Silverwolf held her knife to the throat of the elf on the bear. She knew she would have to act quickly to determine whether or not this elf was the friendly kind.
She certainly had been dealing with way too many hostile elves as of late.
"What would an elf be doing spying on other elves, huh?" she asked.
It wasn't that she was particularly curious about why this elf riding the bear was spying. She had been looking for him for a good while. Silverwolf had been told this elf had information she wanted.
For a moment, the elf said nothing. He merely kept his breathing steady and glanced over at the woman who held a knife to his throat.
She always felt empowered holding someone at knife point. A new scar on her forearm reminded her how a blade could influence others.
This was one elf she needed on her side.
“I need your service, Amrolan,” she said.
She could tell he had not been expecting her to know his name by the flicker of his eyes at it. The bear let out a snort, but the elf put a hand on its neck, seemingly to comfort it. For a few seconds they stood there, unmoving.
And then something Silverwolf could never have imagined happened.
Blume, the young girl Ealrin had rescued from her ruined city, crashed into their clearing and collided into the bear, landing in a heap at its feet. The hulking beast began to growl at the girl who quickly backed away from its teeth. Keeping her knife against the elf's throat and her eyes locked with his, Silverwolf motioned with her hand for Blume to stay back. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the girl lift a very unusual sword into the air.
She stood to her feet, awkwardly holding the sword and glancing back and forth between the two she had run into. Silverwolf could tell she wasn't glad to see her.
“What are you doing here?” Blume asked with a heated tone.
Silverwolf hadn't been sure what she felt about the little tag along girl. Now she was becoming a bit more concrete on her feelings toward her.
“Adult stuff,” she replied, snarling just a little bit. She wasn't about to be deterred from her payday because of the interference of a little girl.
“And why do you have Ealrin's sword?” she snapped back at her.
“May I see that book?”
If Silverwolf hadn't been keeping her eyes on the elf, it would have taken her longer to register that he had spoken. Amrolan was looking at one of the books that had fallen out of Blume's bag and was lying on some grass nearby.
Slowly, Blume edged her way to the tome, still holding her sword out to the bear. Awkwardly, she bent down and picked it up with one hand, holding it to her chest. The other hand still held the sword, though Silverwolf could tell the girl was straining to keep it up.
“I saw you before,” she said. “Outside Lone Peak. I thought you were going to attack me.”
Amrolan turned his head to the side, as if considering Blume's words.
“I do not desire to attack anyone,” the elf said. Silverwolf noticed that he gave her a rather hard glare before giving his attention back to Blume.
“I need help,” Blume said. “My friends have been captured by the elves and I can't help them by myself.”
So, Silverwolf thought, Ealrin went and got himself captured and left Blume to fend for herself.
How wonderful.
“I have no quarrel with the Elves of Enoth,” Amrolan said.
Blume looked at the book clutched against her, to Silverwolf, and then back to the elf.
“If you promise to help me,” she said, hand trembling with the weight of the sword. “I'll let you read it. But you can't have it, it belongs to a friend.”
Was this little girl really going to be able to sway her target with a book when she, an expert assassin, had a knife to his throat? It didn't matter. Without the help of her and the new friends she had made, the three of them weren't going to get very far.
Not on foot at least.
“We're together,” she added hastily, motioning to Blume with her free hand. She knew this was her chance to get in on a deal. “In exchange for reading that book, you help the girl free her friends and give me a lesson in ancient runes.”
Amrolan raised an eyebrow at Silverwolf.
In answer, she produced from around her neck, a simple golden pendant. A fist-sized disc hung from the chain, carved with elaborate runes and markings on one side.
On the other side of the pendant was a picture of a tree.
“Recognize this map?” Silverwolf asked with a smirk on her face.