The Elf Thief

Chapter 39: Rulers of the Mountains

Feral snarls ripped out of both the manticores’ mouths. “How dare you insult us?” the younger one hissed, his eyes on fire with anger. “I could kill you with one swipe, small one!”

“Do it, then!” Sonya nearly shouted back. She stood toe-to-toe with the massive beast, her own nose inches away from the creature’s as she stared deep into his eyes, challenging him. “Words are dead without action!”

The rational part of her was screaming at her to step down, to apologize to the very large, very strong and very frightening animal. But the hot blood of the elves coursed through her veins and her adrenaline gave her courage to not look away nor even flinch as the manticore raised it’s clawed paw to slice her to ribbons.

“Stop!” the older manticore growled just as the youth was about to smite Sonya. 

She narrowed her eyes and studied the very angry manticore before turning to the one that had saved her for some reason.

The older manticore chuckled. “This one has spirit,” he said. “We will keep her alive. But she must be taught a lesson; kill her friend.”

It took Sonya a moment to realize what the monster had said. But when she did, she snapped. 

Unaware that the raw scream of anger and fear was coming out of her own mouth, Sonya fought against the huge beast holding her back as the younger manticore walked towards Dearekk, a sadistic grin on his human-like face.

The same thought kept running through her mind, Not him. Anyone but him. An irrational fear seeped into her and she felt like a huge weight was pressing on her chest, holding her down and making it impossible to breathe. She felt like she had been dragged underwater and as hard as she fought, she could not surface.

As the beast raised his paw to kill the Rebel Prince, Sonya found herself unable to look away, praying that whatever gods there were would spare the brave boy she had come to call ‘friend’.

The creature swiped downward, only to be flung backward as a sphere of light momentarily encased Dearekk’s whole body, protecting him. As the blinding blue light faded away, Dearekk’s body continued to glow blue, but his eyes were closed, as if he was sleeping.

Rolling off of his back, the younger manticore spread his bat-like wings, turned back his ears and hissed like a cat. “What dark magic is this?” he asked. 

The older manticore turned to Sonya, a look of wisdom in his eyes. “You are not innocent travelers, are you?” he said in a quiet voice. 

Looking down, Sonya shook her head. Her eyes darted to Dearekk. What was the demon inside of him doing? Why wouldn’t he wake up?  Angry at the uncontrolable fear coursing through her, Sonya wiped away the tears that had fallen from her elf-green eyes and stained her face.

“I am Laione,” said the older manticore. He gestured towards the brooding younger beast, “That is Abanth. I believe you have a story to tell, Sonya, Daughter of the Trees; Prodigy of the Elf Thieves. And I believe that our chief would be very interested in that story. ”

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It had taken a long time to convince the two manticores to allow Dearekk and herself to ride upon their backs. The beasts must have thought her to be mad when she threw her ams wide and laughed aloud as they soared through the clouded skies. 

She had always wanted to fly.

When she was younger, the elf would often climb to the highest tree in the Fay’s Forest and pretend she was everything from an eagle to a dragon,  rising high above the ground and flying through the bright blue skies. As she had grown older, the childish fantasies of flight had died along with her dreams of the horned man who had saved her from the evil voices. 

But now she was flying. Flying.

A loud laugh escaped her lips again and out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Laione shoot Abanth an amused look. But she didn’t care what they thought of her; she had accomplished her impossible dream.

“We have almost arrived at the village,” Laione rumbled from beneath her. “There it is now.”

Peering around the creature’s massive head, Sonya caught her first glimspe of the secret civilaization of the manticores. 

It was unlike anything she had ever seen before in her life. A small valley seemed to be carved out of the mountains. Steep cliffs were lined with caves that were obviously the homes of hundreds of manticores. The grey rock was speckled with white snow, and curious golden eyes peered out from inside the dark caves. 

Down at the bottem of the valley there was a thatched longhouse. Smoke spiraled up from it’s massive chimney, painting pale, twisted pictures against the stormy sky. As Laione and Abanth spiraled down towards the longhouse, Sonya gazed around herself in wonder.

She jumped off of Laione’s back and landed nimbly on her feet. For a moment she forgot the danger she had put both herself and Dearekk in by coming to the village. All the filled her was wonder and awe at the hidden world around her. 

“Elf,” said a voice behind her. Whirling around, Sonya saw Abanth looking at Dearekk but speaking to her. The younger manticore had not spoken since they had left the cave. Tilting his head to the side, he studied Dearekk with a mixture of disgust and curiosity. “It is still glowing,” was all he said.

Dropping to her knees beside Dearekk, the elf gently touched her friend’s face. He looked so serene and calm. He had no idea that if Sonya said the wrong thing, they would both die. 

Why did you have to leave me now? Sonya cried out internally. You know that speaking is not my talent. It was yours! You were the storyteller, the politian. And who am I? An Elf Thief. A no one. Angry tears filled her eyes, but she shook them away. She would be strong, for him. 

She stood. “We’ll need to find a way to get him to eat until he wakes up,” she said. “Someone needs to make a stew, something he can swallow easily.” Looking kindy down towards the half-elf, Sonya felt a fresh wave of worry for her friend.

“Your friend will have to wait for a bit,” Laione said frim behind her. “The Sovereign of Frost, Slaughterer of Kings, He Who Stains the Snow with Blood, Chief Magino Kalur, wishes to see you.”

(A/N Hi, guys!! It’s been a relatively long time…sorry. >.< Anywho I hope you liked the chapter!! It took me a while to write for some reason, and it was a lot of late nights and rewriting. I hope it was worth it though!! Remember to vote and comment, please!! I love it when I get feedback!! :) It makes me super duper happy!! Well, that’s about it.

~*~*~Ninja Out~*~*~)