The Elf Thief

Chapter 39: Rulers of the Mountains

Chapter 39

Ruler of the Mountains

The soft murmur of voices woke Sonya from her slumber. Keeping her eyes shut, the elf slowly breathed in and out in an attempt to appear as if she was sleeping.

“What do we do with them?” a voice growled. “I say we kill them and bring their bodies back to the tribe. We could say we found them already dead; killed by the cold.”

“They aren’t frostbitten. How would you explain that?” a second voice snarled. “Besides, I don’t like the look of this one. He hasn’t stopped glowing since we found him.”

Suddenly, Sonya heard and inhuman hiss and both voices went quiet. She held her breath and attempted to keep her body from going ridged.

“This one’s awake.”

A deafening roar that shook Sonya’s bones followed the statement. As her eyes shot open, she scrambled away from the open maw of a beast before her. White teeth, sharp as daggers, lined the creature’s mouth as it snarled at her.

Panting, she scrambled until her back was pressed against the cave wall. The beast closed its jaws, but kept one lip slightly curled threateningly. Eyes wide, Sonya studied the animal in front of her. 

It had the body of a lion, its golden mane seemed to glow in the darkness, but it’s face was distinctly human. Two huge, bat-like wingspread from it’s back and it’s tail was that of a scorpion. She knew what the beast was. It was the same creature that haunted her older brother’s horror stories.

Manticores.

Another stood behind the first and through a window between its legs, the elf could see the prone form of Dearekk, floating a few inches above the ground. His eyes were wide open, but they glowed blue along with the runes on his skin. The expression on his face was a mixture of fear, peace and awe. 

A sudden wave of protectiveness washed over Sonya as she watched an unknown monster stand over her friend. She knew that she needed to keep him safe, especially now that he was in such a helpless state.

Without a second thought, she jumped to her feet, strode around both the manticores, who simply watched her in confusion, and knelt down beside Dearekk. 

Her eyes darted over his prone body and her brow wrinkled as she thought. If she wanted to keep the half-elf alive, she needed to find more of a shelter than a cave on a snowy mountain. Standing up, she turned to face the manticores and took a deep breath.

“I need you to take us to your village,” she said. 

A sound that she could only assume was laughter escaped the beasts’ mouths.

“Take you to our village?” one sneered. “Why would we take you there alive? We could kill you in an instant, stupid human!”

The elf straightened her back and shot the creature an indignant look. “Human?” she spat crossly. “I am no human. I am an elf! I am the Daughter of the Trees and the Prodigy of the Elf Thieves.  And he,” she paused and pointed at Dearekk’s glowing body, “he is the Blade-Bearer. He is the Rebel Prince, the Reaper of the Cursed and the Sun Carrier.”

One of the manticores looked at her and raised his brow in a human-like expression. Sonya could tell that he was the older of the two beasts; his reddish-gold mane was streaked with grey. Scars cross his face, showing that he was a veteran warrior. “These are all titles of the small people,” he said. “They mean nothing to the Lords of the Ice.”

Still bristling from the insult of being mistaken for a human, Sonya retorted, “Lords of the Ice? Is that what you call yourselves? If you are so powerful, why haven’t you come down from the mountains? You hide away in the mountains like newborn kittens, afraid of the world outside!”