The female elf fired off one last arrow, finally ending this great, strange beast's life. Then, she turned to me, a scowl on her face.
"What do you think you're doing? We had that," she spat. "We did not require your help."
I looked over at the two halves of their comrade, and then jabbed a thumb in his direction. "Suppose he didn't require it either, hmm?"
Her scowl deepened. Before she got a chance to say whatever was on her mind, her companion held out a hand. "Alara, please. They risked their lives to help us." He looked between Veran and I. "Thank you, Humans. I must apologize for Alara. She is quite prideful." Her head whipped around, staring her companion down. She said something in a foreign language to him, what I could only assume was their native language.
He quickly replied, anger in his tone. They bickered back and forth. Veran came up next to me, and we shared a look. The male elf pointed a finger back at their fallen comrade and then yelled at his companion.
I cleared my throat, drawing their attention to me. "If you'll excuse us? We'll be ah... Going." I sheathed my blade, and began to back off.
"Safe travels then, Humans," the male elf said, offering us a wave. "We," he began, his tone forceful as he shot a side glance to his friend, "do appreciate your help with taking down this teragul." I looked over the creature's corpse. Teragul? Definitely nothing I'd ever heard of.
"It was our pleasure. Safe travels to you two as well."
"Indeed. We're sorry for your companion's loss," Veran noted, before we quickly made our way back up the hill. I grabbed my backpack along the way, putting it back on. We continued along our path, and began to hike up the mountain.
Soon enough we were enveloped in the mist of the mountains, which meant we were close to the Weygate. I reached into my pocket, pulling forth the medallion that Morganna gave me for a sense of comfort. Now that I knew what was out there, I couldn't help but to feel as though I were being watched as we made our way up the mountain.
Eventually, we rounded a bend, and the arch appeared in the distance. The air grew a tad chillier. As we got within a hundred feet or so of the arch, the first of the tall slender creatures appeared, standing next to the arch. IT's bright amber eyes watched us as we made our way closer. Another one appeared next to it, and the mist began to thicken.
"I hate these things," Veran muttered bitterly next to me as we walked.
"I do too," I told him.
We were just about to pass under the arch, when the creatures began to walk closer. I clutched the medallion even tighter, holding it where they could clearly see it. The one closest nodded at me, and then they continued to walk alongside us, the mist clearing up somewhat.
As we passed under the arch, I could feel a tingling tensation. In a blink of the eye, the land turned from emerald green, to snow. The temperature dropped drastically. It was shocking, to see the environment change in such a way. Was that the purpose of these giant arches? It certainly would have explained the runes etched onto the pillars.
We continued along, the creatures escorting us to the very edge of the mist. There, they left us. We did not look back.
~
We continued along in our journey, simply taking things one day at a time. Relief flooded my veins when Phey came into sight. We only had three gold coins left. Enough to rent a room, and buy a couple of horses. We'd have to ride over the Bloody Isthmus, since it was unlikely we would even find another ship going south considering recent events.
Veran and I sat at one of the tables against the wall, my old map in front of us.
"Our best bet would be to head back to Alderas so I can get more coin. After that, we should head even farther south, and book passage from one of the port cities there," I explained to Veran.
"What about your father? When we get back, he's going to be a bit furious with you. And he's going to wonder where Zaraline went," Veran pointed out. This was a realization I'd come to some time previous. I still had no clue what I was going to say to the emperor. I'd never told him I was leaving.
"I'll deal with him when the time comes. Until then, we should just focus on finding a way to get to the Western Isles.845Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡglHgFIxXII
