Seth cracked the reins on Thea’s back. She galloped towards the bridge, crossing Bahr River. The breeze whipped through Seth’s hair, tossing it from his shoulders. His knee bumped the sword in its sheath on Thea’s saddle as he leaned forward. He urged her faster, and Thea raced towards the bridge.
If Brock was still alive, Seth had to get to him quickly. Sure, Brock would never give him up, but—what if he broke? What if—what if he had no choice? No, his father would never betray him, ever. He’d lost too much. He’d never let Sally die for nothing. No, never.
Thea ran across the bridge. Seth pulled back the reins, slowing his mount. He jumped down and grabbed Thea’s reins. Where was that path? Damn it, he thought. Why didn’t he get Ellis? He kicked himself. Seth was no tracker. All the time he saved by not looking for Ellis, he’d waste trying to find the damn camp. Worse, what if he couldn’t find it at all? The path was here, somewhere. It had to be.
Clop. Clop. Clop.
Seth looked up. Three horses were bearing down on him. He cocked his head. The riders were . . . different. They were not human, and they didn’t have blue skin. It was—green, a dark green at that. Seth pulled Thea off the road. Maybe they weren’t after him at all. Maybe, they were just passing through.
Clop. Clop. Clop.
Seth walked Thea along the edge of the road, towards the creatures. If he ran, surely they’d chase him if just to find out why he was running from them. Yeah, he’d definitely make them suspicious. He pulled his cloak tightly around his shoulders. Here they come.
“Whoa,” the lead rider said, stopping his horse. His smile with the two oversized canine teeth protruding from his lips was ominous.
Seth could not take his eyes off the creature’s monstrous face. He had two axes strapped to the horse’s saddle. The creature was bald. It looked something like the monsters in Brock’s stories about the old days. What did he call them? Aha, Feral Orcs, the infantrymen of the Darkstriders. What did warriors respect? Courage. He tightened his jaw. “What do you want?”
“Is your horse lame?” the largest feral orc asked.
“Who are you?”
It sneered at him. “All you need to know is that I’m from Iron Fist Keep on patrol.”
Patrol? Here? “Never seen your kind before,” Seth said, trying to hide his shaking knees. He smiled. “My horse isn’t lame, thank you, though. I was just taking a break from the ride.”
It leaned back into its saddle. “Hmm, I see.” He waved the other two over. All three jumped from their mounts and drew their axes. He felt Seth’s shoulder. “How old are you, boy?”
“Thirteen, why?”
The other two licked their lips.
“Out here by yourself?” the orc asked.
Seth stepped back and drew his sword from its sheath. “What do you want?”
The large orc smiled. “Lunch.” It raised its ax.
Seth sidestepped and dropped. In one motion, he rolled to the left and slashed the orc’s calf.
It dropped its ax, screaming in pain.
The other two orcs charged in with an ax in each hand.
Hatred, Seth thought, hatred. I must feel the hatred.
The orc on the ground grabbed a boot knife and stabbed Seth in the thigh.
Pain. The pain shot through his heart. But the pain turned, it turned into anger and rage. Seth’s eyes were on fire. His skinned glowed red. His sword glowed like embers in a great fire.
The other two orcs screeched to a halt. “He’s a wizard!”
Seth swung his sword at the largest orc, severing his head from his body. There was no blood, the wound was cauterized. He whirled around to face his other two opponents.
They backed away, dropping their axes to the ground.
Seth’s eyes turned black. His skin became brighter and brighter. The rage turned into fear.
The two orcs shielded their eyes from the glow of Seth’s skin. “What magic is this!?” They ran towards their horses. “Tulak,” the smaller one said, “I saw nothing.”
Pain. His fire began to burn his skin. It grew brighter and brighter.
The Orcs leaped on their horses. “Let’s get out of here,” Tulak said as he slapped his horse’s butt.
The burning reached Seth’s nose. His flesh—he had to turn it off. He knelt down. Jena, he had to think of Jena and their life together. An image of Jena and Seth on their wedding day flashed through his mind. In his mind, they grew further in love with each passing day. The fire in his heart softened. The burning vanished. He opened his eyes. The pain from his left arm shot through his body. He looked down to see the back of his hand blistered, as if from a burn. “How—why? Did I do that to myself?” Seth muttered. If he could burn himself, could he—kill himself, too? Sure, why not? He had to either not use his powers at all or learn to control them. He sniffed. Seth needed help. One more encounter like this and he’d kill his enemy, but he would kill himself too. What good was that?
Seth searched through the feral orcs clothes. He pulled out a rotting mouse. “A snack for later?” he asked the corpse. Teeth, throwing knives, and a parchment. “What’s this?” He unrolled the scroll.
