we get somewhere that I can,” Roan said, looking around the landscape. Unfortunately, all he had seen since entering the badlands were small thorn bushes and the occasional cactus nearby. Nothing that would have roots deep enough to connect with those as far away as Agnar.
As they came closer to the hill that Katrina had pointed out as a source of water, Rone and Traijen decided to scout ahead. Making sure the area was clear before they all exposed themselves.
After a little while, they returned with the good news that no one was around, but also Rone showed confusion on his face as they came walking up.
“Kat, I don’t mean to doubt you, but there was no water on the other side of that hill. There was nothing there but more dirt and a couple of large rocks.”
“Did you look under the rocks?” She said with a smile as she headed toward the hill.
“Under the rocks?” Traijen asked a little confused.
“How does she plan on moving them? With magic?” He asked as they hurried behind her.
After crossing the hill, Rone, Traijen, and Trisha watched as Kat walked all around the largest of the stones. There were three of them, all much too large for a man to move by hand. With the center stone being the largest, it would take at least a dozen horses to move a rock that size. Not to mention the number of logs to roll it on, or the men to dig it out.