The Girl in the Woods

Chapter 17

"See, now this is why us humble dwarves stay underground." Dundern, the first dwarf Apollo and I had met at his gren, had ended up in our squadron. Rain sluiced over the curve of his bulbous nose and he squinted up unhappily at the sky. "No batty weather taking out her grumblings on us."

"I don't think I could stand that." A slim, blonde werewolf - Terrance, I think his name was - commented good naturedly. His straw coloured hair stuck to his head, and his blue eyes blinked against the downpour as he looked up. "No sun, no breeze, no nice summer skies. I guess it would be different if I'd been born in a gren."

"You bet it'd be different!" Dundern boomed, but he looked fractionally satisfied at Terrance's words. The red haired dwarf looked toward Helios, who was picking his way along with the rest of us, his thick hooded gear protecting him perfectly from the rain. "I thought you lot could control the weather! Is it too much to ask for some sun and warmth, now?"

I slanted a look at the solstae in surprise. Now that was news to me.

"It's harder with reduced numbers." His voice was muffled through the thick material. "Also, the people are probably too worried to notice the weather right now. A good portion of our population is down fighting here."

It occurred to me that I had never heard the murderer speak, not once. Helios' muffled voice sounded almost wrong coming from behind those black panels that revealed nothing. Clever, I thought nastily, less for me to identify him with.

Dundern grumbled to himself. We passed under a formation with a ledge that jutted out almost an awning, and we had to move slightly to the left to avoid being drenched in the waterfall pouring off of it. It really was a lot of rain.

"They seem to be doing rather well up there." An elf named Ilen  peered up, sheltering her pretty face with a slender hand. Her dark hair still looked marvellous as it draped down the back of her silver armour. "The first line of defence is doing its job."

A sultry vampire sighed dramatically. His name was something foreign and attractive, although I'd forgotten it already. He was absolutely beautiful, in an exotic, exciting kind of way. He looked like a sultan prince, all dark smooth skin and deep, hooded eyes with long fanning lashes. Although he was as drenched as the rest of us, he still looked like a model.

"Perhaps." His voice was accented and musical, and he directed the comment to Ilen.  "Or perhaps a few have already slipped through and are waiting for the perfect moment to strike us."

She didn't reply, but everyone looked around suspiciously. I looked around twice. I was in fact the resident watcher, after all.

"None of that thinking, please." It was the coldest I'd ever heard Laen's voice. The vampire smiled back demurely. "We are well prepared and well trained. No one will get through us."

Everyone nodded professionally at his words, but I could tell the klaae had a comforting effect on all of them. It was hard not to around the giant, fierce looking klaae man. Soft violet eyes or not, this man was a weathered warrior. I was glad he was on our side.

I walked a little closer to Apollo, my freezing fingers seeking his blazing warmth. They weren't disappointed.

"Isn't this kind of spooky?" My voice was low, and the rain thundered off every surface furiously, but I knew he could hear me. "The faeries came down over half an hour ago. At least some of them must have made it through."

He smiled down at me. Like the exotic vampire, his exterior stubbornly refused to dishevel. "Have more faith, love. The commanders are clever; they put every able person up there that they could manage. Also, the rain will slow them down; with this weather it'll be difficult to fly. I'm not afraid."