Shania,
The clock is running out. I have an impaling stake with your name on it if you don’t deliver the boy, as we agreed. I have two legions of Feral Orcs on standby at Iron Fist Keep. Once you have the boy, I’ll send the orcs to kill everyone in Crey Village. Tanyl wants to blame the dwarves, so we have plenty of evidence to leave around the village. I was ordered not to do anything until I hear from you. Please hurry.
Ryul
Seth put the parchment in his saddlebag. He patted Thea. “Okay, girl, let’s get some help.” He climbed onto his mount. With a flick of the reins, he headed towards Porp Hollows.
Seth slowed Thea down as they approached the cave mouth. He jumped down and led Thea inside. As he stepped into the cave, Seth bumped into a small rail mounted on the wall. It was a four-foot-long piece of wood nailed to the rock. It was like—like a hitching post. Seth smiled. That was new, did Sumia—? He grinned. Yeah, she must have expected them back. He tied Thea to the hitching post and pulled her feedbag from her saddlebags. After feeding Thea, Seth pulled his sword from the saddle and placed it in the sheath on his waist. He took out the parchment and placed it in the pack on his back.
Seth pulled a dry torch from the saddlebags and knelt down along the cave wall. He couldn’t start a fire from scratch, but with flint and steel? That was easy. After only a few strikes, Seth lit the torch. He patted Thea. “I’ll be back soon.” Seth headed into the darkness.
As Seth approached opening into Porp Hollow, the light spilled into the cave. He stepped into the square room with tapestries hanging on the wall. Yeah, he found it all right. He placed his torch in the bronze sconce on the wall. He closed his eyes and listened. Voices. Not just Sumia, but others, too. Was she in trouble? Seth drew his sword. He followed the hallway towards the room where they ate with Sumia. His soft leather boots were silent as he moved towards the room.
Firelight danced on the corridor wall, just outside of the simple room with a fireplace. The voices were getting louder.
“My lady,” a male voice said, “I don’t think you understand. King Faeler wants to speak to him now. The humans can’t protect him, and letting him go on with this—this game only puts the kingdom at risk.”
“Learn your place,” a women’s voice said. “I…”
Is that Sumia? Seth thought.
“…will not do anything that may undo the prophecy. When you interfere with a prophetic event, you can change required events and conditions for the prophecy to come true,” Sumia said. “That boy is our people's last—”
Seth blinked as a bright light flashed in the room.
“Come in, Galin,” Sumia said.
Seth sheathed his sword and entered the small room.
Standing next to the old woman was an elf. Not a Dark Elf with blue skin, this one had fair skin, long golden hair, and pointed ears. He was wearing a light-yellow tunic and green trousers. His face—his face was ghastly white, staring directly at Seth. He was no warrior. He was a coward. “How long have you been standing there?”
Sumia waved him off. “You have my answer. Now, leave us be.”
Without taking his eyes off Seth, the Vulwin Elf fled.
“Who was that?” Seth asked.
“A messenger from the Vulwin Elves,” Sumia said as she sat down next to the fireplace. “Join me?”
Seth down on a pillow next to her. “Were you talking about me?”
Sumia bit her lip. She stared at him, just for a second, as if having a debate in her mind. “Yes, we were. You see, that’s the bad part about prophecies; you have to let them happen. Too often people lack the patience to allow the prophecies to reach their full potential.” She smiled at Seth. “Why are you here, now? I was expecting you to come back, just not yet.”
He pulled out the parchment. “I ran into some orcs today and found this.” He handed it over to Sumia.
Her eyes widened as she scanned the note. Her mouth dropped, but nothing came out. She swallowed. “Two legions? I’ll—I’ll be right back.” She raced out of the room.
“Okay,” Seth said.
Not even five minutes later, Sumia came back into the small room. “I had to tell the Vulwin Elves. They might be able to help.”
Seth blinked. “I thought they were on the coast? We’re on the opposite side of Axain from there.”
Sumia nodded as she sat back down. “Yes, but they believe in the prophecy too.” She put her hand on his shoulder. “There’s a lot of people waiting for you to lead them to freedom.”
Seth pulled away. “I don’t care about that now. All I care about is getting my father back.”
“Can’t your friends help you?” she asked.
Seth showed Sumia the burn on his arm. “Look, this was not from the orcs. I did it.”
She took his arm. “I’ve never seen this before.” Her wrinkled face softened. “What do you need me to do?”
“I ran off angry because no one would help me. I even went after them alone, but I realize that I can’t do it alone,” Seth said. “I also know that I can’t control my magic. So, for me not to use it, I can’t do this alone.”
Sumia smiled. “You want me to fight with you?”
Seth nodded. “I also want you to help me convince the others to help me, too. I can’t lose both my parents. I just can’t.”
“I may be a little rusty, but why not?” Sumia got to her feet. “Rest tonight and we’ll head out first thing in the morning.” She smiled as she left the room.
Seth leaned back into a pillow near the raging fireplace.